Prepare and Eat More Meals at Home Chat
Chat with Dr. Kathleen Morgan of Rutgers about how to enjoy healthy meals at home with your family. The chat will cover planning, shopping, and preparing meals to be eaten at home. The chat will be Thursday, January 21 at 3 PM Eastern and will last approximately 1 hour.
Below are some helpful materials on Family Meals and Reducing Grocery Costs. Print these off for reading prior to the chat and keep them on file as a great resource.
Eating Together - Eating Well: Fast Food...Can It Be Healthy In A Pinch?
Eating Together - Eating Well: Healthy Meals for Busy Families
Eating Together - Eating Well: Making it a Priority
Eating Together - Eating Well: Nutrient-Rich Family Meals
Practical Ways to Trim High Grocery Prices
Prepare and Eat More Meals at Home Chat Transcript
Expert: Dr. Kathleen Morgan, Rutgers
Thursday, January 21, 2010, 3 PM ET
Topics
1.“Eating Well: Healthy Meals for Busy Families” fact sheet
2.Plan, Shop, Fix, Eat
- a.Family Menus
- b.Creating a Weekly Menu to Combat Lack of Time
3.Pre-cooking, Freezing, Re-heating Foods
4.Family Meals
- a.Television
- b.Trying “new” Foods
5.Exciting Menus
- a.Themes
6.Well-Stocked Pantry, Refrigerator, and Freezer
- a.5 Ingredient Cooking
- b.Quick Meals
7.Crock Pot Cooking
- a.Crock Pot Liners
8.Vegetable Choices
- a.Seasonal
- b.Cleaning
- c.Roasting
- d.Grill vs. Oven
9.“Eating Together, Eating Well: Nutrient Rich Family Meals” Handout
- a.Adding Fruit to Recipes
Transcript
1.Eating Together - Eating Well: Healthy Meals for Busy Families
- a.For the Rice Stir Fry, the rice is not precooked. It is added to the recipe uncooked and cooks in 15 minutes.
2.Plan, Shop, Fix, Eat
- - These are easy steps to help you prepare and eat meals at home.
- a.Family Menus
- -The first step is to PLAN. Start by keeping a list of things your family likes to eat. You can keep this list taped inside the kitchen cupboard.
- -You can also keep the list on the side of the refrigerator so family members can see the list and add to it. This keeps them involved in choosing what you have for dinner.
- b.Creating a Weekly Menu to Combat Lack of Time
- -Does lack of time keep you from eating healthy meals? Yes! Two time issues mentioned included limited access to good grocery shopping and limited time to prepare a meal.
- -Keeping a well-stocked pantry and refrigerator are essential to preparing quick, healthy meals when access to grocery shopping is limited.
- -The first step is to set aside 30 minutes to plan for the week. Make a list of the main dish and the side dishes that you will serve each day of the week. Select recipes that have few ingredients and that use quick cooking techniques.
- -Post the weekly menu on the refrigerator. Get input from your family members.
- -If you are located far from a grocery store or just don’t like grocery shopping, stock up on non-perishable items every 2 weeks and pick up perishables as needed.
For more information on stocking your kitchen and basic cooking techniques, view the Families, Food and Fitness article How Can I Eat Healthy With No Time to Spare?
3.Pre-cooking, Freezing, Re-heating Foods
- -Pre-cooking foods to freeze is a great way to keep portion sizes in check. Freeze in single portion containers so you’re not temped to over indulge. One of the FFF key behaviors is “Control Portion Size.” View the following article for tips on knowing proper portion sizes. The Secret to Serving Size is in Your Hand
- -The Cookbook “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen” by Harold McGee is a great reference for pre-cooking and freezing guidelines.
- -Pre-cooking and freezing on the weekend is a great way to have homemade foods on hand for the busy week. Cooking on the weekends in preparation for the week is a great way to save time, money and prep time during the week.
- -If you don’t have time during the weekend to completely cook a meal, pre-chop vegetables for use in weekly meals. The pre-chopped vegetables can also act as a healthy snack to munch on while your meal is cooking.
- -When making a casserole, double the recipe and freeze one of the casseroles for later use.
- -You can also wash fruits and vegetables the night before you are planning to use them in your recipe.
- -Be sure to put frozen meats in a dish in the refrigerator the night before you plan to serve it so the meat can thaw safely.
4.Family Meals
- b.Television
- -Many families eat in front of the television because of differing work schedules, etc.
- -One way to eliminate the TV trance while eating dinner is to leave the TV off while eating dinner and focus your attention on your family and what happened that day.
- c.Trying “new” Foods
- -Some children are apprehensive to try new foods and if what they like is unhealthy, dinner can be even more challenging.
- -Trying a new food preparation with the same food may help ease them into a healthier meal.
- -Getting your children involved in finding new recipes and helping you prepare them is another way to encourage them to try new foods. If they have a hand in creating the meal, they may take pride in eating it.
5.Exciting Menus
- -How do you create variety in your meals but stick to a basic set of ingredients?
- -Try asking each family member for a vegetable or meat to incorporate into dinner each night, having it be “their” night. Be sure to give them healthy choices to choose from.
- a.Themes
- -With children at home, you can have themes for different months.
- -February is heart healthy month.
- -March is nutrition month.
- -June is dairy month. Themes can also present a learning opportunity.
- -Think about holidays or seasons when developing your themes: Valentines Day and St. Patrick’s Day are coming up.
- -For Valentine’s Day, Linnette had her children choose pink and red foods. They chose strawberries and pink milk.
6.Well-Stocked Pantry, Refrigerator, and Freezer
- a.5 Ingredient Cooking
- -One of the keys to meal planning is having a well stocked pantry. You can make just about anything with beans, rice, barley, lentils, potatoes, broth, salsa, and seasonings.
- -Then look at your refrigerator/freezer staples: fresh/frozen vegetables, fruit, fruit juice, frozen, pre-chopped vegetables (onions, peppers), tortillas, pita bread, pizza crust, bagels, cheese, frozen chicken or beef. From this list of stapes, you can easily make meals in 30 minutes or less.
- -Weight Watchers has a cookbook with 5 ingredients or less.
- b.Quick Meals
- -Bring home a rotisserie chicken and make a salad bar at home. Prepare the vegetables the night before and you will have dinner in 15 minutes.
- -Keep prepared pizza crusts on hand and get the kids in the kitchen to assemble a healthy vegetable pizza and have fruit for dessert.
- -Soup is an easy and comforting supper during the winter months. To make a simple tomato soup, sauté minced fresh garlic in a small amount of olive oil. When you smell the garlic, add cans of fire-roasted tomatoes and puree with an immersion blender. Top with grated parmesan and fresh basil and you have a delicious soup ready in 5 minutes. The leftovers are also good for lunch the next day.
- -To complete the soup meal, serve whole grain bread and a salad or raw vegetables on the side. If you have time on the weekends, prepare soup and freeze for use throughout the week. Tomato based soups freeze better than milk based soups.
- -Use frozen vegetables to make a stir-fry. Add skinless chicken and serve atop quick brown rice or whole wheat pasta.
- -Keep a container in the freezer to put small amounts of leftover vegetables. When your container fills up, use the vegetables to make a homemade vegetable soup. To complete the meal, add a grilled cheese made on whole wheat toast.
7.Crock Pot Cooking
- -Dried beans are a very economical and healthy source of fiber and protein. Cook beans in a crock pot by adding ham, salt (if using country ham, do not add salt), and pepper and covering the beans with water. Cook on low until the beans are tender.
- -Some beans that have been cooked successfully in the crock pot include dried limas, pinto, and Great northern beans. Linda adds a ham bone or ham hock, bay leaf, whole peppercorns, a handful of baby carrots, and a large diced onion. Fill the crock pot ¾ full with cold water and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
- -You also might be able to cook lentils in the crock pot.
- -To help increase the flavor of the meat you cook in the crock pot, brown it first. Season your meat with salt, pepper, and herbs, then coat it lightly with flour. Brown the meat on all four sides using the sauté cooking method then transfer to the crock pot.
- -Turkey in a crock pot also makes a healthy and easy meal. Place a six pound turkey in the crock pot, cover with 1 cup fat-free gravy, cover and cook on high for one hour then cook on low for “7” hours. Complete the meal with sides of mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and freshly heated gravy. There are some good crock pot turkey recipes online.
- a.Crock Pot Liners
- -Linda has noticed that when using a crock pot liner, the food gets excessively brown or darker where it comes in contact with the crock pot.
- -The excessive browning does not affect flavor, only appearance.
- -Another participant has used crock pot liners with no burning issues and extremely easy cleanup.
8.Vegetable Choices
- a.Seasonal
- -Take a “seasonal” approach to eating. This will probably depend on where you live. In the northeast, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and many types of squash and potatoes are available during the winter season. These are the more hearty types of vegetables.
- b.Cleaning
- -Is it better to clean fruits and vegetables with cleaning sprays or just water?
- -You only need cold “running” water to clean fruits and vegetables. There are some fruits and vegetables that should be rinsed really well, strawberries being one. You can also use a vegetable brush on fruits like cantaloupe and honeydew to clean the outside of the melon.
- c.Roasting
- -Roasting is an ideal cooking technique for vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, carrots, even tomatoes.
- -When roasting vegetables, use a healthy oil such as olive or canola oil and herbs and seasonings.
- -You can also roast vegetables on Saturday or Sunday to enjoy during the week.
- -Here is an article from WebMD featuring Tips and Recipes for Roasting Vegetables: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/roasted-vegetables-recipes-tips
- d.Grill vs. Oven
- -When it is cool outside, use your oven to roast vegetables.
- -When it’s warm outside, use the grill to “roast” your vegetables by getting the grill nice and hot and cooking with the lid closed.
- -Sometimes dense vegetables don’t get cooked thoroughly on the grill. Try par cooking vegetables like potatoes and winter squash in the microwave. Then lightly coat with oil and seasonings and finish cooking on the grill. The grill will provide distinct flavor.
- -When baking potatoes in the oven, forego the aluminum foil. Rather coat the potatoes in olive or canola oil and lightly salt and pepper the skin. This yields a crunchy, flavorful skin.
9.Eating Together - Eating Well: Nutrient-Rich Family Meals
- -This fact sheet encourages choosing whole plant foods, lean protein foods, choosing healthy fats and healthy beverages.
- a.Adding Fruit to Recipes
- -Try adding fruits to jazz up your meals. Fruits like mandarin oranges are delicious in salads; dried fruits are tasty in rice and couscous or breakfast cereals; craisins are good additions to a lot of foods.
- -Suggestions for fruits to incorporate into your meal: pears, grapes, and raisins in salads.
- -Keep in mind that fruits that are darker in color like blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are high in antioxidants and very good for you.
- -When making chicken salad, add grapes and cabbage for extra texture and nutrition.
- -Fruit kabobs are a fun way to enjoy fruits.
- -Take your family berry picking this summer and freeze some for use in the winter. Blueberries freeze especially well and are great additions to oatmeal, cereal, and muffins.
Dr. Kathleen Morgan concluded the chat saying, “We do know that families eat more healthily when they eat together, which is the most important thing, in addition to family time shared. Family meals don’t always have to happen at your kitchen table. When the weather is nice, it can be a picnic in the park, or at the ball field or anywhere that you are “together” as a family.”
