FDA Halloween Safety Tips for Parents

Take these simple steps to help your children have a fun – and safe – Halloween:

• Children shouldn’t snack while they’re out trick-or-treating. Urge your children to wait until they get home and you have had a chance to inspect the contents of their “goody bags.”
  
• To help prevent children from snacking, give them a light meal or snack before they head out – don’t send them out on an empty stomach.
  
• Tell children not to accept – and especially not to eat – anything that isn’t commercially wrapped.
  
• Parents of very young children should remove any choking hazards such as gum, peanuts, hard candies or small toys.
  
• Inspect commercially wrapped treats for signs of tampering, such as an unusual appearance or discoloration, tiny pinholes, or tears in wrappers. Throw away anything that looks suspicious.

And follow these tips for Halloween parties at home:

• If juice or cider is served to children at Halloween parties, make sure it is pasteurized or otherwise treated to destroy harmful bacteria. Juice or cider that has not been treated will say so on the label.
  
• No matter how tempting, don't taste raw cookie dough or cake batter.
  
• Before going "bobbing for apples," an all-time favorite Halloween game, reduce the number of bacteria that might be present on apples and other raw fruits and vegetables by thoroughly rinsing them under cool running water. As an added precaution, use a produce brush to remove surface dirt.
  
• "Scare" bacteria away by keeping all perishable foods chilled until serving time. These include, for example, finger sandwiches, cheese platters, fruit or tossed salads, cold pasta dishes with meat, poultry, or seafood, and cream pies or cakes with whipped-cream and cream-cheese frostings. Cold temperatures help keep most harmful bacteria from multiplying. And don't leave the food at room temperature for more than two-hours.

Shopping at Target

After my Sunday run to Whole Foods, I stopped by Target. While I don't usually buy groceries there, I decided to browse the aisles. I am happy to report I found some healthful products on the shelves. The next time you are there, you might want to pick up a few. The ones listed below pass the GoBeFull (GBF) test. For those of you who don't recognize GBF, it stands for eight keys to health and fitness:
Greens
Olive oil (and other healthy fats)

Beans
Exercise

Fruit
Unrefined grains (and other healthful carbs)
Lean protein
Labels

Greens
The Target I went to does not carry produce but they did have some frozen veggies that could work in a pinch. Just check the salt content. Here are some tomato products that are high in antioxidants:
Archer Farms Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
Archer Farms Salsa
Classico Sauce
Muir Glen Tomato Products
Newman's Own Sauce
Pace Salsa
Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce

Olive oil
I use the words "Olive oil" to mean healthful fats. The products I am recommending do not have any Trans fats. Monounsaturated fats like almonds, pistachios, olive oil and canola oils are the ones I like best; I prefer cold pressed. The products mentioned contain mostly mono fats but some have polyunsaturated fats, like soybean oil, cottonseed oil, and safflower oil, which are less preferable. Unlike mono fats which can reduce inflammation in the body, polyunsaturated fats or Omega-6-fats can increase inflammation.
Archer Farms Cashew Cranberry Almond Blend
Archer Farms Dry Roasted Pistachios
Archer Farms Raw Almonds
Emerald Cocoa Roasted Almonds
Land O Lakes Spreadable Butter

Beans
Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans
Bush's Black Beans
Kashi Black Bean Mango Frozen Entree

Exercise
Grocery shopping burns calories! Next time I will check out the exercise equipment and report back.

Fruit
No fresh produce.

Unrefined Grains
While some of these products are 100% whole grain, others are made from unbleached flour or a mixture of unbleached and 100% whole grain. I did not include any products with bleached flour. Bleached and unbleached both have had the germ and the bran removed. Bleached means they treat the flour with powerful bromine bleaches and should be avoided.
Amy's Pizzas
Archer Farms Arrabbiata Whole Wheat Penne Rigate
Archer Farms Blueberry and Multigrain Pancake Mix
Archer Farms Flaxseed Waffles
Archer Farms Spinach and Goat Cheese Frozen Pizza
Alexa's Spicy Sweet Potatoes
Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta
Kim and Scott's Gourmet Frozen Pretzels
Kashi 7 Grain Waffles

Gluten Free Products
Midel Crackers
Bob's Red Mill
Annie's
Nature's Path

Lean Protein
I only like to buy hormone-free meats and poultry which Target does not carry. I did not see any tofu. I saw lots of products made with textured vegetable but generally try to avoid those too.
Silk Soy Milk
Cabot Omega 3 DHA Cheese

Labels
Read them any time your food comes in a box or a container! Look for fiber - you need 35 grams per day; look for unrefined grains; healthy monounsaturated and Omega-3-fats and no Trans fats; avoid foods with lots of preservatives.

Happy Shopping.

The Candy Wars

No matter how hard you try, it is almost impossible to avoid candy at Halloween! Candy at Halloween is like eggs at Easter, gelt at Hanukah and candy canes at Christmas. It is a fact of life. So this year, instead of battling with the kids over when, where, and how to eat the candy, here are some suggestions that might help sweeten this ghoulish holiday.

Limit the container size: With young children it is easy to control the amount of candy by limiting the container size. Pick a small plastic pumpkin with a strong handle or a mini-sized shopping bag. Make a rule that kids have to carry their own candy. This will help limit the amount. When they start complaining that the container is too heavy, it’s time to go home.

Separate the candy: It is always fun to separate the candy when kids get home. They can make piles of ones that are not acceptable, like unwrapped or damaged candy, types they love, and kinds they dislike. Throw out the inedible candy and tell them you or dad will take the candy they don’t like to work. That leaves only the candy they want.

You can take this sorting process a step further and look for candy that contains partially hydrogenated or Trans fats. These types of fats are artery clogging fats. So if much of the favorite pile is full of hydrogenated fats, this would be a good time to cut back on other artery clogging fats like French fries, nuggets and burgers.

Limit the amount: The first few days most kids go hog wild eating candy but then it usually tapers off. In fact, by week two many kids have forgotten about the candy all together. If the candy obsession lasts more than a week or two, it can be helpful to set up guidelines to deal with the remaining supply. Limiting candy to a piece or two after dinner is a good idea. If it is not gone by Thanksgiving, throw it out! After the first few days, do not allow your kids to bring candy to school. Many schools will have policies prohibiting bringing in Halloween candy at all.

Brush your teeth: This is an opportunity to explain to kids how cavities form. Tell them they need to brush their teeth within a few minutes of eating candy because the sugar in the candy reacts with bacteria in their mouths to form acids which attack the teeth causing cavities. If you have not already banned sodas from the house, this might be a good time to start.

Adjust snacks: Since you know your kids will be eating candy, if not theirs probably someone else’s, make snacks healthy. Offer sliced fresh fruit, Trans fat-free popcorn, low-fat cheese sticks, fresh veggies and hummus, or whole grain pretzel sticks. Don’t keep sweets like ice cream or other sugared snacks around at this time.

Adjust meals: During the first week or so, make meals that are lower in carbohydrates to adjust for the extra candy intake. Avoid pasta, potatoes, rice, and breaded foods. Don’t send packaged snacks to school. Eat more protein, vegetables, and healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and nuts.

Avoid extra calories: Obviously candy contains calories and carbohydrates. Here is a helpful hint: 15 grams of carbohydrate equals one serving of carbohydrate or the equivalent of one slice of bread. Look on the label of a candy package in their pile. See how many grams of carbohydrate are in one package or one piece. If you know 15 grams is one serving, you can figure out how many carbohydrate servings your child is eating in candy. The average young child who is fairly active needs about 90 grams of carbohydrates from grains, beans, breads, potatoes, crackers, and sweets. That is about six servings in a day. So if you figure they are eating two to three servings of carbohydrates from candy, 30 - 45 grams, limit the healthier carbs to about three servings per day. A serving is usually 1/3 cup cooked of pasta or rice, ½ of a baked potato, ½ cup of cereal, 1 tortilla, or ½ cup of beans.

While this may seem like a lot of work, it beats the alternative of turning into a witch by disallowing candy. Candy at Halloween, as long as kids are eating other healthy food, will not permanently ruin your child’s health. This balanced approach leads to happy memories and a cease fire.

Is it Safe to Eat the Dark Green Leafy Veggies?

Health news is constantly changing. Just when we should be eating more greens, news comes out that greens might contain E. coli and be deadly. So what are we to do?

I would still eat the dark greens. You cannot avoid all risks. Here is some information from KidsHealth that might help:

What Is E. Coli?
E. coli is a common type of bacteria that can get into food, like beef and vegetables. E. coli is short for the medical term Escherichia coli. The strange thing about these bacteria — and lots of other bacteria — is that they're not always harmful to you.

E. coli normally lives inside your intestines, where it helps your body break down and digest the food you eat. Unfortunately, certain types (called strains) of E. coli can get from the intestines into the blood. This is a rare illness, but it can cause a very serious infection. Someone who has E. coli infection may have these symptoms: bad stomach cramps and belly pain vomiting diarrhea, sometimes with blood in it

One very bad strain of E. coli was found in fresh spinach in 2006 and some fast-food hamburgers in 1993. Beef can contain E. coli because the bacteria often infect cattle. It can be in meat that comes from cattle and it's also in their poop, called manure. Cow poop in your food? How does that happen? Not on purpose, of course, but it can happen if the manure is used for fertilizer (a common practice to help crops grow) or if water contaminated with E. coli is used to irrigate the crops.

Heat can kill E. coli, so experts recommend that people cook beef (especially ground beef) until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Choosing pasteurized juice is another way to avoid possible infection.

Lastly, some experts recommend washing and scrubbing vegetables before eating them. But others say E. coli is hard to remove once it has contaminated produce, such as spinach, lettuce, or onions. The solution, they say, is to take more steps so that E. coli doesn't come in contact with crops.

So continue to eat the bright leafy greens. They are good for you and help fight disease. Look at it this way, if in the very rare case you do come into contact with E. coli, your resistance will be stronger and the effects possibly will be less harmful!

It's Time to Boost Your Immunity

I am basically a skeptic but the swine flu alerts are beginning to make me nervous. Since the vaccine is currently not available, I am putting my "immunity boosting" plan into effect now.

Germs and viruses are everywhere so building the body's resistance to infection is what we are after. Just like plants, strong healthy bodies are more disease resistant. Plants derive their resistance from the nutrients in the soil. The stronger, well nourished plants are more likely to avoid being eaten by bugs. Even though harvest season is around the corner, now is the time to nourish the soil for next year's plantings.

So to fight off the coming flu season, let's enrich our bodies (our soil) now. Here is what to do:

Eat vegetables: At least 5-6 servings a day. Vegetables, especially the dark green and orange ones, are high in Vitamin A. Vitamin A keeps the mucous membranes healthy. Viruses tend to enter the body through mucous membranes so keeping them strong is the first line of defense (after washing your and hands and covering your mouth.) Vitamin A acts like a shield.

A large entree salad is approximately four servings. Think dark green and bright orange colors. Broccoli, spinach, kale, yams, carrots, pumpkin, summer squash, green peppers and even avocado are all high in Vitamin A.

Use veggies in stir fry, casseroles, and as toppings on sandwiches and pizza (whole grain of course). Drink V-8 or fresh vegetable juices. Fajitas, ratatouille, eggplant Parmesan are also good choices. Tomato paste is a great way to boost Vitamin A. I like Amore's paste in a tube. You can mix it in sauces, dressings, and spread on sandwiches. Great on grilled cheese.

Eat Fruit: Just like veggies, there are lots of Vitamin A rich fruits. Eat about three servings a day. Mangoes, papaya, apricots, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelon, kiwi, oranges, and blackberries all contain Vitamin A. Guava is high in Vitamin A and so are gooseberries.

Add them to cereal, yogurt, or cut up in salads. Bring them for snacks and keep some in the car for the times you get really hungry. Now that the weather is cooler, foods can be safely kept in the car. Carry a container of cut up fruit, a fork and a napkin and have at it when you are stuck in traffic. Add a handful of nuts and you won't be starving when you get home; so no excuses not to exercise!

Eat Nuts: Though hard to resist, nuts build resistance. Some contain reasonable amounts of Vitamin A. Try pumpkin seeds, pistachios, pecans, chestnuts, pine nuts, and walnuts. Add them to salads, trail mix, cereal, baked goods, or eat them out of your hand for a quick snack. Eat about 1/4 cup of nuts every day, preferably raw or dry roasted.

Emerald has some awesome nut choices. I like their Cocoa Roasted Almonds, perfect for when I get chocolate craving. Lately I have been using almond milk on my cereal and in my tea. Almond Breeze makes a good one.

Finally, add in a few servings of whole grains, 4 - 6 oz. of lean protein, and a carton of low fat yogurt. Remember to exercise and get plenty of rest. Now the bugs should be less likely to bite you this flu season.

Fruit and Veggie Recipes

Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained, finely chopped
1 pkg. (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup canola or olive oil light mayonnaise
½ cup shredded Cabot 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese
½ tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients until well blended.

Spoon mixture into a 9 inch pie plate or quiche dish.

Bake 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve with assorted cut-up fresh vegetables and/or whole grain crackers.

Most hot dips can be assembled in advance. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

http://www.gobefull.com/

Mexican Chicken Salad
Serves 6 to 8

1 pound chicken breasts, steamed and shredded
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups kidney beans, drained

Combine the dressing and chill overnight if possible:
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 cloves garlic, mashed

When ready to serve, toss together in a salad bowl:
4 cups chopped iceberg and romaine lettuce mixture
½ cup scallions

Heap marinated chicken and beans on lettuce. Top with:
2 cups grated Cabot 50% or 75% Light Vermont Cheddar Cheese

Garnish with:
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 large avocado, sliced
Guiltless Gourmet baked chips (approx. 25 chips), crushed

Toss together before serving.

http://www.gobefull.com/

Roasted Vegetable Soup
Serves 4
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes

Preheat oven to 425° F.

In roasting pan, toss 6 beefsteak tomatoes, halved and cored; 2 leeks, white and pale-green parts cut into ½ inch pieces; 4 carrots, cut into ¼ inch pieces; 4 garlic cloves; and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Roast in a single layer (tomatoes cut sides down) until tender, about 1 hour. Using tongs, peel off tomato skins.

In saucepan, bring vegetables, 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) reduced-sodium vegetable broth, and 1 cup water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

In batches, puree in blender. Stir in ¼ cup chopped fresh basil.

http://www.gobefull.com/

Balsamic Zucchini with Pine Nuts
Serves 6
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 Minutes

Preheat broiler.

4 lbs. medium zucchini, cut diagonally into ¾ inch thick slices
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ t. salt
½ t. coarsely ground pepper
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
½ oz. finely gated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts (roast these in a 350° oven until browned, about 5 minutes)

Toss sliced zucchini with oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Arrange in one layer in two shallow baking pans (1 inch deep).

Broil 1 pan of zucchini 3 to 5 inches from heat, without turning, until browned in spots and beginning to soften, 4 to 6 minutes.

Take pan from oven and drizzle 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar over broiled zucchini and shake pan a few times, then continue to broil until most of the vinegar is evaporated, about 2 minutes.
Sprinkle ¼ cup Parmesan cheese over broiled zucchini and put back under broiler until cheese is melted, about 1 minute more. Cook remaining zucchini in the same manner. Cool to room temperature and serve sprinkled with pine nuts.

Balsamic zucchini (without pine nuts) can be made 3 hours ahead and kept at room temperature or chilled and covered. Sprinkle with pine nuts just before serving.

http://www.gobefull.com/

Cranberry Sauce
2 3/4 c. water
1-2 c. sugar or Stevia or Splenda depending on desired sweetness
2# package fresh cranberries (pick off stems)
3 sliced Red Delicious apples cut thin (core and seed)
2 thin sliced navel oranges
2-3 sticks of cinnamon
10-12 cloves

Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cook and mix very gently until the mixture comes to a boil. Then cook for 5 more minutes (lower the heat a little) without mixing. Take off heat and add the thinly sliced oranges. Let cool. Refrigerate and serve.

http://www.gobefull.com/

Fruit Crisp
Serves 6
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 60 Minutes

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350° F. Have ready an unbuttered 8 x 8 inch baking dish, a 9 inch pie pan, or a 10 x 6 inch oblong glass baking dish.

Thaw any of the following frozen fruit or use fresh fruit:
Apples
Nectarines
Peaches
Mangoes
Blueberries

Blend 2 cups dry Uncle Sam’s Cereal (Giant or Whole Foods) until looks like bread crumbs.

Stir together with a fork in a small bowl:
1½ cup blended Uncle Sam’s Cereal
3 tablespoons Land O Lakes Soft Baking Butter, melted

Whisk together thoroughly in another bowl:
½ cup packed sugar or Stevia or Splenda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Spread one-third of the crumb mixture evenly in the bottom of the baking dish. Distribute half of the fruit in the dish. Sprinkle with half of the sugar mixture and then with 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

Cover with another third of the crumb mixture, the remaining fruit, the remaining sugar mixture, and 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Cover with the remaining crumb mixture. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until fruit is nearly tender when pierced with a skewer, about 30 - 40 minutes. Uncover the dish. Increase the oven temperature to 400° F and bake until the cobbler is browned, about 10 minutes. Serve warm in bowls. Add frozen yogurt if desired.

http://www.gobefull.com/

High School Kids Need More Fruits and Veggies - Is There Anything We Can Do?

Once again the news is telling us high school kids don't get enough fresh fruits and vegetables. CNN had a piece on this topic just this morning.

With all the issues teens have on their plates, telling teenagers to eat more fruits and veggies seems juvenile and downright silly. Yet if we want our kids to be healthy and strong to deal with the stress and strain of high school, we need to get our message across.

So what is a parent to do? Here are a few tips that might help them eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and benefit from the nutrients and phytochemicals that will flood their systems:

Tip One: Since teenagers eat tremendous amounts of fast food, casually suggest that you go out to eat at their favorite restaurant. Let them order whatever they want. If you know ahead of time, you can review the menu and find something healthy with the most veggies possible. As you're eating together, you can talk about how delicious your meal is and what other healthy items that you might like to try the next time you return. Subway is a great place to pile on the veggies as they have tons of choices. Noodles and Company also offers lots of healthy items.

Tip Two: While we don't want to focus on the negative, if your child is having skin issues like acne, a diet high in fruits and veggies is one more tool in the arsenal to fight blemished skin. The next time they bring up the subject of skin, you might say that you read that eating carrots, spinach, broccoli, and avocado can sometimes help keep skin clear. You might mention that both Chipotle and Baja Fresh offer salads and freshly made guacamole. Additionally, avoiding trans fats, fried foods, and increasing healthy monounsaturated fats also helps. Japanese restaurants are also a good choice. Obviously expensive, but full of veggies and Omega 3 fats from the fish.

Tip Three: Take the time to serve more veggies at dinner. Steam an array of veggies and serve them with an easy to make cheesy artichoke spinach dip (see recipes on next post). Or try Dr. Praeger's Spinach Pancakes served with applesauce and a little sour cream. Soups are a great way to get in high potency veggies. If you bring in take out, make sure you are choosing dishes with lots of veggies. Even pizza provides a veggie opportunity. Artichoke hearts, tomatoes, olives, green pepper, onion, and spinach are now available. Some pizza places now offer whole wheat crust. Add a salad and you are set. Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza, and California Tortilla also have items with lots of veggies and whole grains.

Tip Four: Stock the fridge with V-8 juices and sparkling apple juice. Ditch the sodas. Make your own trail mix with dried cranberries, raw almonds, dry roasted peanuts (more healthy fats), mini chocolate chips and whole wheat Chex cereal. Bake carrot cake (use whole wheat pastry flour), carrot muffins, or banana bread. If you pack their lunch, add more veggies on their sandwiches: a few spinach leaves, roasted red peppers, thinly sliced tomato. If they balk, just smile! Whenever you make a recipe, increase the amount of veggies. More chopped or diced veggies won't affect the taste or texture.

Tip Five: It is not too late to model good eating habits. Like mom always said, "Actions speak louder than words."

Happy Trails.

Judy