Stop Rising Cost from Eating Up Your Food Budget

Keeping food cost under control is something families can do in tough economic times to help stretch their dollars and other resources. When it comes to saving money at the grocery store there are several tactics that can help reduce cost while still providing adequate nutrition for the family. Saving money at the grocery store requires planning. Going to the grocery store without a shopping list and budgeted amount of food money is like going on a unfamiliar trip without a map or Global Positioning System (GPS). Preparing that grocery list should be the first step in planning each trip to the grocery store. Here are other suggestions for making every trip to the grocery store less of a financial challenge. Take time to plan meals for a week or two. It may take extra time on the weekends to plan meals, but this is time well spent. Remember this nutrition tip when planning meals. Use the USDA MyPyramid as your guide for menu planning. Choose a variety of foods from each of the food groups. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans also suggest consuming a variety of foods in moderation while limiting your consumption of fat, sugar, and sodium (salt). For more information on MyPyramid, visit the website at MyPyramid.gov. Prepare menus two weeks at a time. Plan to use a variety of cooking methods, colors, textures, and be sure to incorporate family favorites into each menu. Select recipes that are fast and easy to prepare and that have short cooking times. These can include stir fry dishes, fish, salads, and stews. This is a good time to try new recipes that use different inexpensive ingredients. You can also plan to serve breakfast for dinner a time or two each month. This is a fun way for families to stretch that food dollar. Plan some of your family meals around weekly grocery store specials. Once you have meals planned, use the menus to develop your shopping list. Check the cupboards, refrigerator and freezers to see if you already have some of the items needed to prepare the planned meals on hand. Make a list to purchase the food you need based on the recipes you choose. Remember to plan to purchase food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Keep these tips in mind before heading to the grocery store. · Use coupons wisely. Coupons may not always save money, especially if you use them to purchase food you don’t normally buy. Many times store or generic brands are a better buy. · Compare prices. Don’t grab the first food box or item that you see. Look at the “unit” price display on the shelf and compare. · Compare forms of foods. Buy a lower-cost form of the product if it will do as well. Compare frozen, fresh, and canned products. The cost may vary but the nutritional value is similar. · Shop on a full stomach. Don’t go to the store when you are hungry. You will often buy more food than you really need. · Buy in season. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are the best buy.

Beans: Tasty, Healthy and Economical!

Nutrients Fiber: There is about 8g of fiber per half cup of most beans. Fiber helps you lose weight, stay regular, and prevent chronic disease. Vitamins/Minerals: In just a half cup of most beans you get 30 to 45 percent of your daily requirement for folic acid (a B vitamin that is good for your heart, prevents birth defects, and cancer). Beans are also rich in iron (prevention against anemia) and magnesium (important for your heart and bones). Protein: Beans help you to meet your daily protein needs. Uses Beans are a low cost, healthy way to meet your protein needs. Here are some ways to include them in your daily diet: · Throw some in your salad (kidney beans or chickpeas are great!) · Dip some baby carrots or pita triangles in hummus. · Hearty soups can make a meal---navy bean, lentil, minestrone. · Enjoy refried beans in Mexican entrees— burrito, enchiladas or tacos · Have baked beans, black-eyed peas or limas as a side dish. · Three-bean or kidney bean salads are tasty summer treats. · Vegetarian chili makes a nutritious main dish. · Black bean, corn and tomato salsa adds interest to chicken or fish. · Red beans and rice can be a side dish or add chicken or meat to make entrée. · Use mashed beans to extend ground beef or turkey in a burger. · Dip tortilla chips in bean dip. · Surprisingly delicious—mashed beans in cake--http://www.centralbean.com/recipes/recipe45.html Recipes For more information and recipes, go to: http://lancaster.unl.edu/FOOD/Singing_Praises_of_Beans2.pdf What are your favorite ways to eat beans?

Economic News vs. Heart Health

I feel overwhelmed, stressed, concerned, worried, afraid, and angry! These are some of the many different emotions people feel daily during an economic downturn. Yes, it is important for health and well being to acknowledge these feelings. But we do not want to let them rule our everyday lives. Stress affects our mood, which in turn raises blood pressure, increases or decreases weight and drains energy. These all have bad effects on our hearts and overall health. So what can we do? First, eat healthy well balanced meals and snacks, staying away from high fat foods when possible and find ways to combat stress. The following are suggested ideas for lowering stress: · Read humorous or feel good stories to calm the mind · Exercise to burn off stressful feelings · Limit your access to news · Spend time with your family doing something fun and free! Go play outside, go on a bike ride or go walking or hiking. · Petting your dog or cat is known to lower blood pressure · Get adequate sleep · Talk and LISTEN to your family · Do something good for others · End each day with positive thoughts such as “I am grateful for…” We don’t have the power to change the news but we can change how we react to the news. Do things to help family, friends, neighbors, and the local community. There are many free or low cost ways to contribute, help at a soup kitchen or donate food or clothing to shelters. This goes a long way in handling the many strong negative emotions that tax our heart’s health. Positive talk and thoughts also help balance all the bad news bombarding us through the media. Keep a journal or as a family, share at dinner what each family member is grateful or what nice things someone else did for you today. So as I lay down to sleep tonight to keep my heart healthy “ I am grateful for my family and good health”. What are you grateful for? What ideas have you used to handle the daily stress caused by the economy?

Taking Back Kids' Sports

Every winter, as soon as the temperatures go above freezing, and I can smell the earth and grass again, I feel compelled to write about youth sports. Spring training is just around the corner for many youth who participate in spring sports as well as their parents. This has been a ritual in my family for about twenty years, eight sports, and three kids. In that time, a few profound things happened that have stuck with me and impacted how I greet the sports seasons.

One night, at the end of soccer practice my son’s coach gave the parents copies of an article from the August 7, 2005 issue of PARADE magazine called “Who’s Killing Kids’ Sports?” He didn’t say much about it other than that we should read it and then write on the back, “My child is not a superstar”. Now, this tickled my curiosity like one of those scratch-off-to-find-your-discount cards at a JC Penney sale. I couldn’t wait to get home and read the article. But all the way there my son kept asking, “But why does Coach want you to write than I am not a superstar?”. Not knowing for sure if I was on the right track, I went on to explain that his coach wanted everyone to feel like they were a team, that no one player could do it alone. My then ten-year-old seemed satisfied with this explanation, at least for the moment.

We got home, ate a quick dinner, and then my son took a shower while I read. The article confirmed for me what I had thought about the fate of youth sports for a long time. Far too many parents are living vicariously through their children. While involvement in youth sports has been shown to be a real asset for children’s development in many ways, the over-emphasis on success and perfection of performance can be disastrous. The author refers to events where overly-competitive parents have gone so far as to fight in front of their kids, one situation even leading to a parent’s death.

There is a belief by many parents that if their child is not a stand-out athlete by the fourth grade, their chances of making the high school team or getting into a “good” college are nil. The pressure on kids to perform is incredible, and I myself have seen children walk off playing fields to face the wrath of a disappointed parent. It is time to get the culture of youth sports under control.

Youth sports are supposed to be about learning and fun. It is about team building, getting along, and respect for others. Unfortunately, there are parents who think otherwise, that it is a training ground for their own unfulfilled dreams.

When my son finished his shower, he found me sitting on my bed with the article in hand. He asked again why Coach would want to tell parents to write that their kids are not superstars. “Do you think I am not a superstar?”, he questioned almost sadly.

Well, I must admit, I didn’t actually write, “My kid is not a superstar”. But I did write this: “My kid gives 100%” I explained to him that what we expect is not that he be perfect, but that try his best at whatever he does, that he recognize and use his God-given talents as best he can. And most importantly that he have fun!

The Changing Face of Hunger in Delaware County

We had a great day on Friday when over 120 people attended the Changing Face of Hunger in Delaware County awareness day on Friday, March 6, 2009 at Widener University in Chester, PA. The keynote speaker, Dr. Mariana Chilton, principal investigator for the Grow Project at Drexel University, challenged the audience to think about the living conditions that contribute to hunger.

A panel of CityTeam, Loaves and Fishes, the Bernardine Center and the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger shared success stories regarding recruiting and retaining volunteers and finding funding for food cupboards and food resources. Good tips for any organization that depends on volunteer assistance!

Lunch provided an opportunity for participants to peruse displays from WIC, the Food Trust, Penn State Nutrition Links, DCIU Head Start, CityTeam, CAADC (SNAP-food stamps),Chester Food Coop, DIFAN, NDS-Archdiocese of Phila., Philabundance, SHARE, Bernardine Center, COSA and Greater Phila. Coalition Against Hunger. This was a wonderful chance to network and find out what resources were provided by these organizations.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are often missing in diets when money is tight. Panelists from the Food Trust Farmer's Markets, Philabundance's Fresh for All, SHARE and Penn State Urban Master Gardeners shared where to find these foods in Delaware Co. at low cost, free and where WIC participants and seniors can use summer farmer'smarket vouchers.

The day wrapped up with FRAC's Ellen Teller, advocate for hunger issues in Wash DC, who stressed that we all need to let our legislators know what we are doing to address hunger in our county, what our clients need and how our representatives can vote to support adequate food for all.

Many thanks to the planning committee of Amy Nardi, Marilyn Sileo, Linda Freeman, Kelly Hile, Karen May, Sr. Josandra Ciucci, Sr. Rose MacDermott, Linda Wolk, Cynthia Barrar, Filomena Ahlefeld, Kathy Hornberger, Anne Ayella, Alan Edelstein, Barbara Myers, and Fran Alloway.

Are you Food Secure?

Do you have enough food in your house to feed your family? Do you skip meals to stretch food throughout the week? Or until the next paycheck arrives? Have you begun to purchase food at the dollar store instead of the grocery store? Are you worried about providing for your children? Food insecurity is a term used to describe a lack of accessable food to provide a healthy diet obtained in an acceptable manner. While the use of food banks may provide food for the hungry, for most this is not a socially acceptable source. As the unemployment rate rises, food resources are seeing larger numbers of applicants and less donations. Demand at food cupboards increased 30% in 2008 according to a survey from Feeding America, which distributes more than two billion tons of food each year. These numbers were confirmed in Delaware County, PA food cupboards where directors reported a 34% increase in clients in September 2008 from September 2007. WIC, which provides supplemental food for low income pregnant women and children from birth to age five has also seen an increase that exceeds their capacity to provide infant formula, dairy products, beans and peanut butter and cereal to new families. A Philadelphia phone survey of 10,000 households in the five surrounding counties for the Community Health Data Base found that nearly one in ten suburban households, one in five urban households, skipped or cut back a meal due to lack of money. Unfortunately, cut backs can include healthy choices such as milk, vegetables and fruit. Lower quality food choices do not provide the nutrients needed to support good health and can lead to greater incidences of chronic disease. Ironically, obesity rates are highest in communities where food insecurity is highest. Fortunately the US Stimulus Bill that was passed this week will increase the money available for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps), funding for food cupboards (TEFAP), WIC site support and school lunch and breakfast programs. Food resources are also available for seniors and WIC clients through summer fruit and vegetable vouchers, hot lunches at senior centers and afterschool snacks and summer meals for children at low income sites. Penn State Cooperative Extension provides educational resources to assist low income households stretch their food dollars, prepare lower cost meals that meet nutritional needs, and make better food purchases that are nutrient dense, not calorically dense. The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and SNAP-Ed programs are federally funded to assist food stamp eligible persons to use their food dollars wisely. For more information on these programs in PA, check http://nutrlinks.cas.psu.edu. In Delaware Co, a conference will be held on March 6, 2009 to address many of the issues related to hunger, allow opportunities for networking and discuss solutions. The Changing Face of Hunger in Delaware County will be held at Widener University, Chester, PA . For a brochure, go to http://delaware.extension.psu.edu. Penn State Cooperative Extension, Southeast Region, has also assembled resources on a website, http://extension.psu.edu/livingbetter. Included are educational materials and classes to help you live better for less. Check out these materials and learn to grow a garden, stretch food dollars, purchase healthy food for less, find sources of free food and budget your money. I hope that you don’t feel food insecure in the year ahead.