Kids' schedules important, especially when heading back to school

Source - Frasier Zahniser, PSU Extension Educator, Mercer Co.

The return to school marks an abrupt transition in a family's routine. It forces children into a schedule that in turn affects playtime, sleep and other free time.

That's why creating an effective schedule, both before and after returning to school, is important for improving performance for kids and parents alike, according to an expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.  Follow this link to the entire story:  http://live.psu.edu/story/48043

Organizing the Kitchen Part II

On the heels of my successful freezer organizing project, I was motivated to continue on and tackle my pantry. Realizing effort put in to organizing the pantry would later save time, money and stress. I gathered my tools and went to work. Here is the process I used, I hope it helps you.

Tools required to do this include: labels, permanent markers, baskets, and air tight storage containers (preferably square or rectangular—saves space).

1. Empty all shelves, wiping them down with a bleach solution. To make a 1:10 solution, you need 1 part bleach for every 9 parts water. A good amount to start with is:
                               ¼ cup bleach 2 ¼ cup water
2. Sort out the items into different categories such as: breakfast items, snacks, and baking goods.
3. Check use by dates and expiration dates. Discard expired items. This also a good time to take stock and plan meals to use up some overstocked items.
4. Create sub-groups, it save time during meal time. Canned fruits, canned soups, ethnic ingredients and vegetables can be an example of the various sub-groups.
5. Labeled baskets are a handy storage system for maintaining a clutter-free pantry for food and seasoning packets.
6. Store dry goods such as flour, pasta, teabags, sugar, and cereal in labeled air tight containers.
7. Label shelves into categories (condiments, ethnic, beverages etc.). Frequently used items should be kept in front. Place items you want children to get for themselves within arm's reach. Reserve high and back shelves for items used less often.
8. Lastly, implement FIFO (first in/first out) system. When stocking shelves keep oldest in the front to be used first.

I found such satisfaction to see my pantry neat, tidy and clutter-free. Using the above system took about two hours for me to complete. Best of all, my organized pantry has saved time with planning meals, tracking food choices for shopping and has minimized my spending. Got ideas, please share what works for you!

Baby steps to getting organized!!

My New Year resolution this year is to get organized. Normally taking on such a large task means failure is likely, but I have a plan. First develop manageable size projects that can be completed in one to four hours. Second keep motivated by sharing my ideas, success and insights learned.

My first task is to manage the black hole of frozen foods, the FREEZER. Have you ever brought frozen foods only to find out later you already have three, or four in the freezer. I became very aware of this as I took on my first organizing project. I have a chest freezer but these same concepts can be applied to uprights.

BEFORE storing anything in the freezer, date and label all items; trust me you will not remember what that bag of leftover turkey meat is after one month in the freezer. Use two freezer thermometers (placed in different sections of the freezer) to monitor the temperature which should be zero degrees or below. Cool hot foods in the refrigerator first to prevent harmful bacteria growth. One last thing, recloseable freezer bags are your friends. Remember to remove as much air as possible before sealing the bag.

Inventory items on hand then find an organizing system so items can be easily found. Since I have a chest freezer I divided my freezer into four sections with stacking baskets for meats, fruits/vegetables, prepared foods, and miscellaneous items. Using baskets allows for the removal of a basket, to limit lost energy or frostbite while looking for a particular item. Repackage purchased meats from the store into freezer bags place in coldest section of freezer to maintain quality. You can even add marinate into bags before freezing this saves time later. Fruits and Vegetables, I like variety and a garden explains the rest. Check out Mandel Smith's post from May 22, 2009 "Plan Now for Summer Produce" to safely freeze fruits and vegetables.

Prepared foods include: soups, casseroles, pizza, and purchased prepared foods. When freezing soups, pour cooled soups into freezer bags and freeze flat for ease of stacking later and to shorten defrost time. For upright freezers try using a plate stacker or cooling racks to prevent crushing of items like pizza or casseroles. Cooling racks are also useful to hold cookie sheets to freeze bagged items flat or for freezing loose berries before bagging. Miscellaneous items such as leftovers, snack foods, and baking supplies; flour, nuts, chocolate chips, butter, and eggs. If you are considering freezing eggs crack them into a dish and lightly beat before storing in air tight container.

With some help it took about an hour to organize, and inventory everything onto four magnetized easer boards now posted on the front of the freezer. Job one done, Success!! Got ideas, or problem areas in your house post your comments.

Get Out of the Kitchen and Socialize During the Holidays!

I enjoyed (more like survived) another holiday! For all those designated cooks you may know exactly what I mean. Were you missing an ingredient when you were ready to start cooking? Did you forget to serve something you had planned? Or there is that often asked question. "How do I time my dishes to have everything ready to serve at once?" Hopefully my four steps will reduce your stress and gain you time to socialize. # 1 Don't procrastinate!!!

# 2 Plan Think about all the family functions and parties you will be attending over the holiday, write it down either on a calendar, datebook, or a post a visible note. Include start time, location, departure time and directions if needed. If you are hosting, plan your menus! Make sure to include items that can be made ahead and limit items that need to be made last minute.

# 3 Make a List I know some people can go through life without the need of a list, but for others it is the only saving grace from total disaster. Make a grocery shopping list made from menu items and recipes you plan to use. Consider making a list for each function include: all the food items, serving utensils, and any miscellaneous items you plan to take.

# 4 Prepare Ahead Once menus are planned review and add preparation/cooking times. Make items that can be prepared ahead. Many casseroles can be prepared a week or more ahead then frozen. Several days before the function make a time line of preparation/baking times for all menu items. This will help reduce stress and make sure nothing is forgotten and everything is done when dinner is scheduled to be served.

Having family members help with holiday preparations is also an effective way to save time in the kitchen. If you have found some sure fire ways to save time in the kitchen please comment and share your secrets. So we all can enjoy the holidays with less stress and more free time to visit with friends and family. ENJOY!!

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?

Surviving a Recession Without Gaining Weight.

As I watched the morning news I heard that the general public has a tendency to put extra weight on during a recessionary period. The report sighted buying cheaper foods with higher calories to feel full longer, being the leading cause for weight gain. So let's look at the few possible reasons for gaining extra weight during a recession and ideas to combat the bulge.

Stress and worry are two major emotions we deal with sometimes daily during a recession or almost any time in our lives. Many people go to comfort foods which in most cases are high in fat and calories and low in nutrients, a good example is chocolate. If you feel nothing else will help but eating that favorite comfort food just set a limit to ensure you eat a smaller portion. Another option is to up your calorie burn by increasing your exercise time or workout intensity. Exercise also has the benefit of releasing endorphins, the natural way to increase feelings of well being in our bodies to help ease the effects of stress. Yes chocolate also has endorphins but then you have the guilt of extra calories to deal with later.

Today I hear people are not purchasing fresh produce to save money at the grocery store. Nutrition is still important during a recession. So is it possible to still eat healthy on a limited budget with less money to spend on food? Even in good economic times most people don't consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Since it is winter in my area most of the local farmer markets have closed for the season. Yes, fresh produce is at its highest price when out of season. So what can we do? There are other alternative to help us reach our daily recommended goals while on a budget. Let's just move further in the grocery store past the fresh produce section to find money saving options. Going down the canned goods section options abound. Check labels and choose fruits packed in natural juices and low sodium vegetables. Several great things about canned goods are they are; reasonably priced, have a long shelf life, minimal storage requirements, and are quick and easy to prepare. Another area of the grocery store to help you make healthy money saving options is the frozen food section. A wide section of assorted vegetables are always available with less fluctuation in price compared to fresh. One of the great advantages to frozen produce is the ability to cook only the amount you will consume which saves you money with less waste. The only disadvantage I can find if freezer space is limited in your situation. Do you have ideas on how to eat your fruit and veggies while staying within your budget and not packing on the pounds? Please share your ideas and comments.

How the Cookie Crumbles

These days with the economy the way it is, and holidays around the corner, who doesn’t want to save time and money? Here are some tips to make holiday task more manageable. First break down the big holiday shopping category into smaller groupings such as gifts, parties, food and baking. Set up a budget for each area. This will help you stay within your means. For our purpose let’s just focus on one category, my favorite, baking. The following are some tried and true, time and money saving tips to make the holiday baking season a little less stressful and to give you extra time for other important things. It all starts with planning, sound familiar? Planning is the number one helper in saving time and money. Here are my top ten most helpful steps to get you started on the right track. These tips will help you save time; money; and sanity during any baking venture. 1. Make a list of all the cookies you want to make. Keeping in mind shape, flavor, and texture so you will have a nice assortment of cookies when finished. If you ship cookies you also want to think sturdiness. Most drop cookies will hold up well during the travel process. 2. Gather recipes and ingredients. Make a master shopping list from your recipes. Then look in your pantry or freezer for ingredients you may already have or staples you may be low on. Remember specialty ingredients, items like spices, flavorings, sprinkles, and mix-ins (nuts, choc chips, pieces of candy bars, or coconut). 3. Make a master baking shopping list. This will also allow you to spread out your expenses over several shopping trips. Start purchasing some ingredients ahead when you see them on sale. During the late summer and early fall purchase items such as chocolate chips, flour, and sugar. Knowing your prices helps with knowing how good a sale really is when you happen on one. 4. Be creative. Marked down Halloween candy makes great mix-ins or centers for cookies and brownies. Mix-ins and centers can be altered easily from the original recipe. 5. Oh No’s! What to do with cookies, that don’t turn out right. If you forgot an ingredients or used too much of another ingredient. Don’t trash the batch, use them for something else. Dry them out in a 250˚ F oven and grind them in a food processor many basic cookies such as chocolate chip ,peanut butter and most bar cookies can have as much as 1/3 of the total flour needed can be replaced with dried ground cookie crumbs. 6. No more sticky mess! When measuring shortening or sticky items in measuring cups, line the cup with a piece of plastic wrap first. This will prevent the need to wash the cup for the next ingredient. 7. No Time to bake! If you don’t have time to bake now, mix up batches of dough. Most drop cookie dough made with butter and flour as main ingredients can be frozen now and baked later. If you form the dough into a log and roll it in parchment or wax paper. Then cover with plastic wrap and freeze. Just slice and bake when you have time. You will get best results if dough is still partly frozen while slicing. 8. Parchment paper is your best friend! I know it can be pricey but the time it will save you on clean up is worth the money. In case you didn’t know, parchment paper can be reused until it turns light tan. 9. Make ahead! Freezing baked cookies is another saving grace. About 95% of all cookie varieties can be frozen for up to 3 months without losing flavor. Varieties that don’t freeze well are meringue based, fried, lace and any cookie with hard candy. If you are not sure if a variety you bake freezes well test a sample. Put a few in a zipper seal freezer bag and place them in freezer for overnight. You will know 15 minutes after taking cookies out of the freezer if they are suitable for freezing. Fragile cookies such as cut- outs should be placed in sturdy container s before freezing. Most other cookies can be stored on edge packed tightly together in zipper seal bags. To lock in moisture and freshness, bag cookies as soon as they cool completely. Don’t wait long, cookies start drying out as soon as they come out of the oven. 10. Are we done yet! When I finish my holiday baking for the year, I package extra ingredients in airtight bags or container and freeze them to start the next year. Items that work well for this are choc chips, nuts, coconut, even fruit filling. Baking with family or friends is a great way to spend time together and have fun, even little hands can help. If all the above seems like too much, but you still want homemade baked cookies. Join or start a cookie swap with family and friends. Remember, portion control so you don’t have regrets after the holiday season and stress about weight loss. I know I missed many great ideas so please share your tips for making holiday baking a little less stressful for someone else.

Welcome to the Southeast Region Family Living Blog!

Greetings from the Southeast Region of Pennsylvania. We are a group of Penn State Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Educators. If you have any family related questions or issues please send us comments. In future weeks we will covering topics such as nutrition, financial management, food safety, parenting, stress management and family issues across the life cycle.