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EAT BETTER
The Sisters Together team worked with local restaurants to promote
healthy eating. Some of the local spots highlighted a dish that was a
slightly changed popular soul food item like collard greens cooked with
smoked turkey. In turn, we promoted the restaurants and featured local
chefs.
We also worked closely with the Agricultural Extension programs
that had been offering supermarket tours. We developed a
partnership with a program offering
cooking tips and co-sponsored programs that featured and demonstrated
new cooking ideas. Folks stayed for the tasting too.
In addition, the Sisters Together team developed a free calendar that had move more and eat better tips and a
monthly recipe. Here are the recipes from the
calendar.
Table of Contents:
Eat
Better Tips
- To give prepared applesauce a tasty boost, sprinkle some cinnamon and add a little vanilla flavoring (about a capful to a medium size jar). Or for a slightly hot side dish, add a little prepared horseradish.
- To make dishes tastier, use fresh herbs, like thyme, when you can. Buy herbs in small amounts and stored them in tightly covered jars to keep their flavor.
- Try using pudding on fruit. Add enough milk so it pours over the fruit like thick syrup.
- Eating on the run is necessary sometimes, but it should not be a way of life. Take time to enjoy your food. Sit down, relax, and eat your food slowly!
- Be adventurous. Every month try one fruit and one vegetable you have never tried.
- Snacks can be part of your eat better plan. To control the amount, serve a portion and eat only that much. Air-popped popcorn seasoned with grated cheese is a good snack choice. Dried corn kernels can also be popped in a brown paper bag in a microwave oven.
- To add a little meat to a tomato sauce, slowly brown a pound of hamburger drain it in a colander and then on paper towels. Add it to the cooked tomatoes. You can also use this method to add ground meat to other recipes to keep them low in fat and high in flavor.
- Make one small change in your eating habits every month. Keep track of them so that at the end of a year you can see just how far you have come.
- Keep fruit in an easy-to-reach spot in your refrigerator. Reach for it twice a day every day.
- Prepare mashed potatoes with low-fat milk and a teaspoon or less of soft margarine per serving. Season with herbs and spices like onions, garlic, black pepper, parsley, and thyme.
- To bake home fries: peel baking potatoes and slice thinly or cut into cubes. Mix with some chopped onion. Spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with seasonings (Cajun seasoning, for example). Spread onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown and crispy.
- Add plantains and other fruits such as pineapple, apricots, and peaches to your chicken, turkey, or fish recipes. They add flavor and color and help to increase how much fruit you eat.
- Cook your favorite vegetables in chicken or beef broth to add flavor without fat. Season them with fresh or powdered onions and garlic or other seasonings.
- Make meal time family time. Slow down and enjoy eating.
- When baking cookies or cake, replace some of the fat in a recipe with pureed fruit, applesauce or nonfat yogurt. When a recipe calls for oil, butter, margarine or shortening, replace half of it with one of these.
- Eat beans sometimes in place of meat. Season with fresh onions, garlic and herbs. Cook dried beans in batches and then freeze for another time.
- The secret to healthful holiday cooking is to use half the fat and twice the spice. This works well in favorites such as this sweet potato pie.
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Try a stir-fry with different vegetables to get different tastes and
textures. Try using vegetables with different colors, like strips of
red and green pepper.
- Did you know that you can freeze dry beans after you have cooked
them? You can save lots of time by preparing double portions and
freezing one to use later.
- This chowder recipe is just the
beginning. If you'd like to change its flavor, add a cup of corn
in place of the potato. Or leave out the fish and use both corn
and potato. A little shredded cheese goes well on top of this
dish. If you want the fish flavor without the fish, try using fish
bouillon cubes. You can also use shredded leftover chicken or
turkey in place of the fish.
- Dried beans freeze. To save time, prepare double portions and freeze one to use later.
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