Raising Kids, Eating Right, Spending Smart, Living Well

Cooperative Extension Service Owen County 265 Ellis Highway Owenton, KY 40359 (502) 484-5703 Fax: (502) 484-5704 owen.ca.uky.edu Raising Kids, Eating Right, Spending Smart, Living Well DECEMBER 2017 CELEBRATE FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES DAYS What is family and consumer sciences? Family and consumer sciences (FCS) is an interconnected collection of disciplines that help people gain knowledge and make informed decisions about their well-being, relationships and resources to improve and enhance quality of life. The field includes: Human Development Nutrition and Wellness Housing and Interior Design Consumer issues and Consumerism Family and consumer sciences is also known as human environmental sciences. Family and consumer sciences professionals are dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals and families. Dine In With Us! What you can do! (choose one or more) 1. Commit to Dining In on December 3 at: aafcs.org/fcsday/home 2. Prepare and eat a healthy meal with your family on December 3. 3. Ask your friends and family to Dine In. 4. For a healthy selection of recipes using Kentucky produce visit: plateitup.ca.uky.edu 5. Take a photo of your family preparing a healthy meal and post it to Facebook or Twitter using #FCSday Source: www.aafcs.org Parenting and Family Communication Personal and Family Finance Textiles and Apparel Food Science TABLE OF CONTENTS TIMELY TIPS...1 EATING RIGHT...2 SPENDING SMART...2 WHAT S COOKING...3 RAISING KIDS...3 LIVING WELL...3 COUNTY INFORMATION...4 Family is not an important thing. It s everything. -- Michael J. Fox A PUBLICATION OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES AGENTS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION OFFICES BOONE 859/586-6101 CAMPBELL 859/572-2600 CARROLL 502/732-7030 GALLATIN 859/567-5481 GRANT 859/824-3355 KENTON 859/356-3155 OWEN 502/484-5703 PENDLETON 859/654-3395

Managing Diabetes During the Holidays Source: Ingrid Adams, associate extension professor A healthy diet is so important to controlling and minimizing the effects of diabetes, but eating healthy can be a struggle and challenge for some people with diabetes, particularly those who have been recently diagnosed with the disease. The upcoming holidays pose additional challenges and present more temptations. If you have diabetes and you eat a moderate amount of foods that are high in nutrients and low in fat and calories, then eating during the holidays should be no different from the way you eat every day. If you do not eat this way, then try to create daily, healthy eating habits before the holidays begin. These habits should include consuming a wellbalanced breakfast, fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors, whole grains and a variety of lean proteins in the appropriate portion size. During the holidays, most people have the tendency to go overboard with desserts, because they are at every function and these treats are available in large quantities. Desserts often contain few nutrients and are heavy in carbs and fat that can quickly raise your blood glucose levels. Healthier options include eating fruit for dessert, splitting a dessert with someone, removing high-fat whipped topping and frosting from desserts and eating fewer carbohydrates during the main course so you can have a small dessert. You can reduce the amount of sugar in many holiday dishes by making healthy adjustments to your recipes. Use vanilla or cinnamon as a sugar substitute in recipes. Unsweetened applesauce or sugarfree syrups can be used in place of regular syrup. You can also try using fresh fruit or fruits canned in their own juices rather than fruits canned in heavy syrup. 2 Paying for convenience at the grocery store Source: Heather Norman-Burgdolf, UK extension specialist in food and nutrition Our society loves convenience, especially when it comes to food. Convenience items are already prepared and packaged, so that we have little work to do before consuming the product. Convenience items are everywhere, but most commonly found at the grocery. They also tend to be more expensive than regularly packaged items. You can purchase different types of convenience items including scratch, semi-convenience, convenient and ready-to-eat. A general rule of thumb is the more time a food takes you to prepare, the cheaper it is, with ready-to-eat options exhibiting the greatest costs. For example, bagged lettuce can cost three to four times more than if you purchase a head of lettuce and shred it yourself. In the center aisles where you find boxed packaged foods, 100-calorie pack snacks generally cost 20 percent to 100 percent more than the same item in a regular sized package. In this case, the additional packaging leads to more costs. You can make smarter monetary choices at the grocery store by choosing wisely when it comes to convenience items. First, invest time instead of money. For example, purchase the whole head of lettuce and take the time to prepare it on your own. Purchase a regularly packaged snack and use the serving size on the nutrition facts label to make your own small snack size. Use the unit price to compare similar items. The unit price is listed on the price tag directly below the item on the shelf. The unit price gives us an idea of how much the items costs divided by weight. Using this number, we can compare foods that are the same but in different sized containers or compare brands. Your best value will generally be the item with the lowest unit price. Remember that purchasing convenience items at the grocery store is not always a bad thing. It is important that you recognize the best balance of time, quality and cost that fits your and your family s lifestyle. Make sure that spending a bit more on convenience items truly adds value and not a perceived value caused by good marketing.

Teach Self-Control As parents, one of our top concerns is our children s behavior. We want them to respect others and make the most of relationships. Researchers tell us that children begin even as babies and toddlers to decide how to express feelings and relate to other people. How can we start our little ones on the path to managing their own behavior? Teaching selfcontrol does not have to be hard not if we start early and guide our children in positive, creative ways. Babies need respect and love. Babies are wonderful new human beings, but they are not ready to think about your feelings or rules. They will learn to trust and depend on you if you are respectful and consistent in meeting their needs. If you are, you will not need to worry about misbehavior. Trusting babies naturally learn peaceful behaviors. Toddlers need respect, love, and guidance to learn self-control. As babies become toddlers with minds of their own, it is time to teach them self-control and about getting along with others. At this point, positive discipline techniques are good to know. It is important to start early in shaping a child s behavior with consistency, love, and understanding. This key Teach Self- Control talks about the difference between positive and negative discipline for older babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. It offers suggestions for preventing misbehavior in the first place and teaching better ways to behave Happy and Healthy Holidays It s common to pack on 5-10 pounds during the holiday season, but there are ways you can eat both healthy and well! The holidays are a great opportunity to enjoy time with family and friends, celebrate life, be grateful and reflect on what is important. They are also a time to appreciate the gift of health. Stay Active: Physical activity is just as important during the holidays as any other time of year. You should be active at least four to five times a week for 30 minutes. Eat Well: With al the delicious food available, eating too much may seem expected during the holidays. However, moderation is a great mantra for the holiday season. Wash your hands often: Colds and the flu are most prevalent in the winter. One of the easiest ways to prevent getting sick or spreding germs is keeping your hands clean and urging others to do the same. Manage Stress: Holidays do not have to be stressful. Be realistic, plan ahead and take time for yourself. Handling stress can be done by getting adequate amounts of sleep, committing to fewer gatherings or setting a budget for the holidays. Prevent injuries: Many common holiday activities can cause injuries that put a damper on the holiday cheer. Watch young ones and assist the elderly who are at increased risk of falls and other injuries during this time. Source: Adult Health Bulletin, Dec. 2017 Directions: Ingredients: 6 Medium sweet potatoes 1/4 C Maple Syrup 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar 2 eggs 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup low-fat vanilla Greek yogurt 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 1 Tbsp cinnamon Topping: 1/2 C Brown sugar 1/2 C ground rolled oats 1 Tbsp maple syrup 3 Tbsp melted butter 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 C chopped pecans Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place sweet potato cubes in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Cook over medium-high heat until tender. Drain and mash. In a large bowl, mix together mashed potatoes, maple syrup, brown sugar, eggs, salt, yogurt, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend until smooth. Pour into a 13-by-9 inch baking dish. Topping: In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar and oats. Add in syrup, melted butter, salt and cinnamon; blend until mixture is coarse. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture. Bake 30 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned. 3

NEWS FROM OWEN COUNTY EXTENSION Cooking with Kids during the Holidays Around the holidays, people tend to spend more time in the kitchen whether it is making seasonal baked goods or preparing large meals to feed the family. With children out of school and families gathered together, it is an excellent opportunity to get children involved in the kitchen. Not only is it a learning experience for the child, it is also a bonding experience for the family. There are many benefits of getting kids involved in the kitchen. Immediately, kids develop confidence because they are contributing positively to the family and they are more likely to try a new food they helped prepare. Allowing kids to help in the kitchen develops their cooking skills which could carry into adulthood and may lead to healthier eating styles long term. Finally, kids are able to spend quality time with family members which we know is beneficial for their development. Below are suggested tasks and activities for getting kids involved in the kitchen. All children develop at different rates, so make sure responsibilities are appropriate for your child regardless of the age. 2-5 year olds: tasks that don t have to be precise; tearing up lettuce or herbs; washing produce in the sink; sprinkling ingredients; stirring; mashing; finding ingredients for a recipe; pressing on and off buttons. 6-9 year olds: more advanced tasks; measuring dry ingredients; pouring ingredients into batter; using table knife to cut soft fruits and vegetables; grating ingredients; using pizza cutters or can openers; setting timers. 10+ year olds: more advanced and independent activities; stirring ingredients at the stove; using sharper knives; working with electric kitchen appliances; learning basic cooking concepts like how to boil water and microwave foods; following recipes. As the supervisor in the kitchen, it is important to be patient with children when they are learning a new skill. It may take some practice before it is done just right. Always supervise and do not leave children unattended, especially if a task could be dangerous like using kitchen utensils or hot surfaces. Finally, don t forget about food safety in the kitchen. It is important to show taking care of yourself (by washing hands and proper handling of utensils) as well as taking care of the kitchen (by cleaning up spills and messes) keeps everyone safe and makes the food taste better! Source: Heather L. Norman, Extension Specialist for Food and Nutrition; University of Kentucky, College of Food, Agriculture and Environment How to Use Automatic Payments Wisely Automatic payments are common in today s banking world. These payments include utility bills and student loan payments, to name a few. There are many advantages to paying your bills this way. If you are on a budget, having your regular monthly bills automatically paid can help you to not overspend. Automated payments also mean that you have fewer payments that you have to write a check for or to pay online yourself every month. Many people also avoid late fees this way. As with any financial matter, there are some things to know about: Check your bank account balance. Once you have automated your bills, it can be easy to put your bank account on auto pilot. It is very important that you check your bank account to make sure that you have enough money to pay all of your bills. If you have a bank account balance near zero, automated payment may not be the best option for you as you may find yourself frequently overdrawing which will result in fees. Keep a calendar to track automated payments. It is a good idea to write down the dates of all payments that will taken out of your banking account to make sure that you have enough money in your account and that the payment is taken out on time. Review your account weekly. Check your account on a weekly basis to check for errors-either a missed automated payment or an automated payment for an amount that you have not approved. Do not use automated payment for bills that change in amount. It is best to use automated payments for bills that are the same amount every month. For bills that change in amount, such as a water bill, it is better to either write a check or make the payment online to avoid overdraft fees. You have a right to stop payments at any time. If you wish to stop an automated payment, you may do so. You will need to first call the company making the withdrawals from your account to inform them that the automated payments will stop. If you still owe money to the company, you will need to plan another way to pay You will then need to let your bank know that they company is no longer allowed to take out money from your account. To stop a payment, you will have to complete a stop payment order which can take several days and may have a fee associated with it. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT JUDITH E. HETTERMAN OWEN COUNTY EXTENSION AGENT FOR FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCE EDUCATION 4

HOLIDAY RECIPES Baby Hot Browns 24 slices party rye bread 3 tablespoons butter or margarine 3 tablespoons flour 1 cup milk 1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 ½ cups cooked, diced turkey ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon red pepper ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 5 plum tomatoes, sliced Arrange the bread slices on a lightly coated baking sheet. Broil 6 inches from the heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside. Melt the butter in a microwave and add the flour. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth. Whisk the milk in gradually. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until thick. Add the Cheddar cheese. Stir in the turkey, salt and red pepper. Top the bread evenly with the mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese and half the bacon. Bake at 500 degrees for 2 minutes or until the Parmesan cheese is melted. Top with the tomato slices and remaining bacon. White Chocolate Covered Apple Slices 4 to 5 Granny Smith or Red Delicious apples 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 cups water White melting chocolate bars or bits ½ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans Slice the unpeeled apples, using a round apple corer/slicer, then slice each slice once more using a sharp knife. Place the slices in a mixture of the lemon juice and water to prevent apples from turning brown. Drain well on a white paper towel. The apples must be dry before dipping in the chocolate. Melt the chocolate in a microwave following the instructions on the package. Dip each apple slice in the chocolate up to the peel. Place the slices on waxed paper and sprinkle with the nuts before the chocolate hardens. Store the apples in a tin with waxed paper between the layers in the refrigerator up to 2 or 3 days. Makes 48 slices. Makes 24 servings.