Posts Tagged: recipes

Stay healthy all summer long

It’s summertime, which means I am one happy camper. No really - it’s nice and warm, let's go camping! I find most people hate summer: the heat, the AC bill, the kids are out of school and they’re “sooooooooooo… bored.” 

Well I’m a summer baby, and I’m here to help you survive the heat wave with healthy recipes and family cooking tips.

Summer time food:

Summer time is the best because of all the amazing fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season. With berries, melons, cucumber, tomatoes, squash and stone fruit the cooking possibilities are endless!

• Make a summer salad. Layer chopped cucumber, tomatoes and green beans and top with lettuce and your favorite dressing.
• Cut back on the calories in your dessert by eating fresh fruit instead.
• Search for refreshing, in-season recipes on MyPlate’s Pinterest page.

Get the kids involved:

Summer means the kids are home and they are bored! So let’s get them in the kitchen and cooking. Here are some tips on how to get your little ones involved.

• Give them a choice of healthy recipes. Allowing them to choose means they will be more likely to participate in creating a healthy meal.
• Play with your food! Use a banana, strawberries, peanut butter and pretzels and create a creature or fun face.
• Make fruit pops with the kids. Simply blend up fresh berries, melon or stone fruit and freeze it in an ice cube tray with sticks. You can also use this fruit blend as ice cubes to flavor your water.

At the University of California Cooperative Extension, were helping to build and maintain healthy families! For additional healthy tips, visit our webpage.

Getting to know persimmons

On a wet and gloomy winter afternoon, there are few sights more cheering to my eyes than a persimmon tree loaded with its brilliant fruit, hanging from dark boughs like a mass of orange lanterns. But if you come across this bright spectacle on a winter's walk, don't rush to take a bite of that tempting fruit unless you're sure you know what's what.

See, there are persimmons, and then there are persimmons.

The type of persimmon that you can eat right off the tree is the Fuyu variety (left), a firm-fleshed, yellow- to orange-skinned fruit that is flat on the bottom and wider than it is tall—sometimes twice as wide. You can eat the fresh, sweet fruit like an apple or cut up in salads or you can dry it on the stem or cut in slices for a home dehydrator.

The fruit of the other main variety, Hachiya (right), is far from sweet when its flesh is firm. Hachiyas are orange to almost red, often somewhat pointed at the bottom, and about as tall as they are wide, sometimes taller. If you bite into one of these before it ripens, your mouth may stay puckered for week. If you can wait until the flesh is soft, though—almost as squishy as a water balloon—you will find something inside that's almost like ready-made jam. Just don't eat any of the peel if you don't want a pucker. You can dry Hachiya persimmons, hung from a cut-off bit of stem, or bake the fresh, ripe fruit pulp in a variety of recipes. Here's one:

Aunt Pat's Persimmon Cookies
This recipe for Hachiya persimmon cookies has been in my family for generations and is always a special treat in the cold months. The cookies have a moist, cake-like consistency and can be eaten fresh or bagged up by the dozen and stored in the freezer. They're quick to thaw and they taste great. We usually make a double or triple batch just to take advantage of the fruit's availability, so cookie storage can be an issue.

CREAM TOGETHER:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

LIGHTLY BEAT AND ADD:
1 egg

ADD:
1 cup Hachiya persimmon pulp (about 3 ripe [very soft] persimmons)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

SIFT TOGETHER AND THEN ADD:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Drop the dough in generously rounded teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a pre-heated 350° oven for 12 to 14 minutes.

More on Persimmons

Check out these links for more information on preserving, preparing, and growing persimmons:

• Persimmon Time (San Joaquin County Cooperative Extension)
• The California Backyard Orchard

(Photos: Wikimedia Commons)

Small changes are a big step towards health

Amidst recent headlines that the United States population falls short in consuming the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, a group of dedicated parents in California’s Central Valley have demonstrated that one small change is a big step towards health for children and families.

Fresh tomatoes add vitamins A & C to this parent's dish.

As part of the City of Fresno Parks and Recreation Department’s Healthy Lifestyle and Fitness Camp for Kids, parents and kids participated in a series of nutrition education classes lead by the UC Cooperative Extension’s Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (FSNEP).

Following several weeks of classes on reducing fat, sugar and salt, and increasing whole grains, low-fat dairy and fruits and vegetables, groups of parents were invited to flex their nutrition muscles by making small changes to some of their family’s favorite recipes. Their goal? Improve the nutritional value of their dishes through small changes like increasing fruits and vegetables while decreasing ingredients high in fat, sugar and salt.


Fresh vegetables are a great addition; frozen veggies are also a great choice.

Competition was healthy as teams of parents assembled their entries for the City of Fresno’s Inaugural Healthy Lifestyle and Fitness Camp Parent Cook Off. Think Bravo’s Top Chef meets Food Network’s Challenge, minus all the truffle oil and stage lighting. FSNEP educators were nutrition education partners with the parents to note original recipe and the parents' creative changes.

Not your average pizza. Small changes like using whole grain tortillas, fresh tomatoes and light cheese improve the nutritional value of this family favorite.



Fruit and yogurt are a perfect pair.

Judges that lent their palettes to parents’ culinary adventures included: local Kaiser Permanete nurses, fitness camp counselors including Amanda Cogdill, recreation specialist, and UC Cooperative extension’s Jeanette Sutherlin, county director, and Connie Schneider, nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor.

One of the winning recipes was the taffy apple pizza. Parents cut the fat and sugar drastically and paid attention to portion size to make this family favorite a healthy hit! It was so popular, camp counselors prepared it for the parents’ children participating in the Healthy Lifestyle and Fitness camp.

One of the winning parent groups is recognized for their efforts.

Healthy food tastes great!

What small change can you make to your family’s favorites?

Taffy Apple Pizza- Original Recipe
Makes 16 servings

Ingredients
1 package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese softened
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
3 medium Granny Smith apples
¼ cup caramel ice cream topping
½ cup peanuts, chopped

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 Slice
Calories: 150
Total Fat: 9g
Sat. Fat: 4g
Cholesterol: 15 mg
Sodium: 85mg
Total Carbohydrate: 16g
Dietary fiber: 1g
Sugars: 10g
Protein: 3g

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Taffy Apple  Pizza - Winning Recipe
Healthier substitutions indicated with asterisks**
Makes 32 servings

Ingredients
1 box low-fat graham crackers**
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 package (8 ounces) fat free cream cheese, softened**
¼ cup packed brown sugar**
¼ cup reduced fat creamy peanut butter**
3 medium Granny Smith apples
¼ cup sugar free caramel ice cream topping**
½ cup peanuts chopped

Preparation
1. Mix cream cheese, vanilla, brown sugar and peanut butter in small bowl
2. Spread mixture on graham crackers
3. Thinly slice apples
4. Arrange apple slices on graham crackers
5. Drizzle with caramel sauce
6. Sprinkle with peanuts

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/2 cracker
Calories: 60
Total Fat: 2g
Sat. Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 65mg
Total Carbohydrate: 8g
Dietary Fiber: less than 1g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 2g

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