Parenting Tips

Shopping Tips for Busy Parents

Busy parents often have little time to plan and prepare nutritious, home-cooked meals. If you spend a little extra time making sure you have staple items in your freezer and on your shelf, you can easily prepare quick, nutritious meals on busy days. Make sure you have these basic foods on hand:

* Common herbs and spices: garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper, chili powder and cinnamon

* Vegetable oil
* Non-fat dry milk
* Low-sodium chicken and beef broth
* Flour, sugar, baking soda, cornstarch and baking powder
* Condiments such as vinegar, mustard, catsup and jelly
* Frozen mixed vegetables
* Frozen hamburger
* Pasta and rice
* Canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, pinto or kidney beans, and cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups

Each week, read the store ads for specials before you make your grocery list. Look for real bargains, not just savings on an item that's overpriced to begin with. Buy seasonal foods and freeze them if you have space in your freezer.

Try these meals:
* Add tomato sauce, kidney or pinto beans, chopped onions and peppers to quick-cooking rice.
* Add grated low-fat cheese to quick-cooking rice or grits.
* Add pinto beans, tomato soup and chopped carrots, peppers and onions to Spanish Rice-a-Roni to make Mexican goulash. Top with grated cheese.
*Add chopped tomatoes, peppers or mushrooms to frozen pizza or bottled spaghetti sauce.
* Use pasta as the basis for a meal. Add your favorite chopped vegetables and leftover chicken, turkey or ham. Mix with a low-fat dressing. Try adding kidney or pinto beans and cheese. or stir-fry vegetables and combine with pasta. Top with tomato sauce.

Muffin, Toast or Bagel Toppers

Try these low-fat spreads on English muffins, toast or bagels. They are good for breakfast, lunch or a quick snack, and kids love to help make them.

Cinnamon-Apple Blend

What you need:
¼ cup dried apples, diced
½ cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 tablespoon milk
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Blend until smooth. Refrigerate. Will keep for 1 week.

Peach Butter

What you need:
½ cup dried peaches, diced
1 cup orange juice
¼ cup sugar

Bring ingredients to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and stir every 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Blend 1 minute. Refrigerate. Will keep for 1 week.

Fat Substitutes
If you are looking for low-fat cooking substitutes, try using:
* Applesauce for butter or oil in bread, muffins and cakes.
* Oil sprays on foods to add flavor and few calories.
* Evaporated milk instead of heavy creams in sauces.
* Phyllo dough for pie crusts. It's lower in fat than regular crusts.
* Low-fat cottage and ricotta cheeses in recipes that call for cheese.

What To Do In The Grocery Store To Help Children Behave...
(without spanking, hitting, or yelling.)

1. Discuss rules before entering the store. Let the child know, no junk foods. When we leave, you can select a package of gum if you remember the rules.
2. Role play the shopping experience ahead of time at home with the child. Let him know what you expect. Have fun. Laugh. See what his suggestions would be if you were to misbehave.
3. Develop some "sign language" at home with the child--signals which mean, "Stop," "Come here," "Be careful." Use them in public.

At the Store:
* Make a game of it. Who can see the potatoes first? Do you remember what animal bacon comes from? If child is old enough let him check the grocery list, see which fruit, cheese, etc is the best bargain.
* Count how many steps it takes to get from the Cheerios to the Frosted Flakes.
* Discuss the pictures on the package--what could you make with this, etc.
* Play a game with the child. (Let's count all the tennis shoes we see on people's feet, let's see how many B's you can find on signs.)
* Play "I see something" in the checkout lane and have the children guess what you see.
* Reward good behavior. Promise to play a game with or read to the child when you get home.

Breakfast Bars

Many children skip breakfast because their parents do. But breakfast is an important part of a good food plan. Breakfast helps you get all tte day's nutrients and keeps your mind alert. Try to change the "no breakfast" habit by offering something quick and nutritious, such as breakfast bars.

What You Need:

2 cups all bran or granola cereal
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
1 cup diced apples
3/4 cup applesauce
1 banana, mashed
1/2 cup melted margarine (not diet)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

How to Fix:

1. Combine remaining ingredients.
2. Spread into a greased 11 x 7 inch baking dish. Bake at 350º F for 25 minutes.
3. Cool and cut into squares. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.