Archive for November, 2010

Friday Food News Feed: Nov. 19

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Let’s start this week with a call to action. Will the lame-duck Congress finally move on the Child Nutrition Act? Maybe, if you tell them so. Follow this link from Time for Lunch (a project of Slow Food USA) to contact your representatives. The Child Nutrition Act is a federal law that comes up for reauthorization in Congress every five years. It governs the school meal programs, which feed more than 31 million children every school day. You can read more about the latest efforts to pass the bill at The Atlantic.

Speaking of school lunch, we could use a few more efforts toward better nutrition. The Lunch Tray did a little experiment in her child’s school and found more than twice the recommended daily intake of sodium in school breakfast and lunch. The Child Nutrition Act, if passed, would likely address sodium content in school foods.

And speaking of more unhealthy foods, the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has a new report on Fast Food FACTS (Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score). Among the findings:

  • The fast food industry spent more than $4.2 billion dollars in 2009 on TV advertising and other media.
  • The average preschooler (2-5 years) saw 2.8 TV ads per day for fast food; children (6-11 years) saw 3.5; and teens (12-17 years) saw 4.7.
  • Young people’s exposure to fast food TV ads has increased. Compared to 2003, preschoolers viewed 21% more fast food ads in 2009, children viewed 34% more, and teens viewed 39% more.

    • As Kelly Brownell observes at Eating Well, “Most important is for companies to remove children and teens from the list of groups to be recruited as loyal customers. It seems unlikely that industry will do so voluntarily—there is simply too much money at stake.” The whole report is definitely worth a read.

    OK, let’s move on to some more uplifting articles and ideas. First check out this story from Psychology Today (via @eatdinner) on keeping family dinner interesting.  MyOptumHealth has a nice list of seven healthy foods and how to make them healthier. And E2Dietitian has some thoughts on the benefits of going grocery shopping with your kids.

    Last but not least, this is the last Friday before the big Thanksgiving holiday. We love this little guide from Meals Matter for how kids can help in the kitchen, with special tasks for every age group. We also have some cute recipes: From Disney’s Family Fun, you can make these Teeny Turkey sandwiches to tide the kids over before the big meal (or better yet, have the kids make them). And if you’re willing to think outside the box, try these Pumpkin Pie Popsicles from Kitchen Corners (via TasteSpotting); or this Pumpkin Ice Cream Pizza Pie from Knuckle Salad. Mmmm…pumpkin…

    Happy Friday to all!

    Posted Under: Childhood Obesity, Government Regulations, Just For Fun, Nutrition | Tags: , , , , , , ,
    This post was written by jollytomato on November 19th, 2010

    Fun Food Saturday: Nutella

    Saturday, November 13th, 2010

    What’s not to like about Nutella? The Italian hazelnut-chocolate spread is good on just about everything. And although it’s not exactly the most nutritious way to get some protein into your diet, it’s not entirely the worst either. Lately we’ve been intrigued by Nutella recipes that step outside the usual “spread-some-on-bread” routine. Our interest was piqued by a list that Babble posted earlier in the week of 15 Nutella recipes. Nutella samosas made with wonton wrappers? Mmmm. Count us in.

    We had already gotten into the spirit earlier this week with a Pumpkin Nutella Bread from Two Peas and Their Pod. Inspired, we started looking beyond Babble’s list and discovered that not only is World Nutella Day less than three months away, there’s a whole site dedicated to collecting recipes for that luminous holiday (on February 5).

    So we started cooking with Nutella with renewed interest, and one of the first things to come out of our kitchen (much to the kids’ delight) was this Nutella and Banana Whole-Wheat Pizza from Artichoke Heart. The Nutella pizza is interesting because it’s sweet but it’s not too sweet – it can pass for a somewhat nutritious snack or a more wholesome dessert.

    Then we decided to get a little creative and came up with our own kid-friendly snack: Nutella Peanut Butter Quesadillas. We like to call them Nutella-Dillas (pronounce the ‘dilla’ part like quesa-dilla). The idea is pretty simple – Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on one whole-grain tortilla; spread a thin layer of Nutella on another whole-grain tortilla, slap them together, and heat up the whole “quesadilla” in a pan. For whatever reason, this was the favorite of all of the Nutella recipes we tried and it seems to be extremely satisfying as an afternoon snack on a cool fall day.

    Note: We have no connection whatsoever with Nutella; we just have a family full of people who like it. If you don’t like the idea of using Nutella from a jar you can always make your own chocolate hazelnut spread, at least according to this L.A. Times recipe. It’s a good way to control some of the sugar and fat — assuming you have hazelnuts and hazelnut oil on hand. After that, the sky’s the limit, from Banana Nutella Tempura to Chicken Enchiladas with Nutella Mole Poblano (Nutella mole?!?! Yowza!)

    Fun Food Saturday: Because food should be fun.

    Posted Under: Just For Fun | Tags: , , , ,
    This post was written by jollytomato on November 13th, 2010

    Friday News Feed: Nov. 12

    Friday, November 12th, 2010

    Maybe instead of “Friday News Feed” we should call it “The Parade of Bad News.” Sorry, folks: It’s just not pretty this week. At least let’s start with a positive spin: The American Dietetic Association has launched a new initiative called “Kids Eat Right.” As reported by Fooducate, the campaign has three goals: 1) mobilizing RDs to participate in their communities/schools; 2) educating families and children as well as policy makers on high quality nutritional foods; and 3) supporting the recommendations of the White House Childhood Obesity Task Force. We wish them all the best in this worthy venture.

    Now they have their work cut out for them: A new study has found that many obese teens put on even more weight as young adults, as reported by USA Today. Among the findings: About three-quarters of severely obese teens remained that heavy at age 30.

    Another new study finds that fast food ads are up for kids, despite industry pledges to limit the marketing of unhealthy food to kids, according to NPR. Researchers found that preschoolers are seeing 21 percent more ads for fast food, and older children are seeing 34 percent more compared with 2003.

    And yet another new study – this time from the American Dietetic Association – finds that kids are snacking frequently but are skipping breakfast and dinner – meals that contain nutrients that are crucial to their health and development.

    On the fast-food front, Taco Bell has been quietly testing low-sodium versions of its food (23 percent less sodium) in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and no one has noticed (via Fooducate). Talk about having a lot of salt to being with…

    Next, in an effort to appeal to ‘foodies,’ Wendy’s is offering a new line of french fries made from potatoes with the skin on and topped with sea salt (via Zester Daily). Problem is, these new fries will have 42 percent more sodium (from 350 mg to 500 mg).

    OK, now that we’re totally depressed, here’s a little ray of hope: Share Our Strength has just launched its No Kid Hungry campaign. So far, more than 17,000 people have taken the pledge to support the campaign. What can you do? Click here for more info. As their new spokesman Jeff Bridges says, “Ending childhood hunger is patriotic!”

    Happy Friday to all!

    Posted Under: Childhood Obesity, Nutrition | Tags: , , , , ,
    This post was written by jollytomato on November 12th, 2010
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