Fresh, Frozen, or Canned – It’s Good to Eat Fruits and Vegetables!

The following post is written by NCSU student, Madelaine Frye. It is the 2nd in a series of blogs she will be writing chronicling her experience as Nutrition Instructor in her second section of spring OFL classes. Read Week 1 here. Madelaine is teaching OFL as part of a Service Learning Class that has teamed up North Carolina State Students with the Inter Faith Food Shuttle’s OFL/Nutrition Program. Through this partnership the IFFS and NCSU hope to engage students in service learning and community nutrition while expanding the reach of its OFL program. My name is Madelaine Frye and I am a senior Nutrition student at NC State. I am fortunate enough to be working with an amazing group of fellow students to teach the OFL Side by Side class in Knightdale’s Headstart Center. I have been keeping you all informed on how our classes have been progressing through our six-week healthy lifestyle adventure. This week sure was full of exciting activities and information!

For our second week, the class came together and learned many new things about economic ways to purchase healthy foods, and how to tell the differences between whole and refined grains. When purchasing foods, seasonality is an important issue. Buying foods that are not common for that time of year can make them not only more costly, but they also may not be very ripe either. Whether you purchase canned, frozen, or fresh foods, it is still a good choice because no matter what you are incorporating fruits and vegetables into your diet. Whole grains provide nutrients, and fiber, which may reduce the risk for some chronic diseases. Fiber is important because it helps us feel full and helps prevent overeating. Refined grains lose many nutrients, which are processed and added back later on in the production process. It is recommended that at least half of our grains should be whole.

We were also very lucky to plant our first snap pea plants! Byron, our class gardener, made sure to tell everyone the proper ways to care for their plants, such as making sure to water it every day, and place it in lots of sun light. Every plant also had a green stick for it to wind up as it starts to grow. Each family got to take them home to care for while they blossom over the next couple of weeks. We hope to keep track of every plant’s successful blooming!

At the end of the day, we cooked an amazing meal of Barley Jambalaya. Chopping up all of the vegetables was no problem with our talented parents showing off their knife skills that they had learned the week before. The children were great kitchen aids by collecting the chopped vegetables, mixing all of the spices, and helping to set the table. Chef Jay really enjoys the amazing help and company in the kitchen!

It is always nice to sit down and enjoy a comforting meal with your family that you made together. All the families loved our dinner and were discussing the different vegetables and spices that you could substitute and experiment with. We can’t wait to cook some fun and easy snacks next week!

Barley Jambalaya

serves 6

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup barley*
• 4 cups water
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 2 medium celery stalks
• 1 medium green bell pepper
• 3 medium onions
• 2 medium cloves garlic
• 4 ounces turkey ham*
• 1-tablespoon canola oil
• 1-teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1-½ teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, no salt added

Directions:

In Advance:

1. Measure and place barley in a colander and rinse under cold water. Add barley, water, and bay leaves to a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and cook 45 minutes or until barley is tender. Place barley in a colander, draining any excess water, and set aside.

Preparation:

1. Rinse celery and green pepper.
2. Peel and rinse the onions. Peel garlic cloves.
3. Dice onion, celery, and green peppers. Mince garlic.
4. Dice turkey ham into tiny, ¼-inch pieces.
5. Heat large soup pot over medium heat, and add canola oil when pan is hot. Add meat, onions, celery, peppers, and garlic to the soup pot. Mix well.
6. Sauté 5-10 minutes, scraping bottom of pan periodically.
7. Measure and add salt, cayenne pepper, oregano, and black pepper to the pot, along with the canned tomatoes, and stir.
8. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
9. Add cooked barley, and stir to combine.
10. Add more liquid, if necessary, and cook over low heat for another 5-10 minutes to combine flavors and reheat the barley.
11. Remove bay leaves before serving.

*Chef’s Notes:

Turkey ham can be substituted with ham, turkey, chicken, or turkey sausage. You can also substitute brown rice for barley if you like. To save time, cook the barley up to two days ahead of time, refrigerate, and add to soup pot in step 11.

Take a New Twist on Fast-Food

The following is a blog from NCSU student Kate Towery. It is the 3rd in a series of 5 blog posts (read her posts from week 1 and week 2 if you haven’t already!) she will be writing chronicling her experience as a Nutrition Instructor for an OFL Class she is teaching. Kate is teaching OFL as part of a Service Learning Class that has teamed up North Carolina State Students with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s OFL/Nutrition Program. Through this partnership the IFFS and NCSU hope to engage students in service learning and community nutrition while expanding the reach of its OFL program. This week at Operation Frontline’s “Side by Side” class we learned about our local farmers’ markets, how to read nutrition facts labels, and great ways to make eating out healthier! Our two recipes, Baked Chicken Fingers and Sweet Potato Fries, were also a great demonstration of how to create a more nutritious version of these fast-food favorites at home. We made trail mix as a healthy on-the-go snack and discussed the importance of using the Nutrition Facts Label. During the gardening lesson we learned which produce are in season for each month of the year in North Carolina.

What I really want to focus on, though, is the recipes and the participants’ reactions to them. Chicken tenders and fries are a popular meal for kids when the family is eating out. We brainstormed some ways to eat healthier at restaurants, like cutting down on condiments, choosing milk or juice instead of soda, and  . Our recipe takes an old favorite the kids enjoy and cuts down the fat by baking rather than frying the tenders and the fries. Sweet potatoes, which are in season in North Carolina all 12 months of the year, are also high in vitamins and minerals and make a delicious substitution for fries. Our participants’ were ecstatic about the sweet potato fries.

One mom shared how she orders them all the time at one of her favorite barbecue restaurants and was really excited to learn how to bake them at home. Her daughter enjoyed cooking and seasoning the fries and really liked the baked chicken tenders. Using low-sodium tomato sauce was a great dipping sauce as an alternative to ketchup or ranch. If the kids are begging for Chik-fil-A or McDonald's, try some of Operation Frontline’s recipes below and see what your family thinks!

Click here for the Baked Chicken Fingers recipe!

Click here for the Sweet Potato Fries recipe!

We CAN and WILL work Side by Side!

The following blog post is written by Madelaine Frye. It is the last blog post (be sure to catch up on week 1 , week 2 , week 3 ,week 4 and week 5 if you haven’t already!) in a series of 6 blogs she will be writing chronicling her experience as a Nutrition Instructor. Madelaine is teaching OFL as part of a Service Learning Class that has teamed up North Carolina State Students with the Inter Faith Food Shuttle’s OFL/Nutrition Program. Through this partnership the IFFS and NCSU hope to engage students in service learning and community nutrition while expanding the reach of its OFL program. Graduation day is finally here! My name is Madelaine Frye and I am a senior Nutrition student at NC State. I have been reporting to you all on how our Side By Side classes at the Knightdale Head Start location have been progressing through our six-week healthy lifestyle adventure. Week six in the OFL Side by Side class was full of excitement and anticipation for everyone to receive their diplomas!

This week in class we played a review board game in the form of Jeopardy, which went over all of fun and informational lessons we experienced in the first five weeks. The topics of the game included MyPyramid, fruits, vegetables, and grains, label reading, kitchen smarts, and planning family meals. The family pairs did a great job answering all of the questions and even our group of class teachers joined in on the fun. We learned a lot of new facts such as the many ways to defrost meats properly all while having a great time together.

After our game, we cooked up some quick recipes of baked chicken fingers and sweet potato fries. Working with raw meat is a difficult task but we all worked together and made sure to be as sanitary as possible. The children in our class wore gloves and loved helping roll the chicken in the yogurt and spices along with shaking them in the bag filled with Italian seasoned breadcrumbs. We made up a song as a class that every sang and enjoyed while we shook the chicken.

The afternoon ended much too soon but everyone was thrilled to eat as a group and enjoy the wonderful meal we had made together. Chef Jay also brought a dish that he had made at home with whole-wheat pasta, avocados, chicken and grated cheese. When asked what everyone’s favorite part of their class experience was, Nate stated that loved trying new recipes and enjoyed the baked chicken fingers the most. Annette loved the broccoli soup made in week two so much that she had already made it at home twice. All of the children enjoyed learning the parts of the plant with our Gardener Byron and had blossoming snap pea plants at home.

Congratulations to all of our graduates! Enjoy some of our favorite recipes at your home, too!

Baked Chicken Fingers

 serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 ½ pounds boneless chicken breast
• ¼ cup nonfat plain yogurt
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 2 cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Cut chicken breasts into 1” wide strips.
3. Measure and combine the yogurt, water, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
4. Add chicken strips to yogurt mixture and toss together until chicken is well-coated.
5. Measure and put grated Parmesan and breadcrumbs into a large plastic bag.
6. Lightly boat a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
7. Add 3 to 4 chicken strips at a time to the plastic bag, seal bag, and have child shake the chicken inside the bag until it’s well coated. Be sure to keep the bag sealed so the ingredients don’t fall out when shaken.
8. Place the chicken strips on the baking sheet about ½ inch apart, in a single layer, making sure not to overcrowd.
9. Spray chicken strips with cooking spray, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Repeat steps 8 and 9 if you don’t have enough room on the baking sheet to cook all the chicken strips at once.
10. Warm tomato sauce in a small saucepan over low heat, place in a small serving bowl, and serve as a dipping sauce for the chicken fingers.

Chef’s Notes:

*For extra flavor, try adding ¼ teaspoon of one of the following seasonings to the yogurt mixture: cayenne pepper, dried thyme, dried oregano, garlic powder, or paprika.

Sweet Potato Fries

serves 6

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon of canola oil
• Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Scrub and rinse sweet potatoes. Pat dry with a paper or kitchen towel.
3. Leave skin on, cut sweet potatoes into thick French fry strips, about ½ inch wide.
4. Measure and mix paprika, salt, ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper in large mixing bowl to make Cajun seasoning. Add canola oil to spices and blend with a whisk or fork until they are coated on all sides.
5. Transfer sweet potato strips into the bowl and toss until they are coated on all sides.
6. Coat baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray, and place sweet potatoes in a single layer on the sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn fries over and bake another 10-15 minutes, or until fries are tender.

Chef’s Notes:

*For easier cleanup, line the baking sheet with a layer of aluminum foil and coat with non-stick cooking spray before placing the sweet potatoes on the sheet.

*White baking potatoes can be substituted for all or part of the sweet potatoes.

*Increase the amount of cayenne pepper in the Cajun seasoning to make it spicier.