Simplifying Meals and Snacks At Home – Tips for Using Pantry Staples To Nourish Your Family

Our Registered Dietitian, Amy, was recently on WCCO (check out the segment HERE) sharing tips for feeding your family during this time. Check out our resources on simple ingredients that can keep your kiddos happy, healthy & full!

 Tip #1 Simplifying Your Snacks

Many parents are now home with their kiddos and while we are all practicing social distancing, it can be stressful when you’re doing your best to limit trips to the grocery store and all while purchase foods that nourish your family. My best advice is to keep it simple.

There always seems to be pressure on parents to feed their kiddos the absolute best and Pinterest-worthy meals. Parents need to know that no meal or snack is perfect, and at the end of the day, the most important thing is that our kids are happy, healthy and full. Below are a few snack and meal ideas to help parents pivot their thinking when it comes to healthy eating and feeding their family.

S I M P L E   S N A C K I N G

We recommend snacks to include a carbohydrate + a protein/healthy fat. And remember, we don’t need to over engineer it. Examples of healthy carbohydrates include fruit (all forms count), dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese), and whole grains (such as crackers, bread, rice, oats, granola, etc.) When it comes to produce, don’t forget that all forms of fruits and vegetables are nutritious! Of course, keep purchasing fresh produce, but don’t forget about canned, frozen, or dried. Purchase no sugar added frozen, canned, and dried fruit, and purchase no salt added canned and frozen vegetables. These are great options to choose at the store to help you and your family #haveaplant 

We have a list of healthy snack ideas on this handout. Plus, a few fun & easy recipes below.

 

Banana Sushi (1 serving)
Ingredients

  • 1 banana, peeled
  • 1 Tablespoon nut butter
  • Toppings: ½ cup granola, whole grain cereal, or dried fruit (such as raisins)

Directions

Spread nut butter over banana evenly. Either sprinkle or roll banana in toppings until well coated. Using a knife, cut the banana into ½ inch pieces. Enjoy your banana sushi!

 

Tuna Cracker Stackers
Ingredients

  • Whole grain crackers
  • Cheese
  • Canned or Pouch Tuna
  • Pickles

Directions

Add some cheese to each cracker (can be string cheese, sliced cheese, shredded cheese). Top each cracker with some tuna & top with a pickle. Serve with a side of fruit (fresh, frozen, canned, or dried).

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S I M P L E   M E A L S

Snack Platters – perfect for meals or snacks!

What is a snack platter? It’s a blend of different fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products and proteins that you spread out on a large plate or a cutting board. The purpose of this snack platter is to give your family nutritious, yet simple options that they can choose from. This is a great opportunity to put out some thawed frozen fruit, cheese, crackers, nuts/seeds, peanut butter, canned fruit, dried fruit, tuna packets, etc. It’s a perfect solution for one of those times when no one wants to cook! Here is what was on the snack platter in the WCCO segment:

  • Whole grain crackers
  • Nut butter
  • Walnuts, Almonds and Pumpkin Seeds
  • Carrots and Grape tomatoes
  • Fruit Cups (in 100% juice)
  • Dried fruit
  • Luncheon meat (lower sodium ham and turkey)
  • Cottage Cheese
  • Cheese Sticks
  • Tuna

One Pot Meal! Ground Beef Pasta Primavera

And last, but certainly not least, here is one of our favorite recipes using pantry staples and it cooks all in one pot! Check out the link for the full recipe of our Ground Beef Pasta Primavera. Here are a few substitutions you can make to use the items you have on hand:

  • Although lean (93%) lean ground beef is recommended, you can also pick 80% lean and drain the extra fat after cooking. No beef? Try ground turkey, ground chicken, or even substitute it out for some beans!
  • The zucchini can be swapped for any other fresh or frozen vegetable such as broccoli, cauliflower, green bell peppers, etc! Use what you have on hand.

Ground Beef Pasta Primavera

For additional resources from our dietitians including recipes, articles and more, please visit celebratemore.com/dietitians. You can also find great resources about produce from our friends at the Produce For Better Health Foundation. Don’t forget to #HaveAPlant to support a healthy immune system!

Amy, MS, RD, LD
Registered Dietitian

Jackfruit

Have you ever walked past one of those dinosaur eggs in the produce department and wondered what the heck it was? Or how on earth you would eat it? Those dinosaur eggs are actually a jackfruit!

Jackfruit is the largest tree-grown fruit and can weigh as much as 80 pounds! Most of the ones you’ll find in our stores are right around 20 pounds though, and a lot of times you can find them cut down into much more manageable slices.

Jackfruits are one of my favorite fruits to talk about because there are so many interesting things about them. A few fun facts I’ve learned about them are:

  • If you ate a whole jackfruit, you would have enough nutrition in your body to not have
    to eat for two days.
  • Other than the core and the skin, everything else is edible. (Some parts are less desirable as they can be bitter.)
  • Jackfruits with brown skins are riper. Ones with green skins have a paler fruit
    inside and have a less powerful flavor. Green ones are more commonly used in cooking since they take on the flavor of everything else.
  • A ripe jackfruit should give off a sweet smell and yield to gentle pressure.
  • They are rich in vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. Low in calories and sodium and do not contain any cholesterol or unhealthy fats.
  • You can freeze jackfruit pods.
  • Jackfruit seeds, when cooked down, taste similar to a potato, but have more nutrients than potatoes do.

When cutting a jackfruit, I like to start by cutting it into 8 pieces. It makes it much more manageable and easier to get the core out so you can access the fruit pods and seeds. Although it takes a little time to do, it’s actually much easier than you would think. Check out the video above to see just how easy it is!

Bridget,
Farmer’s Market Manager
Isanti, MN

Grilled Peach Recipes

Jayne

Hi Everybody!!
We are getting real close to canning season and preserving those wonderful peaches, jams and sauces and I wanted to introduce you to a wonderful peach that just hit our Coborn’s stores.   They are so awesome, fresh and juicy.  Don’t pass up an opportunity to try these because they are great!!!  Their season starts from the beginning of June towards the end of September and they are awesome when using them for pies, jams, jellies, baking and grilling.  Here are a couple recipes that I tried and I want to pass on to you because they were so great! Continue reading