But does healthier mean more money? Not necessarily! It’s all about being a smart and creative shopper. Here are some examples for classroom snacks:

Classroom Snacks – 24 children

Your Child’s Birthday Classroom Party – 24 children

Other ideas to get the most nutritional “bang for your buck:”

What do you bring when it’s your turn? Please pass along your ideas…

Additional Resources

• Kid-Friendly Fruits and Vegetables
• Make Celebrations Fun, Healthy and Active

Guest Blogger, Carrie Scheidel

Our feature recipe for March is Fiesta Skillet Dinner. Fixing up the recipe was easy while following the simple directions. The recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked chicken. I decided to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but you can use packaged, precooked chicken or precooked canned chicken.

While cooking the chicken, make sure the raw chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 165°F. Poke a meat thermometer in the middle of the chicken to test for doneness. Overall, the recipe took about 30 minutes to cook from start to finish. Cooking the boneless skinless chicken breasts took the longest amount of time. To save time with cooking, I suggest cutting the raw chicken into cubes before cooking.

This dish is relatively inexpensive. The cost per serving is only $1.26 and 1 ½ cups is one serving.

This dish is loaded with flavor from the creamy cheddar cheese to the mild spice from the tomatoes and chili powder! My fiancé was very pleased with the robust flavor and dished up a second helping! Pair the dish with crunchy, raw vegetables such as carrots and slices of green pepper. Add a fruit for sweetness like a vanilla banana pudding parfait! If you are looking for a simple way to curb your taco or burrito craving, try the Fiesta Skillet Dinner today!

Guest Blogger,

Allyson Woltman , Iowa State University Dietetic Intern

Fiesta Skillet Dinner

When I make this meatloaf I use 85% lean ground beef to save money. First, cover a cooling rack with foil. Then poke holes in the foil to allow the fat from the ground beef to drain. Then place cooling rack on top or inside of a cake or jelly roll pan. After the meatloaf is formed, place it on the foil covered cooling rack. If you are using a 90% or 95% lean ground beef there isn’t much fat to drain so you can use any baking dish you like.  You could also make the meatloaf with ground pork or ground turkey. Be sure to use a thermometer to make sure it is done.  The minimum internal cooking temperature for ground pork and beef is 160 degrees and  ground turkey should be cooked to 165 degrees.

I think one of the reasons I like this meatloaf is because of the sweet topping. We were careful to use a small amount of sugar. Since I am heating the oven when I make this meatloaf, I try to include baked potatoes or sweet potato fries in my menu.

Mouth Watering Meatloaf

Servings: 6 | Serving Size: 1/6 of loaf | Per Serving: $.88

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• ½ onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
• 1 cup grated carrots (about 2 carrots)
• ½ cup dry quick oats
• ¼ cup nonfat milk
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup ketchup, divided (¼ cup in meatloaf and ¼ cup in sauce)

Sauce:
2 tablespoons brown sugar or white sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Mix together the ground beef, onion, carrots, oats, milk, egg, black pepper, salt, and ¼ cup ketchup.
3. Form the mixture into a loaf and place on broiler pan.*
4. Bake for 50 minutes.
5. Stir the remaining ¼ cup ketchup and sugar in a small bowl.
6. Remove meatloaf from oven and spread the sauce over the top and sides of meatloaf.
7. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160°F.

* You can make a broiler pan by laying a wire cooling rack on top of a jellyroll pan or cake pan. Cover with aluminum foil. Poke holes in the aluminum foil so the meat juice can drain.

• If you are organized, you won’t buy duplicates of things you already have. Can you see in your cupboards? How many jars of cumin and cans of cream of celery soup do you really need?
• If you are organized, you will throw away less food like leftovers hidden at the back of the refrigerator or frozen meat left so long it has freezer burn.
• If you are organized, your kitchen will be more enjoyable to work in and it will take less time to make a meal and clean up.
• If you are organized and know what you will make for dinner, you will be less inclined to buy fast food or rush through the deli section of the grocery store.
• If you are organized, you will know where the coupons are that you cut out and you will use them before they expire.

During January, our SpendSmart.EatSmart blog will feature tips for getting organized in the kitchen.

Please start us out by sharing some of your tips or thoughts about organization. (Just go to our blog site and in the upper right corner by tittle and date click on the comment section and add your ideas)

I’ll start.  When I was a kid my mom used to tell us “There is a place for everything and everything in its place.”  When we lost something she would say “If you pick up everything and put it away you will find it.”   (she was usually right)

This quick soup is made from garbanzo beans, which are also called chickpeas.  All my adult life I have avoided garbanzo beans because I thought they were too starchy but now I like them.  Maybe adult tastes change just like kids. Like all legumes these beans are high in protein and fiber and low in fat.

There are two features of this recipe that make it a winner.  First, it uses only one pan, and second, it calls for ingredients I keep in stock, except for the zucchini.

Since I don’t want to struggle with the winter weather and fortunate enough to have power, I think I will make some for lunch.  Instead of the zucchini I think I will add some frozen peas.

Quick Garbanzo Bean Soup

Serves: 8 | Serving Size: 1¼ cups | Per Serving: $.51

Ingredients:

• ½ onion (about ½ cup)
• 3 garlic cloves or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 can (14.5 ounce) low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes
• 2½ cups water
• 1 can (15.5 ounce) low sodium garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• ¾ cup sliced carrots (about 12-15 baby carrots)
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole-wheat pasta (rotini, shells, etc.)
• 1 small zucchini, sliced (about 1-2 cups sliced)

Directions:

1. Wash, peel, and chop onion. Peel and mince garlic cloves.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic, and cook over medium low heat for 5 minutes.
3. Add broth, tomatoes, and water to saucepan. Stir in garbanzo beans, carrots, and seasonings.
4. Cook on medium high heat about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in pasta and zucchini. Reduce heat to medium low.
6. Simmer about 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
7. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Our featured recipe this month, Sweet and Sour Rice Dinner, could be doubled or tripled for make ahead meals. The recipe includes ingredients for a tasty sweet and sour sauce but you could also use a bottled version if you prefer. The dish goes together smoothly if you measure and prepare all ingredients ahead of time.

If you have already cooked chicken to use just cook the sauce ingredients (step 6) and stir in the chicken and veggies. Cook for about 5 minutes to heat and serve over rice.

All you need to make this a full meal is some fruit and a glass of milk.

Sweet and Sour Rice Dinner

Serving Size:  2/3 cup rice, 1¼ cup topping

Servings:  5

Ingredients

• 16 ounces chicken (skinless, boneless)
• 1 bag (16-ounce) frozen stir-fry veggies
• ¼ cup prepared sweet and sour sauce
• OR make your own mixture
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• 1½ tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups instant uncooked brown rice
• 1 can (8-ounce) pineapple chunks with juice

Directions

1. Cut chicken into ¾ inch pieces. Wash your hands thoroughly.
2. Remove stir-fry veggies from freezer to thaw.
3. Optional: Make sweet and sour sauce. Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir in water, soy sauce, vinegar, and ketchup. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add chicken and cook until done. Remove chicken to a bowl and set aside. Set frying pan aside.
5. Heat water for rice to boiling. Add rice. Let rice cook according to the package directions.
6. Return skillet (used to cook chicken) to the stove. Add sauce ingredients from above. Cook over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly OR add the prepared sweet and sour sauce.
7. Stir in the pineapple (undrained), vegetables, and chicken. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook about 5 minutes.
8. Serve chicken and veggie mixture on top of the rice.

Here are the costs I found. Whole turkey prices range from $.88 to $1.19 a pound. Boneless, spiral cut hams are about $3.50 a pound. Bone-in ham varies from $1.48 to 1.98 a pound. Both ham and turkey are priced to lure you to the store.

The simple answer is turkey and the bone-in ham cost about the same with boneless ham costing significantly more. But, as usual, every situation is different. Below are some comments/questions with some of my thoughts.

Doesn’t matter what it costs. I want to serve both ham and turkey and make sure we have enough. Ok, but when you are buying, remember you can cut back on the amount you buy because people will eat some, but not a whole serving of each.

Is the buy a ham, get a free turkey a good deal? That deal was to buy about 7 pounds of boneless ham at $3.50 ($24.50 total) and get a 12 pound turkey free. You would get about 28 3 oz. servings of ham and 24 3 ounce servings of turkey. So you would get 40 servings for $24.50 at .61/serving. If you want a boneless ham it is a good deal. But it would be cheaper to by the bone-in ham and turkey separately.

We are saving for Christmas gifts so I don’t want to spend a lot. I would get either a boneless ham or the turkey. If you have time, go for the turkey and make soup from the turkey bone (that way you can stretch the cost over several meals). A couple of years ago we developed a Healthy Holiday Dinner Menu with Recipes.

I am exhausted after our Thanksgiving meal. Maybe we should just go out to eat. Last year in the blog I shared my Top 5 tips to save time, money, stress and calories for Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe you will find an idea that works for you.

My turkey is always dry so I think I’ll have ham this year. Are you cooking the turkey too long? Try using a meat thermometer (sometimes the pop-up timers fail). Put the thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh because the dark meat of the turkey thigh takes longer to cook than any other part. When the thermometer is at 165 degrees, it is done.

My grandpa says he can’t eat ham so we will have turkey. From a health standpoint both ham and turkey are great sources of protein, but turkey provides significant less fat if you skip the skin. Ham also has more than 10 times the sodium and may contain nitrates.

Have a Great Holiday.

So now is the time to buy pork and put it in your freezers. I recently bought a boneless pork loin and had the grocery store cut it into smaller portions that would be enough for my family for a meal. The pork loin was $1.79/pound. The loin I purchased was 8.4 pounds, so the total cost was $15.04. I had it cut  into fourths so it cost me $3.76 per package.  I made roasted pork loin with apples one evening and put the rest of the packages in the freezer for later use.

When purchasing pork, look for the words ‘loin’ and ‘round’ in the name for the leanest cuts. However, tenderloin is more expensive so for lower cost look for pork loin. If a cut has visible fat, be sure to trim it off. When cooking pork, whole cuts like chops and roasts can be safely cooked to in internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit . Ground pork, like other ground meats, should be cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

From Spend Smart. Eat Smart. try Garden Pork Sauté. http://recipes.extension.iastate.edu/2010/07/26/garden-pork-saute/

What recipes do you like to use pork in?

• students had several options for fruits and vegetables
• students served themselves so they could put the amount they wanted on their tray
• the food tasted good and the kids told me they liked the food
• the food is generally healthier

What about portion size?

The biggest concern about school lunch seems to be the portion size. The portions are based on nutrition guidelines for average children. For the first time, there are limits on the calories that can be served at meals based on students’ ages. The new guidelines require schools to serve more variety and larger portions of fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, there are limits on the amount of grains, proteins, and fat that can be served over the course of a week.

The portions served are not large enough for cross country runners or football players, but most of the kids in the lunch line are not athletes.

If your child wants more for lunch, here are some suggestions:

• Make sure they know that they can take as much of the fruits and vegetables as they want when they go through the line if that is allowed in the district (this can vary by district). Also, ask if students are allowed to go back for more fruits and vegetables at no additional cost.
• Ask your child if they are taking and eating what is available. You may need to work on expanding the foods your child likes by serving a variety at home and role model eating those foods.
• Allow your child to buy additional portions from the a la cart line if it is available.
• Have your child take snacks from home.

In Iowa, vending, a la carte, and some fundraising items have nutrition requirements based on the Healthy Kids Act of 2008.

A la Carte observations

Two of the middle schools I ate lunch at offered a la carte items. I didn’t see extra portions of the food we ate for lunch offered for sale which I thought was surprising…maybe I just missed it.

The food for sale was cans of carbonated fruit juice, 100-calorie packets of Chex mix, baked crackers, and fruit roll-ups. The kids charged these foods on their accounts just like they charged their lunches. There were no prices listed for the a la carte items and none of the kids knew how much the items cost.

My nieces both charged their Switch drink (carbonated 100% fruit juice). My brother-in-law reviewed their lunch bill and told me the Switch drink costs $1.50 for an 8-ounce can. So, instead of an economical $2.50 or less for lunch, the charge was $4.

A lower cost option would be to take extra fruits or vegetables at no charge or have the kids bring juice boxes and other snacks in their backpacks.

Healthy foods that don’t need refrigeration

• Raisins, dried fruit, popped popcorn, dry cereals such as granola or cheerios, nuts like almonds and cashews, fruit cups, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, peanut butter on apple with raisins
• Fresh, dried, or packaged fruits such as apricots, oranges, peaches, cherries, grapes, pears, bananas, plums, kiwi, apples, Fruit roll-ups, trail mix, oatmeal cookie

Take a look at a comparison chart of what I observed about menu choices, costs, security and supervision, time to eat, etc. along with photos of my lunches.

Children’s health is important to everyone — parents, USDA, schools, school lunch managers, parents, etc. However, we all have a different viewpoint, from USDA, which has developed program policies using the latest science based nutrition information, to parents trying to provide their child’s wants and needs on a family budget.

Much has changed in the 15 years since school lunch regulations were previously updated. Now school lunches fit the 2010 Dietary Guidelines: half the foods on the plate are fruits and vegetables, whole grains have increased, and milk is low-fat or fat free. Serving sizes are moderate. Condiments, which can be high in sodium, are limited.

My lunch tray ... I didn't care for creamed corn or fruit salad with coconut, so my menu options were a bit limited.

The meals I ate at school tasted pretty good and were inexpensive (I paid about $3). Each meal had a protein source, fruit, vegetable, milk and grain (except the meal that ran out of corn muffins). I thought the cheese bread with marinara sauce was great, the chili and fresh spinach tasted good, and the cantaloupe was about the best I’ve had this summer. The fish tasted fine, but because I don’t like creamed corn or fruit salad with coconut, I didn’t take either. My meal was a bit limited that day.

All the schools served 3 to 4 different fruits and vegetables, including at least one that was fresh. We served ourselves fruits and vegetables, meaning we could take more of something we liked. The kids I ate with who did not eat fruits or vegetables had less to eat. I think parents could help by serving more fruits and vegetables at home. Eating fruits and vegetables in any form is what is important – it doesn’t matter if fresh or frozen or canned; or whether organic or conventionally raised or local. New foods take a while to get used to.

One of the complaints about the new school lunch is that the portions are not large enough (more on this topic in next weeks blog). If your child tells you they are hungry, the first thing to do is make sure they are eating breakfast. This year the Iowa Department of Education and Midwest Dairy are partnering on a School Breakfast Challenge to increase daily school breakfast participation by 20%.

I enjoyed eating lunch at school with my nieces and colleague’s son. It was fun to see the kids interacting with their friends and understand more about the hustle and bustle of middle school.

Stay tuned … next week I’ll blog about ala carte options and getting enough to eat.