SNAP Wrap-up

Dinners 6 and 7 this weekend were leftovers. On Saturday, we made chili-mac from the vegetarian chili and part of a box of elbow noodles, and on Sunday, we fixed a new batch of pomodoro sauce and spaghetti, reheated the meatballs and celebrated UNC's and NC State's NCAA tournament wins.

We've got partial nutrition figures for the spaghetti, sauce and meatballs. Per serving there were 829 calories, 41 grams of fat, and 142 milligrams of cholesterol. We don't have carbs. or protein figures for the meatballs, but there were 63 grams of carbs from the spaghetti and sauce (and probably a few more from the meatballs).

Our total bill for the week came out to about $110, just below the Thrifty Food Plan budget of 123.79 and the SNAP budget of $121.48. We were probably right on target if we had counted some of the spices, coffee, tea, etc. that we consumed but did not need to purchase this week.

As Sue has mentioned in some comments, the dinners that we chose were high in carbohydrates, so the next time we try this we will try to do better in that regard.

Now it's time to write the check to World Vision and to root for UNC and NC State.

SNAP Dinner #5: Tuna Casserole

For dinner on night #5, tuna casserole with french green beans.

Recipe for the tuna casserole.

Ingredients:
1 lb. package egg noodles
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion
2 15-oz. cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup low-fat milk1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Tbs. dried parsley flakes
2 5-oz. cans of tuna in water
3 oz. cheddar cheese grated 

Directions: In a large pot over high heat, boil water. Pre-heat over to 350^o F. When water is boiling, put in egg noodles, cook until 1 minute underdone (about 7 minutes). Drain. While noodles are cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over a medium-low heat. When the oil is heated, cook the onion until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add mushroom soup, milk (use the milk to rinse out the mushroom soup cans), pepper, and parsley. When soup mixture starts to boil, add tuna. Heat through, and add noodles. Mix thoroughly, pour into a baking dish. Put dish in oven and bake for 25 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly. Remove from oven; add cheese, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Our estimate is that the casserole will serve six, with the following nutrients per serving: 613 calories, 24 grams of fat, 148 grams of cholesterol, 66 grams of carbs, and 34 grams of protein (thank Sue for prompting the nutritional info.).

The adults liked their servings and half of the teenagers did (five nights of SNAPpy dinners will do that to a teenager).

SNAP Dinner #4: Cream of Potato Soup with Ham and Salad

Dinner for night #4 is Cream of Potato Soup with Ham and Salad.

For the Cream of Potato Soup
Ingredients:
2 Tbs. butter
1 medium onion diced
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large potatoes diced bite size
1 15-oz. can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 Tbs. flour

Directions: Heat butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. When the butter is melted, cook the onion and bay leaf until soft (about 5-10 minutes). Add spices and cook for 1 minute. Add potatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add broth, bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. Remove bay leaf. Whisk the milk and flour together; add to soup and heat through. Remove from heat and puree half of the mixture in a food processor. Re-combine and cook over a low heat until the soup thickens.

With this, we cooked ham slices and served a salad.

SNAP Dinner #3: Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner for night number three was grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, rice with onions and carrots, and a salad.

For the rice...
Ingredients:
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/2 of a medium onion chopped
1 carrot diced
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 cup rice (rinsed and drained)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups chicken broth

Directions: Heat oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook the onion and carrot until the onion starts to soften (5-10 minutes). Add the pepper and cook for one more minute. Add the rice and cook until the rice just starts to brown. Add the broth and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to low and cook until the broth disappears (15-20 minutes). Let stand covered for 5 additional minutes; fluff with a fork.

The whole thing took just under 30 minutes. Fast, cheap, and what kid passes up a grilled cheese sandwich?

SNAP Dinner #2: Spaghetti with meatballs and sauce

Dinner for night number two...

Baked USDA meatballs, adapted to be edible from Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals.This was one of our favorites from the USDA cookbook. The main problem with the cookbook version is that the directions call for baking the meatballs for only 15 minutes--45 minutes works much better and results in better colon health. We also substituted garlic for garlic powder.

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 lbs. lean ground beef
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 medium onion minced or put through a food processor
2 garlic cloves pressed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 400^oF. Use the vegetable oil to grease a deep baking pan. Beat eggs with milk, pour into a large bowl. Add the ground beef and other ingredients. Combine ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Form 1-1/2 to 2 inch meatballs by taking a large pinch of the meatball mixture and rolling in your hands. Place meatballs in pan. You should get about 30 meatballs. Place in oven and bake for about 45 minutes, turning the meatballs over about halfway through.

We had half the meatballs with pomodoro sauce, adapted from the May 2011 Bon Appétit. The dish is even better if you have fresh herbs available, but we were trying to save money.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 medium onion minced
4 garlic cloves minced
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil flakes
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
30-oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 Tbs. dried parsley flakes 

Directions: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft (about 10 minutes). Add garlic and cook for another 2-4 minutes. Add the spices and cook for a minute. Add the tomatoes. Cook for at least 20 minutes for the mixture to blend.

We served half of the meatballs (15) with all of the sauce and with the cooked spaghetti.

This remains a family favorite, at least when the meatballs are cooked. In fact, we had it a week earlier with no leftovers when number-1-son was home on his college break.

By the way, the meatballs look less like turds in real life (they taste less like turds, or so I've read from The Help).

Oh SNAP! The thrifty meals are back

It's been a while, but the Ribars are going back on a thrifty diet.

Back in 2009, we spent two weeks eating meals that had been recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program). The goal of our "diet" then was to test whether the recipes could actually be fixed within a SNAP budget; it turned out that we came out a little over-budget. Another goal was to see whether the meals were edible. Some of the dishes were surprisingly good (at least to one Ribar); others were barely edible; still others ended up having bad recipes that would have left people sick.

For the 2012 version, we're doing something different. We're going to start with a one-week Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) budget and cook meals that we like that fit within that budget.

For our family, which now consists of two 18-50 year-old adults and one 17 year-old son (a son has left the nest along the way and will be following with amusement from Chapel Hill), the TFP budget is $123.79. The goals of this week's diet are to stay within budget and to contribute some inexpensive recipes that we like (one later this week will be the correct and edible version of an incorrect USDA recipe).

Breakfast this morning (and until Friday) was cereal, juice, and milk. Lunch this afternoon (and until Thursday) was cold-cut sandwiches, fruit, and store-bought cookies.

For the rest of the week, I'll be blogging and showing SNAPshots of the dinner recipes. Dinner tonight was vegetarian chili with rice and cheese accompanied by a tossed salad.

The nice thing about a vegetarian recipe is that it doesn't run afoul of most people's religious or dietary preferences. The not-so-nice thing is that it's a lot of beans to consume in one sitting. Don't fix this before a long car ride with the in-laws. More than that, don't fix this for the in-laws before a long car ride with them.

The recipe for vegetarian chili is adapted from the October 1990 Consumer Reports.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 large onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 clove garlic minced
4 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 Tbs. Worcester sauce
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 15-oz. can red kidney beans with liquid
1 15-oz. can pinto beans with liquid
1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans with liquid
water

Directions: Heat oil in a large pot over a medium heat, add onions, peppers, and garlic, and saute until they start to soften (about 5 minutes). Add spices and saute until spices are heated (about 1 minute). Add diced tomatoes (keep cans); cook until spices and oil start to run clear of the tomatoes. Add remaining ingredients; use a little bit of water in each can to get the remaining bits out. Continue cooking over a medium heat until the chili starts to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

For dinner, we used half of the chili; the other half will be used later this week.

For the rice...

Ingredients:
1 cup white rice rinsed and drained
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups hot water

Directions: Heat the oil in a small sauce pan over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and fry for 15-30 seconds until you can smell the cumin. Add the rice and saute, stirring often until the rice just starts to brown. Add the hot water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the water is just gone (about 15-20 minutes). Let sit for 5 additional minutes covered. Fluff with a fork.

Serve chili and rice with cheese to teenager and gauge reaction; if suitable, consume it yourself. (Note: very hungry teenagers may fake stomach distress to get the whole pot themselves).

Sweet tea for toddlers?

Rep. Maggie Jeffus has come in for some criticism over at Joe Guarino's blog. Joe criticizes her for H1726, a bill that would require modest standards for the types of foods that licensed day care centers could provide children and that would lead to the development of physical activity standards for day care centers.

Among the specific requirements, the bill would require the NC Child Care Commission to

...adopt rules for child care facilities to ensure that all children receive nutritious food and beverages according to their developmental needs. The Commission shall consult with the Division of Child Development of the Department of Health and Human Services to develop nutrition standards to provide for requirements appropriate for children of different ages. In developing nutrition standards, the Commission shall consider the following recommendations:

1. Limiting or prohibiting the serving of sweetened beverages, other than 100% fruit juice, to children of any age.
2. Limiting or prohibiting the serving of whole milk to children two years of age or older or flavored milk to children of any age.
3. Limiting or prohibiting the serving of more than six ounces of juice per day to children of any age.
4. Limiting or prohibiting the serving of juice from a bottle.
5. Creating an exception from the rules for parents of children who have medical needs, special diets, or food allergies.

Joe criticizes the bill as "ridiculous."

The language in the bill closely follows a recommendation that was made by the the "ridiculous" NC General Assembly Task Force on Childhood Obesity. The Task Force, in turn, relied on "ridiculous" model regulations that were proposed by researchers at UNC and other experts.

The Task Force was responding to high and growing rates of obesity in North Carolina. Indeed, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has just released a study that shows that North Carolina ranks 10th in rates of adult obesity and 11th in rates of childhood obesity. However, these figures must also be "ridiculous."

There is also evidence that North Carolina day care centers do a poor job of feeding their charges. A research team from UNC examined the foods and beverages that preschoolers in NC day care centers were served and consumed (Ball et al., J. Am. Dietetic Assoc., 2008). The team found that, on average, preschoolers consumed less than 13% of the recommended amounts of whole grain foods and around 7% of the recommended amounts of dark vegetables. Preschoolers did get adequate amounts of milk, but most of that milk was whole milk--only 11% was low- or non-fat.

They concluded

Our data suggest that children are not consuming recommended amounts of whole grains, fruits, or vegetables while attending full-time child care. Instead, children are consuming excessive amounts of added sugars from sweet snacks and condiments, and saturated fat from whole milk and high-fat or fried meats.

It would be nice if we could rely on market pressures to contribute to better nutrition standards at day care centers. The laissez faire argument goes something as follows:

• parents know what's best for their children and will value care providers who meet their children's nutritional needs;
• day care providers, in turn, will be forced to compete for the hard-earned dollars of those parents; the day care centers will have to provide good meals or risk going out of business.

However, the trends in obesity and the evidence that child care centers do a poor job of feeding children undercut this argument.

While parents may know what's best for their children in a general sense, they may not know everything that goes on in a day care center. There is asymmetric information in the sense that day care centers know more about the quality of care provided than the parents. Day care centers are especially problematic because their clients--infants, toddlers, and preschoolers--have limited or no ability to report what happens to them.

A related problem is that the consequences of poor nutritional practices are not immediately apparent. A single serving of soda or whole milk typically doesn't lead to noticeable, immediate problems (unless the child is diabetic or lactose intolerant). People have considerable trouble appropriately accounting for consequences that are uncertain or that occur far off in the future.

Even if parents and care providers take these direct consequences into account, they are unlikely to take other externality effects into account, such as the amounts that society is likely to contribute to mitigating health problems or that obesity may have on society.

The costs of complying with this legislation are minimal. Sugar-free drinks, including water, can be substituted for sugary drinks. Low-fat milk can be substituted for whole milk. There's virtually no cost difference.

At the same time, there's scope for some real benefits from reduced obesity and its co-morbidities.

Rep. Jeffus and the 66 other representatives who supported this legislation (including 5 Republicans) are offering a modest, common-sense, and well-considered approach to improve children's nutrition and reduce obesity.