Family Living Focus by Alletta Schadler Lebanon Co. Extension Eating through the Holidays How are you doing with your holiday food intake? Is it "wretched excess" or "Hurry, hurry I don't have time to eat" or "We'll just order pizza, I don't have time for anything else." This time of year there are many demands on our time and energy and lots different activity patterns that can disrupt a well planned eating pattern. If you have diet restrictions it is espe cially challenging to be sociable without doing yourself in, dietarily speaking. Platters of cookies every where, pot-luck holiday lunches or suppers at worksites or with organizations, gifts of home made food from well meaning friends (and no freezer space to file them away for future eat ing!). Candy gifts both home made and store-bought with easy-to-nibble pieces. Compounding the nroblem is the fact that maybe you are not getting regu lar exercise to bum off the added intake. This year we surely can not blame the weather for not being able to get outside to walk! Here are some thoughts for surviving the eating season. •Think about making a big pot of vegetable soup or some other low-fat but nutritious soup that you can have ready to eat quickly when time is short. Make ahead and freeze in serv ing size portions. The new store, freeze and reheat plastic con tainers are wonderful for this purpose. In fact, a really great Christmas gift might be an assortment of homemade soups .frozen in these reheatable con tainers. Make them for yourself and freeze the excess for gifts. This would be an appreciated gift for those who are living alone. You can adapt the recipes for sodium or fat restrictions, too. •When going ho an eating the tradition of (ffhnslvnas cheer, we 'jUe to extend our sincere lhanhs for xjour friendship this past year. Q dday your season abound with love event that will likely have high calorie or high fat foods you need to avoid, eat before you go so you are not starved when you get there. Hopefully, the planning committee or hostess will have realized that there are some folks who need to find low sodi um or low fat or low sugar foods. A really thoughtful hostess will make little signs for the food that identifies special considera tions. A thoughtful hostess will also provide warnings about the "hotness" of dips and the like! •Always plan for at least one sugar - free beverage. You'll be surprised how many people will chose it. Especially in the evening, plan for a caffeine-free hot beverage. Try to have a dip or two without high fat. Have veggies and/or pretzels for peo ple to dip with instead of only high fat alternates. •Fresh fruit especially the "gold" variety of pineapple in season just now makes a great addition to a meal or to snack foods. Have you seen the new grape-shaped mini-tomatoes. ' They have wonderful fresh tomato flavor. •If you are the hostess, don't be a food "Pusher". Allow your guests to eat little or nothing if they .want. Don't make them feel that if they don't eat our food it is a personal repudiation! •Try to even out the balance of all the food groups you con sume over several days. Take time to do an inventory of what you ate and drank, including the A jU Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative 5£ Association, Inc. j, 1 905 | saac Newton Square West Reston, Va 20190-5094 F 1-800-552-1976 MIDDLEBURY CO-OP MIDDLEBURY COOPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION INC. RR #4 Box 1018, Little Marsh, PA 16950 717-376-2192 Pairylea Cooperative Inc.O P.O. Box 4844 Syracuse, N.Y. 13221 800-654-8838 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 19, 1998-B3 amounts for the past few days. Sometimes when we are busy we don't think about food, we just eat whatever crossed our path. Are you getting a source of calcium (other than eggnog!) Are you getting at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily (with plenty of dark green and citrus)? If you don't have a Food Guide Pyramid for nutrition intake guidance', contact our Extension office for a copy. •Finally, if you are depressed Got Chocolate Milk? Get It At School EMLENTON (Venango Co.) “Got chocolate milk? Get it at school!’* will be the theme of the school milk promotion set to take place in January 1999 in ele mentary schools throughout the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program area. Building on the information ga thered during the 1998, “Got milk? Make Mine Cold!** school food service promotion, this new event promotes chocolate milk in schools targeting kids who bring their lunch from home. Dairy research has shown that most children who bring their lunch from home do not purchase milk at school. “Got chocolate milk? Get it at school!" positions chocolate milk as the drink of choice for those SSI tom Farmers of America 100 Manchester Ave. Westminster, Md. 21157 Telephone 1-800-735-2025 8257 Dow Circle Strongsville, Ohio 44136-9717 1-800-837-6776 # # 1 WORKING FOR YOU gVr Mount Joy fyg - Co-op Route 230 Myfll West of Mt. Joy, PA vKl' 717-653-5431 Land CXlakes, Inc. 405 Park Drive Carlisle, PA 17013 1-800>645-MILK at holiday time, it may cause you to overeat or to avoid eating. Recognize what you are doing and talk to a friend about your feelings and choose activities that will encourage healthy con sumption patterns. If you have a friend or family member who is going through difficult times, help them with food problems by giving them healthy alterna tives or inviting them to join you for a nutritious meal. •Happy Holidays healthy New Year! who pack their lunch, encouraging them to choose milk at school, ra ther than other beverages. The goal of the promotion is to per suade non-milk drinkers to drink chocolate milk. Participating schools will re ceive a promotion kit including a banner, posters, book covers, pen cils, and chocolate milk mustache stickers. They will also receive tips and ideas on running a suc cessful chocolate milk promotion and nutrition information about chocolate milk. As complementary component of this promotion ADADC Mid East has coordinated with Milk-' PEP to conduct market research evaluating the effectiveness of in school marketing promotions." Over 60 years of service and £ Wanted