Family Living
Focus
by
Margaret R.
Malehorn
Cumberland Co.
Extension Agent
National Food Safety
Education Month:
Store It. Don’t Ignore It.
September celebrates the Na
tional Food Safety Education
Month with a new theme focus
ing on proper food storage. We’ll
relate the theme “Store It. Don’t
Ignore It” to the millions of
Americans who carry “bag”
lunches off to school or work
every day.
All our food must be handled
and cooked safely. Perishable
foods should be kept cold while
commuting by bus, bicycle, on
foot, or in a car. When you arrive
at school or work, keep foods
cold until lunchtime to prevent
harmful bacteria from multiply
ing. Pack just the amount of per
ishable food that can be eaten at
lunch. That way, there won’t be a
problem about the storage or
safety of leftovers.
Handling and preparing food
properly is equally important—
whether cooking from scratch,
serving take-out meals and res
taurant leftovers, or packed
lunches calls for everyone to be
vigilant.
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion research resources show bac
teria grow rapidly in the “danger
zone” the temperatures be-
shop*vac
jjDfO if.Tr
* »i»ib* nwmw „
► Carpet/Bare Floors
i |
Round ifexish
.^Lk*
► Kitchen
chnn-i#sio
B*l lU|i*W<lt* If It Doesn't Say Shop*Vac,
Keep Shopping!®
the Original wet/dry vac
Come and see the complete line of the #l-selling brand of wet/dry vacs, filters and accessories.
www.shopvac.com
Shop-Vac® is a registered trademark
of Shop-Vac Corporation.
tween 41 and 140 F. The refriger
ator temperature should be 40
degrees Fahrenheit and the
freezer should be zero F. Check
both “fridge” and freezer periodi
cally with a refrigerator/freezer
thermometer.
Packages for the freezer should
be tightly sealed to prevent loss of
moisture. Wrap irregular shapes
in flexible material removing any
air trapped between food surfaces
and package material. Packages
should be moisture and vapor
proof, odorless, tasteless, and re
sistant to tears and breakage.
It’s fine to prepare the food the
night before and store the packed
lunch in the refrigerator. Freez
ing sandwiches helps them stay
cold. However, for best quality,
don’t freeze sandwiches con
taining mayonnaise, lettuce, or
tomatoes. Add these later. Insu
lated, soft-sided lunch boxes or
bags are best for keeping food
cold. An ice source should be
packed with perishable food in
any type of lunch bag or box. On
the other hand use an insulated
container to keep food like soup,
chili, and stew hot. Fill the con
tainer with boiling water, let
stand for a few minutes, empty,
and then put in the piping hot
food. Keep the insulated con
;|ir- rii!/-.d,:<-ii,r.^...
Crevk»laol JFT£IJ
/
► Hard-to-Reach Spots
r is
Ik 1
► Efficient Filtration
for Easy Clean Up
tainer closed until lunchtime to
keep the food hot 140 F or above.
Prepare cooked food, such as
turkey, ham, chicken, and vege
table or pasta salads, ahead of
time to allow for thorough chil
ling in the refrigerator. Divide
large amounts of food into shal
low containers for fast chilling
and easier use. Keep cooked food
refrigerated until time to leave
home. When using the micro
wave oven to reheat lunches,
cover food to hold in moisture
and promote safe, even heating.
Reheat leftovers to at least 165 F.
Food should be steaming hot.
Cook frozen convenience meals
according to package instruc
tions.
It’s important not to crowd the
refrigerator or freezer so tightly
that air can’t circulate. Check the
leftovers in covered dishes and
storage bags daily for spoilage.
Anything that looks or smells
suspicious should be thrown out.
A sure sign of spoilage is the
presence of mold, which can
grow even under refrigeration.
Mold makes food unappetizing
and should be discarded. But you
might be able to save molding
hard cheeses, salami, and firm
fruits and vegetables if you cut
out not only the mold, but a large
area around it to remove the
mold growth below the surface.
Check your pantry to de
termine the condition of canned
goods through the year. A sticky
surface might indicate a leak.
Newly purchased cans that ap
pear to be leaking should be re
turned to the store, which should
notify the FDA.
For further information about
food safety and Cooking for
Crowds, a food safety program
for volunteers, contact Penn
State Cooperative Extension in
your county.
www.lowes.com
©2003 Lowe's® Home Centers, Inc Lowe's® and the gable design are registered trademarks of LF, LLC
For the Lowe's nearest you call 1-800-44-LOWES Prices may vary if there are market variations
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 13, 2003-B5
Brown Bagging Can
Save Calories, Cash
Packing lunch can be a
great idea, both financially
and nutrition-wise. Of course,
some savings will be offset by
higher grocery bills, but if your
family can save just $5 a day
on lunches, you can put an
other $lOO in the bank each
month.
When planning lunches, it’s
important to consider the
tastes of your family members
—don’t make sandwiches on
wheat bread when your first
grader insists on white. Keep
ing that in mind, here are a
few ideas for satisfying lunch
es;
• Choose whole-grain
bread for sandwiches. It offers
more fiber and trace vitamins
and minerals than “regular”
white or wheat bread. Look for
the term ‘whole grain” or
“whole wheat” on the ingredi
ents label. You can also add
interest and variety in sand
wiches by using sandwich
buns or bagels every once in a
while. You can even use crois
sants occasionally, but they
are high in fat and calories.
• Be careful in choosing
“juice” boxes. Buy those with
100 percent juice rather than
ones with large amounts of re
fined sugar.
• Include at least one fruit
and one vegetable. Fresh fruits
such as apples, bananas,
oranges, peaches, nectarines
and grapes are always good
choices, but be sure to rinse
and wipe them off before
packing the lunch. Other pos
sibilities include pop-top cans
of pineapple, peaches, fruit
cocktail or other canned fruits;
snack-sized raisins or other
dried fruits; or snack-sized ap
plesauce. Handy vegetables in
clude carrots, celery sticks,
cherry or grape tomatoes, slic
ed cucumber, and bell pepper
strips.
• Consider including a car
ton of yogurt, as long as you
can keep your lunch cool. Yo
gurt is a good way to include
calcium in the meal when milk
isn’t an option. Low-fat string
cheese is a good source of cal
cium, too.
• When no refrigeration is
available, use an insulated
lunch carrier with a frozen gel
pack and pre-chill beverages
and other items to keep con
tents cool. Or, you can freeze
lunch-meat sandwiches (with
out lettuce, tomato or mayon
naise) and juice boxes over
night —they should be thawed
by lunchtime. Or, pack items
that don’t need to be kept
cool: peanut butter and Jelly
sandwiches; canned meat or
fish; fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Steer away from ready
made lunch packs that are
high in sodium and calories
and low in nutrition.
Chow Line is a service of
Ohio State University Exten
sion and the Ohio Agricultural
Research and Development
Center. Send questions to
Chow Line, do Martha Filipic,
2021 Coffey Road, Columbus,
OH 43210-1044, or
filipic.3@osu.edu.
Improving Home improvement'