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“Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” -- Michael J. Fox

DECEMBER 2017

Raising Kids, Eating Right, Spending Smart, Living Well

Cooperative Extension Service Owen County 265 Ellis Highway Owenton, KY 40359 (502) 484-5703 Fax: (502) 484-5704 owen.ca.uky.edu

CELEBRATE FAMILY AND CONSUMER

SCIENCES DAYS

What is family and consumer sciences? Family and consumer sciences (FCS) is

an interconnected collection of disciplines that help people gain knowledge and

make informed decisions about their well-being, relationships and resources to

improve and enhance quality of life. The field includes:

Family and consumer sciences is also known as human environmental sciences.

Family and consumer sciences professionals are dedicated to improving the

quality of life for individuals and families.

“Dine In” With Us! What you can do! (choose one or more)

1. Commit to “Dining In” on December 3 at: aafcs.org/fcsday/home

2. Prepare and eat a healthy meal with your family

on December 3.

3. Ask your friends and family to “Dine In.”

4. For a healthy selection of recipes using Kentucky

produce visit: plateitup.ca.uky.edu

5. Take a photo of your family preparing a healthy

meal and post it to Facebook or Twitter using

#FCSday Source: www.aafcs.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TIMELY TIPS ..................1

EATING RIGHT ................2

SPENDING SMART ...........2

WHAT’S COOKING ...........3

RAISING KIDS .................3

LIVING WELL ..................3

COUNTY INFORMATION ....4

Human Development Parenting and Family Communication

Nutrition and Wellness Personal and Family Finance

Housing and Interior Design Textiles and Apparel

Consumer issues and Consumerism Food Science

2

Managing Diabetes During the Holidays Source: Ingrid Adams, associate extension professor

A healthy diet is so important to controlling

and minimizing the effects of diabetes, but eating

healthy can be a struggle and challenge for some

people with diabetes, particularly those who have

been recently diagnosed with the disease. The up-

coming holidays pose additional challenges and pre-

sent more temptations.

If you have diabetes and you eat a moderate

amount of foods that are high in nutrients and low in

fat and calories, then eating during the holidays

should be no different from the way you eat every

day. If you do not eat this way, then try to create dai-

ly, healthy eating habits before the holidays begin.

These habits should include consuming a well-

balanced breakfast, fruits and vegetables in a variety

of colors, whole grains and a variety of lean proteins

in the appropriate portion size.

During the holidays, most people have the

tendency to go overboard with desserts, because they

are at every function and these treats are available in

large quantities. Desserts often contain few nutrients

and are heavy in carbs and fat that can quickly raise

your blood glucose levels. Healthier options include

eating fruit for dessert, splitting a dessert with some-

one, removing high-fat whipped topping and frosting

from desserts and eating fewer carbohydrates during

the main course so you can have a small dessert.

You can reduce the amount of sugar in many

holiday dishes by making healthy adjustments to

your recipes. Use vanilla or cinnamon as a sugar sub-

stitute in recipes. Unsweetened applesauce or sugar-

free syrups can

be used in

place of regu-

lar syrup. You

can also try

using fresh

fruit or fruits

canned in their

own juices ra-

ther than fruits

canned in

heavy syrup.

Paying for convenience at the grocery

store Source: Heather Norman-Burgdolf, UK extension specialist in food

and nutrition

Our society loves convenience, especially

when it comes to food. Convenience items are al-

ready prepared and packaged, so that we have little

work to do before consuming the product. Conven-

ience items are everywhere, but most commonly

found at the grocery. They also tend to be more ex-

pensive than regularly packaged items.

You can purchase different types of convenience

items including scratch, semi-convenience, conven-

ient and ready-to-eat. A general rule of thumb is the

more time a food takes you to prepare, the cheaper it

is, with ready-to-eat options exhibiting the greatest

costs.

For example, bagged lettuce can cost three to

four times more than if you purchase a head of let-

tuce and shred it yourself. In the center aisles where

you find boxed packaged foods, 100-calorie pack

snacks generally cost 20 percent to 100 percent

more than the same item in a regular sized package.

In this case, the additional packaging leads to more

costs.

You can make smarter monetary choices at

the grocery store by choosing wisely when it comes

to convenience items. First, invest time instead of

money. For example, purchase the whole head of

lettuce and take the time to prepare it on your own.

Purchase a regularly packaged snack and use the

serving size on the nutrition facts label to make your

own small snack size.

Use the unit price to compare similar items.

The unit price is listed on the price tag directly be-

low the item on the shelf. The unit price gives us an

idea of how much the items costs divided by weight.

Using this number, we can compare foods that are

the same but in different sized containers or com-

pare brands. Your best value will generally be the

item with the lowest unit price.

Remember that purchasing convenience

items at the grocery store is not always a bad thing.

It is important that you recognize the best balance of

time, quality and cost that fits your and your fami-

ly’s lifestyle. Make sure that spending a bit more on

convenience items truly adds value and not a per-

ceived value caused by good marketing.

3

Teach Self-Control As parents, one of our top concerns is our

children’s behavior. We want them to respect others

and make the most of relationships. Researchers tell

us that children begin even as babies and toddlers to

decide how to express feelings and relate to other

people. How can we start our little ones on the path

to managing their own behavior? Teaching self-

control does not have to be hard—not if we start ear-

ly and guide our children in positive, creative ways.

Babies need respect and love. Babies are

wonderful new human beings, but they are not ready

to think about your feelings or rules. They will learn

to trust and depend on you if you are respectful and

consistent in meeting their needs. If you are, you will

not need to worry about misbehavior. Trusting babies

naturally learn peaceful behaviors. Toddlers need

respect, love, and guidance to learn self-control. As

babies become toddlers with minds of their own, it is

time to teach them self-control and about getting

along with others. At this point, positive discipline

techniques are good to know. It is important to start

early in shaping a child’s behavior with consistency,

love, and understanding. This key—Teach Self-

Control—talks about the difference between positive

and negative discipline for older babies, toddlers, and

preschoolers. It offers suggestions for preventing

misbehavior in the first place and teaching better

ways to behave

Happy and Healthy Holidays It’s common to pack on 5-10 pounds during the holiday season, but there are ways you can eat both healthy and well! The holidays are a great op-portunity to enjoy time with family and friends, cele-brate life, be grateful and reflect on what is im-portant. They are also a time to appreciate the gift of health. Stay Active: Physical activity is just as important during the holidays as any other time of year. You should be active at least four to five times a week for 30 minutes. Eat Well: With al the delicious food available, eating too much may seem expected during the holidays. However, moderation is a great mantra for the holi-day season. Wash your hands often: Colds and the flu are most prevalent in the winter. One of the easiest ways to prevent getting sick or spreding germs is keeping your hands clean and urging others to do the same. Manage Stress: Holidays do not have to be stress-ful. Be realistic, plan ahead and take time for your-self. Handling stress can be done by getting ade-quate amounts of sleep, committing to fewer gather-ings or setting a budget for the holidays. Prevent injuries: Many common holiday activities can cause injuries that put a damper on the holiday cheer. Watch young ones and assist the elderly who are at increased risk of falls and other injuries dur-ing this time. Source: Adult Health Bulletin, Dec. 2017

Ingredients:

6 Medium sweet potatoes

1/4 C Maple Syrup

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup low-fat vanilla Greek yogurt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 C Brown sugar

1/2 C ground rolled oats

1 Tbsp maple syrup

3 Tbsp melted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 C chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Peel sweet potatoes

and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place sweet potato cubes

in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Cook

over medium-high heat until tender. Drain and

mash. In a large bowl, mix together mashed pota-

toes, maple syrup, brown sugar, eggs, salt, yogurt,

vanilla and cinnamon. Blend until smooth. Pour

into a 13-by-9 inch baking dish. Topping: In a medi-

um bowl, mix the brown sugar and oats. Add in

syrup, melted butter, salt and cinnamon; blend until

mixture is coarse. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over

sweet potato mixture. Bake 30 minutes, or until top-

ping is lightly browned.

NEWS FROM

OWEN COUNTY EXTENSION

4

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

JUDITH E. HETTERMAN

OWEN COUNTY EXTENSION AGENT

FOR FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCE EDUCATION

Cooking with Kids during the Holidays Around the holidays, people tend to spend more time in

the kitchen whether it is making seasonal baked goods or

preparing large meals to feed the family. With children

out of school and families gathered together, it is an ex-

cellent opportunity to get children involved in the kitch-

en. Not only is it a learning experience for the child, it is

also a bonding experience for the family.

There are many benefits of getting kids involved

in the kitchen. Immediately, kids develop confidence be-

cause they are contributing positively to the family and

they are more likely to try a new food they helped pre-

pare. Allowing kids to help in the kitchen develops their

cooking skills which could carry into adulthood and may

lead to healthier eating styles long term. Finally, kids are

able to spend quality time with family members which we

know is beneficial for their development.

Below are suggested tasks and activities for get-

ting kids involved in the kitchen. All children develop at

different rates, so make sure responsibilities are appropri-

ate for your child regardless of the age.

► 2-5 year olds: tasks that don’t have to be precise;

tearing up lettuce or herbs; washing produce in the

sink; sprinkling ingredients; stirring; mashing; find-

ing ingredients for a recipe; pressing on and off but-

tons.

► 6-9 year olds: more advanced tasks; measuring dry

ingredients; pouring ingredients into batter; using

table knife to cut soft fruits and vegetables; grating

ingredients; using pizza cutters or can openers; set-

ting timers.

► 10+ year olds: more advanced and independent activ-

ities; stirring ingredients at the stove; using sharper

knives; working with electric kitchen appliances;

learning basic cooking concepts like how to boil wa-

ter and microwave foods; following recipes.

As the supervisor in the kitchen, it is important to be pa-

tient with children when they are learning a new skill. It

may take some practice before it is done just right. Al-

ways supervise and do not leave children unattended, es-

pecially if a task could be dangerous like using kitchen

utensils or hot surfaces.

Finally, don’t forget about food safety in the kitchen. It is

important to show taking care of yourself (by washing

hands and proper handling of utensils) as well as taking

care of the kitchen (by cleaning up spills and messes)

keeps everyone safe and makes the food taste better!

Source: Heather L. Norman, Extension Specialist for Food and Nutrition; University of Kentucky, College of Food, Agriculture and Environment

How to Use Automatic Payments Wisely Automatic payments are common in today’s banking world.

These payments include utility bills and student loan payments,

to name a few. There are many advantages to paying your bills

this way. If you are on a budget, having your regular monthly

bills automatically paid can help you to not overspend. Automat-

ed payments also mean that you have fewer payments that you

have to write a check for or to pay online yourself every month.

Many people also avoid late fees this way. As with any financial

matter, there are some things to know about:

• Check your bank account balance. Once you have automat-

ed your bills, it can be easy to put your bank account on “auto

pilot.” It is very important that you check your bank account to

make sure that you have enough money to pay all of your bills.

If you have a bank account balance near zero, automated pay-

ment may not be the best option for you as you may find your-

self frequently overdrawing which will result in fees.

• Keep a calendar to track automated payments. It is a good

idea to write down the dates of all payments that will taken out

of your banking account to make sure that you have enough

money in your account and that the payment is taken out on

time.

• Review your account weekly. Check your account on a week-

ly basis to check for errors-either a missed automated payment

or an automated payment for an amount that you have not ap-

proved.

• Do not use automated payment for bills that change in amount. It is best to use automated payments for bills that are

the same amount every month. For bills that change in amount,

such as a water bill, it is better to either write a check or make

the payment online to avoid overdraft fees.

• You have a right to stop payments at any time. If you wish

to stop an automated payment, you may do so. You will need

to first call the company making the withdrawals from your

account to inform them that the automated payments will stop.

If you still owe money to the company, you will need to plan

another way to pay You will then need to let your bank know

that they company is no longer allowed to take out money

from your account. To stop a payment, you will have to com-

plete a “stop payment” order which can take several days and

may have a fee associated with it.

HOLIDAY RECIPES

Baby Hot Browns

24 slices party rye bread

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups cooked, diced turkey

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon red pepper

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

5 plum tomatoes, sliced

Arrange the bread slices on a lightly coated

baking sheet. Broil 6 inches from the heat for

3 to 4 minutes. Set aside. Melt the butter in a

microwave and add the flour. Cook 1 to 2

minutes or until smooth. Whisk the milk in

gradually. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until thick.

Add the Cheddar cheese. Stir in the turkey,

salt and red pepper. Top the bread evenly

with the mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Par-

mesan cheese and half the bacon. Bake at

500 degrees for 2 minutes or until the Parme-

san cheese is melted. Top with the tomato

slices and remaining bacon.

Makes 24 servings.

White Chocolate Covered Apple Slices

4 to 5 Granny Smith or Red Delicious apples

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cups water

White melting chocolate bars or bits

½ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Slice the unpeeled apples, using a round apple

corer/slicer, then slice each slice once more us-

ing a sharp knife. Place the slices in a mixture

of the lemon juice and water to prevent apples

from turning brown. Drain well on a white pa-

per towel. The apples must be dry before dip-

ping in the chocolate. Melt the chocolate in a

microwave following the instructions on the

package. Dip each apple slice in the chocolate

up to the peel. Place the slices on waxed paper

and sprinkle with the nuts before the chocolate

hardens. Store the apples in a tin with waxed

paper between the layers in the refrigerator up

to 2 or 3 days.

Makes 48 slices.