Create Healthy Active Celebrations
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Create Healthy, Active Celebrations Easy Ways To Eat Smart and Play Hard with Friends and Family United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, dis- ability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental sta- tus, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). 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May 2008 United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service Contents Making Celebrations Healthy and Active . 1 Make Celebrations Happen Enjoy Family and Friends Make the Foods Festive Splurge on Colors and Textures Savor the Flavor Offer Thirst Quenchers That Please Use MyPyramid To Plan Foods for Your Event Planning Pleasing Parties . 9 Planning Made Easy Planning Events for Children Ways To Keep It Simple for Kids Make Moving a Part of Every Event It’s Party Time . 14 Celebrations Made Easy Make It a Pirate Party Come Together for Sunday Supper Have a Blast From the Past Celebrate With a Fiesta Recipes . 29 Nutrition Links for Healthy Celebrations . 40 Making Celebrations Healthy and Active Health is the thing that makes you feel that now is the best time of the year. 1 Make Celebrations Happen All Gatherings Are Special Many gatherings can feel like a party, especially when you focus Celebrate in a Healthy on enjoying the company of family and friends. Encourage and Happy Way everyone to laugh, act out stories, tell jokes, dance, play, and just enjoy being together. The food can be simple – just make L Come together to have your guests feel important and welcome. All it takes is sharing fun! Food and drink are your time and attention in a friendly and fun way. only part of the event. L Start with a warm and Fun, Festive Foods and Activities friendly welcome. A Eating healthy and being physically active work together to few minutes with each promote good health. Both can be fun parts of parties of your guests will make and gatherings. them feel special. L Make choosing foods For children, playtime is priceless—children learn through games. easy. Make it easy for They learn to follow rules, and to give and take. Play teaches guests to select healthy children to get along with each other. They discover what they choices by offering a vari- are good at and what they enjoy. ety of tasty new foods and old favorites. L This guide provides tips that parents can use in planning Create excitement by celebrations for families, friends, and children. Keep reading trying new and different for information on: things. Try new foods L New ways to promote good health while having fun and activities along with L Making foods festive! familiar ones. L L Offering thirst quenchers that please Show by example. L Savoring the flavor Choose foods for good L Splurging on colors and textures taste and health. L L Using MyPyramid to plan foods for your events Get Moving. Encourage L Planning pleasing parties everyone to move L Planning events for children around at your gathering. L Ways to keep it simple for kids Include activities that are L Making moving a part of every event! fun and easy ways to L Ideas and recipes for making your celebrations move more. healthy and happy 2 Enjoy Family and Friends Your time with family and friends is special. Make time to enjoy each other and celebrate. Celebrations give parents and kids the chance to practice healthy habits that can last a lifetime. You can create traditions that help build lifestyles that support good health with a little thought, time, and action! Get Going With Set an Example for Your Healthy Habits Family and Friends It’s never too early for adults L Make your own healthy to set an example of healthy choices about food and habits. Adults may not realize physical activity. it, but children pay attention L Arrange for children to to what they do. Children play and be physically follow their parents’ choices active in safe places. about what to eat and how L Allow children to make active to be. Family meals choices from food and and get-togethers are good activities you provide. times to show how to eat new L Try new foods with kids. and healthier foods, and to be Remember that with time, more active. Set an example children will learn to like but also respect the the taste and texture of choices your family the foods adults enjoy. and guests make. 3 Make the Foods Festive Tips To Make Foods L Shop smart to eat smart. Taste Great Buy fresh fruits and vegeta- bles when they are in sea- We eat with our mouth and son. They can cost less nose, as well as our eyes. and taste better. Be sure to Prepare foods that look, smell, check dates on meat, milk, and taste delicious too: and other fresh foods. L L Make food look festive! Wash salad ingredients Sprinkle coconut, sliced ahead of time and store almonds, green onions, or them in the refrigerator. herbs on food. Toss with salad dressing right before serving for a L Decorate foods so they crisp, crunchy taste. look interesting and L appealing. Serve hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Milk L Use new shapes for sand- tastes best cold to most wiches, vegetables, and people. Most soups are fruits (for example, by more flavorful when hot. using cookie cutters). Besides being safer, the right temperature helps L Try something new, such foods taste better. For as adding new ingredients more information on keep- to a favorite recipe or serv- ing food safe, go to ing a new side dish with a http://www.foodsafety.gov/ well-liked main dish. L Make sure foods are properly stored and cooked. 4 Splurge on Colors and Textures Serve colorful fruits and vegetables at family events. They can add eye appeal to the foods you offer. They can also save you money. L Serve foods with contrasting colors. Combine yellow corn and black beans with some low-fat salad dressing. Serve orange wedges along with green and red grapes. L Add a splash of salsa, or sprinkle seasonings. They give a lively look to spreads, dips, and side dishes like hummus, bean dip, rice, or potatoes. L Buy a few special eye-catching fruits and vegetables. Choose in-season fruits and vegetables. Fresh berries, apricots, or nec- tarines or snow peas provide color and crunch. L Make it quick and easy by using canned or frozen fruits and vegetables. Serve canned pineapple or frozen peach slices. Canned green beans, peas, and carrots are tasty in salads. L Many colorful fruits and vegetables may cost less than many other packaged snacks. 5 Savor the Flavor Change Old Favorites Try Something New and Try Dishes From Use a new recipe to make tasty main dishes, casseroles, salads, Other Cultures vegetables, or desserts. Ask your friends how they make one of their family’s favorite foods. Try new foods and recipes to Try these ideas:* liven up your special event.* L Sizzling Fajitas are fast and easy to make. Quickly cook Try a lower calorie version of onions, red and green peppers, and thinly sliced meat and some recipes: serve in folded, hot tortillas. L Offer a Parfait of yogurt, cereal, nuts, and dried or sliced L Instead of the familiar cake fruit in layers. with frosting, slice an angel L Pasta Primavera is a nice change from regular spaghetti. food cake and layer it with Mix cooked bow-tie pasta with cooked broccoli florets, red sliced peaches, pudding, and green sweet pepper slices, and cut string beans or and a yummy fruit sauce. yellow squash. Add a sprinkle of cheese. L Offer turkey burgers or L Make a Trifle by layering unfrosted cake slices with berries veggie burgers at your and pudding. Additional ideas can be found in the Recipe barbecue. section of this publication. L Serve a home-made dessert of pudding, fruit, and vanilla Take a Chance wafers instead of pie. Try something different. Serve an unusual food along with L Add flavor and texture to familiar foods. salads by including nuts, Encourage curiosity. Taste new foods when they are in season, cheese, or dried fruit. such as different types of plums or pears. L Offer some new dishes *Choose lean meats and low-fat or fat-free foods and beverages. from other cultures at your celebration. Explore the United States Department of Agriculture’s and USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service’s Web sites for recipes: Loving Your Family, Feeding Their Future http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/default.htm Food Stamp Nutrition Connection Recipes http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/ Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM Healthy Lifestyles http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhardhealthylifestyle/ Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM Kids Web site http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhardkids/ 6 Offer Thirst Quenchers That Please When deciding what beverages to serve guests, there are many different options for kids and adults.