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Facebook Sweepstakes: Building Blocks for Healthy Eating

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With summer just around the corner, Libby’s® Vegetable Cups can help you and your family enjoy healthy foods that taste good and are easy to eat, whether you are eating at the kitchen table or the picnic table. Libby’s® Vegetable Cups not only make a convenient side dish, but also double as a fun, frozen treat! These flavorful veggie combos are frozen right in their individual containers for a nutritious, pre-portioned snack.

Try the recipes below by Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD, LDN for a refreshing and delicious summer treat.

In addition, share your ideas for delicious frozen pop combinations on Facebook for the chance to win a $250 Visa gift card to use toward your own healthy summertime meals. Read the official rules here.

How To Enter:

1. Comment on a Building Blocks Sweepstakes’ Facebook post with your own original fruit & veggie pop flavor combination.

2. Submit a new idea once per day for your chance to win a $250 Visa gift card.

Sweepstakes lasts from 12:00:00 PM ET on Friday, June 6 until 11:59:59 PM ET on Friday, June 20th. 

Sweet Corn Frozen Pops

Makes 6 pops

Ingredients:

  • 4 Libby’s® Whole Kernel Sweet Corn Cups (4 oz. each)
  • 1 cup low-fat milk
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1¼ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Supplies:

  • 6 Popsicle sticks
  • 2 4-oz. paper cups (for extra mixture)

Instructions:

Add corn to a bowl. Do not throw out cups; wash and dry them to use for freezing pops. Mash corn with a potato masher to release liquid.

In a medium pot over medium heat, add corn, milk and sugar. Heat for 5 minutes, mixing a few times, until sugar dissolves and corn softens. Remove from heat and puree in blender. Pour through mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Cool in refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

Whisk yogurt and vanilla extract into cooled corn milk. Pour mixture into four empty Libby’s Cups and the remaining mixture into two 4-oz. paper cups. Position a 3½-inch popsicle stick in the center of each cup and freeze overnight.

Cost Per Serving: $0.87

Total Cost For Recipe: $5.21

Nutrition Facts Per Serving (One Sweet Corn Pop): Calories: 97, Total Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 2mg, Sodium: 135mg, Carbohydrates: 16g, Dietary Fiber: 1g, Protein: 6g, Vitamin A 2% DV, Vitamin C 67% DV, Calcium 11% DV, Iron 3% DV

Avocado Sweet Pea Frozen Pops

Makes 8 pops

Ingredients:

  • 4 Libby’s® Sweet Peas Cups (4 oz. each)
  • 2 ripe medium avocados, peeled and pitted
  • 1½ cup low-fat milk
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 large lime)

Supplies:

  • 8 Popsicle sticks
  • 4 4-oz. paper cups (for extra mixture)

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to blender or food processor. Do not throw out cups; wash and dry them to use for freezing pops. Puree until well mixed.

Pour mixture into four empty Libby’s Cups and the remaining mixture into four 4-oz. paper cups. Position a 3½-inch popsicle stick in the center of each cup and freeze overnight.

Cost Per Serving: $0.92

Total Cost For Recipe: $7.34

Nutrition Facts Per Serving (One Avocado Sweet Pea Pop): Calories: 119, Total Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 2mg, Sodium: 100mg, Carbohydrates: 15g, Dietary Fiber: 3g, Protein: 3g, Vitamin A 5% DV, Vitamin C 58% DV, Calcium 7% DV, Iron 2% DV

 

 

 

Put Some Spring (Holiday) in your Step with Libby's

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Whether you celebrate Easter or Passover, springtime holidays are the perfect excuse to gather the family together for a delicious meal. Libby’s® Fruits & Vegetables is making the meal planning process a little easier with our new Digital Recipe Box, an application on our Facebook page, that brings our recipes from your desktop to your tabletop! The Digital Recipe Box houses more than 100 recipes using Libby’s® products and allows you to share recipes with your Facebook friends, or email and print them out for future reference. The app makes it easy to plan meals by dish, ingredient or type of gathering. Through the advanced search features, you can easily add dishes like Corn and Potato Casserole or Peach Hand Pies to your Easter brunch or Passover Seder. If you prefer to create your own categories for recipes, the contents of our Digital Recipe Box are now also available on Pinterest. Do you struggle to find vegetarian options for a Meatless Monday challenge or kid-friendly dishes for that picky eater? Libby’s Table Pinterest boards can help you find exactly what you need to keep your family healthy and happy at the dinner table (and beyond.) Repin our recipes, health tips and suggestions for family activities to your own Pinterest page to share delicious food and fun family activities on your own boards. Once you have explored our app, please let us know how we’re doing! If you have any suggestions for recipes you would like to see in the Digital Recipe Box, send us an email at [email protected].

Tips to Help Make Organizing Your Family Reunion More CANvenient

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Libby’s Meal Plans, Helpful Tips and More to Avoid Breaking the Bank While Getting the Family Together

September is Get Back to the Table Month and this year Libby’s Fruits and Vegetables asked families to pledge to reunite with extended family members by entering our Family Reunion Contest at the Libby’s Table Facebook page. We will be rewarding one lucky family with a trip for up to 10 family members, including travel and hotel accommodations, to gather for a reunion dinner. We are currently reviewing the entries and will unveil the five finalists who will compete for America’s vote to win the grand prize on October 3. Be sure to visit the Libby’s Table Facebook page to see the finalists and vote up to once a day to determine the winner!

Planning your own family reunion? Here are some helpful tips to help make organizing your family’s get-together a little easier!

  • Create an invite list. Make a list of family members that you will invite to the occasion. Reach out to one person from each branch of the family to help you contact everyone else on your list. Collecting email addresses can make it easier to provide updates and ask questions.
  • Gather Information. Whether your event includes 10 family members or 100, you’ll want to make sure that everyone who wants to attend, can attend! Send an email survey to help determine details such as dates that will work for the majority, recommendations on where the reunion should be held, as well as any food preferences or menu ideas.
  • Set the date and location. Oftentimes it helps to schedule a reunion to coincide with a summer vacation or holiday, since many family members may already have plans to get together. Also, be sure to look for a location that’s accessible and affordable to the majority of family members.  
  • Plan the menu. This step is often the most complicated, as satisfying everyone’s taste buds can be a challenge. However, to make it easier, you can choose a theme and focus all the dishes around it. Perhaps you have a summer barbecue and include traditional items like barbecue chicken, hamburgers, and hot dogs, as well as creative side dishes like Libby’s Sunshine Salsa, Sweet Pea Dip, French Style Potato Salad and even meatless hamburgers, for any vegetarians in the family. Using these recipes can keep your meal CANvenient, affordable and nutritious with Libby’s canned fruits and vegetables. You can also ask everyone to submit their favorite family recipes so you’re sure not to forget to include Grandma’s famous fruit crisp and others!
  • Capture the memories! Ask a member of the family to be the photographer so you can capture heartfelt moments and make new memories. Give several family members disposable cameras with assignments to capture memories of the day. Prior to the event, ask your family to bring snapshots of family activities and milestones (weddings, births, etc.) from the past year and display so that everyone can enjoy them.  
  • Get back to the table. Depending on how many people you are expecting, you can determine if you should have a buffet style or sit-down dinner. Either way, you can have fun with table settings by labeling each spot at the table with a baby photo or fun fact about the person that is assigned to sit there. This will get your guests talking about old memories and provide a fun way for everyone to find their seats.
  • Keep in touch! To make sure everyone stays in touch, be sure to create and send out a post-reunion contact list with any stories or photos taken at the reunion. Also include family members that couldn’t attend, so they can be filled in on the fun.

Picky Eaters: Tips for the Table

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Even though I’m a dietitian and my 4 year old helps in the kitchen, I still deal with a fair share of eating ruts, dinner skipping and basic picky eating from my dear daughter.

So what’s a parent to do? Have faith that your kids are probably getting enough to eat but to go beyond the grilled cheese and chicken fingers, here are some ways to expand kids’ culinary and nutrition horizons:

Keep on Trying– Did you know it may take up to 15 exposures to a food before a kid accepts it? Understandably, parents often give up after a few attempts and chalk it up to something Johnny doesn’t like. Instead, continue to encourage but without forcing the issue. And avoid the “clean plate” ideal – as long as your child takes a few bites, it’s better than forcing food, which leads to a negative impression.

Rename the Plain – In a Cornell University study, four-year-olds ate nearly twice as much of a vegetable when it had a fun name like “Power Peas” or “X-Ray Vision Carrots.” Unlike sneaking veggie purees into brownies or sauces, this technique shows kids exactly what they are eating. Get creative and serve up “Dinosaur Broccoli Trees” or “Princess Green Apples.”

Dip & Dunk – It’s amazing how something as simple as a condiment gives a dish a whole new light a child’s eye. Plus, they love having command over their food.

  • Serve peanut butter-yogurt dip with raw fruits and veggies
  • Combine corn, black beans and salsa; pair with baked tortilla chips
  • Mix applesauce and cinnamon for whole-wheat toast dippers

Cook with Kids– Sure, it can be a hassle to have your children involved when you are rushing to get dinner together. But just 15 minutes of assistance from a tiny sous chef can eventually pay off into healthier eating. The feeling of control and independence often inspires kids to try new things. Here are some age-appropriate tasks:

  • Toddlers: Rip lettuce/greens; wash produce in bowl of water
  • Preschoolers: Cut fruit/vegetables with plastic knife; toss salad
  • Tweens: Separate eggs; blend a smoothie; stir ingredients for baking
  • Teens- Plan a dinner menu, grocery shop and prepare the main dish

And remember, did you like to eat everything when you were a kid?

Good Grill Hunting

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As summer kicks in and temperatures soar, grilling rules. And what better way to simplify family meals while taking advantage the warm weather? Here are some tips on making it healthy but hearty enough for everyone:

Don’t Smoke – Avoid cooking on high heat for longer periods of time as this can produce carcinogens that have been linked to certain types of cancer. Cut off any burnt or black bits before eating. Also get in the habit of scrubbing down the grill rack after each use. Removing excess food prevents future charring, smoke and off-flavors in your food.

Look to Lean- The leaner the protein, the less chance of fat drippings causing smoke and burnt food. Look for cuts of loin, round or leg when selecting beef, pork or lamb. Try different fillets of fish (wrapped in foil.) Choose extra-lean ground beef, chicken or turkey for patties. Cook up veggie kabobs brushed in olive oil or grill portabella mushrooms for a rich, flavorful “burger”.

Dunk or Rub- Marinating or rubbing spices on meats and chicken before grilling adds flavor and may also reduce the formation of carcinogens. Use about ½ cup marinade for each pound of protein. Always discard the remaining marinade – never reuse after raw meat has touched it.

Think Outside the Grill – Get out of your steak, burger and hot dog rut. You can experiment with chili (place a cast iron pot right on the grill!), fruit, and even pizzas on your grill.

Portion Your Plate –Look to the new MyPlate food icon – fill half your plate with vegetables (grilled veggies, salad), a quarter with whole grains (rice, pasta, bread) and a quarter with lean protein (meat, chicken, fish, seafood, beans.)

Check out this month’s Sunshine Salsa recipe – the perfect summer side for grilled shrimp, chicken or fish!