How to make a hot dinner with an empty fridge

My kids ran inside before their wet hair turned to icicles. After an hour of swim practice in December, everyone was cold, wet and RAVENOUS. While they defrosted in the shower, I blankly stared into the (mostly empty) fridge. What could I concoct for dinner with a brick of cheese, 1/2 carton of sour cream, and the fuzzy mystery leftovers in the corner?

Usually, nights like these would result in cheese quesadillas with canned refried beans.

But even the picky child was tired of those.

It was too cold for smoothies and salad.

We had pancakes and eggs last night.

Little Caesars pizza would require driving and waiting.

We needed a miracle hot and filling homemade meal from pantry staples.

And that's when I came up with white chicken chili!

It's filling.

It's fast.

It's as popular as baby shark in a room full of toddlers

and best of all

It's made from pantry staples (or leftover turkey if you have it from Thanksgiving)

Want to try the recipe out for yourself? Join us for Cooking Club Tuesday, December 6th. Click this link to register. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSb3OWBsfmiUABD9ssv5TKhjm7wyoWZCHIv5VlS6mfiv2zxA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Registration closes Wednesday 11/30.

Next time you need to make dinner on an empty fridge, I hope you'll remember white chicken chili (it's so good you'll never find it growing mold in the back corner of your fridge).

Have a happy, healthy week!

Nicole

P.S. Here's my menu this week:

Monday: white chicken chili + green salad + pomegranates apple salad

Tuesday: tuna noodle casserole + roasted brussel sprouts + apples

Wednesday: crock pot elk roast + oven roasted sweet potatoes + canned peaches

Thursday: crock pot lentil soup + whole wheat bread + canned peaches

Friday-Sunday: visiting friends and family, they will cook for us, yahoo!

Have a great week!

Why it's OK to love dinner rolls.

My face burned as I watched my daughter at Thanksgiving dinner. She had taken 3 bites of sweet potatoes, and 2 bites of turkey, and was now sneaking her little hand over to grab her sister's dinner roll (since she had already finished the other 2 on her plate). Thoughts of failure flooded my mind: "what kind of mom lets her kid gorge on rolls while leaving meat and vegetables untouched?"

Would your kids also only eat the rolls pictured in this delicious meal?

The Division of Responsibility

In my training as a Registered Dietitian, I learned a method for feeding children called "The Division of Responsibility."

The idea is that parents provide kids with healthy options and let kids choose how much (or whether) to eat. Kids eat as much as they want, or as little as they want, and parents DO NOT force them to eat (or not eat) in any way.

Good parenting around food: don't force your child to eat more (or less!)

The "Division of Responsibility" was easy with my first daughter:

We gave her food.

She ate it.

the end.

It was harder with my second child:

We gave her food

She threw it at us

She asked for bread

Frustrating. Even with my Dietitian training, her eating made me anxious: especially at Thanksgiving, when (I felt like) all eyes were on me.

Nutrition in Dinner Rolls

I decided to research the nutrition in rolls to ease my worries. This table shows what I found:

	TURKEY, (size of 1 hot dog)	ROLL (1 regular sized roll)	SWEET POTATO (1/4 cup)	GREEN BEAN (1/4 cup)	POTATO (1/4 cup mashed)
PROTEIN	64%	75%	5%	0%	1%
IRON	2%	40%	4%	2%	0%
ZINC	16%	0	5%	2%	0%
VITAMIN C	0%	0%	65%	7%	33%

Are you as surprised as I am to see that a regular-sized dinner roll has more protein and iron than a 1.5 oz slice of turkey (1.5 oz is the size of a hot dog). Please note that a roll is bigger than a small piece of turkey, so weight for weight, the turkey probably has more protein than the roll.

But my daughter will eat 10 rolls. I'm lucky if she'll eat 2 bites of turkey.

My point? It's not the end of the world if your child loves bread. You can trust your child to eat what she needs for healthy growth.

Offer healthy foods, and your child will pick and choose from what is available to get the nutrition she needs. Thanks to enrichment and fortification (the adding of nutrients to foods), it's okay if she mostly chooses bread.

Can you live on bread alone? Of course not. We need a variety from every food group to stay healthy. But my main message is this: bread is not the enemy. AND....it's okay to let your child decide what to eat, especially at holiday meals when you feel like everyone is watching. Just don't let them steal anyone's dinner roll; that's just plain mean!

Are you interested in learning more about the division of responsibility?

Click here to read more. Then, ask your Family Advocate to schedule a home visit with our Registered Dietitian. She can meet with you one-on-one to discuss your child's eating and things you can do to make mealtime joyful.

P.S. Interested in what our dietitian is cooking for thanksgiving dinner?

Here's my menu:

turkey: sister-in-law is cooking it

stuffing recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/classic-sage-and-sausage-stuffing-or-dressing-recipe

sweet potatoes: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/241834/oven-roasted-sweet-potatoes/

salad 1:https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/butternut-squash-salad/

salad 2:https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/roasted-vegetable-salad/

crock pot mashed potatoes:https://therecipecritic.com/crockpot-mashed-potatoes/

fruit: pomegranates + mandarin oranges and applesauce

green beans: from a can

rolls: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/divine-breadsticks-2/

vegan pumpkin pie (so yummy, and LESS EXPENSIVE than regular pumpkin pie!): https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/vegan-pumpkin-pie/

How canned pumpkin can help you feed your baby on the cheap

I bumbled down the baby food aisle, simultaneously sorting coupons, comparing costs, and preventing my 2-year-old from pulling my 6-month-old’s arm off. I wanted to give up and leave the store when I realized that one jar of pureed veggies cost more than an entire bag of carrots. Wasn’t there a cheaper option for baby food?

Isn't there a cheaper way to buy baby food?

A Eureka Moment on the Canned Veggie Aisle

I reluctantly plopped a few baby food jars in my cart and turned the corner to the canned veggie aisle. It was Thanksgiving time, and I was picking up canned pumpkin to make pie. Before putting the can of pumpkin in the cart, I flipped it over to look at the label:

½ cup canned pumpkin =

0g added sugar

0g sodium

4 grams fiber

Good source of potassium

Excellent source of vitamin A

4% of the day’s iron

½ cup babyfood carrots =

0g added sugar

0g sodium

1 g fiber

Good source of potassium

Excellent source of vitamin A

0% of the day’s iron

Eureka! Who needs baby food carrots when canned pumpkin provides similar nutrition at a fraction of the cost (1 can of pumpkin = $.33/baby serving VS. 1 jar of baby food carrots = $1.19/serving)

I put a few extra cans of pumpkin in my cart and headed home to experiment on my children.

My toddler's new favorite food

At snack time that afternoon, I plopped plain pumpkin on my 2-year-old’s plate and spoon-fed some to my 6-month-old. I wasn’t sure if anyone would eat it, and planned on sliding it back off their plates and into the pumpkin cookies I was going to make that afternoon.

But I didn’t need to slide any off my 2-year-old’s plate.

She ended up eating the entire can.

And then asked for more.

How could this be? Who eats unsweetened, unsalted canned pumpkin?

Babies and toddlers, that’s who! I’ve since served canned pumpkin to many toddlers and they all eat it - and like it!

Canned pumpkin for the win! It’s easy to eat, salt-free, sugar-free, and doubles as adult food - which means it’s not wasted when the baby grows up.

3 Ways to use Canned Pumpkin

My oldest is now in middle school, but I still catch her “sneaking” spoonfuls of canned pumpkin whenever I’m making pumpkin recipes. While I no longer serve it to her friends at snacktime, I do serve it to my DDI VANTAGE families every chance I get!

For cooking class last month we made this pumpkin curry. One mom told me her husband had thirds!

For November’s socialization in Tooele, we made this adorable pumpkin dip. Even the pickiest eaters loved it!

For cooking class in November, we will be making these flourless pumpkin muffins. The recipe focuses on WIC foods (peanut butter, eggs and pumpkin).

Class is Tuesday Nov 15th at 6:30 pm. Interested in signing up? Click on this link: https://forms.gle/33zUVcLkcetPiGpQA

Canned pumpkin is a bargain superfood. It might not be super enough to keep your 2-year-old from pulling your baby’s arm off, but it can save you cash at the grocery store, which is something we all need these days.

Hope to see you at cooking class next week!

~Nicole, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist