Why It's Ok To Cheat: In The Kitchen

With the end of the semester fast approaching there is simply not enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done.

As luck would have it, this time of year also brings holiday potlucks. How do you bring a delicious dish when you have zero free time? Here are some fast, easy and delicious ways to still be part of the party.

1. Cut and Bake
Cut and bake cookies provide the best of both worlds. Delicious fresh baked cookies that you just have to open and put on a pan to bake.

This time of year is perfect for Pillsbury Peanut Butter Cookies with Hershey's Kisses. Just cut and roll the dough into 1 inch in diameter balls and roll in sugar till it gets a light coating. Put them in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes and then pull them out to cool. As soon as they are out of the oven place one unwrapped Kiss in the center of each cookie. Let it cool and then enjoy.

2. Chips and Dip
Everyone loves chips and dip. The best part is it's super easy to make a "home made" dip with a little help from your pre-packaged food section.

Grab a bag of potato chips, a container of sour cream and a packet of french onion soup mix. Mix the french onion soup mix with the sour cream and stir. You now have the perfect holiday appetizer in under 2 minutes.

3. Chex Mix
Another great party appetizer is Chex Party Mix. You can buy it pre-made in small bags or for a more budget friendly option you can pick up a box of Chex cereal and make it at home.

One great recipe is Cinnamon Apple Chex Mix and takes less then 15 minutes to prepare.

4. Party Nut Mix
People crave salty snacks at parties, so grab a container of mixed nuts, a bag of mixed chocolate chips (white/milk/dark) and some dried cranberries and mix them in a fun holiday bowl. You will satisfy everyones salty craving in under 2 minutes.

No matter what recipe you choose, the most important thing to remember is that this is a time to relax and enjoy the season. Happy holidays!

-Olivia Fogarty

A "collective" look into the Little Grill

Nestled at the end of downtown Harrisonburg, The Little Grill Collective is a tough place to miss. With a half blue facade, it's exterior uniqueness is striking, but nothing compared to the interior decor. Little Grill has changed its structure, menu, and service since its founding in the 1940's.

 

The Little Grill was a Free Food For All Soup Kitchen that serves a hot noon meal every Monday (since October of 1992). Later it become both a soup kitchen and a restaurant. They are currently open 7 days a week, but 6 days for business since they offer the soup kitchen on Monday.

Over the years, menu changes made the restaurant appealing to healthy minded eaters and vegetarians. The collective has localized food  from all over Harrisonburg and stopped using many international companies products(i.e. Coke, Folgers Coffee, etc.). Some of the local food establishments include Our Community Farms, Mr. J's bagels, Charis Eco Farm, Red Front Supermarket, and more. 

The menu includes both breakfast items, along with lunch and dinner. Each week night is a specialty night. From mexi-night to down home cooking night. The meals are all affordable, with nothing on the menu over nine dollars. The collective owners create the eclectic menu offering delicious vegetarian alternatives to normal dishes. Sometimes with out you even realizing it! My friend Tommy ate five tacos on mexi-night before realizing they had no meat.

Little Grill is a cooperative business, owned and controlled by its members. Each member participates as workers, producers and consumers. There are currently 12 owners of the Little Grill. Each member plays a part in the business by working at the restaurant and coordinating different aspects of the business. All the owners can make decisions regarding the business autonomously. 

Working hand and hand together, the owners work on keeping the business going, but more importantly serving the community. Little Grill works with Our Community Place, right across the street, to help those throughout the community in need.

 

Stop by the Little Grill sometime soon. It will be most likely be a memorable experience.

Pizza is not a vegetable. Even Congress agrees.

Over the past few weeks, the headlines similar to this New Jersey paper's "Congress declares pizza a vegetable for school lunches" are everywhere. And they are completely deceiving.

The 1992 Disney movie, Newsies, taught me: "Headlines don't sell papes, newsies sell papes." Now that newsies no longer exist, headlines do sell papers. And even if they address the real issue, they know that people will read on with a catchy, though misleading, headline.

The question people are asking is, "Is pizza really going to be considered a vegetable now?"

No, it isn't. But that is not the controversy.

What we should really be concerned about is the terminology we're using to discuss this issue.

Congress has NOT declared pizza a vegetable. 

The LA Times put together a special story outlining the issue of "the pizza controversy." Here's what you need to know:

1. The current standard allows 1/8 cup of tomato paste on pizza to count as a 1/2 cup vegetable serving since it takes 1/2 cup of tomatoes to make 1/8 cup of paste.

2. The USDA developed a plan to decrease potato and salt and increase whole grain, fruit and fresh vegetable servings in school lunches where schools are eligible for free or reduced lunch. They wanted to separate fruits from vegetables to require servings of each. This also included increasing the amount of tomato paste that would be considered a 1/2 cup vegetable serving.

3. Even though tomatoes are botanically fruit, the USDA classifies them as a vegetable due to use on the pizza (I still think of tomatoes as a vegetable, but regardless, the classification of the tomato is not the point of the pizza-as-vegetable dilemma).

4. The bill that was passed changed nothing. Obama's administration supported the USDA plan, but he signed the bill into law anyway.

So we can see where this gets confusing.

As always, this is less about the nutrition than about the politics.

Corporations that sell frozen pizza and starchy vegetables garnered Congressional support before the bill was put to either body. They called the bill "an important victory," even though the USDA's proposal would have standardized a healthier school lunch menu.

An article in the New York Times outlines some non-political reasons as well. It costs more money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables than it does to buy a bag of frozen french fries. Plus, there's the age-old adage that children don't like vegetables and are therefore more likely to throw them away or not take them at all.

A group of retired generals calling themselves "Mission: Readiness" do not support the bill and even called school lunch a "national security issue" because obesity disqualifies potential recruits, according to MSNBC.

And just like in the 1980s when Reagan's administration tried to count ketchup as a vegetable, just the rumor itself is potent.

The idea that "pizza is a vegetable" is now out there, and most people won't read another word about it. This will rationalize even more bad health decisions in the future for children. The terminology does more damage than the actual bill itself.

I looked up the Rockingham County school lunch menu for December to see what kids in Harrisonburg are eating at school.

Over the whole 12 days listed (the week before the holiday break is "manager's choice," so there's no telling what they'll serve that week) only half include a non-starchy, green vegetable choice. And of those 6 days, there are only two types of greens: tossed salad or green beans. A starchy vegetable (usually potatoes) is offered every day.

David Katz, a doctor from the Yale Prevention Research Center wrote a blog post for The Huffington Post, saying "no thanks" to counting pizza as a vegetable. If Congress had just passed the bill to advance the nutritional value of school lunches, the misleading headlines wouldn't have happened.

I hope one day Congress and the media can follow his advice.

--Amanda

Let's Go to a great deal

Live Off-campus? Trying to save punches? Live On-campus? Trying to save punches? Wether you are or you aren't Let's Go is a great place to grab two meals for one punch. It's location is on the side of Gibbons Hall, underneath the side entrance to Dhall, beside the Market One entrance:

Nutrition Wise: The Best & The Worst of Campus Food

With all the dining options here on JMU's campus it's hard to decide what to eat.

Below is a list of some of the best and worst punches on campus. There are also a few easy tips on things to swap into your less healthy punches to bump up the nutrition and cut down the calories as well as a quick guide for getting your coffee fix without blowing your diet.

Worst Punches on Campus:

PC Dukes Beef Nachos 
These nachos pack a whopping 1592 calories. Ad a soda to that diaster and your looking at an additional 150 calories.  All the nachos are over 1,200 calories so the best advice is simply avoid at all costs.

Festival Madison Mac & Cheese
This dish of cheesy goodness comes in at 1307 calories and 48 grams of fat. It may be the perfect comfort food but it comes at a high price, if you absolutely have to have pasta go for the Penne Rosa it has only 484 calories and 25.8 grams of fat. Pair with a water and your looking at a healthy meal.


Best Punch on Campus:


Festival Salad
This is one of the biggest salads you can get on campus. It comes with as many vegetables as you want  and if you skip the cheese, croutons and crispy noodles and pick a vinaigrette, french or light italian dressing this is one of the most filling and healthiest punches you can get. Get it with a water or unsweetened iced tea.




PC Dukes Falafel Fanatic Pita
This pita is packed with nutrients, protein and is only 423 calories. It taste great and will fill you up without the extra calories.


 Easy Substitutions:


Water or unsweetened Iced Tea instead of Soda
These drinks have 0 calories and actually help your body stay hydrated. Unlike diet soda they do not slow your metabolism or contain artificial sweeteners.


Fruit instead of Chips or Fries
Fruits are god for you they are full of vitamins and fiber and unlike fries have no trans fat or salt.


Vinaigrettes, French and Light Italian instead of Creamy Salad Dressings
Everyone thinks salad is healthy no matter what, but when you load it up with ranch or creamy Caesar you mind as well have picked something else. These dressing contain between 150-200 calories per serving and  tons of fat.

Starbucks Coffee 

What to Avoid:
Whipped Cream-It ads extra calories, is full of fat and has no health benefits.


Regular Holiday Drinks-For a grande they are all over 300 calories and high in fat. Instead go for the non fat or skinny versions, same great taste just less calories.


Regular Frappuccino's- All are over 400 calories and high in fat. Instead pick the Frappuccino Light, same great taste, less calories.


Any of their Pastries/Breads/Cookies- Very calorie heavy, over 300 each, and loaded with sugar. They also do not keep you full.

Best Coffee Pick:
Regular coffee with non-fat milk and one or two sugars. Another great option is to get it with 2 pumps of light syrup instead of sugar, it ads great flavor for almost no calories.

You can get full nutritional information for all of your favorite dining options. Picking healthy options is easy once you know what to look for, so enjoy the great JMU food without worrying about the extra pounds.

Tweet @SMADfood411 with your favorite healthy punch options!
-Olivia Fogarty