November 4, 2004

Prairie Fare: Taking the Heat off Time Issues

By Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist
NDSU Extension Service

When I glanced at the clock high on my office wall, minutes were flying by like seconds. The hands were spinning around the dial.

I thought I was hallucinating. Then I realized that a campus-wide time adjustment was being made for Daylight Savings Time.

With the pace of life today, many people feel that minutes and hours are spinning out of their grasp. Lack of time is a common reason that people skip physical activity, cooking and eating at home. Skipping activity and nutritious foods can increase risk for heart disease, cancer and many other diseases. Time issues also can create stress, which has many negative health effects.

People in the U.S. have reason to feel their time is stretched to the extreme. According to a national study on the changing workforce, 13 percent of workers moonlight at a second job to earn extra money. This adds about 13 hours to their workweek. About 46 percent of salaried workers are also juggling parenthood.

Nearly 80 percent of married employees have a spouse who is also employed. All this work may add to the family bank account, but it leaves 70 percent of fathers and mothers feeling they don’t have enough time with their children.

It’s quite a juggling act. Many people juggle working one or more jobs, keeping up a home, raising children, caring for aging parents and participating in community and/or school activities. Scheduling time to eat healthy, exercise and occasionally sleep is yet another part of the equation.

When it comes to making time for healthy food preparation, consider the “cook once, eat twice” technique. This is not the same as making extra food and eating “leftovers.” This technique means you deliberately cook extra meat, poultry or other ingredients for use in a completely separate dish.

Remember food safety as the first step. Don’t partially cook meat, because bacteria and other microorganisms can live and grow in partially cooked foods. Quickly cool fully cooked meats and other perishable foods in shallow pans. The food should be no more than 2 inches deep, so it chills quickly and safely for the next meal.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Cook extra chicken breasts and pasta. On the first night, season chicken, place over a bed of bowtie pasta and add your favorite pasta sauce. Promptly refrigerate the planned-over chicken and pasta. Make a quick pasta salad for dinner the next night. Cut up the refrigerated chicken and mix with pasta, cut-up vegetables and Italian dressing within the next two days for a quick pasta salad.
• Prepare a roast and serve one night. Make sandwiches, soup or stew out of the remaining roast the following night.

Try this tasty make-ahead recipe and follow-up meal idea when time is short.

South of the Border Pork Chops

6 boneless pork chops, 3/4-inch thick
3 Tbsp. taco seasoning (or to taste)
2 tsp. olive oil
Salsa

Rub pork chops on both sides with taco seasoning. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil. Cook pork chops for 8-10 minutes until they reach an internal temperature of 160 F. Turn once. Top with salsa and serve with cooked rice and a salad.

Makes 4 servings (plus 4 follow-up servings). Each pork chop has about 250 calories, 2 grams of carbohydrate, 23 grams of protein and 16 grams of fat.

The next evening, slice the refrigerated chops into strips and wrap in soft flour tortillas with lettuce, tomato, onions, olives, salsa and light sour cream for a quick meal.

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Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu

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