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The following are solutions to the food experiments in the
4-H Foods Project, "Six Easy Bites" for Pennsylvania. These
have been modified from the Purdue Leader's Guide. Please note
that those questions in the project book that have "no right
answer" or involve personal feelings are not listed in this text.
___________________________________________________________________________
Questions that have "no right answer" or involve personal feelings are not
listed.
1a. Cooking with Children
Dig Deeper-How Children's Nutrient Needs Change (3)
After infancy, a child's weight doubles from aprox. 30-60
lbs. The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA's) for most
nutrients increase gradually during the first 10 years of a child's
life; however, the number of calories they consume to meet those
needs vary.
1-3 year olds-six nutrients are important because although this
age group needs only about half as much energy as 7 to 10 year
olds; their nutrient needs are the same: Vitamins C and D, Iron,
Zinc, Calcium and Phosphorus. That means there is not much room
for "junk" food. Most of the foods 1 to 3 year old eat must be
nutrient-dense foods.
While 7 to 10 years can consumer more calories to obtain the
nutrients they need, they do need four nutrients in much greater
amounts than 1 to 3 year olds:
-twice as much folate, vitamin B-12, and magnesium;
-almost twice as much vitamin A.
Which nutrients are most often deficient in the child's diet?
A. Iron, Vitamin A, calcium and to a lesser extent Vitamin C.
Dig Deeper-New foods Acceptable to Preschool Child (4)
Serve easy to handle foods.
Make sure color, appearance, texture and flavor are interesting.
Include children in grocery shopping to observe various foods.
Include children in actual food preparation so they feel ownership.
Vary preparation methods; children prefer vegetables that are
slightly undercooked and crunchy, brightly colored, served
separately and are easy to eat.
Use mild flavored foods (a child has more sensitive tastes).
Smooth foods, such as mashed potatoes should have no lumps.
Children enjoy eating with other children.
Serve portions appropriate for child's age.
Meals should be preceded, not followed by an activity the
child looks forward to most.
Present new food at the beginning of a meal when the child is
hungry.
Never make an issue of accepting a new food; try again another
time.
1b. Finding Help-Use of Drugs
Dig Deeper
Refer to the chart in background information. Essentially,
substance abuse during pregnancy results in potential prematurely,
low birth weight, physical abnormalities, and addiction.
Associated syndromes include: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) for
some cases of alcohol abuse and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
in some cases of drug abuse.
1c. Vegetarians Eat More than Just Vegetables
3. What is the protein complementary match in burritos?
A. Grains and legumes (flour tortillas and kidney beans)
2a. You Can Do Something!
3. How can you, as a consumer, get involved in conserving the
environment?
Some suggestions include:
Getting involved in a recycling program -setting one up,
teaching younger youth about recycling;
Volunteering your time to help run a recycling program at
school, such as collecting empty soda cans or old newspapers
Buying with the environment in mind -purchase only those
items that can be recycled and look for products packaged in or
made from recycled materials.
2c. Eating Out!
Dig Deeper-Cost of planning a menu around a vegetarian diet plan
Vegetarian meals are generally less expensive than non-vegetarian
meals because they rely on non-meat sources for protein.
Other Factors to Take into Account in a Home-Cooked Meal
Besides cost, other factors include: time, variety of food
available, quality of food, food preparation, nutrition or
energy-nutrient balance (low calorie choices available?), serving
size and portion size.
3b. Oven Baked Fish
2. Fat or Lean Fish?
"Lean" fish include: ocean catfish, flounder, halibut, orange
roughy, pollack, scrod, shark, swordfish, turbot, cod, haddock,
ocean perch, pike red snapper, sea bass, sole, tuna, sea trout
and walleye. "Fat" fish include: freshwater catfish, salmon,
tuna, lake or rainbow trout, mackerel, and whitefish.
4. How did you test for doneness?
Generally, fish is done when the flesh flakes or sides fall apart
along natural divisions when fork tines are inserted. The fish
should look milky white or opaque in the thickest part. If the
flesh resists flaking and is translucent or gray-white in color,
the fish should be cooked longer.
3d. Cooking for One
Dig Deeper-Plan to get as many servings from a beef roast
To get as many servings from a 8 lb beef roast depends on whether
the roast is boneless.
Boneless: 1/4 to 1/3 lb. per serving= 24 to 32 servings or 6-8
meals for a family of four.
With Bone: 1/3 to 1/2 lb. per serving= 16 to 24 servings or 4 to 6
meals for a family of four.
In order to stretch the number of servings, the cooked roast beef
can be combined with other ingredients, such as potatoes for beef
hash, meat loaf and meat balls, or barbecue sauce for BBQ beef
sandwiches. In addition, salads, sandwich spreads, tacos, soups,
casserole, stir-fry, combinations and other dishes can be prepared
with leftover cooked roast beef.
For a family of four, if a boneless roast was prepared, there could
be 2 meals of roast beef (8 servings) and 4 to 6 other meals.
If a bone-in roast was prepared, there could be 2 meals of roast
beef 98 servings) and 2 to 3 other meals.
4a. Marinade Madness
1. Why was vinegar used?
Vinegar is an acid that softens meat to make it more tender and
easier to cut and chew.
2. Why was oil used?
Oil keeps the meat from drying out during cooking, since high
temperatures and dry cooking methods (broiling) are used to cook
the round steak.
3. Compare both meat pieces for mouthfeel, ease of chewing and
ease of cutting.
The marinated meat is easier to cut and chew and is more tender
than the meat that was not marinated.
Dig Deeper-Repeat experiment using Commercial meat tenderizers.
Results will be very similar to marinating, depending on how
much tenderizer is used. Marinating tenderizes meat by using an
acid, such as vinegar, but commercial tenderizers use enzymes
(papain) to break down the protein in muscle fibers.
Dig Deeper-What happens when you use a tenderizer on a tender
cut of meat?
Meat falls apart or becomes mush; mouthfeel is not characteristic
of meat.
Dig Deeper-Using a mallet or cleaver
Pounding is a mechanical means of tenderizing meat. Cubing and
grinding have a similar effect.
4b. Effect of Nitrates:
1. What differences did you notice in the meat samples you bought
from the grocery store in terms of packaging materials,
ingredients, and freshness dates?
A. In contrast to fresh meat, cured meat is usually vacuum
packaged, filled with added water, salt, nitrite, sugar and
erythorbate or scorbate, and a variety of spices and will have
a much longer shelf life.
2. Compare the time it took to oxidize both samples.
Generally, the fresh pork samples turn rancid more quickly than
the cured samples. In addition, the looser the wrap, the faster
rancidity develops, especially in the fresh pork sample. The
plotted line on the graph for the fresh pork will gradually slope
higher towards the end of the 10 day period. However, the cured
meat sample's plotted line on the graph will have a much lower
slope or it may be almost a flat line.
3. What are your conclusions?
Possible conclusions include any or all of the following:
Fresh meat spoils more quickly than cured meat.
Poorly wrapped meat packages spoil faster than packages that
keep the air out.
Salt, nitrite and vacuum packaging are critical to slowing down
oxidation (spoilage); spices, erythorbate and ascorbate can also
affect oxidation.
Dig Deeper
Repeat the activity using another packaging material. How are the
storage times affected by the type of packaging material used?
Storage time lengthens with the ability of the packaging material
to keep air away from the meat. The more the material keeps the
air out, the longer the food will stay fresh.
4c. When the Power's Out
Locate sources of dry ice, freezer storage lockers etc. as
alternatives for when a power outage occurs for an extended time.
Use the telephone directory and/or call a meat packaging plant for
information on where to purchase dry ice and/or rent freezer
storage lockers.
5c. Dig Deeper
3. Find out what to do if jelly doesn't gel. How can you get it
to gel?
There is a way to "remake" soft jellies. First, measure the
amount of jelly that needs to be recooked. No more than 4 to 6
cups of jelly should be handled at a time.
To remake jelly without added pectin, add 2 tablespoons bottled
lemon juice to each quart of jelly. Heat to boiling and boil for
3 to 4 minutes. Use the jelly doneness test to check if jelly is
properly thickened. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam.
Fill sterile jars leaving 1/4-inch head space. Adjust new lids
and process half-pint jars for 5 minutes.
6b. Roasting Peanuts
1. Chart Data
Chart should show progression of color and flavor intensity and
texture as roasting time increases.
During grinding, peanuts begin to appear dark and moist due to
melting and release of peanut oil. It is this oil that coats the
solid fiber, protein, and carbohydrate components of peanuts to
make them smooth, sticky peanut butter.
2. Why are peanuts roasted?
Peanuts are roasted for several reasons:
1. Destroy enzymes that would contribute to deterioration of
the peanut butter,
2. Improve flavor
3. Produce desirable color and textural properties to the
peanuts and peanut butter.
Dig Deeper
1. Compare your peanut butter with commercial products and suggest
reasons why you observe differences.
There are several reasons, including: the peanut variety used to
make peanut butter, roasting times, how well peanuts were ground,
mixing method used, presence of emulsifiers, whether skins and
embryo were removed, etc. Commercial peanut butter is smoother
than homemade because it is produced under factory conditions that
use highly efficient grinding and blending equipment to provide
much better subdivision and mixing (homogenization) or the peanut
butter.
A major difference between commercial peanut butter and homemade
is the presence of emulsifiers. Emulsifiers or partially
hydrogenated peanut oil (a solid) are added to keep the oil in
peanut butter from separating in the jar during storage. Check
labels for the addition of these ingredients. Commercial peanut
butter generally contains roasted peanuts with peanut oil (or
other hydrogenated vegetable oil), a carbohydrate source (often
sugar), an emulsifier, and salt.
As a further challenge, suggest the addition of a small amount of
lecithin (an emulsifier) to homemade peanut butter. Tests could
be conducted using 1/4 teaspoon or 1/2 teaspoon lecithin per
sample of peanut butter used in this activity. Peanut oil and
lecithin should be mixed together before adding other ingredients.
Cover peanut butter samples and store at room temperature
overnight. The next day, observe the degree of separation.
6c. Planning with Exchanges
1. My individualized exchange pattern is based on (calories) with
servings of fruits, vegetables, milk, bread, meat and fat.
A sample exchange pattern based on 1500 calories contains:
4 fruits, 4 vegetables, 2 milks, 7 breads, 4 meats, and 4 fat
exchanges.
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Updated 8/15/05