Win rewards for your hot nutrition tips

NUTRITION AND FITNESS TIPS are easy to find these days. But which ones are really the best? The Idaho Potato Commission wants to find out.

The commission is collecting America’s best nutrition and fitness tips through its Web site, www.idahopotato.com. Judges choose a weekly winner with the best tip from the entries. Tips can range from advice on designing a healthy eating plan to sticking with an exercise program.

One of the recent weekly winners shared her tip for healthy fries.

“Watching what you eat doesn’t mean giving up delicious French fries… It simply means learning how to prepare them in a healthy, low-fat way. Peel and thinly slice seven potatoes and put them into a bowl. Add three tablespoons of olive oil. Mix. Then spread on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour, turning halfway… Serves 4-6,” wrote Mary Balandiat from Pittsburgh.

Another winner, Jane Lane from North Salt Lake, Utah, said she eats all her salads with a homemade dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and water. She adds two cloves of garlic, parsley flakes, dill, a pinch of sugar and basil flakes. She also eats from a medium-sized plate and leaves the table before she feels full.

The winners receive a kit filled with fitness maven Denise Austin’s signature gear, including an exercise video and ball. They also win a chance at the grand prize, a Denise Austin Body Glide Rowing Machine and $500 cash.

You can check out other winning tips or enter your own hints at www.idahopotato.com

Waste not

Every little bit of waste adds up.

Americans throw out more than 11 billion pounds of fruit and vegetables each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

And according to a recent study much of that waste comes from people buying the wrong amount of food for a specific recipe. They either purchase the wrong amount of ingredients or they end up deciding not to make the recipe.

Study co-author Linda Resnick concluded that most families could save up to $14 on a $42 grocery bill if they purchased exactly what they need for recipes. The findings and more are compiled in a new book called “Food FAQs: Substitutions, Yields & Equivalents.”

Here are a couple of tips from the book:

• If you need 2 cups cubed and cooked chicken breast, buy one pound of boneless, skinless breasts.

• For four cups chicken broth, buy two 14-ounce cans and make up the difference with bouillon, water or wine.

• If a recipe calls for 1 cup chopped celery, then buy three average stalks rather than a whole bunch.

The book is $12.95 and can be ordered at local bookstores or purchased from the publisher at www.faqspress.com or call (903) 565-6653.