Your Mission, Should Your Accept this Assignment, is Not Impossible.

Is your kitchen stocked with plenty of healthy food choices? Or are your cupboards overloaded with temptations that lead your family’s diet off-course no matter which meal you’re serving? In the spirit of new beginnings and a New Year, we invite you to take a good look inside your refrigerator, pantry, and cabinets, and give yourself points for nutritious choices based on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s kitchen score board. This is a great tool to determine if your family is eating well or if you need to replace some items with healthier options. The more points you have, the better!

Kitchen Categories

________ Milk points

________ Drink points

________ Veggie points

________ Fruit points

________ Cold snack points

________ Snack food points

________ Total points

Point System

(key: < means less than, and > means more than)

Milk

Low fat or fat free white milk +4

Low fat or fat free flavored milk with <160 calories/8 oz +3

Low fat or fat free flavored milk with >160 +2

2% milk (unless it’s for a child under 5) +1

Whole milk (unless it’s for a baby) 0

Drinks

Water or other drink with no calories +5

100% juice +2

Regular soda (>100 cal/serving) -5

Fruit punch and other sugar drinks -5

Veggies

5 or more kinds of fresh or frozen +5

3-4 kinds of fresh, frozen or canned +3

2 different fresh, frozen or canned +2

1 fresh, frozen or canned +1

0 vegetables at all 0

Fruits

5 or more different fresh or frozen +4

3-4 different fresh, frozen, canned or dried +3

2 different fresh, frozen, canned or dried +2

1 fresh, frozen, canned or dried fruit +1

0 fruit 0

Cold snacks

Low fat yogurt with <150 calories +3

Low fat cheese (string cheese, cottage cheese, etc.) +2

Cereal with >2g fiber/serving +2

Cereal with <5g of sugar/serving +2

Snack foods Look for snacks with <150 calories, <4g fat, <1g sat fat, 0g transfat, <10g sugar (unless it’s fruit), and <230 mg sodium

All snacks in house meet standard +5

3 or more snacks meet standards +3

At least one met standard and has 3g or more of fiber, give yourself a bonus +2

Any dry fruit or fruit canned in ‘natural juices’ +3

Fruit canned in ‘light syrup’ +1

Any snack with >2g saturated fat -4

Any snack foods with >200 calories/servings -4

A 35 or more points

Great job! You are serving up a great variety of healthy foods.

B 30-35 points

You have a lot of healthy food and snacks on hand.

C 25-30 points

There’s room for improvement in your kitchen.

D 25 points or less

It’s time for a pantry makeover!

Congratulations if your kitchen scored an A! If not, we can help. Orlando Family Magazine teamed up with Chef Rich Rosado, an Orlando-based culinary instructor and owner of FLAME, Inc., who is combating childhood obesity…one meal at a time. Dad to 6 year-old Roman, 5 year-old Mila and 2 year-old Noah, Chef Rich and his wife Rebecca have recommendations to make your family’s kitchen a health mission – possible!

8 Gr-ATE tips to make over your pantry

• Stock your pantry with healthy go-to items that can be used for quick-and-easy dishes any day of the week (hence eliminating runs through the fast-food drive in). Choose items like whole-grain pasta, stewed tomatoes, beans, tuna (in water), salmon, low-sodium stock, and dried fruits.
• Decrease the number of added-sodium canned items and increase freezer choices instead. Frozen veggies can be just as healthy as fresh (and a budget saver). When using the canned variety, always rinse thoroughly with water to removed added salt.
• Dress up a dish with color. Just toss frozen veggies like corn, peas and broccoli into any dish.
• Choose kosher or sea salt over table salt. Though they have the same sodium content, you may use less salt with sea or kosher because of the stronger flavor. When possible, opt for fresh/dried herbs instead.
• Choose lean cuts of meat such as turkey or fish, instead of beef. Money saving tip, if you have the time – buy whole birds and uncut meats, and break them down yourself.
• Remove sodas! Make sure juices are 100% juice. Chef Rich suggests adding water to dilute sweetness (and make bottle last longer).
• Puree veggies into items such as sauces and burger patties. Ok, so this is a sneak approach to warm up the taste buds…
• Always pair pantry items with fresh items! For breakfast: toss fresh berries or sliced bananas into natural oatmeal or pancake mix; for lunch:  use fresh apple slices instead of jelly with natural peanut butter on whole wheat bread; and for dinner:  toss fresh, frozen or canned (rinsed) veggies into pasta, salads or tacos.