Forget the Fryer - Healthy Kids Go Oven-Baked

Recently, President Obama proclaimed September 2013 as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, “encouraging Americans to get involved in promoting healthy eating and physical activity for our kids nationwide.” You can check out the announcement on the Let’s Move! website.

The vision of the Junior League of Columbia is to strengthen the health and well-being of children and families in the Midlands. Because of this vision, we focus on healthy children through events such as Kids in the Kitchen, the Healthy Kids Fun Fair, Healthy Kids with Special Needs and more. We are excited to bring healthy recipes, tips and news on a monthly basis to JLC’s blog.

Today, we bring you a healthy recipe that the kids can even get involved in making. We found this Almond-Crusted Chicken Fingers recipe on the Eating Well website, which has some great healthy kid-friendly recipes. The great thing about these chicken fingers is that they are baked in the oven, and not fried! You can serve them with some great vegetables and sides for an easy and healthy meal for the whole family.

(Image from Eating Well's website)

Almond-Crusted Chicken Fingers

Original Recipe Here (Eating Well®)

Makes 4 Servings

Active Time: 20 Minutes

Total Time: 40 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Canola oil cooking spray

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 large egg whites

1 pound chicken tenders, (see Ingredient Note)

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 475°F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Set a wire rack on the baking sheet and coat it with cooking spray.

Place almonds, flour, paprika, garlic powder, dry mustard, salt and pepper in a food processor; process until the almonds are finely chopped and the paprika is mixed throughout, about 1 minute. With the motor running, drizzle in oil; process until combined. Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish.

Whisk egg whites in a second shallow dish. Add chicken tenders and turn to coat. Transfer each tender to the almond mixture; turn to coat evenly. (Discard any remaining egg white and almond mixture.) Place the tenders on the prepared rack and coat with cooking spray; turn and spray the other side.

Bake the chicken fingers until golden brown, crispy and no longer pink in the center, 20 to 25 minutes.

TIPS & NOTES

Ingredient note: Chicken tenders, virtually fat-free, are a strip of rib meat typically found attached to the underside of the chicken breast, but they can also be purchased separately. Four 1-ounce tenders will yield a 3-ounce cooked portion. Tenders are perfect for quick stir-fries, chicken satay or kid-friendly breaded “chicken fingers.”

NUTRITION

Per serving: 174 calories; 4 g fat ( 1 g sat , 2 g mono ); 66 mg cholesterol; 4 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 27 g protein; 1 g fiber; 254 mg sodium; 76 mg potassium.

Why I Joined the Junior League of Columbia

Each month, we will feature a post by Christy Snow, a member of this year's Provisional class. This will allow our community to get a glimpse into the Provisional experience. For those of you not familiar with the League, a Provisional is a member who is in her first year; it is a time for her to learn about JLC's mission, programs and to get involved.

Submitted by Christy Snow, Provisional Member

My name is Christy Snow, and I’ve lived in Columbia full-time for about six years. I moved here from Greenville to go to school at the University of South Carolina, but I’ve always loved Columbia since I was a little girl. For me it’s got everything I need – reasonably priced shopping, options for an active lifestyle, an awesome job, great restaurants that I can go to in yoga pants and, of course, Gamecock football.

I will say that my only disappointment in Columbia happened when I graduated college in 2010. Nearly all of my friends moved away upon graduating, and I had to start from scratch again. For the first couple of years, I fortunately had the distractions of building a career, tackling that “freshman 15” that held on to my hips for dear life and learning adult things such as how to pay a water bill and change an air filter. However, once I was able to get my feet on the ground, I realized my social life and charitable giving of my time had a taken a serious backburner in my life.

Enter Junior League of Columbia. I’ve always been familiar with the League from co-workers, friends and the twenty JLC car stickers I see driving around on any given day in Columbia, so I figured it was worth looking into. The dues were affordable and I had no issues finding sponsors (A big thanks to Carol Caulk and Powers Strickland!). From the get go, I had a good feeling about joining and was ready to dive in.

 First Provisional Social

August 1^st was the date of our first provisional gathering at the Palmetto Club. For this one, we got to bring our fabulous sponsors along. I met some really great women at the social and since I was not blessed with the ability to remember names very well, I am super thankful for those beautiful JLC nametags! This event was a nice  way to meet not only other provisional members but to also mingle and chat with active members and sustainers. Overall, it was the perfect welcome to the League!

Orientation

I am not crazy about the word “orientation.” It typically means sitting for hours on end, listening to a bunch of talking heads loading you down with answers to questions that you don’t even have yet. JLC’s Provisional Committee surprised me. At most, it was only two hours of your typical orientation activities. Even in those two hours, I was engaged in the presentation the entire time (with the help of complimentary trail mix and Diet Coke that the League provided). There were multiple speakers that presented in order to break up the monotony. We heard perspectives from each of our Provisional Committee members, the JLC board and my favorite was hearing from a past JLC President, Kristy Ellenberg. She touched on the highlights of Junior League’s history and by the end of her speech, I was moved and motivated to get involved with the League and make some history of my own. By the end of orientation, I had successfully added all meeting dates for the next year into my phone and was ready for Happy Hour!

Happy Hour was a great way to end our first mandatory event with plenty of great food, drinks and laughs. I think everyone was excited for the year to come and I met plenty of other awesome women!

This next year is going to be a whirlwind, but I’m looking forward to the multiple opportunities ahead of giving back to the community and making new friends through the Junior League of Columbia!

Community Research & Project Development Open House

Submitted by Holli Armstrong, Done in a Day Chair

Looking for more ways to give back to the community, the Junior League of Columbia hosted an open house earlier this month for local nonprofits to learn more about how they can get involved with the League. There were new faces and old friends representing in attendance for an energizing and engaging event hosted by JLC’s Community Research and Project Development (CRPD).

The highlight of the open house was the unveiling of the Community Enrichment Grant Program Request For Proposal (RFP). As a reminder, this new RFP program is made possible due to excess funds that the League has available to invest back into the community funding projects that align with the League’s mission. For our community partners, the sky really is the limit with this grant program. Attendees were encouraged to think big, really BIG, and to imagine what they never thought possible. Because of your support and the League’s sound fiscal management, we are going to make dreams come true and life better for children living in the Midlands when these grants are awarded. The application deadline is September 15, and more information can be found online.

During the open house, we also brainstormed NEW…BOLD…FRESH community projects for the Done in a Day (DIAD) committee to tackle this year. A record 28 DIAD applications for potential projects were submitted. For our members, this means more diverse and creative volunteer opportunities. If you know of a community partner that DIAD could help, please let them know the application deadline is mid-August. An updated application will be posted on our website later this month.

By the way, did you know the League can step in and help out an organization in a pinch? Our community assistance funds provide immediate funding assistance to address  urgent needs. If you hear of an organization that needs our help and has a mission that aligns with JLC, please encourage them to submit an application online.

Epworth Children's Home Provisional Project

Submitted by Active Ambra McGuinn (Member of the 2012-2013 Provisional Class)

Joining the Junior League of Columbia has been such a blessing to me in many ways. This year was my provisional year and as part of the process, I was placed  on a team to do a provisional project. Each provisional was asked to list our top three project choices, and I knew from the start that the Epworth Children’s Home project would be a great fit for me since I have a passion for helping and working with children. About three years ago, my family and I started volunteering with Epworth Children’s Home on Sundays and we absolutely fell in love with the children. Seeing kids that had so much joy and laughter even though they had been put through so much just brought joy to my heart! 

When I was told I would be working on the Epworth project, I was excited and immediately began thinking of all the ways I could help to make this project the best it had ever been. Luckily our provisional group was amazing and all had the same goal in mind - - making this a day for the children to always remember.

The purpose of the Provisional Project was to spread education to the children about healthy living through a day filled with excitement. During the day, we promoted healthy living by feeding everyone a meal with sandwiches, fruit and bottled water. We also created an educational piece for  the children to learn about the different types of foods that are good and bad for your body. Last, we presented fun physical activities to show the children that working out can be extremely enjoyable!

Our team spent a lot of time meeting and planning for the big day. We divided our big group up into three groups to get more accomplished. My small group  worked on the food and nutritional piece; another small  group worked on the activities for the day; and one group worked on the decorations, t-shirts and goody bags for the children, including  toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap, healthy snacks and much more.

The day of the provisional project, we  paired the girls up in to four different groups giving them different colored shirts. Then we had a healthy lunch together and really got to know the girls. After lunch, we went to the gym to learn about nutrition and how it is so important to eat the right kinds of foods. Everyone then joined in for a fun Zumba workout. The girls had a ball and did not want to stop! Once we all cooled down from the Zumba workout we headed right over to the obstacle course. After a long, exciting day, the girls all huddled up for lots of hugs!  

I have to say that my provisional project was probably one of the best experiences that I’ve had during my time with JLC. Looking back on that day, I knew I wanted to continue to volunteer with Epworth Children’s Home. I hope that I can continue to bring excitement and love to these children for a very long time. Thank you Junior League of Columbia for allowing me to be a part of such an amazing experience!

Check out the pictures from the event!

 

The JLC Goes to Washington

Submitted by Carla Moore, President of JLC

Last Wednesday, I had the enormous honor of representing the JLC on Capitol Hill for the Association of Junior League’s “Hill Day” in conjunction with its 2013 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Immediate Past President Mary Kay Owens and I left Columbia in the early hours of May 15 to travel to DC to call on members our Congressional Delegation. I am proud to say that the JLC was one of about 24 Leagues (there are 293 internationally) participating in this important event.

Mary Kay and I were fortunate to meet with a senior staff member in the office of Congressman James Clyburn when the Congressman was called home to SC for an emergency. The staff member said she had asked to take the meeting with us because she knew and respected the League. We did our best to recruit her for the Washington, DC League!

Next, we had an exceptional meeting with Congressman Joe Wilson. Congressman Wilson and his staff spent a great deal of time with Mary Kay and me talking about the impact of the JLC and how we might be a resource to his office. We were delighted to learn that Congressman Wilson’s mother was a past member of the JLC.

Our final appointment for the day was with Senator Tim Scott’s health care staff member. Ironically, her mother was a former member of the JLC. We had a great conversation about healthy children and opportunities for collaboration with the Senator’s office.

On Friday, along with President-Elect Ginny Hairston, we joined our friends with the JL of Greenville and Anderson for a brief meeting and photo with Senator Lindsey Graham. As you might imagine, the Senator had a lot going on so we felt very lucky to have a few moments of his time.

The collective voice of the Junior Leagues was definitely heard last week on Capitol Hill. I am so proud that Columbia took part.

Healthy Kids in Transition Had Fun in the Sun!

Yesterday afternoon, some Junior League of Columbia members and I had a wonderful time lending a hand at the Family Shelter on Two Notch for a Healthy Kids in Transition Activity, organized by Kim Toogood. The children enjoyed two different bounce house obstacle courses, a balloon artist and an interactive Mother's Day craft station.

The JLC donated a new basketball hoop, new basketballs, two high chairs, a baby carrier and gave each child a gift bag complete with the Junior League's book on the ABCs of Healthy Eating, a toothbrush and healthy treats.  Following the activities, we served the children a healthy dinner.

The families were very appreciative! Thank you to Kim Toogood and the Healthy Kids in Transition Committee!

Post by: Sarah G Wood

2012-2013 Junior League of Columbia Award Recipients

On Thursday, May 2, the Junior League of Columbia celebrated the 2012-2013 year at The Palmetto Club. This annual event is a time where JLC honors and recognizes the League members and friends who have dedicated themselves to our mission and vision. We are honored to recognize the following League members and friends of the League! Congratulations!

President's Award

This award recognizes an Active member in good standing who continues the tradition and vision of making the JLC a better organization through outstanding "in-League" service to the JLC.

Ginny Stout Hairston

Katharine Heath Manning Perry Award

This award recognizes an Active member in good standing who has excelled in community voluntarism and activism, through her Junior League placement and through extensions of her JLC work and training.

Pamela Adams

Nancy Mayer Dunbar Leadership Award

This award recognizes an Active member in good standing who has exemplified successful leadership qualities.

Mary Frances Jowers

Friends of the League Award

This award recognizes community organizations or individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the JLC and its stated purpose.

Franklin Jones and Amanda Payne

Kinsey Black Jones Memorial

This award recognizes an outstanding recent Active member (a first, second, or third-year Active) who has advanced the volunteer ideals of the JLC by epitomizing superlative service in her placement.

Kim Jamieson

Provisional of the Year Award

This award recognizes a Provisional member(s) who has exemplified successful leadership qualities and demonstrated commitment to the JLC.

Kathleen McDavid

Tara Felder

Lifetime Achievement Award

This award recognizes one Sustaining member who exemplifies the purpose of the JLC - that of voluntarism - who has translated her volunteer training into outstanding community commitment and involvement and who continues to demonstrate an interest in the JLC.

Caroline Finlay Meyer