JASON PLOTKIN for Smart

Members of the "Cooking Co-op" (Clockwise from top left, Terry Rizzo, Beth Tyson, Carol Alvarnaz and Wendy Sharpe) enjoy some dessert and company while a month's worth of family meals rests on the countertop.

By BETH BENCE REINKE

For Smart

Freezer cooking, meal exchanges, supper swapping — no matter what you call it, sharing dinner duties with friends can work for anyone.

Wendy Sharpe and Carol Alvarnaz of Mount Wolf call their group the “Cooking Co-op.” Alvarnaz organized the group of five moms who have been exchanging meals once each month since March. “I love to cook, so for me, cooking in bulk is fun,” she says.

On the other hand, Sharpe hates to cook, but loves the cooking co-
op. “It helps me because if I don’t have time to cook, I have
something I can pull out and throw in the oven,” Sharpe says.

In their cooking co-op, each mom makes five of the same recipe,
freezes them all and gives one to each of the other moms. So each
participant ends up with five meals total for her family. Co-ops can
be flexible enough to fit anyone’s schedule. Sharpe says moms in
their group have varied work schedules — full-time and part-time
outside the home, working from home and full-time homemaking.

If hearing “What’s for dinner?” causes you to panic, take heart. You
can start your own cooking co-op by following these four steps.

1. Form a group

“The first thing is to find other moms who are willing to do it and
have about the same size family,” Alvarnaz says. Four out of five
women in her group live in the same neighborhood, and all have young
children. Sharpe says a group of five is ideal because you end up
with a whole week of meals for Monday through Friday.

2. Plan

As a group, nail down the nitty-gritty details. First, decide when,
where and how often you will exchange meals. Alvarnaz says they
started with once a month because it wasn’t overwhelming to anyone,
but they may increase to twice a month in the future if everyone agrees.

Second, check if anyone has food allergies or if their families hate
certain foods, such as mushrooms or fish.

Third, choose what recipes to make. Sharpe says their group
exchanges just the main entrée. “We try to make a recipe that serves
six,” she says. Entrees she has tried so far include summer sausage,
pizza casserole and macaroni vegetable soup. Next she will try a
recipe for homemade chicken nuggets. “My kids live on chicken
nuggets,” she says. “At least I will know it’s real chicken they’re
eating.”

3. Cook

Prepare five batches of the same recipe and freeze them. “Really
it’s not that much more work to make the same dish five times as
opposed to making five dishes five times,” Sharpe says. It’s a huge
time savings because each mom cooks only once, but ends up with five
dinners.

Packaging the meals is a matter of personal preference, but they
usually use Glad Ware, zipper seal bags, disposable aluminum pans or
plain foil. “When you bake something, you can line the pan with foil.
Then when it’s cool, just pull it out and wrap it up like a present,”
Sharpe says. Another option is for each participant to buy five
baking dishes with rubber lids and just pass them around the group.
No matter how you package the meals, always attach instructions for
how to heat the entrée and what sides to serve with it.

4. Swap

Keep one meal for your family and take the rest to your exchange.
“We get together at my house and have dessert and talk,” Alvarnaz
says. They spend about an hour chatting and discussing new recipes
for next month’s swap. Then each mom goes home with her stack of
ready-to-heat meals for the month.

Sharpe and Alvarnaz are quick to point out the benefits the cooking
co-op provides. Less time in the kitchen means more time to spend
with their families. The women have gotten to know each other better
while introducing their children to new dishes that they might not
have tried without the co-op. “It encourages us to eat healthy,”
Alvarnaz says. “We’re eating fresh, healthy meals that are home cooked!”

PIZZA CASSEROLE

2 cups uncooked egg noodles

½ pound lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 cup sliced pepperoni sausage

16 ounces pizza sauce

4 tablespoons milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Cook noodles according to directions on package.

3. In medium skillet, over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef
with the onion, garlic and green bell pepper. Drain excess fat. Stir
in the noodles, pepperoni, pizza sauce and milk, and mix well. Pour
this mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, top with cheese, then bake for 5 to 10 more
minutes.

Serves six to eight.

Source: Submitted to Allrecipes.com

BOOKS
For recipe ideas and more information about organizing a cooking co-
op, check out these books:

• “Don’t Panic — Dinner’s in the Freezer” by Susie Martinez, Bonnie
Garcia and Vanda Howell. Baker Publishing Group, 2005. $14.99.

• “Dream Dinners” by Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna. Morrow Cookbooks,
2006. $19.95.

• “Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet” by Nanci Slagle. 30
Day Gourmet Press, 2004. $14.95.

• “Supper Swapping” by Susan R. Thacker. Shenanigans 1-5-7, 2005.
$16.95.

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A few of our Smart readers shared their advice for throwing a great birthday party for your kids.

Keep all the kids involved

• Ask your child what theme they want. If you have a few ideas, throw them out there, too, but let your child choose.

• Start planning early — a minimum of three months out. This way you can keep your eye out for deals on items that work with your theme.

• Guest list. As far as how many to invite, using the old standard of a guest count equal to the age of the child is a great place to start, ie. five friends for a child’s fifth birthday. If you can handle two parties, throw one for your child’s friends and another for family (nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparents). We try so hard to include everyone that it just gets to be too big and you end trying to keep kids of all different ages engaged. The family one can simply be a cake-and-ice-cream event if you don’t want to repeat the theme, or use the family one as a test run before you throw the friends’ one.

•Recruit helpers. Ask an older sibling, cousin, aunt, etc., to be there to help. Just to have someone to take pictures, clean up the food area, or help run a craft or game is a lifesaver.

• Gifts. After your child opens a gift, take a picture of the birthday child with the guest and the gift. This way you don’t have to try and write everything down, plus you have a picture to send the guest as a thank-you.

• Games. Design games that are less likely to have one winner, where kids have to sit out. There are plenty of group/team games to keep everyone involved. Don’t spend money on prizes for game winners. Most kids are happy just to play without being rewarded. A piñata or candy
scramble is a great alternative to prizes.

• The No. 1 biggest mistake I ever made planning a party: Renting a costume character. Children younger than 4 years old are scared to death of a 6-foot Winnie the Pooh, even if it is their dad underneath the costume!

— Linda Gallagher, Springettsbury Township

Knight and princess theme a hit

In February, our family had a renaissance (aka Knights and Princesses) party to celebrate four close birthdays in our family (husband and three children). Here are some not-so-expensive ideas we used:

• We made a castle for the kids to play in. We got the plans and connectors from www.mrmcgroovys.com/castle.htm. We got refrigerator boxes from the Maytag store on Memory Lane, Springettsbury Township. They were so helpful! All we had to buy was the connectors and paint (we did the fake stone look), so the whole thing cost us less than $30 and the kids spent the whole day playing in it!

• Using leftover cardboard from the boxes, we made cardboard shields (painted white) for the boys who then decorated them. They used markers and stencils I made from cardstock (printed off the computer) of different heraldry symbols (horse, dragon, axe, lion, etc.). You could also make swords this way, but we bought inflatable ones from www.OrientalTrading.com.

• For the girls, we made barbette (cone) hats with ribbon or tulles draped from the top. They were stapled together and decorated by the girls with markers, stickers and foam sticky shapes which I had at home already. We also bought them inflatable princess wands.

• The party food was somewhat in medieval style, meaning that there were no utensils used. We had cheese, crackers, bologna, fruit, dip, chicken wings and other finger foods, as well as chocolate-chip cake with no icing for dessert so it could be eaten without a fork.

• Another game we made was “Pin the Wings on the Dragon,” which I made by printing a dragon picture from the computer poster-sized on four sheets of paper. I then printed a few more copies of the wing area, and cut them out of cardstock. We just used a roll of tape on the back to stick them on the dragon.

• Everyone was encouraged to dress in costume and many did. The party was a huge hit and everyone asks, how are we going to top it next year. I don’t know! But it was fun.

– Nikki Donahue, York

Keep it short and have fun

As the father of a boy who will turn 4 next week, here are some tips we learned from throwing our own parties and from attending parties of all the other kids in his preschool class:

• Keep it short. A 4-year-old’s birthday party should last one-and-a-half to two hours. More than that and the kids start to eat the furniture! Well, maybe not, but they definitely start bouncing off
the walls.

• Don’t open the presents during the party. Four-year-olds don’t want to sit around for 45 minutes watching another kid open presents. Let your child open his presents after the party, and make sure he helps write the thank-you notes (even if he just writes his name on them).

• If it’s within your means, throw the party away from home. We have discovered that it is, indeed, worth the $125 it might cost to throw a party at Tumble Town or a similar locale . . . no complaining neighbors, no cleaning up the house (and no ice-cream stains on the carpets!)

• Most importantly, have fun, and realize that no party goes over perfectly. Let the kids have fun!

— Joe Durika, Windsor Township

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By BETH BENCE REINKE
for Smart

Back-to-school brings bright new lunchboxes, brown paper sacks and an age-old dilemma. Do you pack a healthy lunch or a lunch your child will actually eat?

Karen Graham sees hundreds of packed lunches in her role as food service director for South Eastern School District. As a registered dietitian, she is trained to evaluate the nutritional value of meals. Graham says the biggest problem she sees in lunches brought from home is "a lot of empty calories" -- foods high in sugar and fat but low in nutrients like protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber.

"I see a lot of jelly sandwiches and have even seen a ketchup sandwich," she says. Many kids also bring sugary drinks like fruit punch that are a nutritional zero.

Graham offers tips for packing yummy lunches that are both healthy and kid-friendly.

1. Use the "4 to 1" rule -- four nutritional items and one fun food.

A "4-to-1" lunch might consist of a sandwich or other main dish, a fruit, a vegetable, a drink and a small treat. Keep your child's age and appetite in mind when planning serving sizes. A kindergartner might eat only a quarter or half of a sandwich, but a teenager would eat a whole sandwich or more.

"Kids don't eat their lunches like adults," Graham says. "We would eat the sandwich first, whereas they eat the junk first."

So keep the treat small so they still have room in their tummies for the nutrient-dense foods.

2. Ask your children what they want in their lunches.

Graham says parents often pack what they think the kids want or what they as the parent want. Talk to your children, make a list of what they like and post it on the refrigerator for easy reference. Make reasonable compromises. If your child absolutely hates veggies, pack two fruits instead. Graham says letting kids have choices may discourage them from tossing unwanted foods.

"I think kids throw away more now than they used to because they are discouraged against trading what is in their lunch," she says.

Many schools prohibit trading to protect students with food allergies from accidentally eating something that could cause an allergic reaction.

3. Keep it cold.

Food safety is important, especially with high protein foods.

"If you are sending any meat or cheese, you should make sure to put an ice pack in," Graham says. She suggests filling a water bottle half way, freezing it overnight, then fill the rest of the way in the morning. It serves as an ice pack and is just right for drinking by lunchtime.

4. Think outside the lunchbox.

Graham says you don't always have to pack a sandwich. She suggests packing fun foods that kids can assemble themselves, such as whole grain crackers, low-fat cheese, and sliced meats for creating cracker sandwiches. Mini-bagels, shredded mozzarella and a little container of tomato sauce is another idea, she says.
"Kids eat goofy stuff sometimes, so if your child is willing to eat cold make-it-yourself mini-pizzas that you packed, it's better than the pre-packaged stuff." Pre-packaged lunches like Lunchables can be high in sugar, fat and salt.

5. Pack low-fat milk or milk money most days.

Having low-fat milk with meals, including lunch, helps children and teens get enough calcium for their growing bones and teeth. Graham says kids love the flavored milks like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry that they can buy at lunchtime. "All of the milk we serve in the (South Eastern) district is 1 percent or skim," she says. Check with your school district to see what low-fat choices are available.

Graham reminds parents to read labels on all juice products and buy only 100 percent juice. Packing 100 percent juice instead of milk at lunch is OK sometimes, but include a yogurt cup or low-fat cheese to provide calcium. Packing a water bottle for hydration is a good idea, especially during warmer months.

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By BETH VRABEL
for Smart

Once the new backpack is stocked with sharpened pencils, fresh notebooks and lined paper, it’s time to get down to the really important back-to-school preparation: Getting your kid to use the potty. And we don’t mean No. 1.

“The peeing is not the problem,” said Dr. Allen Nussbaum of Pediatric Care of York. Many kids have suffered through the embarrassment of being known as “the one who made the bathroom stinky,” Nussbaum said. “Some kids may get embarrassed and then they hold it all day,” he said.

This is just one of many pitfalls parents should be on guard for before sending Junior on the school bus for the first day of school.

The best approach, Nussbaum said, is to suggest that children try their best at using the potty right after breakfast and after dinner.

Karen Baum, a New Salem Elementary teacher, said bathroom habits are sometimes an issue for kids who are not quite ready for the school-day routine. She said parents should remind the kids about how they all had to stop at rest stops and do what they needed to during summer roadtrips.

School should be looked at similarly: There’s a time and a place for pottying.

But that’s not the only body fluid that can ruin a school day.

“It’s amazing how nervous they are,” Baum said of new students. “I’ve had students throw up before I’ve ever said a word.”

Too many times, parents pressure kids about behaving at school, listening to the teacher and not embarrassing the parents. While all of those things are important, Baum said, be careful not to take it too far and have the kids go to school terrified.

Nussbaum said parents can usually relax about their children behaving in class. “When you look at your teacher, it’s like the teacher is this person on a pedestal. So if the teacher says, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ it’s OK.”

For the youngest children, don’t forget to give even obvious reassurances, Baum said. “When you put a kid on a bus, they have no idea when they’re coming home,” Baum said.

To help, give kindergartners real-life examples of when they’ll be leaving or when they’ll be coming home.

Instead of saying, “The bus will pick you up at 8 a.m.,” tell them “This is when you’ll get on the school bus” after breakfast for a few days before school starts. At lunchtime, say, “Now is when you’ll be back home from school.”

Keep routines similar to school days, even during the weekend, to keep kids ready for school, Nussbaum said. That may mean waking them up on Saturday mornings or putting them to bed when it’s still light outside. Some younger kids might need to give up their afternoon naps to stick out the school day, Nussbaum said.

“You have to be prepared because a lot of kids will get a bit irritable,” he said.

Baum said the best preparation for school is to have some time away from Mom and Dad, such as with a baby sitter or at a preschool. She also says it helps make school exciting and seem important if parents clear off an area of the home, such as a countertop or desk in the kitchen, as a place for the child to do his schoolwork and keep his supplies.

“Probably the biggest thing I would say is the parents need to be positive,” said Baum, urging that parents share stories about the friends they made in school and the lessons they learn. But don’t tell them everything, she said. “Not the horror stories.”

Writer’s notebook

My first day of kindergarten at Spring Grove Elementary School in 1984 was hot. I waited at the Jefferson bus stop, wearing the scratchiest, most uncomfortable dress I owned — the long, white flower girl gown from my aunt’s recent wedding.

The handful of other new kindergartners and I barely spoke while our moms posed us for pictures and seemed about as excited as my older sisters had been on the first day of summer break.

I was nervous, but not as nervous as one little girl. She was the oldest in her family and getting on the bus was a scary new concept to her. Her fear was about to unleash a flood. I’ll apologize now if the following is ever-so-slightly exaggerated, but it’s exactly as I remember it.

The bus driver arrived, and we piled inside, choosing our seats. Jefferson Elementary housed first- through third-graders, so we kindergartners had the bus to ourselves on the way to Spring Grove.
As we pulled away, the little girl turned green. Soft moans began to interrupt the boys’ pretend fart noises. The moans gave way to the undeniable sounds of retching, and, disgustingly, splashing noises.

Soon, everyone was screaming, crying for their mothers, wailing about their soiled shoes or, even worse, adding their own partially digested breakfast to the waves of vomit splashing around the bus.

My clearest memory of my first day of kindergarten is raising my white Mary Janes up from the floor of the bus before they got coated.

So I can’t say I was entirely surprised when this article on back-to-school prep began to focus on getting children to control their bodily fluids of one type or another. But may I suggest: Make the kids wear comfortable clothes, even if they (like I did) want to show their teachers their best dress.

— Beth Vrabel

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Celebrate the changing seasons with these fun coloring pages.

Squirrel

Chipmunk

Leaves

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By JENNIFER VOGELSONG
for Smart

Trying to highlight the best fall hikes in York County is kind of like trying to give advice on which places serve the best Pennsylvania Dutch food — there are so many that you can’t list them all, and everyone has a personal favorite.

With that in mind, we asked those in the know — members of the York Hiking Club and a county park naturalist —- to whittle the lengthy list down to the cream of the crop, a collection of hikes for folks of every fitness and interest level.

Best hike for young kids

Let them scramble up the sloping hills on a 2-to-3-mile loop of the Mason-Dixon Trail below the Holtwood Dam and look down on power-line towers where bald eagles nest.

To get there: Take Route 74 to Route 372 (Holtwood Road), which will take you to Lock 12 Recreational Park. Drive upriver to the parking lots.

Best hike for leaf-peeping

Hikers agree that Lake Redman and Lake Williams are two of the best places to view the fall foliage because you can catch the canvas of color across the lake, or see the leaves reflected in the water.

To get there: From York, follow South George Street to Jacobus. For Lake Redman, turn left on Church Street, and the boat launch is on your left. For Lake Williams, turn right on Water Street.

Best hike for a workout

A section of the Mason-Dixon Trail that runs between Long Level and Apollo County Park.

“There are a couple of climbs, but in Pennsylvania it’s hard to find (a hike) without climbs,” said Jim Hooper of Lower Windsor Township, a member of the York Hiking Club. “It’s better to have a dirt trail with variations though, so you don’t have the same stride all the time.”

To get there: From Red Lion, follow Burkholder Road east to New Bridgeville. Take Route 425 east for 3½ miles. Turn left onto Boyd Road. Parking lot is at the end of the dirt road.

Best hike for a great view

Rocky Ridge County Park, so named because of its location on a rock-strewn hilltop northwest of Hallam, offers a variety of trails that lead to two overlooks. From the north overlook, you get a panoramic view of the Susquehanna Valley. The south overlook shows off the York Valley.

To get there: From Route 30, take Mount Zion Road (Route 24) north for 1 mile. Turn right onto Deininger Road and follow to park.

Most accessible hike

The boardwalk over the backwaters of Lake Redman. “It’s shallow back there, so there’s lots of wildlife viewing,” says Jodi Sulpizio, Nixon Park naturalist. And, you can push a wheelchair on it with ease.

To get there: Take Route 214 south from Dallastown. Turn right on Iron Stone Hill Road, and park in the first lot you come to.

For more information

• York County Parks: http://www.york-county.org/gov/Parks/park_brd.htm

• Pennsylvania State Parks: www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/recreation/hiking.aspx

• Pennsylvania State Forests: www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/hiking/index.apx

• Keystone Trails Association:
www.kta-hike.org

• York Hiking Club: www.yorkhikingclub.com/index.html

Mason-Dixon Trail System: www.masondixontrail.org/index.htm

Leaf art projects for kids

• Handprint tree. Gather colorful leaves from outside. Then trace the child’s hand and part of his arm on a piece of brown construction paper or a brown paper bag. Cut it out and glue on leaves to make a fun fall tree.

• Leaf painting. Paint one side of a leaf and press it onto paper to make a kind of rubber-stamp leaf. Or tape several leaves to a piece of paper, and paint the whole sheet of paper. Be creative: make polka dots or splatters, or dribble paint on top. Then remove the leaves to show the leaf pattern in reverse.

• Leaf rubbings. Place a leaf on the table, top it with a piece of white drawing paper. Use a crayon to color over the leaf to make a rubbing of the leaf’s texture.

Fall foliage frolic

Learn a little bit more about the trees your admiring this season during a walk with forester Bill Greenawalt through Richard M. Nixon County Park, Nixon Drive, Springfield Township, 2:30 p.m. to 4 Oct. 14.

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As promised in our September issue, my mom, Kathy Haller's, bread recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups of milk
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 cup warm water
2 packages of active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
unbleached, high gluten flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scald milk in saucepan. Remove from burner and add butter. Let cool. In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, then stir. Add milk/butter mixture to yeast mixture, then stir in salt, sugar and vanilla. Begin stirring in flour one cup at a time until dough no longer feels sticky to the touch and looks elastic. Allow dough to rise in bowl until it is double in size, then punch it down. Allow it to rise again until it is double in size, then divide dough in half and shape into loaves. Put each loaf in a greased bread pan and let rise again. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Remove from pans and let cool.

If you want a sweet bread you may want to increase sugar to 1/2 cup and put in an egg or two, plus 1 tsp of vanilla.

Smart Tips

My mom also recommends keeping a basic cookbook handy to use as a reference for working with yeast. She also sent me links to the King Arthur Flour Web site, for baking tips. In particular check out the "Yeast Primer."

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The YWCA of York has several openings in its children’s programs for before and after school care.

The King Street Early Learning Center, at 800 E. King St. in York, operates 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are openings for children ages six weeks through 18 months old; and children ages 3 to 5 years old. Interested parents may Shawnee Hooper at 848-8901 for more information.

The Manchester Township ELC, 4303 N. George St. Ext. in Manchester Township, is open 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are openings for 2- and 3-year-olds, full time; for 3-year-olds, 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and Thursdays; and for 4-year-olds, 9 a.m. to noon Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The Manchester ELC is also has openings in the School Age Extended Learning program, which serves students before and after school. The program is for students in grades K-5 who are attending Orendorf, Shallow Brook and Spring Forge schools in the Northeastern School District. Bus transportation is provided by the Northeastern School District between the schools listed above and the Manchester site. Interested parents may call Manchester ELC Director Diane Roupas at 266-1073 for more information.

The main YWCA building, 320 E. Market St. in York, has openings in the School Age Extended Learning program for students in the York City School District who are attending Devers, Davis, or Goode Elementary schools. The program provides before- and after-school care for students in grades K-5.

The program runs from 6:30 a.m. until the start of school, and from the end of school until 6 p.m. Students are transported by bus between the YWCA and the schools. Meals and snacks are provided, along with homework help. Contact Director Sara Bosley at 845-2631, ext. 33, for more information.

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