Temperature Rules for Safe Cooking

Make sure you cook and keep foods at the correct temperature to ensure food safety. Bacteria can grow in foods between 41 ºF and 135 ºF. To keep foods out of this danger zone, keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. Use a clean food thermometer and measure the internal temperature of cooked food to make sure meat, poultry, and egg dishes are cooked to the temperatures listed below. For more information on food safety, please visit www.isitdoneyet.gov.

Basic Cooking Instructions

Several of the Keep the Beat™ recipes use leftover ingredients. Using leftover ingredients (e.g., cooked meat and vegetables) is a great way to save time and reduce your food waste. If you don’t have specific ingredients already prepared, you can cook several of these items using the guide below and still enjoy the dish.

Guide to Common Cooking Measurements

Teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups are common volume measurements found in recipes. The two most commonly used units of weight measurement for cooking are the ounce and the pound.

Do not confuse “weight” and “volume” measurements: for example, the ounce of weight with the fluid ounce. They are different measures, and weight is measured on a scale whereas volume is measured using the correct dry or liquid measuring cup. (Measuring spoons, however, can be used for both dry and liquid measurements.)

Below is guidance on some common cooking measurements—and their equivalents—found in the Keep the Beat™ recipes.

A Cooking Terms Guide

You may be new to cooking or have some experience putting snacks and dishes together. No matter how well you know your way around a kitchen, these definitions and photos of common cooking terms can help refresh your memory or teach you a new skill.
This food preparation glossary is also available online for easy browsing at healthyeating.

cutting terms
 

What can My family and I do to Encourage a Healthy Weight?

You may be asking what you can do in your own family to prevent overweight and obesity. The two main ways to encourage and maintain a healthy weight are to make smart food choices and to be physically active.

As parents, you make a big difference in what your children think and do. If you eat right and are physically active, there’s a good chance your children will be too. Together, families can be more successful in adopting healthy choices and making changes. Creating family habits around smart eating and physical activity can make it easier for everyone to maintain a healthy weight. For example:

• Planning regular family time that involves physical activity means that everyone is supported and encouraged to be active.
• Putting a bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter and making a family agreement not to have chips or other high-calorie snacks in the house can change everyone’s snacking habits.