Pack It Right

Take healthy foods to the beach, park or tailgate party

Asbury Park Press, July 2, 2006

MICHAEL RILEY
STAFF WRITER
ADENA STEVENS
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

People often describe some particularly arduous task as "no day at the beach" or "no picnic in the park."

During the summer months, though, we enjoy true days at the beach and real picnics in the park. These sojourns require sustenance. With a little thought and planning, packing up the cooler can be more than an exercise in empty calories and junk food.

It's never a problem for Kristine Brown of Point Pleasant.

"We go to the beach a lot during the summer," said the mother of two. "We pack a lot of frozen water, which melts during the day, and lemonade and Gatorade to alternate with the water. I'll make sure each child has their individual back of snacks and stock up with crackers and pretzels, things that won't make a mess."

These are pretty good ideas, according to Robin Flipse, a nationally known nutrition consultant in private practice in Ocean Township and author most recently of the book "Fighting the Freshman 15."

But she has some other suggestions about how to pack a cooler to maximize nutrition and good times.

"It is good to remember that picnics and other celebrations are special occasions, but good nutrition can be part of special occasions. It's not that things are forbidden, but moderation and a willingness to think outside the box can be important considerations."

Consider the special occasion of a tailgate party in the parking lot of the PNC Bank Arts in Holmdel in the hours before a recent Bruce Springsteen concert.

Thousands of people were celebrating the same special occasion and some of them did it right.

The cooler of Kathy and Tommy Kelly of North Haledon was stocked with carrots, celery and fruit, and equal amounts of bottled water and canned beer.

Not a lot of junk food here, Kathy said.

Nor was there a lot of junk food a few parking lot rows away. Laura Baseil of Bernards had packed her family's cooler with grapes and cheese. They did have a huge bag of potato chips, not something Flipse probably would endorse.

And again there was plenty of good stuff to drink for the adults and children in attendance.

Flipse is pleased when people understand that good nutrition includes hydration.

Keeping hydrated is important, she says, because you can lose moisture and not even feel it, particularly if you are frolicking in the ocean or the pool for hours at a time. So that cooler needs to be stocked with plenty of liquids:

Individual juice boxes can be frozen the night before the big event and used to keep the cooler cold; drink the juice as it thaws.

Unsweetened juices can be sweetened with a mixture of sugar and artificial sweeteners to keep calories down.

Summer fruits, such as watermelons, other melons, and strawberries and other berries can be chopped up and put in plastic bags They contain plenty of liquid to help replenish fluids.

One way to cut down on the sweets is to alternate a bottle of water with another type of drink throughout the day.

Flipse says it is important to gear the kinds of food and snacks to the activity levels of the individual.

Single-serving packages of snacks provide built-in portion control.

"You open up a huge bag of chips and the temptation is to finish it off," she says. "But you can limit yourself to one miniature or lunch box-size serving of snacks that are particularly fatty and salty."

Consider finger foods that are satisfying and nourishing, such as sliced peppers, celery and carrot sticks, she says.

"Drizzle a little vinaigrette on them the night before," she suggests.

Some old home standards travel well to the beach or the picnic: Peanut butter and jelly on a whole wheat or hamburger roll is a smaller sandwich than one on two slices of bread.

Flipse says cold kabobs can be packed in a cooler and the skewed meats and vegetables become a picnic on a stick.