Making Over America's Meals One Can at a Time

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Canned Food Alliance (CFA) asked Allrecipes.com site users to share how they just add one canned ingredient to their tried and true recipes for increased nutrition, taste or convenience. Home cooks responded with more than 400 ideas that used more than 100 different canned ingredients commonly found on pantry shelves. A collection of these "Just Add One" reci-tip ideas -- along with additional ways to use canned items to stretch a meal, boost flavor, cut preparation time or increase nutrition -- are now available on www.mealtime.org.

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Erin Chase, mother of three and author of The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook: 200 Recipes for Quick, Delicious and Nourishing Meals, shares mealtime tips everyday through her website, www.5dollardinners.com. Knowing how hard dinnertime can be, Chase agrees that the concept of just adding one creates easy, new mealtime solutions and tips.

"Moms are always looking for creative and affordable ways to get their kids to eat healthy meals and snacks, and they love to share their ideas with others online," said Chase. "That's why I'm excited about the concept of 'Just Add One' as an easy way to help moms in the kitchen. Adding a can of peas or tomatoes to a soup or favorite weekly dish is a simple way to get more fruits and vegetables into my kids' diets."

From salads and dips to pasta and meatloaf, the idea of just adding one canned ingredient presents a new way to look at canned food, inspiring moms and home cooks alike that a little creativity and one canned ingredient can turn an ordinary dish into an extraordinary meal. For example, the "Just Add One" contest winner added a can of pumpkin into simple vanilla pudding to trick her finicky eaters into having a serving of vegetables disguised as a beautiful dessert.

Getting Back to Basics: America gets creative, one can at a time

Entries from the "Just Add One" contest on Allrecipes.com provide insight into how and why home cooks continue to turn to canned ingredients for mealtime solutions:

Cans for Taste and Nutrition:

• Seventy-one (71) percent of the participants said they added their ingredient of choice because of taste and that it either added or changed the taste of a dish.
• Twenty-six (26) percent added their canned item of choice to increase the nutritional value of the dish, reiterating the fact that canned foods are just as nutritious as their fresh and frozen counterparts, and in some cases, such as with canned tomatoes or pumpkin, are more nutritious.

Variety in a Can:

• Consumers submitted more than 100 different canned food varieties with their recipe ideas -- a testament to the many canned food options available today. From low and no-sodium options, to those packed in their own or 100 percent juice, there are more canned food choices than ever before.
• The most popular ingredients added to recipes were corn (8 percent) and cream of mushroom soup (8 percent); followed by various types of canned tomatoes (diced, whole and packed with green chilies). Other front runners included black beans, which contribute important proteins required for a healthy diet.

The CFA has created easy resources and tools to help consumers just add one canned ingredient to stretch a meal, boost flavor, cut preparation time or increase nutrition. These tools include:

• "Just Add One" Recipe Box -- An interactive online tool, which gives common starters, sides, entrees and desserts a makeover by showing how to improve the overall dish by simply adding various canned ingredients. "Just Add One" tips on how to boost nutrition, cut prep time, make a meal less expensive and how to add flavor are also included.
• CFA’s Top 20 "Just Add One" Recipes -- Take a look at the top entries from the "Just Add One" recipe contest, including Easy Pumpkin Parfait, Spinach Bacon Casserole, Corn and Black Bean Relish and Cowboy Caviar.
• Nutrition Wheel -- A tool for nutrition educators to help their constituents with developing an easy and affordable meal plan for their families.

Consumers can find these tools, canned food research and hundreds of recipes that use canned foods at www.Mealtime.org.

About the Canned Food Alliance

The Canned Food Alliance is a partnership of the American Iron and Steel Institute's Steel Packaging Council, the Can Manufacturers Institute, select food processors and affiliate members. The primary mission of the CFA is to drive increased consumption of canned foods by enhancing the perception of their numerous benefits. For hundreds of mealtime solutions, visit www.mealtime.org.

SOURCE Canned Food Alliance