Food and Beverage
Tackle Your Family’s Hunger with a Touch of Heat
Busy families can revitalize mealtime with Minute Hot Honey Chicken Seasoned Rice Cups, ideal for quick dishes like Hot Honey Chicken Meatball Subs and flavorful snacks like Hot Honey Chicken Rice Crackers with various dips. Explore more recipes online.
Last Updated on May 31, 2025 by Daily News Staff
(Family Features) It’s easy to get into a recipe rut when every day feels the same – work, kids’ activities, social events and bedtime routines make it tough to experiment in the kitchen. If your family’s meals are growing boring, all you need is a touch of heat to bring new life to the menu.
Add a delicious blend of savory, sweet and a hint of spice to mealtime with Minute Hot Honey Chicken Seasoned Rice Cups, which are ready to serve fast for busy families. Packed with flavor, they complement main courses, snacks and sides without the hassle.
With just the right balance of heat and honey, they add delicious sizzle and mouthwatering flavor to recipes like Hot Honey Chicken Meatball Subs. Perfectly toasted hoagie rolls are packed with spicy, sweet chicken meatballs and smothered in melted provolone for a tough-to-top taste. Ready in 35 minutes, the subs offer a blend of convenience and gourmet flavor, making this meal an unbeatable choice at dinner time.
Sandwiches deliver an easy way to make mealtime customizable so all your loved ones are satisfied. Try topping your subs with coleslaw for a crunchy, creamy texture or pickled vegetables for an added touch of tanginess to complement the sweet, rich meatballs. For fans of spice, turn up the heat with extra hot sauce.
Solve afternoon hunger pangs with these Hot Honey Chicken Rice Crackers and Ranch Dip, loaded with the sweet heat of hot honey chicken and baked to crispy perfection. This inventive snack is uniquely crunchy and flavorful, blending fiery sweetness with savory chicken flavor as a convenient way to shake up snack time.
For the adventurous types, these homemade crackers pair with more than just ranch. Engage your taste buds further with these suggestions:
- Spicy cheese dip: Add a little extra kick with cheese dip that’s spiced up with jalapenos or chili flakes.
- Cucumber dill yogurt: A perfect match for the sweet heat of hot honey chicken with its refreshing, cooling effect.
- Barbecue sauce: Smoky and slightly sweet, it pairs well with the honey in the crackers.
- Garlic aioli: Rich and garlicky, this dip brings a robust flavor contrast to the table.
Discover more ways to shake up mealtimes by visiting MinuteRice.com.
Hot Honey Chicken Meatball Subs
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
- 1 Minute Hot Honey Chicken Seasoned Rice Cup
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 4 hoagie rolls
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 slices provolone cheese
- garlic sauce, for garnish
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Heat rice according to package directions.
- In large bowl, mix rice; chicken; salt; cayenne, if desired; and breadcrumbs.
- Use cookie scoop or hand roll chicken mixture into balls. Place on aluminum foil-lined sheet tray, leaving small space between each ball. Bake 25 minutes, flipping meatballs halfway through.
- Slice hoagies in half, lengthwise. Remove some bread from middle to make room for meatballs. Butter inside of each hoagie and place on sheet tray.
- Once meatballs are cooked through, turn broiler on high and place buttered hoagies in oven. Cook 1 minute, or until butter is melted and hoagie has browned.
- Remove hoagies from oven, place 3-4 meatballs inside (depending on size) and cover with slice of cheese. Broil on high 30 seconds to melt cheese.
- Drizzle garlic sauce on top.
Tip: Garlic sauce can be substituted with topping of choice.
Hot Honey Chicken Rice Crackers and Ranch Dip
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2
- 1 Minute Hot Honey Chicken Seasoned Rice Cup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 packet ranch dip seasoning
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Heat rice according to package directions.
- Lay rice on parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top. Use rolling pin to roll out rice into thin layer.
- Bake 20 minutes.
- In medium bowl, mix sour cream and ranch seasoning.
- Once crackers are cooked, cut into squares while still hot. Allow to cool.
- Serve crackers with ranch dip.
Tip: Ranch dip can be substituted with hummus or any flavored dip.
SOURCE:
Minute Rice
Foodie News
Take to the Outdoors with a Fresh, Picnic-Friendly Sandwich
When the weather breaks and it’s time to get outdoors, there’s hardly any better place to be than resting on a deck, lounging in the backyard or curled up on a picnic blanket at a local park. Enjoy that leisurely time with loved ones by sharing a spread that includes these Picnic-Friendly Sandwich.
Last Updated on April 27, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Take to the Outdoors with a Fresh, Picnic-Friendly Sandwich
(Feature Impact) When the weather breaks and it’s time to get outdoors, there’s hardly any better place to be than resting on a deck, lounging in the backyard or curled up on a picnic blanket at a local park. Enjoy that leisurely time with loved ones by sharing a spread that includes these Picnic Party Sandwiches, perfect for a filling lunch that provides the energy you need for kicking around a soccer ball, playing tag or flying a kite.
Find more lunch ideas fit for enjoying the sunshine by visiting Culinary.net.
Picnic Party Sandwiches
Recipe adapted from “Crunch Time Kitchen”
Total time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- 1 large fresh baguette
- 1/4 cup fig preserves
- 6-8 ounces cured meats, such as prosciutto, salami and capocollo
- 6 ounces brie cheese, sliced
- 2 cups arugula
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- Mash together room temperature butter with fresh parsley. Set aside.
- Cut fresh baguette length-wise and smear bottom half of the baguette with herbed butter. Top with fig preserves.
- Layer on cured meats followed by slices of brie cheese. For brie, cut off any large pieces of rind.
- In small bowl, toss arugula with lemon juice and salt. Add arugula to sandwich followed by top half of baguette.
- Cut baguette into four even sandwiches and eat immediately or wrap each one tightly in paper or plastic wrap.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
SOURCE:
At our core, we at STM Daily News, strive to keep you informed and inspired with the freshest content on all things food and beverage. From mouthwatering recipes to intriguing articles, we’re here to satisfy your appetite for culinary knowledge.
Visit our Food & Drink section to get the latest on Foodie News and recipes, offering a delightful blend of culinary inspiration and gastronomic trends to elevate your dining experience. https://stmdailynews.com/food-and-drink/
Child Health
A Parent’s Guide to Navigating Picky Eating with Confidence
For families with young children, mealtimes can often feel like negotiations or even battles. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Picky eating is one of the most universal challenges families face. With the right strategies, parents can reduce stress, build healthier habits and help children become more confident, curious eaters.
Last Updated on April 27, 2026 by Daily News Staff
(Feature Impact)For families with young children, mealtimes can often feel like negotiations or even battles. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Picky eating is one of the most universal challenges families face.
With the right strategies, parents can reduce stress, build healthier habits and help children become more confident, curious eaters. Dr. Lauren Loquasto, senior vice president and chief academic officer at The Goddard School, and registered dietitian Ali Bandier, founder of Senta Health and member of the Expert Council at Little Spoon, share these insights and guidance to help parents navigate picky eating.
Why Young Children are Picky Eaters
Picky eating isn’t just common; it’s an expected part of early childhood development. In fact, it would be more surprising if children didn’t experience a picky eating phase.
Picky eating is a natural expression of independence. As children enter toddlerhood, they discover they can assert control, and food becomes a typical place to do it. They can’t decide whether to go to school or take a bath, but they can decide whether to take a bite of broccoli.
Avoid the Power Struggle
The key for parents: stay calm, consistent and neutral. Pressuring children only makes picky eating worse.
Telling your child they must try one bite, celebrating excessively when they do eat a vegetable or resorting to negotiation (“three more bites then dessert”) can actually reduce their desire to eat. It also creates a dynamic that only reinforces the power struggle.
Instead, recognize the division of responsibility when it comes to eating. Parents decide what food is served, when it’s served and where meals happen. Children decide whether to eat and how much to eat. As a parent, you can’t force your child to eat; recognizing this is critical to reducing the mealtime tug‑of‑war and creating a calmer, more predictable environment for the entire family.
Exposure, Not Pressure
Young children often need repeated, low‑pressure exposure to a new food before trying it. Offering broccoli once likely isn’t enough. It’s important to offer it repeatedly, without commentary, bribing or coaxing.
Trying new foods is more than just ingesting them. Touching and smelling are steps toward tasting and acceptance. Involving children in food preparation – washing vegetables, stirring batter, mixing ingredients – lets them gain familiarity without the pressure of having to eat. Inclusion in this process increases curiosity and that curiosity is often followed by a willingness, or even desire, to try the food.
It’s also important for parents to model desired eating habits. If you want your child to try salmon but you’re eating pizza, they’re unlikely to want to eat the salmon. Daily family mealtimes – often dinner in busy households – where you’re modeling manners and eating the food you want your child to eat is key.
The Importance of Routines
For young children, routines provide structure, predictability and comfort. A consistent meal and snack schedule helps children learn what to expect and can reduce not only their anxiety around mealtimes, but parental anxiety, too.
Notably, there is no right or wrong schedule; every family needs to figure out what works best for their circumstances. What matters is setting a schedule and maintaining consistency. For example, if you provide a snack between breakfast and lunch, do it every day, not just a few days a week. This helps children know what to expect and feel comfortable.
Schedules also help parents resist “secondhand cooking.” When a child refuses the meal offered, parents often scramble to make alternatives, but this teaches the child if they hold out long enough, a preferred food will arrive. Instead, calmly remind your child when the next snack or meal will be: “OK, you don’t want to have the yogurt and fruit. That’s fine, but I’m not going to make something else. Snack time is in two hours.” This builds trust and reduces anxiety for everyone.
With patience, low-pressure exposure and consistent routines, most picky eaters gradually broaden their palates and mealtimes become more enjoyable for the whole family. For more parenting guidance, including the Parenting with Goddard blog and webinar series, visit the Parent Resource Center at GoddardSchool.com.
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock
SOURCE:
At our core, we at STM Daily News, strive to keep you informed and inspired with the freshest content on all things food and beverage. From mouthwatering recipes to intriguing articles, we’re here to satisfy your appetite for culinary knowledge.
Visit our Food & Drink section to get the latest on Foodie News and recipes, offering a delightful blend of culinary inspiration and gastronomic trends to elevate your dining experience. https://stmdailynews.com/food-and-drink/
Author
recipes
Serve a Plate of Pasta Salad to Round Out Spring Picnics
If clear skies and bright sunshine have you dreaming of a fresh meal outdoors, a picnic may be just the solution. Rounding out your spread of sandwiches and cold refreshments doesn’t have to be a trick – instead, treat yourself to a light, simple side like this Picnic Pasta Salad.
(Feature Impact) If clear skies and bright sunshine have you dreaming of a fresh meal outdoors, a picnic may be just the solution. Rounding out your spread of sandwiches and cold refreshments doesn’t have to be a trick – instead, treat yourself to a light, simple side like this Picnic Pasta Salad.
Cooked rotini is mixed with fresh veggies, tossed with Italian dressing and topped with crumbled feta cheese for a zesty complement to your favorite al fresco meals.
Visit Culinary.net to find more ways to round out a perfect picnic lunch.
Picnic Pasta Salad
Recipe adapted from “Budget Bytes”
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes
Servings: 10
- 1 pound rotini pasta
- 1 English cucumber
- 2 bell peppers
- 10 ounces grape tomatoes
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 bottle (16 ounces) Italian dressing
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain in colander and rinse with cool water; drain well.
- Slice cucumber into half-moons, chop bell peppers, halve tomatoes, thinly slice red onion and chop parsley. Set vegetables and parsley aside.
- Transfer drained pasta to large bowl. Add chopped vegetables, parsley and feta cheese.
- Pour dressing over pasta salad and toss until evenly coated. Add salt and pepper then refrigerate until ready to eat.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
SOURCE:
At our core, we at STM Daily News, strive to keep you informed and inspired with the freshest content on all things food and beverage. From mouthwatering recipes to intriguing articles, we’re here to satisfy your appetite for culinary knowledge.
Visit our Food & Drink section to get the latest on Foodie News and recipes, offering a delightful blend of culinary inspiration and gastronomic trends to elevate your dining experience. https://stmdailynews.com/food-and-drink/
