Lyon County
Newsletter

Cooperative Extension Service
Lyon County
231 Main Street, P. O. Box 36,
Eddyville, KY 42038-0036
(Phone: 270) 388-2341
FAX: (270) 388-4627
e-mail: DL CES LYON@EMAIL.UKY.EDU

Family Stress: Daily Hassles

Daily hassles are the stresses, strains, and transactions of daily life that can be viewed as common annoyances.  These events are usually pretty minor and result from our daily routines.  Daily hassles represent the most frequent form of stress we face.  As a result, new research is starting to suggest that these daily hassles may actually be more important determinants of family stress than major, less frequent events.  Part of the reason for this is that daily hassles can come at us constantly throughout the day and pile up on us.  This is related to the old saying “a mountain out of a molehill.”  Each of these daily hassles by themselves may not be a major stress.  However, when a whole lot of minor stresses pile up on us at once, we can quickly begin to feel overwhelmed. 

There are three elements that can help us to better understand the links between daily hassles and family stress. 

• The first one is adaptive processes.  These processes are the ways in which individuals and families cope with daily hassles. 
• The second element is the daily hassles themselves.  The level of family stress is partly determined by the number, severity, and centrality of daily hassles that the family and its members encounter. 
• The final element that influences family stress is the vulnerabilities of a family and its members.  These include such things as personality of family members, the background and history of a family, the amount of stress that parents bring home from work each day, and other risk factors that may be present.

No matter who we are or what we do, we all face daily hassles.  We often find ourselves racing the clock, worrying about others, or feeling like the stresses in our lives are out of our control.  It is hard to get a good handle on our stress.  We often focus on the negative or unexpected things that happen to us every day instead of the positive things that happen.  However, we are the ones who make the choice about how we will let these daily hassles affect us!  One of the best ways to handle the daily hassles that inevitably affect us each day is humor.  Humor can be one of the most powerful and effective ways to cope with stress.  If we can try to laugh at the little disasters in our daily lives, we may even find that other areas of our lives will also become easier.  We will always have stress in our lives, but a key to dealing with our stress is to put more humor in our lives.  The more we are able to laugh, the better we can handle the bad things that come at us.  Remember not to take life too seriously! 

References:  McKenry, P.C., & Price, S.J. (2005).  Families and change:  Coping with stressful events and transitions (3^rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage Publications. 

Recker, N. (1998). Tickle your stress before it tackles you:  Home and away series.  The Ohio State University, HYG-5187-98.  http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5187.html.

Source:  Kerri Ashurst, Senior Extension Associate for Children, Youth and Families at Risk, University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture.
 

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Food For Thought

Cooking With Sugar Substitutes

At the recent Foods and Nutrition Training I received the following information authored by Sandra Bastin, Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist.  I think you’ll want to keep the substitution chart at a convenient location.

  Baked Apples

6 tart  apples, cored

3 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons Sweet’ N Low Brown granulated sugar substitute

2 tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon vanilla

Peel apples halfway down.   Place in baking dish, pared side up.  Melt butter.  Stir in flour and mix well.  Add Sweet ‘N Low and vanilla.  Spread over apples.  Bake at 425 degrees F until crust is set.  Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Bake until apples are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on size of apple.  Nutritional Analysis:  110 Calories, 2g Fat, 27g Carbohydrates.

Sweet ‘N Low is a registered trademark of Cumberland Packing Corporation.  Used with permission.

Cranberry Glazed Pork Roast

2 (16 ounce) cans cranberry sauce, jellied

½ cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulate4d

½ cup cranberry juice

1 teaspoon mustard powder

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

4 pounds pork roast

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

Salt to taste

Mash cranberry sauce with a fork and stir in Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, cranberry juice, mustard, and cloves.  Place pork roast in a large, roasting pan.  Pour cranberry sauce mixture over the roast.  Cook at 350 degrees F approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours to a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees F.  Remove roast, and keep warm.  Skim the fat from the liquid in the roasting pan.  Pour 2 cups of the remaining roasting liquid (add water to fill the measuring cup, if necessary) into a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Blend cornstarch and cold water to make a paste; stir gradually into boiling liquid.  Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens.  Add salt to taste.  Serve with the roast.  National Analysis:  360 Calories, 34g Protein, 9g Fat, 35g Carbohydrate

Recipe adapted from Splenda website at www.splenda.com.  Used with permission.
 

 Fruit Smoothies

1 cup orange juice

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 cup frozen unsweetened whole strawberries or raspberries

1 peeled and frozen banana, cut into pieces

¼ cup Equal Spoonful or 6 packets Equal

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor.  Process until smooth.  Makes two servings.  Nutritional Analysis:  203 Calories, 9g Protein, 43g Carbohydrates, 1g Fat

Recipe adapted from Equal website at www.equal.com.  Used with permission.