via youtube.com
This is a great video looking at things being done in the bay area to help kids eat more healthily. Whether you are looking for healthy lunch ideas or any other type of inspiration, it's worth watching!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Healthy Lunch Ideas - Try Mandarin Jelly
via youtube.com
When coming up with healthy lunch ideas it's important to introduce your kids to something new. So watch this great video for making Mandarin Jelly and give your kids a sweet treat!
Healthy Lunch Ideas For Camping
While food safety is important any time of year, proper food handling is essential for summer meals, especially when away from your home kitchen. Since any food-related illness can spoil a camping trip or family vacation, it is worth being extra careful with food in the summer. Fortunately, you can help keep food safe with four simple steps.
What we know
- Food-related illness is under-reported and misunderstood: One in six Americans get sick from a food-related illness every year. Many of them blame it on the flu or other “bug."
- Looking, smelling, and tasting are not accurate ways to check if food is safe to eat:Food can look, smell, and taste fine - and be full of bacteria that make you very sick.
- Food safety involves four key steps: Any perishable food can be a place for disease-causing bacteria to grow. Visit www.homefoodsafety.org to learn more about the problem and, more importantly, the solutions!
What you can do
1: CLEAN - Wash hands often.
- When water is available, use biodegradable soap. Rub hands together for at least 20 seconds, scrubbing all parts thoroughly. Rinse with water and dry with paper towels.
- If water is not readily available, carry plenty of hand sanitizer and disposable wipes for cleaning hands carefully and often (before/after eating, touching animals, etc.).
2: SEPARATE - Keep raw meats and ready-to-eat foods separate.
- Cross contamination can occur in coolers, especially when juices from raw meat or poultry drip onto other foods. Double-wrap all meat products in sealable plastic bags.
- When preparing meat/poultry/fish for grilling, use separate dishes and utensils. Wash carefully before using the same items for cooked meats or other foods.
3: COOK - Cook to proper temperatures.
- Always use a digital or dial food thermometer in your camp kitchen. Ensure all that ground meat is safe to eat by cooking patties to an internal temperature of 160 °F.
- Cook all other beef/veal/pork/lamb/wild game to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F. Cook all poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.
4: CHILL - Refrigerate all perishables promptly to 40 °F or below.
- Take plenty of cold power (ice blocks, water frozen in plastic milk jugs, or gel packs) to keep cold foods COLD. In camp, keep the cooler in shade or covered with a tarp.
- Put ALL perishable and cooked foods into a cooler after 2 hours. For more tips, visit www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/food_safety_while_hiking_camping_&_boating/index.asp#9.
Food safety is an essential part of making sure your kids eat great, nutritious, healthy food. So when you are coming up with healthy lunch ideas for your camping trip, remember these rules!
Healthy Lunch Ideas For Sweet Treats
Lunch Time Dessert: Baby Black Bean Brownies
Whether you homeschool, or send kids to school (or even if they aren’t old enough for school) kids like an after lunch treat. Heck, I like an afternoon treat! These black bean brownies make a great dessert for something a little sweet to finish off a healthy meal.
The reason I like these black bean brownies is you don’t have to puree the beans before adding them to the mix. Who wants to spend all that time in the kitchen anyway, right? I promise you, the beans blend right in with the rich chocolate taste of the brownies, that no one will be complaining.
One Tip: If you are using canned beans, make sure to rinse them thoroughly! Hot water is ideal. Get all the sodium rinsed off that you can!
For lunch, try a chicken salad (shredded chicken, strawberries, chopped pecans, and salad greens), some rolled up flat bread, and a mini, bite sized brownie.
Black Bean Brownies Recipe:
- 1 15 ounce can of black beans, or 1 1/2 cups pre cooked black beans.
- 1/2 cup cocoa (100%)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
We often forget, when we are coming up with healthy lunch ideas, about one of the most important meals... dessert! Make sure you give your little ones a sweet treat full of goodness!
Brown Rice For Your Healthy Lunch Ideas
Leftover Brown Rice Breakfast Pudding
I want to use more whole grains around here beyond whole wheat. There are so many other delicious whole grains with different nutrients that can be of benefit to our family. One easy to prepare whole grain is brown rice. While rice is common on most dinner tables, it’s also great for breakfast. Rice is also great because
- it stores well,
- few kids have sensitivity to it,
- it’s super cheap, and
- it makes great leftovers!
If there are ever ways to repurpose leftovers, I will use them!
So, here it is:
- Take 2 cups cooked brown rice, reheated.
- In a blender, blend up
- 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk (or low fat milk with 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
- 1/2 cup berries (strawberries)
- 1 tsp. honey or agave
Mix the milk and berries with your warmed up brown rice. Let sit for 5 minutes to absorb Top with extra berries or other fruit. Makes 4, 1/2 cup servings. Keep reading for nutritional information...This is one of my favourite healthy lunch ideas. It's easy to make and super scrummy. Best of all rice is something your kids will be familiar with, so it's an easy one to introduce!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Healthykidshealthyfamilies: Veggies: The Whens, Wheres, and Hows of Encouraging More Veggie Consumption
Veggies: The Whens, Wheres, and Hows of Encouraging More Veggie Consumption
I am always playing with how to mix things up and get the kids at our table to eat more veggies. As I said in "Veggies First", offering veggies as an appetizer is a great way to curb the 5 o'clock hunger pains and get veggies in their bellies. But there are a couple of other tricks that have been working great in our family this past year.1. Veggies as the first course....
This is bringing us back again to a time when meals were much slower, had smaller portions and typically had a vegetable course at the beginning of the meal. In our house we are invoking this time by offering a little bit of salad first to the kids or small bowls of soup. The salads have been elaborate with my homemade dressing and they have also been super simple chopped up cukes with tomatoes and my daughter's favorite food - ranch dressing.2. Small portions....
Kids are turned off when their plates have heaping servings of vegetables. It is our attempt to get them to eat more vegetables but it backfires all the time. Try a very small portion size of EVERYTHING on their plates, including the veggies. This is an odd suggestion but I have tested it out on my kids, all their friends and my friend's kids. Serve them one bit of chicken along with 5 peas, it intrigues them and they eat all the peas. Serve them three bits of chicken and a pile of peas, they eat the chicken and leave the peas. Smaller portions work but make sure all the foods are a smaller portion, they can always have more.3. Any time/All the time....
The more veggies that are served, the more kids are exposed to them, the more they eat. There are studies documenting kids in immigrant families, in the US, whose families eat vegetables at breakfast. These kids eat more vegetables than other US kids, even if the remainder of their diet is fairly Americanized. Serve tomatoes with breakfast on their buttered toast, serve sliced cucumber on the side, carrots with cream cheese and anything else that is a favorite (My son just suggested a microwaved potato with butter and salt). Keep vegetables in all the lunches and snacks, too. Again, make portion sizes small.4. Match the competition....
Vegetables are up against rough competition that doesn't play fair, they are fighting against Cheetos, super sweet yogurts, rich cheeses, salty crackers, etc. to try and get your kid's attention. These foods are creating a taste palate in kids that is hard for vegetables to compete against. Kids and adults will typically choose the foods that are richer, saltier and/or sweeter over the plain taste of vegetables. So....don't be shy, go ahead and flavor the vegetables. Vegetables can compete if they are straight from the garden but most of the time that isn't an option. Veggies just need a little help. Using salt, sugar, a little cheese or butter is not a sin and it will make the kids like the veg more.
Healthy Lunch Ideas For Back To School
Welcome back to school! We hope that your summer provided a renewed energy for a wonderful school year! Healthy Kids Challenge wants to serve as your partner in health this year to bring health and wellness ALIVE. Whether your needs are nutrition education curriculum, staff training, wellness council support or resources, look to HKC for solutions!
The new school year is a great time to gather an existing wellness team or build a new team! Team up for wellness with the following Healthy Kids Challenge tips.
- Get people on board
- Begin recruiting those who have expressed or demonstrated an interest in nutrition and physical activity. Start with whatever number of members you can.
- Brainstorm potential recruits who represent different groups: administrators, classroom teachers, youth leaders, PE teachers, nurses, food service, community members and families .
- Develop a team vision:
- Brainstorm the team’s wellness dream and then write a short memorable statement describing the dream.
- Vision example: A school/youth program that provides a healthy environment with consistent messages that guide learning and opportunities for practicing healthy lifestyle choices; and connects with families and the community to expand the messages and healthy choices everywhere kids go.
- Share the team vision and develop awareness:
- Identify ways to let others know of the vision through newsletters, Web site and word of mouth
- Use “talking points” for nutrition and physical activity:
- the needs (childhood obesity, poor eating and physical activity habits of kids)
- the benefits (improved academic potential, better attendance)
- what you intend to accomplish (awareness and appeal for HKC’s Healthy6 messages, increased role-modeling)
Getting involved in healthy kids eating challenged is a great way to connect with other parents looking for healthy lunch ideas. Getting kids to eat better as a community will have beneficial and long lasting effects.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Healthy Lunch Ideas To End Childhood Obesity
The percentage of overweight kids has grown from a problem to an epidemic today. The America Academy of Pediatrics has given various reasons for this increase in the number of overweight children. One issue is the fact that parents have less time than previously and find it easier to provide kids with convenience and fast foods.
Kids encouraged to eat junk food would rather have potato chips, French fries or deep fried meat than a healthy alternative. This is often not helped by the poor state of school lunches. They contain processed and convenience foods with chemicals and additives, similar to fast food restaurants.
A worse scenario is major soft drink companies promoting their unhealthy beverages all over America. Schools readily allow them access to children because they provide funding for their athletic and recreational programs. Today more franchise fast food and zero nutrition soft drinks are available to kids in school than ever before. This is 100% damaging the health of our children.
The ADA has acknowledged the fact that kids are not consuming enough of the vegetables and fruits that prevent heart diseases and help kids have a healthy weight. Parents should be concerned about what their kids are consuming at school and should encourage them to make their own healthy lunches and snacks.
The number one thing parents should do is contact school boards and inform them of this issue. Children who don’t participate in sports usually consume more and eating from the unhealthy school cafeteria menus is seriously injurious to their growth. School lunch menus should carry fresh produce and baked meat and potatoes rather fried.
Second, Parents should educate children about the benefits of vegetables, fruits, dairy products and whole wheat foods. You should try to push these nutrients in small proportions since children will avoid large servings at first. The more parents get involved the better the situation gets for the children.
Involving children in choosing, preparing and packing their lunch is essential to developing good healthy eating habits. Let the kids choose their favorite vegetables, dairy products and fruits and learn what they like most and what they don’t.
Usually, overweight children enjoy lots of sweets and fattening fast foods. The difficult task is to eliminate this eating pattern and stop them eating unhealthy food permanently. Prepare healthy snacks for them to consume all day, keep them easily accessible and make sure sweets are consumed as a treat not a meal. Snacks with fruits, cream cheese, vegetables with hummus dip, whole wheat cereals and bread are excellent choices for children who are plagued with obesity.
Unhealthy eating patterns continue from generation to generation, so by developing healthy lunch ideas you are actually helping the health of your grand-children and great grand-children!
Click here to view rest of article from original site
We all know the statistics and the reasons why our kid's nutrition is so important, but sometimes that knowledge can be overwhelming. The great news is just by using a few healthy lunch ideas during the week you can start the path to a better life for your child.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Healthy Lunch Ideas To Cook With Kids
Cooking Light has developed a new cookbook, The Ultimate Kid-Approved Cookbook -- its first for kids -- that helps you navigate the process. In it are more than 100 recipes, from snacks to meals and desserts, that you and your children can prepare together. It also provides plenty of pictures and suggestions as to what tasks your children can perform.
I caught up with the book’s author, mom, and registered dietitian Carolyn Land Williams, M.Ed, RD., and she shared her top 10 guidelines for turning today’s children into tomorrow’s budding chefs:
1. Be a Teacher. Everyday tasks that may seem routine to parents can be great learning opportunities for kids. Encourage healthy lifestyle habits by using the grocery store as a classroom to count foods, identify colors, and practice reading skills. Take a field trip to the local farmers’ market or dairy farm so kids can learn where foods come from.
2. Focus on the Three B's. Involving your kids in the cooking process lets you Bond with your child(ren), Build their self-confidence, and Broaden their food base. You get to work together as a team, help them develop their fine motor skills, and teach them about the importance of nutrition.
3. Cleanliness First. Always wash your hands before starting to cook and after touching raw meat, poultry, or seafood. It’s important to teach children not to mix raw and cooked foods. In fact, one easy way to do this is to have different colored cutting boards for various foods -- such as red for meats and green for fruits and vegetables.
4. Kids Need Space Too. Creating a small, safe workplace in the kitchen for your child gives them a sense of ownership while cooking. Make sure to set kitchen rules, and communicate those clearly, so kids are aware of their boundaries. Read each recipe together before beginning, and chop or measure your ingredients as needed before starting.
5. Never Assume. Kids don’t necessarily know that an object or utensil may be hot or sharp, so make sure to tell them and to set rules about how to use (or not use) each object. Explain as you go, demonstrate, and then let them try.
6. Prevent Mishaps. While it can be very tempting, don’t sample food until it’s done. It can be unsafe for little ones to taste-test certain raw foods. Also, clean up spills as they happen (and they will!), and keep sharp or dangerous items out of reach, such as knives, scissors, and food processors.
7. Be the "Lifeguard" of the Kitchen. Always supervise children in the kitchen. It’s never a good idea to leave younger kids alone. For older children, identify what is and isn’t OK to do when you’re not in the kitchen.
8. Follow the Leader. The best way to teach children healthy eating and safe cooking habits is to practice what you preach. Even though you may not think your kids are paying attention, they watch everything you do and will eventually adopt the behaviors they see. By eating healthy and being active, you’re sending a powerful message to your children.
9. Explore New Foods. The more foods you introduce to children, the greater the variety of foods they’re likely to eat as adults. Preparing ethnic dishes offers a great opportunity to try new foods, flavors, and spices, as well as to learn about a new culture. Consider having a theme night, complete with music from that culture. Older kids can research that part of the world and share fun facts at dinner.
10. Break Out of the (Lunch) Box. With school right around the corner, it can be tough to think of fresh new meal ideas outside of the classic PB&J. Involve your kids in the meal planning and preparation, which will increase the likelihood that they’ll eat the healthier lunch that’s been prepared and actually enjoy it.
The cookbook launched last week, but they sent me an early copy, and my children and I have had lots of fun making some of the recipes this summer. I highly recommend the Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies.
Do you cook with your children? Any tips to add to the list?
Image via Julie Ryan Evans
Cooking with kids is actually more fun that you think! Yes it is messy but it is also a great bonding experience and the ideal way to get your kids making healthy eating choices for the rest of their lives. Try finding healthy lunch ideas that make your kids part of the process
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Packable Healthy Lunch Ideas
via eatingwell.com
Packable snacks and lunches to keep you healthy, wealthy and thin.
These grab-and-go lunches and snacks make it easy to resist a stop at the corner deli for an overstuffed sandwich or the vending machine for a bag of chips. Plus they deliver fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans and lean protein, such as chicken and turkey, in sensible portions. Wrap them up or pack them in reusable containers and carry them with you. Even after just a week of bringing your lunch from home, you may find your pockets a bit heavier with cash and your waistline a tad trimmer.
via eatingwell.com
Just click on the link to find some great healthy lunch ideas. Often healthy lunch ideas sound great but are not practical for children of school going age. This collection of healthy meals are different in the fact they are all easily fitted into a lunch box!
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