WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Planning Healthy Lunches

"I grow my own vegetables and herbs.  I like being able to tell people that the lunch I am serving started out as a seed in my yard."
                                                                      --Curtis Stone

March is National Nutrition Month.  It is a good opportunity to evaluate what you eat and drink.  Every day we are faced with hundreds of decisions.  If you can start making conscious choices about meal planning, you (and your health) will be on a better path.  

I know when I fail to plan lunches for work, I am really planning to fail with taking good care of myself.  When I give up control to my fast-paced work schedule and do not have access to healthy foods (please pass the lentil burgers), I use that as a reminder to get back on track with some simple meal planning.

Salad made by kids in a recent Growing Healthy Kids class:  organic lettuce, sunflower sprouts and just-picked strawberries with a healthy vinaigrette dressing (see below for recipe).

Sundays are special for me because that's when I plan for 5 days of healthy lunches.  A salad with fresh, locally grown greens at least 3 days a week really makes the work light.  Do I need to schedule my errands so I can swing by Osceola Organic Farm to get salad greens or can I harvest some from my Tower Garden?  Can I get some of Alex’s crunchy hydroponic cucumbers at the weekly Vero Beach Farmers Market? What about cooking a bag of garbanzos for making hummus mid-week and having nutrient dense garbanzos for my salads? 

Speaking of salads, here is my favorite salad dressing recipe (this works for a green salad or a whole grain pasta salad):

GROWING HEALTHY KIDS:  Our Recipe Collection

Healthy Vinaigrette

• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon Bragg apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon local honey
• Pink Himalayan sea salt and freshly ground organic black pepper

I put the ingredients in a small container or a jar and pack it with my salad in a cooler. Shake well before using.  For a delicious dinner salad, use this dressing with local greens, sliced avocado and pear.  Simple, healthy, and delicious every time! 

Dare yourself to take 15 minutes and do some meal planning on the weekend so you – and your kids – have access to healthy lunches and snacks during the week.  Check out my pinterest pages for some great ideas!   This week I am inspired to make curried chickpea salad sandwiches (go to pinterest.com, search for “Nancy Heinrich” and look up my “Healthy Lunches” pins) or go to www.simple-veganista.com and search under recipes for the curried chickpea salad sandwich recipe.  With just a little planning, the week’s lunches are all set and you are on your way to a very nutritious and delicious week!

With love and gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Sugar, Kids, and Disease

"We don't need sugar to live and we don't need it as a society."  

      --Mehmet Oz, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon and host of                                        "The Dr. Oz Show"

March is National Nutrition Month.  How much sugar are your kids eating and drinking every day?  

One 8 ounce glass of apple juice contains as much sugar (28 grams) as a glass of Coca Cola.  Kids do not need dozens of grams of sugar every day, but that is exactly what both of these drinks contain.  

Did you know...Food manufacturers pay grocery stores for product placement so unhealthy products are placed at your children's eye level.  Food manufacturers market unhealthy, sugar-filled foods to your kids in TV advertisements and in sponsorships of educational material used in public schools and afterschool programs such as Boys and Girls Clubs that kids are exposed to every day (such as Coca Cola).

The other day I was talking with the cashier while checking out of a store with provisions for an upcoming Growing Healthy Kids program.  The cashier, a young man in his early twenties, commented that everything I was purchasing was in the “healthy and organic” category.  I told him about Growing Healthy Kids and our mission to prevent and reverse childhood obesity and obesity-related diseases.  He shared that he had gained a lot of weight in high school because he ate lots of junk food and he decided he needed to make a change.  I asked him what he did and can you guess what he said?  He started eating less foods high in sugar, including soda.  As I completed my purchase, I complimented the young man on his success and told him his new habits will last him his lifetime, putting him on the path to health instead of disease.    

"Children are developing eating habits and taste preferences that will last a lifetime," according to Rachel K. Johnson, a professor of nutrition and pediatrics at the University of Vermont in Burlington.  "The sooner families begin to limit the amount of added sugars in their diets, the better."  

Do your kids have habits that will last them a lifetime of good health?  Eating too much sugar on a daily basis is a sure path to diseases and conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.  Processed  foods such as Pop Tarts, Honey Buns, cookies, crackers, breakfast cereals (especially those that have the word “crunch” or “sugar” in their names), and granola bars contain more sugar in a serving that kids should have in a day.  Read food labels to see what a serving size is and how many grams of sugar are in a serving.   If there are more than 10 grams of sugar in one serving, look for something else (especially if you are eating more than one serving).  Look for ingredients that end in “-ose” because that is how you can identify hidden sugars.  Watch out for added sugars such as "high fructose corn syrup", "dextrose," and "fructose". 

Kids 2-18 years of age should have no more than 25 grams of added sugars a day (about 6 teaspoons).  

Eat real food,  Broccoli.  Almonds.  Zucchini.  Strawberries.  Spinach.  Quinoa. Blueberries. Walnuts.  Buy the best ingredients you can afford.   Cut back or eliminate added sugars.  Kids are sweet enough just the way they are!

   

With love and gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Cooking at Home

"...the key dietary messages are stunningly simple.  Eat less, move more, eat more fruits and vegetables and don't eat too much junk food.  It's no more complicated than that."  

                                                             

                        --Marian Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University

March is National Nutrition Month.   Enjoy delicious meals that you and your kids cook together at home.  Start by planning a trip to your local farmers market and letting the kids pick out some locally grown vegetables.  Create a meal around fresh, locally grown and organic (where available) vegetables, add some quinoa, lentils or black rice and enjoy a great meal together. 

Cooking teaches kids that real food does not come from boxes with ingredients you cannot pronounce.  When you cook meals together with your kids, you teach them about the value of teamwork.  When you sit down together at the family dinner table, you teach them about respect, communication, and family values.

One of the key lessons we teach in our Growing Healthy Kids programs is about respecting the people who grow our food and respecting ourselves enough to eat good foods instead of processed foods filled with added sugars, salt, and fat.  After all, why eat foods that will only make us sick?   When I ask kids if they have any friends who stay home from school because of stomach aches, they all raise their hands.  Is it possible kids have digestive issues because they are being fed highly processed foods filled with sugar and refined flour but containing no dietary fiber?  Yes. 

Parents, our children, like us, deserve to eat food that not only tastes good but is good for you.  Life is too short to do otherwise!  Plan to do more cooking at home.   If you need help with a recipe, let me know (email me at wellness@growinghealthykids.org). 

Here is a so, so simple recipe your kids can help you make for dinner.  Add a green salad and grilled cheese sandwiches on whole grain bread and you have a delicious, healthy meal your kids will love!  TIP FOR SAVING MONEY:  Stock up on canned tomatoes when they are on sale.  

GROWING HEALTHY KIDS:  Our Recipe Collection

DIVINE TOMATO SOUP

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 28-ounce can Italian tomatoes (preferably San Marzano tomatoes)
• 1 cup low fat chicken broth
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:  

Saute onion in the butter and olive oil about 5-6 minutes on medium heat, or until onions become translucent.   Add the dried basil and cook another minute.  Add tomatoes and chicken broth.  Cook at least 15 minutes.  Using an immersion blender, blend soup to desired texture.   Add salt and pepper, to taste.  A few minutes before serving, add cream.   Stir and serve.  Garnish with fresh basil and freshly grated parmesan cheese, if desired.  

With love and gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.