Tommy’s Tip of the Day: Make Veggies FUN!

It’s no secret that vegetables have always been a difficult sell to kids. But with this TOMMY TIP, we can make veggies a little bit more fun for kids to enjoy.

The Tip: Serve broccoli, carrots, and other vegetables with a dip!

Adding a bit of dressing or sauce can make a boring carrot much more appetizing. Try dipping veggies in applesauce or, for really picky eaters, low-fat yogurt or cheese for a healthy afternoon snack. Other dips to try: peanut butter, ranch dressing, pizza sauce, sour cream… The sky’s the limit!

Bonus Tip: Cut food into fun shapes with cookie cutters for even more fun!

A healthy snack that both kids and parents can enjoy? Now, who wouldn’t love that? Check out this article over at Super Healthy Kids for a healthy full week meal plan with the heart-shaped carrots you see above!

Healthy Eating Starts at Home

An article by ABC News claims that “Junk Food at School isn’t Making Kids Fat.” The article is about a study, published in the journal of Sociology of Education, and is called the “Competitive Food Sales in Schools and Childhood Obesity: A Longitudinal Study.” The study followed about 20,000 students, from kindergarten through eighth grade in 1,000 schools (both public and private). By examining the trend of the children’s weight, they found that, by eighth grade, 35.5 percent of kids in schools with junk food were overweight, while 34.8 percent in schools without junk food were overweight. The results found, according to the article, are “a statistically insignificant increase.”

It’s not that middle schoolers aren’t eating junk food; indeed they are, just like most Americans. It’s that most of the junk food they’re eating is not coming through the schools.

“Schools only represent a small portion of children’s food environment,” said Jennifer Van Hook, a Professor of Sociology and Demography at Pennsylvania State University and lead author of the study.

Read the rest of the article on ABCNews.com here. It seems that healthy eating, and a healthy lifestyle, truly does start at home. Learn more about staying active, and eating healthy, from Tommy the Tomato.

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Healthy Lunch Ideas For Healthy Kids!

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!

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.

via eatwellatschool.blogspot.com

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

For directions to make the dessert follow the link…

via blog.superhealthykids.com

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…

via blog.superhealthykids.com

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!

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.

1. Get people on board
   1. Begin recruiting those who have expressed or demonstrated an interest in nutrition and physical activity. Start with whatever number of members you can.
   2. Brainstorm potential recruits who represent different groups: administrators, classroom teachers, youth leaders, PE teachers, nurses, food service, community members and families
.
2. Develop a team vision:
   1. Brainstorm the team’s wellness dream and then write a short memorable statement describing the dream.
   2. 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.
3. Share the team vision and develop awareness:
   1. Identify ways to let others know of the vision through newsletters, Web site and word of mouth
   2. Use “talking points” for nutrition and physical activity:
      1. the needs (childhood obesity, poor eating and physical activity habits of kids)
      2. the benefits (improved academic potential, better attendance)
      3. 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.