Are you eating your way through the rainbow??

We know that talking about the colours of fruits and vegetables is a great way to integrate learning and food especially for younger children!  But do we realize just how important "eating through the rainbow" can be for our health?

Did you know the colour of the fruits and vegetables we eat can be a powerful indicator of the benefit we are getting from them?

www.livelovefruit.com

 

 

 

 

Making sure your fruits and vegetables are ripe will help make digestion easy!  Try to see how many colours you can cover when you prepare snack!
 
For more detailed information about different coloured fruits and vegetables you can also check out this article: http://bit.ly/ZkPAqX
 

Food of the Month

This month we are going BANANAS for healthy food!

 

Bananas are such an incredible food with amazing benefits!  It is the "strong man" of fruit and promotes health in so many ways!

So what are some of the incredible benefits?

1. Bananas help our bones grow stronger!

• Bananas contain probiotics that nourish the friendly bacteria in our bodies. In a nutshell this probiotic bacteria helps us absorb more calcium!

2. Bananas give us energy!

• We all know bananas are a rich source of sucrose, fructose and glucose, all of which work together with high fibre in the banana to releases the sugars slowly into our bloodstream.  This gives us enduring energy!
• Bananas also contain high levels of potassium that helps our muscles work properly during exercise and prevents the build-up of lactic acid which means less muscle cramping.  

3. Bananas give us brain power!

• The glucose in bananas helps boost brain power. 
• Bananas also contain potassium, which research has shown can help in learning and memory by increasing alertness. 
• Children who consume a potassium-rich fruit breakfast often do better on tests than children who do not.

4.  Bananas help regulate our digestive system!

• Bananas are high in fibre which keeps things moving through your digestive tract.
• They also contain resistant starches which improve regularity of bowel movements. 

 5. Bananas help with depression!

• Bananas are full of things that help combat depression including dopamine and epinephrine.   
• They also contain tryptophan which helps metabolize the neurotransmitter called serotonin, known as the "happy" molecule.  
• These things act to improve your mood and fight depression. 

Bananas are a tasty and easy food to snack on!

• Bananas come as a self-packaged, ever-ready snack.  They should be eaten when they are ripe (yellow) for the best digestion.

   Some things you can try with bananas:  

  • Banana Breakfast Salad: http://bit.ly/Z6uf4m
  • Banana Breakfast Spread: http://bit.ly/10mGYU6
   
  
  
   

Seuss it Up

March 2nd was the birthday of the late, great Dr. Seuss. I don't think there's any of us out there that hasn't read one of his books and loved it. I know many schools and teachers will celebrate Dr. Seuss with activities or lesson plans during March. Why not marry up Dr. Seuss with nutrition month.

Green Eggs and Ham

A staple sandwich growing up was often Egg Salad. You can spruce up the usual recipe by adding avocado. Not only does this amp up the nutrition, it's delicious too! Eggs often get a bad rap but are a great source of protein and avocados are very nutritious and high in fibre.

Serve up this version of "green eggs" with a ham sandwich option as well to get kids trying something new for lunch!

 Avocado Egg Salad

(Adapted from Skinny Taste and Honey What's Cooking)

Original recipe at Skinny Taste

4 Hardboiled Eggs
1 Avocado
Lemon Juice from 1/4 of a lemon
2 tbsp plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup chopped green onion or chives
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients above and mash with a fork. Makes approx. 4-6 sandwiches. Spread the egg mixture on bread, wraps or pitas. Enjoy!

Original recipe at Honey What's Cooking

Coming Soon...

Coming up in less than a week it will be March. Not only is this the beginning of Spring, March is Nutrition Month. This is a chance for schools to highlight healthy eating, active living and promote the well being of your students. There are plenty of ideas to use this month long theme and reap the benefits of attentive, happy and healthy students.

• Make announcements - get kids thinking about healthy eating first thing in the morning. Make questions and have the kids answer them each day, provide trivia or just interesting facts.
• Examples:
• "Bananas are eaten more than any other fruit in the world. There are over 500 types! If you eat a different banana every day, it would still take you almost a year and a half to try every type of banana. Enjoy them at meals or for a quick snack." (source: Healthy Schools Newsletter) 

• Promote your nutrition programs - Promote the importance of healthy eating by encouraging kids to attend your breakfast or snack programs. Advertise a bring a friend day or have them invite their parents or grandparents to join them for breakfast

• Try out a whole school campaigns - Raise awareness of Nutrition Month in the entire school with activities or challenges.
• Examples:
• Recipe Contest - students can submit their healthy recipes and finalists can prepare their recipes and students can sample and determine the winner.
• Fruit and Veggie Challenge - have classrooms submit the serving of fruits and vegetables eaten each day to graph the results. The winning classroom could get a prize for most fruits and vegetables eaten during the month of March. 

• Be sure to include information about Nutrition Month and any campaigns you are running in your school newsletter, website or outside on the signs.

• Have your Public Health Nurses involved and get them to help with healthy eating campaigns or activities.

There are so many resources, lesson plans and ideas out there surrounding Nutrition Month - get creative and get your students to bust out of their winter blues with eating nutritious foods!

Taste the Rainbow

We've all heard the Skittles version of Taste the Rainbow, but try your own twist on colourful eating with fruits and vegetables like they're doing at Victoria Public School.

Victoria Public School serves snacks to their entire school population three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). Their snacks include nutritious fruits and vegetables, cheese and crackers, granola bars, fruit cups and breakfast bars.

During the month of February students will be eating their way through the Rainbow! Each Wednesday, students will be eating and dressing in colours of the rainbow. With the help of the Healthy Living Team, students are excited about getting their fruit and vegetable servings while staying stylish!


Yellow - Bananas
Orange - Oranges
Green - Grapes
Red - Apples

Four primary students show their love of the orange by dressing in their best orange clothes and getting ready to bite into the fruit.

Great work Vikings!

Save with Coupon Christine

A friend of mine introduced me to Coupon Christine. If you have not stumbled upon this great site yet, I highly recommend you take a look.

She takes time to look through all the weekly flyers and find the best buys for produce and other groceries. So if you don't have the time to do that yourself, she does it for you! Here is the link to the week of Feb 8 - 14th. It is printable too.

There are also tons of great saving tips or coupons you can search. So if you're looking for a great deal, look here.

couponchristine.com

Fantastic Flapjacks

On February 12th, people will be eating pancakes for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. It's Pancake Tuesday. This is a great opportunity to promote your nutrition program or use it as a fundraising opportunity.

Invite families, businesses or community groups to enjoy homemade pancakes with students throughout the school day. Have those that are able to attend donate $2 with funds to go toward your nutrition program.

Below I've included a recipe you can use. You can make this savoury or sweet, depending on what you're craving.

You can also cook the pancakes in a muffin tin. Add your favourite toppings such as: bacon, sausage, banana, blueberries, apples, etc.

Pancake Bites

Picture and recipe can be found here

Recipe taken from Skinny Taste

2 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sugar
2 eggs
2 cups + 2 tbsp milk (2% or 1%)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Don't overmix.

If using muffin tins: Spray the muffin pan with cooking spray. Fill each cup 3/4 of the way. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

If using a griddle: Heat to medium. Lightly spray and pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter. Flip when edges start to bubble. Makes approx. 14 pancakes.

These also freeze and reheat well.

Instead of syrup, serve the pancakes or pancake bites with fresh fruit or a yogurt topping.

*Remember that OSNP guidelines state:

- Pancakes be served one time per week or less.
- Only small amounts of butter or syrup be used, but not both