Kids Corner

What are some of your favorite fruits and/or vegetables? Think about why you enjoy them: is it their bright colors, crisp crunch, sweetness or funny faces you can make with them? Write a poem, song or rap about eating fruits and vegetables and submit them to www.healthyfamilyhome.org by June 20th. We will highlight the top five poems/songs in July’s Newsletter.

Family Time

Take your Healthy Family Home on the road this summer. As summer approaches and kids are out of school, take activities the whole family enjoys with you everywhere you go. If you travel by car, take time to have “rest stops” for the car and “active stops” for the family. Go for a 10 minute walk to get the blood pumping.
Traveling by train is on the rise this summer. What are some activities that could be done on the train or mass transit if you live in a big city?

You can play a memory game, for example, everyone name a type of physical activity and then add a new activity on to the list…keep going until you cannot think of any new ones.
Have everyone in the family describe their favorite part of the trip thus far, and what part they are looking forward to.
Grown-ups, plan several “active stops” along the route.
While on the train pick buildings (barn, silo, school, fire house, pink house, train depot, etc.) to spot and count as a family.

Hey kids, while out of school this summer, what are some activities you can do with all those extra “play” hours? Coordinate a weekly game with the neighborhood kids. It could be a game of kick ball, baseball, Frisbee, soccer, softball, etc. and be creative on the teams. One week pick teams based on birthdays (all those born January – June are on Team A and all those born July – December are on Team B). The next week, choose teams based on home address (street number or apartment number). Odd numbers are one team and even numbers are another team.
As part of your summer vacation, visit a local farmers market and see how many different colors you can place in your basket. Talk with the vendors about their farm, what else they grow, how far they travel to get to the market, etc. Grown-ups help kids search for farmers markets in your area. Are there some that the whole family can walk to?

Fun with Fruits and Vegetables

Rhubarb, is it a fruit or vegetable? It is actually a veggie, a tasty but tart vegetable that is often treated as a fruit. Rhubarb is at its peak supply and taste in June if, you live in North America. This veggie should be readily available and selling at lower prices this month. Like other fruits and vegetables, rhubarb is a good source of vitamin C, fiber and calcium. This summer, try adding a “fun vegetable” to your pie or crisp. Grown-ups, handle rhubarb with care as humans should not eat the leaves.

Ask the Food Dude – Nutritionist

Trans Fat and more Trans Fat - What is the big deal?

Trans fat is created when fat is processed to allow foods to last longer on the shelf. When fat is processed, it begins to take on unhealthy traits. Unfortunately, when fats are hydrogenated they become a trans fat and may affect the health of our hearts. Trans fat, like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, raises the “lousy” LDL cholesterol that increases your risk for heart disease. As your family continues to make choices to protect your health and prevent heart problems, keep trans fat in mind. When reading food labels look for trans fat and/or partially hydrogenated in the list of ingredients. Find foods with little to no trans fat. Kids and grown-ups, an easy way to remember this is that foods in their natural form, unprocessed, are usually your better choices.

Ask the Play Ground Guru

Pumping your legs on a swing is great exercise for your muscles.

As a family, find a park nearby that has swings. Walk together and find a swing that fits everyone and “swing” into your health. Take turns to see how high you can swing and remember to pump those legs for exercise. Younger kids, ask a grown-up to give you a few pushes until you are strong enough to swing yourself. Grown-ups “pushing” kids on the swings is good for your arm muscles, too.

Meal Ideas

Marinate chicken breast in low-fat Italian dressing. Place chicken breast and veggies (onions, peppers, carrots, etc.) on aluminum foil, close at the ends to create a pouch and bake in the oven at 350 degrees.
Brown onions and then add canned (rinsed) black beans. Serve over cooked brown rice. Stir in a little salsa to give it some color and pizzazz.