Here are three different ideas for snack-appetizers to bring or make for a party or fix for your kids! When you choose to share your "eat healthier" goals, those around you will eat healthier too!
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Fun fruit tray for sharing!
Check out this site for fabulous pictures and ideas for healthy food recipes. It is a real gem for inspiration
www.facebook.com/pages/Healthy-Eating-with-Michele-Holloman
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Keep Holidays Healthy!
Youth & Family Services Team Wellness is promoting this 6 week national challenge to encourage staff to learn about making healthy decisions through the "challenging" holiday season. Challenge begins November 17th!
Monday, November 3, 2014
Pumpkins!
Pumpkin season is here and what a fully loaded nutritious food to enjoy packed with vitamin A, potassium, fiber, and naturally low in sodium. Beyond pumpkin pie and baked goods like muffins and cookies consider enjoying this sweet gourd added into soups and casseroles. a mashed pumpkin side dish can be prepared just like mashed potatoes using half potatoes and half pumpkin.
The nutrition facts of 1 cup of pumpkin:
- has less than 50 calories
- contains 3 grams of dietary fiber
- naturally a fat free food
- provides more than 240% of the daily vitamin A recommendation
Check out the recipes below and the soothing video of the life cycle of a pumpkin plant at the bottom of this page.
Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock1 teaspoons salt
4 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup milk or half & half
pepper to taste
Directions
- Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
- Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender.
- Return to pan and continue to simmer for an additional 30 minutes, Stir in the milk or half and half (this adds creaminess). Serve.
Makes 8-10 servings (source allrecipes.com)
Classroom food experience: Pumpkin Pudding
2
package instant vanilla pudding
2
cups canned or mashed pumpkin
3
cups skim milk
1/2-teaspoon
ground cinnamon
Beat
pudding mix and milk together until well blended, about 2 minutes. Stir in
pumpkin and cinnamon. Blend until mixed. Portion into
1/4 cup serving sizes and chill. The pudding will thicken as it chills. This recipe provides about 20 "sample" servings.
The life cycle of a pumpkin plant
Thursday, August 7, 2014
YFS Garden Update Okra and peppers
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| We spotted this green pepper recently in the YFS Kids Garden. It was about size of a lime. Some of the flower seeds are finally getting started and the hot growing season is on. |
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This is an Okra plant. Okra is very popular in the South and used in recipes like fried okra and Gumbo stew. When cooked, okra develops a characteristic "slimy" or "gooey" texture that can be minimized by combining with an acid food such as lemon juice, tomatoes or vinegar. Okra is a powerhouse for nutrients including fiber, vitamin C, folate, and antioxidants .Great Summer Salsa recipe: Avocado Salsa with peppers, corn and olives.
Need a snack idea for the classroom? Here is a salsa recipes with an interesting twist of ingredients: The recipe calls for corn, olives, peppers and avocados. Serve it with a celery stick or whole wheat crackers. Children can help put the recipes parts together with easy to use ingredients.
source: allrecipes.com
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Friday, June 27, 2014
Thumping Watermelons!
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| picture from www.watermelon.org |
Watermelon is a favorite summertime treat but do you ever hesitate
to pick one out? Here is are some tips to help you pick the perfect melon:
- Sound. Hold your melon with one hand and listen to it by thumping, tapping, slapping or rapping it with your other hand. A great melon should carry a deep vibration and have a “full” sound.One person described the favored sound to be “more like a tenor than a bass!” A melon that has a dull “thud” sound is not ripe. In fact, a deep hollow sound may indicate the melon has a “hollow heart”. This is a very disappointing melon to cut into.The center is separated into chunks, and the flesh is clearly overripe and mealy.
- Appearance. Look on the underbelly for something called the “golden spot”, the “sweet spot” or the “field spot”.These terms indicate how the melon grew in the field as it lay in the sun. A yellow spot is better than a white spot and a white spot is better than no spot.
- Avoid a pigtail. A great melon should be picked when it is ripe and not before. If there is a existence of a green “stem” still on the melon this can indicate a melon has been picked before it’s time and therefore not as sweet.
The National Watermelon promotion board also has some other fun facts, pictures and games to check out on the following website: www.watermelon.org
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
YFS Kids Gardens
On June 20, 2014 a wonderful crew of volunteers from Fountain Spring Church arrived at the Adams site of Youth & Family Services to help us create a green growing space for our children. The possibilities for this outdoor learning environment will provide our children with an opportunity to observe, discover, experience and connect lessons of how healthy food can be grown right in our own backyard!
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| Empty fenced lot. Let's transform it into a garden! |
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| Planning, measuring, and beginning to build the 18 wooden beds |
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| Volunteers from Fountain Springs Church at work placing the raised bed garden boxes. |
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| Dirt work! Time to fill the garden boxes with rich mulch from the landfill |
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| Almost ready to go, looking fantastic! Will add an irrigation system next. |
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| What shall we plant for the children? |
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