Better Breakfast Month Quiz Answers....

Ready for your Results?! 

Answers
1. a. Two medium pancakes with 2 Tbsp of syrup
Pancakes with syrup=180 calories
Muffin=444 calories
Granola=420 calories
2. c. Grande Iced Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha with whipped cream (2% milk)
Frappuccino=380 calories
Chai=200 calories
Mocha=530 calories
3. b. Two pork sausage links
Turkey bacon=126 calories
Pork sausage=88 calories
Canadian bacon=104 calories
4. a. 1 C Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios=12 grams (g) sugar
Special K=4 g sugar
Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats=10 g sugar
5. c. Two slices of raisin bread
Bagel=270 calories
Cinnamon roll=227 calories
Raisin bread=143 calories

Fuel Up to Play 60

September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.   According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 12.5 Million of our American Youth are obese!  With that alarming statistic running through your mind, now is the perfect time to sign up for the Fuel Up to Play 60 movement that encourages healthy lifestyle choices such as consuming nutrient-rich foods and participanting in 60 minutes of physical activity every day.  Fuel Up to Play 60 is another great tool to combat the growing problem of Childhood Obesity in the US and the resources can be utilized by parents, teachers, businesses and even students.  Feel free to comment below if you are interested in more information.  If you are an educator or a parent involved in school, check out the Back to School Challenge!  All submissions are due by October 10th.

Monday Message - Heirloom Produce

Like family keepsakes, heirloom fruits and vegetables celebrate heritage. They are grown from seeds that have been passed down generation to generation! Read more here from kidseatright.org.

While people have been talking about heirloom vegetables for more than a decade, they have yet to reach an agreement on how to define an heirloom.  If a plant has been around for at least 50 years, it is considered to be old enough to show a history of seeds being passed down from their ancestors.  The great thing about the open-pollinated cultivars is that they have a reputation for being high quality and easy to grow. When heirloom gardeners refer to open-pollination, they mean that the next generation will look just like its parent. For example, plant a 'Brandywine' tomato, let some of the fruit mature and collect the seed, process it properly, and store it well. The next year, plant the seed and it will grow another 'Brandywine' tomato. Seed saving is a simple enough process, and gardeners have been using it for generations.

Age: Just how old a fruit or vegetable seed line has to be to be an heirloom is open to discussion. Some say heirloom vegetables are those introduced before 1951, when modern plant breeders introduced the first hybrids developed from inbred lines. While many of the varieties are 100 to 150 years old, there are some heirlooms that are much older. For example, experts think certain heirlooms are actually traditional Native American crops that are pre-Columbian.

Quality : What draws many consumers to heirlooms is flavor. They want a tomato that tastes like a real tomato, not a plastic one. They long for corn that tastes like it did when they were a kid. They search for a sweet, juicy muskmelon, and wonder why cantaloupes are crisp and dry. After trying varieties in the grocery store that look uniform and do not have bumps, bruises or bug bites, they realize that those fruits and vegetables just don't taste like much and they turn to heirlooms. The best of the heirlooms really are wonderful. They have it all. They taste wonderful, look beautiful, and are easy to grow. No doubt about it, these varieties are terrific. There are, however, varieties that take a more experienced hand to grow well due to locality.

 

Top 5 Reasons for Choosing Heirloom Fruits & Vegetables 

1. Exceptional taste is the No. 1 reason many gardeners cite for choosing heirloom varieties.

2. Heirloom vegetables are likely to be more nutritious than newer varieties.

3. Many gardeners prefer heirloom vegetables because they are open-pollinated, which means you can save your own seed to replant from year to year.

4. Another advantage of heirloom vegetables is that they are “less uniform” than hybrids, which means they often do not ripen all at once.

5. In catalogs and on seed racks, heirloom open-pollinated vegetables are almost always less expensive than hybrids.

Heirloom Fruits & Veggies

List your favorite Heirlooms Below:

Monday Message - Recipe of the Week

Lemon Fresh Tabbouleh

 

Recipe By:  Kristine Napier, MPH  http://www.kidseatright.org/

 

 

Tabbouleh is a classic Middle Eastern dish. This version, inspired by the Palouse region's vast wheat fields, is considerably slimmed down from the traditional version. Enjoy it for a main course or a side dish salad.

 

Ingredients

½ cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups (12 ounces) uncooked bulgur
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 bunch (5 or 6) green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tomatoes, chopped

 

Directions

1. In a medium-size saucepan, bring the lemon juice and 3 ½ cups water to a boil.
2. Add the bulgur, oil, pepper and salt.
3. Remove from heat; cover, and let stand 20 to 25 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, combine the parsley, green onions and garlic; toss to mix well.
5. Add the bulgur mixture; toss again to mix well.
6. Transfer the bulgur mixture to a large serving bowl; refrigerate covered at least 3 hours until thoroughly chilled.
7. Sit in the chopped tomatoes just before serving.

 

CookingTip

Substitute an equal amount of chopped fresh mint for the parsley. If you use mint, also try using an equal amount of orange juice instead of lemon juice.

 

Check out the Nutrition Facts here.

Looking for Motivation?!

Meet Stephanie! 

Stephanie is a coworker of mine whose passion is to help people achieve their dreams, no matter what they may be.  She utilizes a Facebook page titled Stephanie's Health and Fitness Tips to post several different helpful tips for people of all ages and abilities to enhance their lives.  The inspiration she provides via regular Facebook Posts will serve as a great motivator for you to stay active and healthy.  Be sure to Like her page!

Better Breakfast Month

September is Better Breakfast Month!  Take this quiz and check back next week to see how much you know about the Most Important Meal of the Day:

Breakfast: Test Your Knowledge

1. Which breakfast has fewer than 400 calories?
   1. Two medium pancakes and 2 tablespoons (Tbsp) of syrup
   2. One medium muffin made with fruit and/or nuts
   3. ¾ cup (C) granola with 1 C skim milk
2. Which Starbucks® drink has more than 500 calories?
   1. Grande Caramel Frappuccino® with whipped cream (2% milk)
   2. Grande Iced Berry Chai Infusion (2% milk)
   3. Grande Iced Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha with whipped cream (2% milk)
3. Which breakfast meat contains the least amount of calories?
   1. Three slices of turkey bacon
   2. Two pork sausage links
   3. 2 ounces of Canadian bacon
4. Which breakfast cereal contains the most sugar?
   1. 1 C Honey Nut Cheerios®
   2. 1 C Special K®
   3. 1 C Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats®
5. Which type of bread contains the least calories?
   1. One regular-sized bagel
   2. One medium-sized cinnamon roll
   3. Two slices of raisin bread

Monday Message - Breakfast Before School

Whether kids have breakfast at home or when then arrive at school, this important meal will give them the energy they need to learn, play and grow every day.  A survey among American Households indicated that only 40% of kids have breakfast before they leave the house in the morning.  Although they may get breakfast in school or at a daycare facility, most families are too rushed, have long bus rides or commutes to school or give in to the "I'm not hungry" claim.  Unfortunately, these children are not developing the habit to eat breakfast right when they wake up in the morning.  This may lead to increased fast food breakfast stops later in life - which we know contains increased calories - or it may decrease the importance of starting out each day with a proper breakfast meal for daily fuel.

Breakfast Benefits from Kids Eat Right:

Breakfast eaters are significantly less likely to be overweight

•  Skipping breakfast is associated with a higher risk of being   overweight

Adolescents who eat breakfast tend to have lower BMI’s

•  Girls who eat breakfast are more likely to have a lower BMI than girls who skip a morning meal

•   Many young women skip breakfast in effort to manage weight

Children with access to school breakfast

•  Eat more fruit, drink more milk and eat a wider variety of foods

Better nutrient intakes than skippers

•  More nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, including calcium, fiber, folate, and protein

School breakfast improves performance

•  Improved test results, as well as memory and verbal skills

•  Improved speed and memory on cognitive tests

•  Fewer mistakes and faster work in math and number checking

•  Improvement on concentration for mental tasks and reaction to frustration

School breakfast improves behavior

•  Reduced rates of absence and tardiness

•  Reduced discipline referrals to principal and school nurses’ visits

•  Reduced classroom behavioral problems

A school breakfast can help your kids learn more and improve their behavior!  Click on this link from Kids Eat Right for more information.


Need breakfast ideas?  Liz's Lemon Bowl has several whole-grain breakfast meals that can be made on Sunday and frozen or stored in the refrigerator for the rest of the week!  http://www.lizslemonbowl.blogspot.com/

Monday Message - Recipe of the Week

Zucchini Fritters

What's good about Zucchini?  Nutrition, Flavor, Color and Summer Freshness!

1. High in Vitamins A & C
2. Good Source of Potassium - more than a banana!
3. 95% Water
4. Low calories - 25 Calories per Zucchini
5. Dark Colored Skin = more nutrients

View the recipe video here.

Kids Eat Right is back!

It is nearly back to school time and that means our Monday Messages will be back in session!  As a volunteer for the Kids Eat Right Campaign, I have made it a priority to distribute health messages for kids and families via social media outlets.  This blog will showcase nutrition tips, weekly recipes and health messages from http://www.kidseatright.org/.  Please check back each week! The picture below is a Kids Eat Right Campaign Billboard spotted in Iowa.  Stay on the lookout for billboards in you area.

Is Seafood Safe?

Meet Valerie!  Val is a coworker of mine and I am pleased to share this fantastic article about her from Cooking Light.  The article is based on the every day consumer challenge of obtaining information about safe fish and sushi in their own local waters and "over seas." Monterey Bay Aquarium is showcased as being an excellent educational resource tool for consumers in assessing ecomonic safety of the fish we consume.  Here is a previous post with the Monterey Bay Aquarium App instructions: Healthy Fish