Non-Food School Rewards and Birthday Treats!

A couple of months ago I started volunteering at my daughter's Elementary School. There was a new wellness team building and after I raised concerns about all the sugary treats circulating in the school they suggested that I could help by jumping on the wellness team wagon. So I did. And wow, first up, those teachers are amazing! Great group of very motivated ladies with great ideas and while they often tell me how happy they are to have me on their team, I am equally as grateful and honored to have the opportunity to make positive changes.

The background

According to the new Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (a 'new' policy signed into law and supported by first lady Michele Obama) every school has the opportunity and responsibility to teach children wellness that will last a lifetime. Nutrition and Sports education have to be implemented, not just in PE and the regular curriculum, but as a way of life at the school.

(from the Jamie Oliver Foundation homepage, an explanation from the law:)

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act requires that schools update their local wellness policies and include goals for nutrition promotion. Wellness committees should include many stakeholders, including physical education teachers, school health professionals, students, parents and other interested community members, school board members and school administrators.

Our Wellness Team decided to challenge teachers and parents to go 'treat' free and encourage whole foods or non-food items for birthday treats and in school rewards are slowly being changed into non-food items.

To implement this, I found all these great resources online:

- Non-Food celebrations and reward ideas for elementary schools

- 100daysofrealfood, Student Rewards

- 100daysofrealfood Non-Food rewards

And also from the Holistic Family Nutrition pinterest board:
http://www.pinterest.com/holisticfamilyn/

If you have been thinking about helping out in your kids' school, don't be shy, they are so grateful for everyone who comes and helps out. If there is anything I can help you with or if you have any questions on how to approach the school about this food/treat reward issue, please feel free to contact me. I can hook you up with information I have gathered and handouts I have written.

Another really good source is the Jamie Oliver Foundation. He has it all on the website; packages for parents on how to approach the school, info on the law and how to find out what can be changed and what can not.

With the food politics how it is and the creative ways food manufacturers come up with new man-made ingredients we can no longer ignore the sweet 'treats' that are handed out on a daily basis. They do matter, even in small amounts. Next time you pick up a candy, please read the ingredients. Recognize the words? Can you pronounce them? I bet you probably do not.

Other reasons that speak for Non-Food rewards in schools:

- The number of children with severe, life threatening allergies is increasing. These children have to sit out, possibly at another table, while the rest of the class gets to eat a 'treat'. That just makes me sad.

- Food colorings: Yellow 5, Red 40, etc..... while approved by the FDA, they are linked to hyperactivity in children. In Europe, artificial food dyes are banned, or labeled with 'may cause hyperactivity in children'. No kidding. In the U.S. this stuff is in soups, candy, drinks, smoothies, crackers, etc....

- Sugar. Yes sugar. Sugar is no longer just sugar. The cheap candy is made with high fructose corn syrup (but HFCS is also found in various other processed food), a sugar from genetically modified corn that is processed to have a very high amount of fructose. Its introduction into our food supply directly links to obesity.

- The psychological aspect. In my opinion a good behaviour should not be rewarded with food. Such association will stick with the kid forever. Later, as an adult they will reward themselves for good or bad days with a pint of ice cream. (Sounds familiar?) (-;

To keeping the kids healthy, 

love, n.

2013 In Pictures

2013 In Food Pictures!

I am very thankful for the abundance of organic food that I have available to feed my family. Unfortunately it is a luxury and a privilege, so many families live in a food desert. We are very much aware of that.

On one of the pictures, (hint: a very colorful one), the capture will lead you to a link with a downloadable Handout about a Therapeutic Meal I made to strengthen your Immune System. Maybe it could be a good menue to start the new year? (-;

Look out for another couple pictures with links.

with love and in health, nadia

Therapeutic Meal: Immune Strengthening

ROAD TRIP SALAD!

SCHOOL LUNCHES!

BIRTHDAY TREATS!

Fast Bread recipe by Nadia

Holistic Family Nutrition nadia@negro-mueller.com http://holisticnutritionstuff.blogspot.com/ 10/2013©

FAST BREAD recipe by Nadia (link to downloadable version) 

5 cups organic whole grain spelt flour 

1 tablespoon Xantham Gum 

2/3 tablespoon Salt 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Mix all those dry ingredients together then add:

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil 

1-2 handful of oats 

2 tablespoons honey 

3 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional) 

4 tablespoons sunflower kernels (optional)

Mix well and then add:

2.5 cups of tap water

Mix dough thoroughly with the back of a wooden spatula (works best) 

Fill in a baking pan lined with baking paper 

Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 50 minutes

 Let cool on cooling rack

Notes: 

-Any flour will do, nutritionally whole grain is best. 

-Spelt is an ancient grain and not hybridized, it is better tolerated than wheat flour, BUT NOT GLUTEN FREE 

-Xantham Gum is only necessary if ‘non-wheat’ flour is used to prevent the bread from falling apart while cutting. 

-Switch out ingredients: You may add raisins, chopped apricots and other dried fruits. Chopped nuts of any kind make for a fun delicious bread as well. 

-To make breadsticks or any other creations by kid’s hands, use less water to have dough that you can manipulate with your hands without sticking. Start with about 13⁄4 cups of water and add more if needed.

Find us on  facebook: pages/HolisticFamilyNutrition 

Blog: http://holisticnutritionstuff.blogspot.com/

Holistic Family Nutrition http://holisticnutritionstuff.blogspot.com/

School lunches

There are many healthy mom blogs posting school lunch ideas, so I am going to make this short and just post the pictures of the lunches I make for my daughter. The plan was to take a picture every day. Yeah, that didn't happen and probably never will. The lunches are also not very creative and cute looking. Just healthy stuff she likes.

We also had to figure out lunches she can eat fast, fill her up and give her the energy she needs for the rest of the day.

I was shocked to learn that first graders already do not have a snack break anymore and lunch time is only 20minutes short. We eat meals as a family at a table, we chat and eat slow and sometimes it takes an hour. 

So our girl needs to learn to eat quickly and safe the chatting for recess.(-; 

School rules also forbid her to take a bar out to the playground after lunch, I guess they want to keep the playground from getting cluttered with wrappers. Oh, all the fun rules and policies that are involved in keeping kids under control at an elementary school.(-; 

As you can see, there is a lot of pasta and pinto beans.(-; The little patties in the   3rd picture are homemade falafel.

A thumbs up to all the Mammas and Daddies who slave in the kitchen everyday to provide their kiddos a healthy school lunch! You rock! It is worth it!!! 

Love, n. 

Ice Cream!!!

Home made ice cream. Well, I guess the right term is Popsicle. We use the term ice cream for anything that is frozen and sweet. (-:

These are super easy to make with whatever fruits you have at home.

However, this is how I made ours and they turned out great:

Blend an apple with a sip of water and the juice of half a lemon. Fill the mixture in the Popsicle forms. Then the girls added chopped grapes and kiwi pieces. As many as they wanted. It made for a fun surprise when they ate the ice cream. 

Freeze them and enjoy.

The behind the scene kiwi story: 

Kiwi are NOT in season in this country right now ( just in case you were wondering) and our family is very conscious about where produce comes from. When we go through the produce section at the store, I tell my girls where the produce comes from and from which ones they can choose their favorites from. We try to stay local. Unfortunately this time with the Kiwi I didn't pay attention and my 3 year old chose them as her favorite item that day. And I said yes. And then I saw that they came from New Zealand. Ever shopped with a determined 3 year old??? Yeah, there is no arguing and she didn't really care about my explanation about carbon footprint and how ridiculous it is to eat kiwis from New Zealand in the United States. So we bought them. End of story.

So the next home made Popsicles will not have kiwi in them.

Love, n.

What our family does... to not get sick

It is flu/cold/virus season. Whatever you want to call it. Fact is, many people are sick.

Lately I found myself giving  ideas and advice to fellow mamma's and friends all around me on how they can prevent getting sick, or recover faster if they already have gotten sick. 

So, I figured I will just write a post about what I do to keep my family healthy.

1. We do not eat processed foods. 

Our diet consists of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, grass-fed animal products such as beef, lamb, bison, organic chicken and whole grains such as brown rice, whole grain rice pasta and spelt flour bread. 

We do not include sugar and white flour products in our diet. 

Why? 

Sugar depletes the body of many important vitamins and minerals and weakens the Immune System. Sugar and white flour products provide only empty calories meaning that if you eat a lot of processed sugary and white flour products, you are not leaving enough room in the diet for real whole foods containing minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals.

We also do not consume any milk and dairy products. 

Besides the fact that most members of my family react sensible to dairy, dairy also produces mucus in the body, creating a great environment for bacterias and viruses to grow. At the first onset of a cold, cough, runny nose...leave the dairy out of your diet so the Immune System can do its job.

Good morning juice!

A spontanious juicing session with my littlest lady resulted in a beet juice for mami and an apple-carrot juice for the little ones.
Beet juice
- one small beet
- one celery stick
- one handfull of parsley
- 2 carrots
- one half grapefruit (use an apple if you can, it would be the better choice, I am allergic to apples, so I used the grapefruit)
Juice it and enjoy!
Apple-carrot juice for the little ones
- 2 apples
- 1 carrot
Juice, mix and enjoy!
Have a great day and a healthy weekend!
Love, n.