Happy, Healthy Grilling with Nancy's Famous Black Bean Burger Recipe

Happy Birthday, America!

I love the 4th of July. It's about spending time with family and friends and celebrating the fact that we are free to do what we choose to do and to be.

As you know, I choose to eat healthy foods and love to share ideas with others in the healthy cooking programs that Growing Healthy Kids conducts. Teaching kids how to eat healthy and return to a healthy weight so they can be free from a lifetime of suffering that comes with the complications of diabetes is a huge part of why I started the Growing Healthy Kids movement. We must halt, reverse, and prevent childhood obesity. We are America, the land of the free and home of the brave. Be brave and take a stand with me. Dare to make a difference in the life of an overweight child.

A recipe I love to make and share, especially today when people have grilling on their minds like today, the 4th of July, is my famous black bean burger.

Here is the recipe:

Healthy Cooking with Nancy Heinrich: Black Bean Burgers


PROCESS in food processor (or mash with fork in large mixing bowl):

� Two-thirds of one 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
� � cup corn meal
� � cup brown rice flour
� 1 teaspoon cumin
� 1 teaspoon chipotle chili pepper
� � cup salsa
� � zucchini (if not using food processor, then grate zucchini)

TRANSFER to large mixing bowl and mix in:

� Remaining 1/3 can of black beans
� � cup cilantro (optional)

SHAPE into 4 patties.

GRILL with small amount of canola oil.

SERVE on whole grain buns* with your choice of sliced cheddar cheese*, avocado, and tomato.

*For demonstration purposes, Arnold�s Flat Sandwich Thins were used in the preparation of this recipe. Each bun has 100 calories and 5 grams of dietary fiber. Cabot�s Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese was also used in the preparation of this recipe.


NANCY�S NOTES: What I really like about this recipe is that you can make it a day ahead and keep in refrigerator until ready to use the next day.

Beans are an excellent source of dietary fiber, with about 5-6 grams of fiber per � cup. Increasing the dietary fiber improves your blood sugar control if you have diabetes or prediabetes and prevents you from overeating because dietary fiber fills you up.

Enjoy today's freedom and remember to say a prayer for all the people in the military who are serving out of the country and for their families.

In kindness,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids
a movement to improve the health - and lives - of America's children, one garden and one child at a time

Dancing and Exercise

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Whenever I give a talk about preventing diabetes and reversing childhood obesity, EXERCISE is always at the top of the list I give to my audience. Regular physical exercise is soooooo important.

This is what you need to put into practice: 60 minutes a day for kids and 30 minutes (or more) a day for adults.

What counts as exercise?? ANYTHING THAT GETS YOU MOVING! So before I head off to the beach for a walk, here's a video from some of my son's classmates at Vero Beach High School to help you get your exercise groove on today:



Growing Healthy Kids is a movement to reverse and prevent childhood obesity, one garden and one child at a time.

To your perfect health,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

One Child's Future: Diabetes and Colorectal Cancer

Last week a woman I worked with for the day told me she was �on a diet.� If you�ve read my book, Healthy Living with Diabetes: One Small Step at a Time (www.ourlittlebooks.com), then you know I hate the word �diets� because a short-term diet doesn't teach you what you need to know about how to eat healthy for the long-term ("for the rest of your life").

This woman is clearly obese and in her early 30�s. Getting to a healthier weight will not only add quality (less stress on her joints, decrease her chance of getting high blood pressure and cholesterol, sleep apnea and obesity-related cancers such as cancer of the breast) but also quantity to her life. Her comment that she is on a diet opened a window of opportunity for me.

Within 5 minutes of our conversation, I learned that her 12 year old son has only one bowel movement a week. My teaching immediately zoomed in on teaching her about what dietary fiber is (the undigestible part of plants that give them structure), what foods have it (only foods that are grown from the Earth like beans, lentils, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains), and how much of it we need to eat every day (14 grams of dietary fiber per 1,000 calories we eat, or around 28 grams a day if you eat around 2,000 calories a day). She started writing down everything I said to her, as I quickly sensed her worry and quiet desperation for her son.

Let's talk about something most people don't talk about. It is normal to have at least one bowel movement every day. It is not normal to have one just once or twice a week. Not getting enough dietary fiber is common in children, particularly those who are on the free and reduced lunch program in public schools and get 2 of their 3 daily meals at school. Fiber in foods is what gives us the sense of fullness so we stop eating. Lack of dietary fiber leads to overeating, obesity, diabetes, and certain cancers like colorectal cancer. This woman and her 12 year old son are part of the majority of Americans who eat far less than half the dietary fiber needed.

There is no to little fiber in fruit juices, fruit drinks, Capri sun drinks, white breads, �honey wheat� breads, McDonald�s or Burger King items, sodas, and energy drinks.

Become a fiber detective. Read food labels. Aim for at least 28 grams a day (the current recommendation for American men is 35 grams a day according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, see www.usda.gov).

I am 100% confident that the homework assignment I gave last week to the woman was completed in one day. She learned a key piece of knowledge and the skills to get herself on the path to a healthier weight and help prevent a future diagnosis of diabetes and/or cancer in her son.

Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health - and lives - of America's kids, one child and one garden at a time. Growing Healthy Kids is a movement to reverse childhood obesity. Because failure is not an option.

In kindness,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

PS -- "The Nancy Rule" says choose breads and pastas with 4 or more grams of dietary fiber per slice or per serving and the first ingredient includes the word "WHOLE".

Danish Company-Novo Nordisk-One of World's Best 9 Stocks Thanks to Global Obesity

I just read an article in the February 2011 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance called The World's Best Stocks by Andrew Tanzer (www.kiplinger.com). The first stock to be highlighted by Tanzer, in case you are capital-flush, is Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company which provides OVER HALF the global market for insulin.

According to Mr. Tanzer, "As people gain weight and consume more sugar in their diets, the pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin to break down that sugar. By the end of this decade, UnitedHealth recently estimated, half of all adult Americans will be diabetic or pre-diabetic unless we suddenly change our diets and lose weight. The incidence of dietabetes is also exploding in countries such as India and China, where diets and lifestyles are shifting abruptly as people see their incomes rise."

I love Novo Nordisk. They are an extremely focused company. They produce very well written patient education materials which I have used in working with adults with diabetes. They are highly skilled and professional at what they do. Because 5-10% of people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes and require insulin, we need companies like Novo Nordisk. However, for the 90-95% of people with diabetes type 2 (the one you get when you eat too many calories and get too little exercise), Novo Nordisk should be Plan B, not Plan A. Even American Diabetes Association says that in their Standards of Medical Care. The fact is that diabetes is preventable and reversible. Most doctors don't spend much, if any, time telling patients how to do that because it is simply easier for them to hand you a prescription.

Americans - and now countries like India and China - are killing themselves - and their children - with too much sugar. Where do you find sugar? Just look on the food labels under "total carbohydrates". There is sugar in cereals. Sugar in sodas. Sugar in energy drinks. Sugar in the processed foods served in school cafeterias. Sugar in fruit juices. Sugar in energy bars. Sugar in the snack foods served at the Boys and Girls Clubs.

It's OK if you want to eat too much sugar. There are drugs just waiting for you. Like insulin. Your doctor will be happy to give you drugs because then you have to keep coming back for more. Instead of becoming drug addicts, it would be so much easier to get back to the basics of wholesome, whole, good foods in the right portion sizes. Call me old-fashioned but I'll take a dinner of wild salmon and spinach anytime over a big Mac (540 calories, 10 teaspoons sugar, 7 teaspoons saturated fat, and 1,040 mg sodium) and large fries (500 calories, 14 teaspoons sugar,6 teaspoons saturated fat, and 350 mg sodium).

My focus is to prevent diabetes and to raise awareness about how to do it. When you know what to do, it's easy. Healthy eating means a commitment to learn how to get to - and stay at - a healthy weight. Focusing on solutions to childhood obesity is what the Growing Healthy Kids movement is all about.

Improving the health - and lives - of America's children, one garden and one child at a time. Because failure is not an option.

In kindness,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

NOTE: My book "Healthy Living with Diabetes: One Small Step at a Time" is available at the Vero Beach Book Center, the Growing Healthy Kids Variety Store (3300 43rd Avenue in Vero Beach) and www.ourlittlebooks.com.

Growing Healthy Kids event at Everything Outdoors Garden Shop is a HOME RUN SUCCESS!

Post-event notes:
Did we have fun? Yes!
Did the kids who attended learn tips for healthy eating and physical activity they can use for the rest of their lives? Yes!
Did the adults who volunteered learn something they can use for the rest of their lives? Yes!

On April 30, Growing Healthy Kids, in partnership with Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program, held its second annual event at Everything Outdoors Garden Shop in Vero Beach, Florida. The 42 kids from Youth Guidance who attended had a blast with the action-packed morning where they all wanted the opportunity to help load up the fresh and locally grown vegetables into our beautiful salad bowl.

Teaching kids how to eat healthy is easy when you make it fun. That's what the Growing Healthy Kids movement is all about. We make it fun to learn how to eat healthy AND economically.

TIP FOR GROWING YOUR OWN HEALTHY KIDS: Plan some color at each meal. For example, at breakfast use fruit that is in season to make fruit shakes. A couple of weeks ago, I had a canteloupe that needed to get used QUICK, so I cut it up, put it in a zip-lock bag and froze it. A couple of days later I put the frozen canteloupe, some frozen strawberries, and some fat-free milk in the blender for a most delicious shake. Use a little splenda or agave nectar if you need to add a dash of sweet!

Back to my post-event notes...Thank you to all the children and the volunteers who attended our little event at the garden shop with the big Adirondack chairs. Let's do it again soon! A special thanks to Spencer Porteous for his fabulous "What's New in the Garden?" talk. Everyone enjoyed learning about pitcher plants and more!

Reversing childhood obesity is our moral responsibility. It begins with your next meal. Set an example for your kids.

Till next time!
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

Breakfast of Champions

I've had a lot of fun reading my current library book: The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano. The former president and CEO of Clicquot, Inc., Guilano said, "I am still not a fan of big breakfasts, but am a devotee of and convert to balanced breakfasts (and lunch and dinner): some protein, some carbohydrates, some fat (a holy trinity of sorts), and fluids. I often do eat a slice (or slivers) of cheese. And, I consider breakfast the most important meal of the day. Don't skip it or your wheels tend to come off in a hurry."

Guiliano specifically used the word "balanced" in describing her relationship to food. She writes elegantly of the same issue I teach in Growing Healthy Kids workshops, that if you want to get to (and stay at) a healthy weight, you must eat small meals and small snacks, including breakfast: BALANCED meals.

So, once again, I ask you, "What are you having for breakfast today? Do you have a little protein, some carbohydrate, and a little fat on your breakfast plate?"

You can visit Mireille Guiliano online at www.FrenchWomenDontGetFat.com.

Growing Healthy Kids is a movement to improve the health - and lives - of America's children by restoring balance to what we eat. Because failure to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic is not an option.

To learn how you can support our educational programs, please visit www.GrowingHealthyKids.me.

Thanks,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

Making Choices

Everyday we are faced with decisions. What to wear for the day? What route to drive to work? What tasks to accomplish on the "To Do" list? and so on....

What decisions are you making for your own health? Let me ask you one question. What are you having for breakfast today? If your answer is, "Nothing" then let's talk about making choices.

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, ESPECIALLY if you are choosing to get to a healthier weight. Breakfast should consist of some protein, a little fat, and the good carbohydrates such as a whole grain muffin or steel cut oats.

Choose to have breakfast. Make sure your kids also have a good breakfast. We all need our brains to be working in high gear throughout the day. If you want to lose weight, have 3 small meals (including breakfast) and a couple of small snacks. The picture I am sharing is the smile of one happy child from a GROWING HEALTHY KIDS program where we taught kids how to make a Fabulous Florida Fruit Shake with frozen blueberries and bananas, non-fat Greek yogurt, and a little almond milk. That shake, together with a slice of whole grain toast or a whole grain muffin, can get the kids off to school with a smile!

Whenever I give a talk about Healthy Eating and Reversing Childhood Obesity, I always include the importance of a good breakfast. Invariably, someone in the audience asks this question, "Did you have breakfast today??" My answer is always YES! Know what my favorite breakfast is? A small bowl of either steel cut oatmeal or shredded wheat with bran, topped with about 3/4 cup of frozen or fresh blueberries, and almond milk. Now, what are YOU choosing for breakfast?

To your perfect health!
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, GROWING HEALTHY KIDS--a movement to improve children's health, one child and one garden at a time

To learn more about our programs and our store, go to www.GrowingHealthyKids.me.