GRATEFULNESS AND GRATITUDE

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

�You think this is just another day in your life.  It is not just another day.  It is the one that is given to you today�It�s the only gift that you have right now. And the only appropriate response is gratefulness.�

                                --Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk

This week's issue of WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS is dedicated to gratefulness.  The fourth Thursday of November is the celebration of Thanksgiving, a special day in American history.  It is a celebration of giving thanks, a historical reminder about the Pilgrims and the American natives breaking bread together, creating family and community traditions, of being grateful. 

Thank you to farmers like Lisa Brenneman.

Thank you to the children who come and learn at our programs.

Thank you for family (that's my brother Bill, on the left, with some of the kids)

Thank you for family (my brother, Rob, on the left with his son, Robbie at the new family farm).

Thank you to the volunteers who
provide the fuel for our programs.

Thank you for the staff who assist in our
Growing Healthy Kids in the Kitchen programs.

Thank you to our volunteers at our
annual Hummus at Humiston events,
where we connect kids with the local farmers. 

Thank you to the farmers who grow what we need.

Thank you to friends.

The mission of Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. is to improve the health � and lives � of America�s children by focusing on good foods and physical fun.  Our programs educate parents and children about the �how� and �why� of eating locally grown vegetables, fruits, and whole grains and creating plant-based meals that are easy and economical to prepare.  Because of this mission, we get to play with the people who are growing good foods, take farm trips with kids, and create healthy recipes in our Growing Healthy Kids Test Kitchen.  In our work to improve health literacy and reverse childhood obesity and obesity-related diseases, there are many things for which I am grateful.

To watch an inspirational video and listen to the words of Brother David Steindl-Rast, including the music of my friend, Gary Malkin, click here.

Here are some of the things I am grateful for today and every day:

The local farmers who grow the Swiss chard, Tuscan kale, Purple Cherokee tomatoes, spinach, pumpkins, watermelon, navel oranges, Ruby Red grapefruits, pecans, Shitake and Portobello mushrooms, basil, parsnips, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and other beautiful vegetables, fruits, and nuts that fill the recipes we create with and for Growing Healthy Kids.  Several of the local farmers who partner with the Growing Healthy Kids project and to whom I am grateful include Louis Schacht (Schacht Groves), Kevin O�Dare (Osceola Organics), Linda Hart (Crazy Hart Ranch), Lisa and Dan Brenneman (Florida Veggies and More), and Brenda and Jim Gibbons (Gibbons Organics).  For a link to some amazing recipes featuring the foods we highlight in the Growing Healthy Kids Test Kitchen, click here.

The local chefs who are using foods grown by our local farmers instead of vegetables grown 2,000 miles away.

The parents who are seeking better foods for our children who eat two of their three meals through the free and reduced school meal program.

The volunteers who make our educational programs so much fun.

The children who have attended and those who will attend our educational programs, because they are the true leaders of Growing Healthy Kids.

Most of all, I am grateful for family.  We are all family in this adventure called life! What are YOU grateful for?

In gratitude to each and every one of you,

Nancy Heinrich

Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.

NATIONAL DIABETES MONTH AND SUPERFOODS

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

"I saw many people who had advanced heart disease and I was so frustrated because I knew that if they just knew how to do the right thing, simple lifestyle and diet steps, that the entire trajectory of their life and their health would have been different."

                                                    --Dr. Mehmet Oz

November is National Diabetes Month.  Diabetes is the reason why I started the Growing Healthy Kids movement.  After working with thousands of adults with uncontrolled diabetes and teaching them how to control their blood sugars and helping many of those thousands get off most or all of their medications, I came to the conclusion that the childhood obesity epidemic was a goldmine for Big Pharma and the Big Box Food companies.   Turns out I was right. Got diabetes?  Take a pill.  Got high blood pressure?  Take a pill?  Got high cholesterol?  Take a pill.  The problem with all these pills is that they were tested in clinical trials on adults and now we have a whole generation of kids with obesity-related diseases like diabetes and doctors are putting these kids on pills that were never tested on kids.

 

Eating too much of the bad foods (i.e., high fat, high salt, high sugar, high calorie) is a surefire way to increase your risk of gaining excess weight and developing diabetes.  A simple solution?  Spend a little bit of time planning and cooking meals instead of being led to believe that you are in so much of a hurry to get to your job that you have to go through the McDonalds drive through and then on to the pharmacy to pick up the drugs to control your blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol. 

Diabetes is simply a condition where there is too much sugar in the blood (eating too many refined carbs like sodas, white potatoes, white bread, and high sugar cereals) and/or the body is not using insulin correctly (not enough exercise).   A simple answer?  Start incorporating more superfoods and more exercise into your life and the lives of your children.  Make a simple commitment to make one change a week for ten weeks. 

At the Growing Healthy Kids Test Kitchen, parents tell me, �My child will never eat that!�  When the child helps in the kitchen, the answer usually is a resounding, �Can I have more?�  When learning is personal and first-hand, we understand more.  We are lose our fears when the unknown becomes the known.

I like eating superfoods.  My goal is to eat several of them a day.  A key recommendation for healthy eating is to eat fish 2-3 times a week.  The fish mentioned most often is wild salmon.  Salmon, like all fish, contains the good kind of fat called unsaturated that most of our fat should be.  Eating the right kind of fat is essential if you or your kids have diabetes because the risk is 2-4 times higher for a heart attack or stroke. 

At  the Growing Healthy Kids in the Kitchen programs, we teach by having fun.  In November, because it is a month when there is more discussion about diabetes, we like to kick off new campaigns to teach kids and their parents how to get more superfoods into their meals each week.   

Check out these pictures from our First Annual Growing Healthy Kids in the Kitchen with Chef Chris Bireley at Osceola Bistro.  Click here for the salmon gravlox recipe.  Thank you, Chef Chris, for an amazing adventure with healthy food at your beautiful bistro!

This young boy was full of questions for Chef Chris!

Kids learned how to make fruit kabobs for
their own holiday parties!  Easy, healthy, and fast!

Kids helped prepare the fresh citrus and dill
for the salmon gravlox.

Tasting the salmon gravlox on fresh bagels - yum!

Do the right thing.  Eat more superfoods.  Make simple changes.  Growing Healthy Kids is looking forward to coming to YOUR city in 2014!

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.

"HUMMUS AT HUMISTON" HOME RUN FOR KIDS

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

"I realized you can only be as good as your health.  I let my health go because I was so focused on building my company."

                                      --Celebrity chef Art Smith, Chef Art was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2008 after complications from the disease killed his father and grandfather.  That's when he learned how to eat smarter and lost 120 pounds.

WE DID IT AGAIN!  Our Third Annual Hummus at Humiston event for kids from Youth Guidance Mentoring and Activities Program in need of mentors was a success!  This event is a favorite of the staff at Youth Guidance because the weather is always perfect in November, the food is awesome, and the local farmers are at the Green Market with their fall bounties of squash, tomatoes, and kale. 

A special thank you to the local farmers who helped make this event a memory maker for all the kids (and the volunteers) at our Third Annual Hummus at Humiston.  Thanks to Sid Banack of Countryside Citrus, Louis Schacht of Schacht Groves, Kevin O�Dare of Osceola Organics, Lisa Brenneman of Florida Veggies and More, and Alex Gomez of Pure Produce.  Here are some pictures from our party in the park!

Sid Banack of Countryside Citrus 

Kevin O'Dare (right) talks with a volunteer and a youth about "why" organic.

Stopping at Florida Veggies and More

Alex Gomez of Pure Produce (hydroponically grown veggies)

The karate demonstration was great!

"We made it ourselves!"

Hummus, as the kids all learned � and tasted � is easy to make.  It makes great appetizers, sandwiches, wraps, and snacks for Growing Healthy Kids!  For this recipe and more, order a copy of Nourish and Flourish  from Growing Healthy Kids.  Click here. 

GROWING HEALTHY KIDS: Our Recipe Collection

HUMMUS AT HUMISTON

PLACE in food processor or blender:

• One 16-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed
• 2 Tablespoons tahini (sesame seed butter)
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or 5-10 black olives)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional)

TO STORE:  3 days in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer.

OTHER FLAVORS to make:

1. Artichoke-lemon hummus:  Add 1 cup artichoke hearts and an extra 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2. Sun-dried tomato hummus:  Add 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes

CHOP 2 or 3 of your favorite vegetables, such as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. 

SERVE hummus for lunch in a whole grain pita or wrap.  Serve it as a snack with veggies.  Choose whole grain pitas or wraps with 4 or more grams of dietary fiber per serving.

The best part of our Third Annual Hummus at Humiston event?  One child is now matched with a mentor for the next year!!  Bam!  Thank you to all the volunteers at the event.

Foods filled with fiber - like the garbanzo beans in hummus, and fruits and veggies, are the foods that help prevent diabetes.  Eat more of the good foods!  Bon apetit!

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

FIVE GOOD FOODS FOR KIDS

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

"The reluctance to put away childish things may be a requirement of genius."  

                                   --Rebecca Pepper Sinkler

Playing with kids in the kitchen is a great way to get kids interested in healthy eating.  Parents say to me all the time, �My child is a picky eater.�  My response is always, �Then let them play with their food!�  Everyone's favorite program is Growing Healthy Kids in the Kitchen, where kids get hands-on experiences in kitchen hygiene and safety, food selection and preparation, PLUS kitchen cleanup. 

Here are five great foods we have been playing with recently in our GHK kitchens (AND changing kids� opinions about what tastes better than honeybuns and white pasta):

1. Haas avocados
2. Black beans
3. Quinoa (a grain, pronounced �keen-wa�)
4. Wild salmon
5. Greek yogurt

Staying at a healthy weight is easy when you know what to do.  All of these foods can be considered �superfoods� for several reasons because they are:

• Super healthy for your body and your brain
• Super easy to prepare
• Super fun to eat
• Super filled with the good fats, the good carbs, and the good proteins

Kids at a recent GHK in the Kitchen class at Gifford Youth Activity Center, Vero Beach, Florida 

Can you say "fresh parsley"?

Kids intent on using the lemon squeezer while making the JamSam Salmon Burgers (see recipe below).

Speaking of good foods for great kids, here is the recipe for GHK�s JamSam Salmon Burgers.  Just ask any of the kids at Gifford Youth Activity Center how delicious and easy these are!

JamSam Salmon Burgers

4 servings

Prepare Dill Mayonnaise:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise*
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill 
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

For Burgers:

• 2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley
• � Vidalia onion, finely diced
• 2 eggs
• � cup panko bread crumbs
• � teaspoon cracked black pepper
• � teaspoon sea salt
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2-4 Tablespoons Dill Mayonnaise
• 2 (6-1/2 ounce) cans Alaska skinless and boneless pink salmon, drained well
• Additional panko for coating the burgers (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil

In medium bowl, combine, parsley, onions, eggs, panko, black pepper, salt, lemon zest and the Dill Mayonnaise together. Add drained salmon and mix well together. Make 4 patties, rolling them in additional panko, if desired, and set aside.

In a large skillet on medium, heat oil. Place burgers in skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Turn and brown other side.

Serve on potato buns with Dill Mayonnaise, fresh spinach or local greens, and sliced tomatoes.

*For demonstration purposes, Hellmann�s Olive Oil mayonnaise was used in the preparation of this recipe.

Parents, it�s easy to get your kids to eat healthy foods when they learn by playing.  Come play in the kitchen with us on November 16th in Vero Beach, Florida when Growing Healthy Kids partners with Chef Chris Bireley of Osceola Bistro for a special Growing Healthy Kids in the Kitchen Cooking Class for kids ages 5-12.  If you�d like to attend, just shoot me an email: growinghealthykidsnow@gmail.com. 

For information about why a healthy weight is so important for your children, click here.

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Growing Healthy Kids

POWERFUL PUMPKIN COOKIES

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

"Dramatic increases in childhood overweight and obesity in the United States since 1980 are an important public health focus.  Despite efforts over the past decade to prevent and control overweight and obesity, recent reports from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) show sustained high prevalence, with 17 percent of children and adolescents with a body mass index (BMI) above the 95th percentile for age and gender...To summarize, two major postmortem studies have demonstrated that the presence of obesity in childhood and adolescence is associated with increased evidence of atherosclerosis at autopsy, especially in males.  Because of the strong association with elevated blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance (IR), obesity is even more powerfully correlated with atherosclerosis; this association has been shown for each of these risk factors in all of the major pediatric epidemiologic studies." 

                        --Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for 

                          Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction 

                           in Children and Adolescents

                           National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Inspiring kids to eat more of the good foods and less of the bad plus getting regular PHYSICAL FUN! is at the heart of what the Growing Healthy Kids movement is all about.  Last week I heard from a friend of mine who reported that she, after reading several  WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS columns, was inspired to start a Wellness Wednesdays Walk to motivate herself and several other mothers to start exercising more.  This is what I talking about!  

Some of the words that come to mind when I hear from people inspired by the WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS column include:

Inspire � change � movement � kids � health � fun � families � together � mentoring � loving � kindness � respect  - happiness � friendships � helping � community.

Who knew this beautiful pumpkin could turn into
healthy cookies for kids?

Since this is the last Wednesday in October, I am sharing the newest recipe from our busy Growing Healthy Kids Test Kitchen.  This cookie was featured at a Main Street Vero Beach event last weekend.  Our new Gluten-free Pumpkin Cookies were sampled by several hundred people and all the reviews were over the top �delicious�!   Here is the recipe:

GROWING HEALTHY KIDS:  Our Recipe Collection

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies

 

SIFT TOGETHER dry ingredients in a large bowl:

• 2-1/4 cups Bob�s Red Mill Gluten-free baking mix
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• � teaspoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1-1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• � teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon xanthum gum

USE AN ELECTRIC HAND MIXER and mix in a large bowl:

• �  cup Florida crystals demerara sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 12 Tablespoons butter (1-1/2 sticks)

ADD these to the wet mixture:

• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• � cup pumpkin (used fresh cooked pumpkin if available; otherwise, substitute canned pumpkin)

ADD wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until mixed.  DROP about � cup on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  

BAKE about 12-15 minutes at 375. 

WHEN COOLED, ice with a glaze made from:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice**

** For demonstration purposes, Natalie�s Orchid Island Orange Juice was used in the preparation of this recipe. 

READERS of WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS know that the mission of Growing Healthy Kids, Inc., is to raise awareness about the critical importance of reversing the childhood obesity epidemic.  Our children�s health � and lives � are at stake.  Every week, more evidence emerges that cannot be ignored.  The fact is that our bodies are simply not designed to be carrying around extra weight.  When children become overweight and then stay that way as adults, they are being sentenced prematurely to diseases usually thought of as old people�s diseases.  Another study of 1,500 adults prior to bariatric surgery has just been released and found that those who were obese at age 18 were more likely to have diabetes, asthma, polycystic ovarian syndrome, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, lower extremity edema and other obesity-related diseases.  To read the abstract of the study in the journal Pediatrics, click here.

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

MINDFUL HEALTH, MINDFUL FUN, AND KALE FOR KIDS

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

  

"The choices we make matter."  -- Nancy Heinrich


How many times have you said, �I wish I knew this 20 years ago?�  or �Why did I ever start (fill in the bad habit)?�  When I was a kid growing up in Sacramento, California I ate lots of vegetables but I never ate asparagus, brussels sprouts, and kale.  Now, I love them and can�t get enough of them!

BRUSSELS SPROUTS!!!  

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS FOR JUICING at a recent GHK program! 

JAMMING SALMON CAKES FROM A
RECENT GHK KIDS IN THE KITCHEN PROGRAM!

Demonstration of MINDFUL FUN at a
recent GHK Kids in the Kitchen program at Gifford Youth Activity Center, Vero Beach, FL)
(yours truly in the background overseeing the fun!)

Mindful fun at a recent GHK event at
Boys and Girls Clubs of Indian River County, FL

 The choices we make every day matter.  What we learn impacts our decisions.  How much we know about a subject influences the choices we make.  Our mind is the most powerful tool in our health tool kit.  That�s what mindful health is all about.  Be mindful, be healthy!

The Growing Healthy Kids (GHK) movement specializes in mindful fun as the vehicle to arrive at our destination of mindful health.  Kids in the GHK education programs learn about foods firsthand that create health because they talk with the farmers, then they become the farmers, the chefs, and the nutritionists.  We love celebrating each child who makes the mindful health transformation from �I don�t eat that� to �Can I have seconds?�  and �Can I take some of that home to my parents?�  after attending a GHK Kids in the Kitchen program. 

Mindfulness is simply a direct, conscious choice to make a deliberate decision. Think of mindfulness as a strategy for bringing one�s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis.  It is a state of mind that creates prosperity.  I believe that to be healthy is to be prosperous.   By being mindful of what we choose to eat and drink, we make the choice to stay in balance.  Think about what you are eating and why you are eating.  I often ask clients to keep a journal of their emotions ("how were you feeling when you ate this meal/snack/binge food item") when they are seeking solutions for helping their children and themselves get to healthier weights.  They are given the assignment of recording what they eat for one week and also noting how they were feeling at each meal or snack.  What emerges is self-evident:  �I was worried about getting written up at work,� "I was bored,� or �I just had a fight with my boyfriend�. 

Overeating is not productive and does not result in prosperity.  Overindulging in desserts and refined sugars leads to inflammation within the body and weight gain.  Why is this important?  The body is not designed to carry around an extra 50 or 100 pounds.  If you need inspiration, check out CNN�s FitNation series of interviews with people who have made the effort to shed the weight and have gotten the results.  Your attitude can affect your decisions.  Think about what you want and think about why you want it. Then go write in down.  Be specific with the �why�.  Use what we call SMART goals:  Specific-Measureable-Achievable-Realistic-Time-Specific. 

Parents, this message is for you:  Use mindfulness and get yourself fit.  Be a better role model for your children.  The world does not need more overweight children or children with diabetes.  It also does not need parents who are overweight.  Be mindful of what you eat.  Eat with the intention of being healthy every day.  As we like to say in the Growing Healthy Kids movement, �eat rainbows�.  Engage in mindful fun, or as my friend, Ronnie Hewitt, former CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Indian River County, used to say, "Fun with a purpose!"  Twenty years from now your kids will thank you!  Heck, they just might be partial to asparagus, brussels sprouts and kale.

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

THE GREAT PUMPKIN

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

"There are three things I've learned never discuss with people:  religion, politics, and The Great Pumpkin."

                                    --Linus  from "It's the Great Pumpkin,                                                            Charlie Brown" (1966)

October is when parents think about taking the little ones to the local pumpkin patch and carving pumpkins for Halloween.  Pumpkins are great for more than decorating your front porch a couple of weeks a year.  Pumpkin is a squash that is delicious, healthy, and good for you.  Like all vegetables that are orange, pumpkin is high in the anti-oxidant, beta-carotene.  Beta-carotene converts to Vitamin A in the body and may offer protection against certain cancers and degenerative aspects of aging.

Growing Healthy Kids has been asked to create a gluten-free pumpkin recipe for the first ever children�s October event on Main Street Vero Beach.  We�ve been working furiously in the GHK Test Kitchen to come up with the perfect pumpkin cookie for kids.  The results so far are..."YUM...More, please!"

I have a confession, dear readers...Cooking pumpkin is SO EASY.  Before this challenge to create a gluten-free pumpkin cookie came to Growing Healthy Kids, I had never cooked a pumpkin to use in a recipe.  Now that I have crossed that line and I have learned how easy it is, I am a convert and will probably never go back to using canned pumpkin again!

DIRECTIONS FOR USING FRESH PUMPKIN IN PIES, SOUPS, AND MORE:  Break off the stem of a small pumpkin.  Wash the outside.  Cut pumpkin in half.  Scoop out seeds.  Place upside down (skin side up) in a large baking dish.  Add a small amount of water (1/2 cup or so).  Roast in an oven at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.  Let cool.  Scoop out pumpkin and puree in a food processor.  Freeze pumpkin if you are not going to use it right away.

AMAZING PUMPKIN FACTS

One cup of 1� pumpkin cubes contain:

• 30 calories
• 394 mg of potassium
• 197% of daily Vitamin A
• 17% of daily Vitamin C
• 1 gram of sodium

CLICK HERE to get into the mood with The Great Pumpkin Waltz by Vince Guaraldi.

Happy, Healthy Pumpkin Season to you and your family!

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.