Does your school participate? HealthierUS School Challenge

When I was working on a recent television interview in which I discussed school lunches, I was prompted to check on the progress of my daughter's school lunches this year.  I was pleased to find out that her school district has taken on the HealthierUS School Challenge!


Volunteer initiative for schools to make
their environments heathier for children.


What is the HealthierUS School Challenge?
The HealthierUS School Challenge is a government-to-school encourager to voluntarily make school environments healthier.  The participation rate started skyrocketing when First Lady Michelle Obama added incentives to schools that took part.  The result is that more and more schools are cleaning up their kitchens - reducing fat, calories and sugar and adding more nutrient-rich foods in their place - for the sake of our growing children.

HealthierUS Food Guidelines
The initiative as a whole includes good nutrition and physical activity.    Here is a brief rundown of what your child will be exposed to when he/she eats the school lunch:

• Offers a different vegetable each day of the week
• Offers dark green or orange vegetables 3 or more days each week
• Offer dry beans and/or peas 1 or more days each week
• Offers a different fruit each day of the week
• Offers at least a serving of whole grains 3 or more days each week
• Offers only low-fat and fat-free milk each day

In addition to the foods that must be included, the schools must also:

• Teach nutrition education to the children
• Incorporate the teaching into the classrooms
• Use multiple channels of communication including the cafeteria, classroom and home

I don't know about you, but I see this as a big improvement.  Hannah's school is teaching them MyPlate, the new USDA food icon, so they can make their own decision to fuel up with great food choices.  Educating, Exposing and Empowering are 3 of my keys to long-term proper nutrition.  It starts in childhood!  Talk to your children about the food choices they make and empower them to eat the super power foods that will help them make good grades and do better at their extra cirricular activities.

Does your school participate in the HealthierUS School Challenge?  Find out here.  If this is their first year to participate, you may want to contact your child's foodservice manager and ask them.  If they are not currently participating, encourage them to do so!  For more information on the HealthierUS School Challenge, go to: http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/HealthierUS/vision.html.

Food Containers: The New Brown Bag

As summer ends and temperatures (hopefully) cool down, it’s time to think about school supplies, new school outfits, and what to pack for lunch.   Are your kids apathetic towards a home-packed lunch? You can change this by inspiring you to pack different foods and inspire your child with a more interesting container.   Swap out the boring brown bags and use food containers to rejuvenate lunchtime. These containers are cost effective, reusable for years, and easy to clean. As parents, you can make nutrition a priority by preparing fun and nourishing lunches for your kids. Have them help you, too!  Among our favorites are included in this post and all pictures are linked to sites for purchase.



Laptop Lunch's Bento Boxes!



Some food containers provide compartments to keep different foods organized.  Our favorite is Laptop Lunch's Bento Box.  Now they have even more colorful styles to choose from!  This type of lunch container encourages to serve more than just a peanut butter sandwich. How about whole wheat spaghetti, fresh peach slices, snap peas and a savory dipping sauce? Bust out the cookie cutters and cut sandwiches, fruits, or cheese into fascinating shapes.  This is a great occasion to make simple, creative and assorted meals.  Laptop Lunch's has a great set of menus categorized by seasons on their website.  (Our favorite recipe is the red lentil and sweet pepper hummus!)

We all “eat with your eyes” first, and this is absolutely no different with children. Using different colors and shapes will draw their interest and they can be excited about opening their lunch box every day.  Bring the fun back to lunching!



The Slimline Quaddie by Klip It provides drink container and many compartments!.



Some containers also have a place to store drinks.  You can fill a bottle like this with low fat milk, water, or 100% juice.  Go green and ecomical by investing in BPA-free containers.



Fit & Fresh brand has a great variety of containers to choose from.

 These containers have an added cold pack built into the lid.  It’s great for keeping cold items like fruits or salads cool for lunchtime.  Add another ice pack or additonal resusable ice cubes to keep your lunches nice and cool.



The "Salad Blaster Bowl" can be purchased at The Container Store.



Speaking of salads, this is another great container to make lunch fun!  Simply fill the container with your salad and put the green lid on.  Then, fill the central container on the lid with your salad dressing.  This keeps the contents from mixing.  By mealtime, press the center container down, and shake!  It releases the dressing with ease.  Tell me this isn’t a great way to get kids interested in salad!



Purchased at The Container Store.

We can’t leave out breakfast- this is a fabulous option for cereal and milk.  Just pour your milk into the bottom container that is insulated to keep it cold longer.  Then screw on the top container and pour in your perfect portion of cereal.  Pop the lid on (folding spoon included) and go!

Hot Foods

Expand that lunch menu by providing a hot lunch for your child.  Heat soups, leftovers and other hot foods to 200 degrees before putting them in the hot food containers so they can still be above the temperature danger zone of 140 degrees by lunchtime.



Purchase Laptop Lunch's food jar and it fits nicely in the Bento system.



Thermos brand makes food jars in your child's favorite character design.



Other ways to make your child's lunch special:

Bento to Lunch - Collection of really cool food decoration ideas to try.

Kids Lunch Box Cards - spice up your child's cards with stories, riddles, gross science facts with these creative cards that you can sign.

Your kids are not the only ones that can enjoy food containers. These are also very practical for the working person.  You can put your lunch together at the same time as your kids and you’re set for the day.  These are also a time saver when traveling or even picnicking.  Trying out new food containers will make the boring “brown bag lunch” a thing of the past. 

Special thanks once again to Gina Tran, TWU Dietetic Intern, that co-authored this blog post!

Quick Recipe! Summer Spring Rolls

The summer months can mean a busy schedule packed full of time at the pool, outdoor adventures, and vacations. What a great way to end the hot day by preparing an easy, tropical meal – our Mommy Dietitian signature Summer Spring Rolls! We included a complement of ingredients that provide great flavors, but feel free to switch out ingredients as you wish. If you have cooked chicken or tofu, replace that instead of shrimp. You can also swap various vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and cabbage.

Mangos are an exotic and major source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and fiber. These are keys to good immune function, vision, and digestive health. Shrimp is also a good source of high-quality protein and iron. In addition, an assortment of colorful vegetables is delicious and provides a ton of nutrients for the growing body.


Our Summer Spring Rolls are
yummy, light and nutrient-rich!

Summer Spring Rolls

Makes 12 rolls
Serving size: 3 rolls

Ingredients:

Spring Rolls:
½ lettuce, leaves separated and ribs removed and sliced in half
1 grated carrot
1 diced cucumber
2 diced mangos
1 diced red pepper
¼ cup minced basil
24-36 small to medium shrimp, shelled
12 (8 inch) round Rice Paper (can be found in ethnic aisle at grocery store)
1 large bowl filled with warm water

Dipping Sauce:
½ cup Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tsp. minced basil
1 lime, juiced
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp soy sauce

Directions:
1. Combine all dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl. Set aside to infuse flavors.

2. Cook shrimp in boiling water until they turn opaque, which may take 1-2 minutes. Take them out of the boiling water and immediately place them into cold water to stop the cooking process. When it is cool, devein each shrimp.

3. Mix grated carrots, diced cucumber, diced mango, diced red pepper, and minced basil together in a bowl.

4. Take one rice paper sheet and soak in warm water for a couple seconds. You will want to make sure that it absorbs the water, but not for too long. In a few seconds, you will see that it is pliable and flexible. Keep the sheet flat and place onto a plate.

5. Take one lettuce leaf and place it in the middle of the rice paper, and bring it halfway towards you. Leave a 2-inch border on the bottom of the rice paper round. Next, take a couple scoops of the mango-vegetable mixture and place it on top of the lettuce. Then, place two or three shrimp halves upon the vegetable mixture.

6. Take the left and right sides of the rice paper and bring it towards the center. Holding these sides down, take the side of the rice paper closest to you and bring it over the filling. Make sure that these are secure enough to hold the filling, but not too tight to tear. Continue rolling the filling away from your body.

Pat yourself on the back for rolling a spring roll.  Dip Summer Spring Rolls in dipping sauce, and enjoy!  You can cover your spring rolls with a damp paper towel if you are not serving them right away.  Serve with a fluffy, light rice for some added grain – such as jasmine rice.

Special thanks to Gina Tran, Texas Woman’s University dietetic intern, for all her hard work on this blog post!  Watch out, we’ve got a future foodie RD in the making. J