Alisal Wellness Newsletter By Courtney Baldwin, HealthCorps Coordinator at AHS

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1 Alisal Wellness Newsletter By Courtney Baldwin, HealthCorps Coordinator at AHS September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. With the immense popularity of sedentary activities and fast food/junk food throughout the nation, childhood obesity is becoming harder and harder to avoid! Thus, I am using this newsletter to give tips on how to maintain your family's health. **I am simply reporting research that I have done on this topic; I am not a parent myself. Here are some researched practices that can help parents raise healthy families! 1. Eat healthy dinners together as a family as often as possible. Research states that families who make it a point to regularly eat dinner together eat healthier overall than families who eat separately and at scattered times. Increased frequency of family meals is associated with greater consumption of fruits, vegetables, and milk and lower consumption of fried food and soft drinks. 2. Reward good behavior with non-food items. Rewarding good behavior with sugary treats (for example, receiving dessert when they finish dinner or receiving a lollipop when they finish homework) can enforce increased desires for such treats. Research shows that children develop further preferences for foods that are used as rewards. Thus, focusing on non-food rewards such as extra playtime before or after dinner, more power in deciding family activities, or reducing the number of daily chores required of them can reinforce good behavior without providing extra sugar. 3. Improve the nutritional value of a meal by hiding more vegetables within it. If pasta is a regular staple in your house think about getting a spiralizer! A spiralizer is a tool (on amazon or at Walmart and Target for $10-$15 depending on the brand) that makes noodles out of vegetables predominantly zucchini and other summer squash. By replacing half of the pasta in the dish with veggie noodles, you can dramatically increase the nutritional value and decrease the heavy carbohydrate load of the meal. My favorite go-to veggie noodle dish is a Turkey Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles. Scroll to the bottom of this for the recipe! 4. Get a water bubbler to increase children s consumption of water in the home. 6. Make sure children get a balanced and filling breakfast (proteins, fats, veg/fruits). Research states that children who eat complex breakfasts are less prone to eat sugary treats later in the day!

5. Dilute juice with water (especially with very young kids) or try fruit-infused water to lower sugar consumption. One serving of juice has 6 teaspoons of sugar.

Try adding ½ cup of berries to a bottle of water and letting it sit overnight. The next day you ll have delicious fruit flavored water! 7. Have an abundance of healthy snacks around the house.

2 5. Dilute juice with water (especially with very young kids) or try fruit-infused water to lower sugar consumption. One serving of juice has 6 teaspoons of sugar. Try mixing ½ cup of juice with ½ cup of water to save your kids 3 teaspoons of sugar! Another idea for jazzing up your water is fruit-infused water. Try adding ½ cup of berries to a bottle of water and letting it sit overnight. The next day you ll have delicious fruit flavored water! 7. Have an abundance of healthy snacks around the house. Filling the pantry and fridge with healthy options for children to consume whenever they re hungry creates a habit of reaching for healthy foods to nourish themselves instead of snacking on junk out of boredom. Parents who let their kids choose what they consume from an array of healthy, appropriately portioned options have more success raising healthy eaters! Some healthy snack ideas for kids: Apple slices with peanut butter (pictured: apple cookies with granny smith apple slices, peanut butter and mini chocolate chips!) Homemade trail mixes peanuts, almonds, raisins etc. Plain yogurt (the vanilla and fruit flavors are filled with sugar) with honey and berries Hard boiled eggs Mixed berries Baked sweet potato wedges with cinnamon Whole grain toast with peanut butter and banana slices 8. Play to their competitive side and give them pedometers to track their step count. Getting kids pedometers can be a super fun way for them to see how many steps they can get throughout the day. My cousins (ages 7 and 10) wear pedometers and are constantly jumping and running around to try and beat each other s step count! Walmart sells colorful step tracker bracelets for $5-$10, perfect for kids! **Here is an awesome article that details a vast number of research studies on the subject and gives further tips for raising healthy families!

Turkey Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles Serves 4 3 Zucchini or summer squash 4oz of your favorite spaghetti (whole wheat pasta adds more fiber) 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce 1 small onion 2

3 Turkey Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles Serves 4 3 Zucchini or summer squash 4oz of your favorite spaghetti (whole wheat pasta adds more fiber) 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce 1 small onion 2 large carrots or 2 handfuls of baby carrots 2 tbsp olive oil ½ lb ground turkey 1 tsp oregano ½ tsp thyme salt and pepper to taste 1. Brown your ground turkey in a large skillet. You do not need any oil for this step. Once browned, remove from the skillet and store on a plate. 2. Dice your onion and carrots and sauté them in the same skillet with 2 tbsp olive oil. 3. Once the onion and carrots are softened, add the ground turkey, the marinara sauce and spices to the skillet and let the sauce simmer for minutes to absorb the flavors of the meat and the veggies. 4. Meanwhile, cook your spaghetti as directed on the box and spiralize your zucchini into noodles. 5. In a smaller skillet sauté the zucchini noodles (without oil) on low heat until they are soft and have released most of their moisture. 6. Drain the zucchini noodles and the spaghetti noodles and add them into the sauce. 7. Serve onto 4 plates and store any leftovers for delicious lunches! Nutritional Analysis Turkey Bolognese with Regular Pasta with Meat Zucchini Noodles Sauce Calories Sugars 15g 17g Protein 24g 26g Fiber 9g 4g

4 Hidden Veggie Smoothie Serves 2 This smoothie is delicious and you cannot taste the vegetables hiding in there! It has triple the protein and fiber and less than half the sugar of a Jamba Juice smoothie. I promise your kids will love it! 1 frozen banana I buy fresh bananas, peel them and freeze them in ziplock bags when they re super ripe 1 cup frozen cauliflower I buy a fresh head of cauliflower, cut it up and freeze it in ziplock bags ½ cup frozen spinach or 2 cups fresh spinach 1.5 cup frozen blueberries or frozen fruit of choice mango, peaches, mixed berries, pineapple 1 tsp cinnamon 3 tablespoons peanut butter 2-3 cups milk or water (avoid using juice to lower sugar content) 1. Place all ingredients except the water/milk in a blender 2. Add 2 cups of liquid to start and blend on high. Add more liquid as needed to reach desired consistency. 3. Pour into 2 glasses one for you and one for your son or daughter J Nutritional Analysis Hidden Veggie Smoothie Calories 285 Small Jamba Juice Smoothie 280 Sugars 22g 59g Protein 9g Fiber 9g

Zucchini Brownie Cupcakes Makes ~9 Brownie Cupcakes Zucchini in brownies?! I know, but you can t even taste it, I promise! This is an awesome way to get more veggies into your kids diets!

5 Zucchini Brownie Cupcakes Makes ~9 Brownie Cupcakes Zucchini in brownies?! I know, but you can t even taste it, I promise! This is an awesome way to get more veggies into your kids diets! 1/2 cup peanut butter (or your favorite nut/sunflower seed butter) 1 ripe medium-sized banana 1 large egg 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 cup zucchini, shredded and squeezed of excess liquid 1/4 cup chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees 2. Line your muffin pan with liners 3. Combine all the ingredients except zucchini and chocolate chips to a blender and blend on high until batter is smooth and creamy 4. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips by hand 5. Pour batter into your muffin tin, filling each cavity until it is about ¾ full. Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips 6. Bake for 20 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before eating. Nutritional Analysis Calories Sugars Protein Fiber Our Brownie Cupcake g 4g 4g Regular Brownie g 7g

THIS WEEK'S MENU: DAY 2 DAY 1 DAY 3 DAY 6 DAY 5 DAY 4 DAY 7 HEALTHY PLAN Healthy Plan Salmon Salad with Lemon Avocado Dressing

THIS WEEK'S MENU: DAY 2 DAY 1 DAY 3 DAY 6 DAY 5 DAY 4 DAY 7 HEALTHY PLAN Healthy Plan Salmon Salad with Lemon Avocado Dressing HEALTHY PLAN 06-22-2018 THIS WEEK'S MENU: DAY 1 Healthy Plan Salmon Salad with Lemon Avocado Dressing DAY 2 Healthy Plan Slow Cooker Pineapple BBQ Beef Sandwiches DAY 3 Healthy Plan Skillet Pork Lo Mein