Blog

Cooking in Class - Sweet Green Smoothies

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 02:39:31 +0000

A primary objective of the Veggiecation Program is to make incorporating cooking activities into the school day easy! Today we are highlighting a school that has integrated Veggiecation recipe preparation as a bi-monthly part of their Physical Education and Health program.

To begin the class a teacher introduces the “Special Veggie.” Talking about all of the simple points on the Veggiecation Informational Poster, students learn what part of the plant the Special Veggie is, what season it grows best in and three reasons why the Special Veggie is so good for our bodies. For example, folate in spinach gives us brainpower!

Then the students are each given an opportunity to participate in preparing a recipe starring their Special Veggie. Children get very excited when allowed to get hands-on with ingredients! In the midst of their enthusiasm, lie math lessons in fractions when discussing 1 cups, ½ cup and ¼ cups. They are also developing the essential life skill of healthy cooking.

Next, all the children are invited to taste the dish they had a hand in creating. It is amazing how quickly the initial “Yucks” and “Ewws” can go to “It’s so good!” and “Can I have seconds?” Participation is a major factor in children accepting new foods.

Lastly, the students are able to color in the Special Veggie – making it their very own. It is heartwarming to hear young children request a copy of the recipe to “show their families how to make it.” Their request is, of course, granted.

Cooking with kids in school IS possible! Contact us to find out how you can make it happen at your school.

Krazy for Kidney Beans!

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:03:22 +0000

Get to know the Kidney Bean! Packed with protein, these hearty legumes are a perfect meat replacement. But that is not all they "bring to the table" :

Folate for brain power!

Iron for extreme energy!

Fiber for a full and happy tummy!

Kidney Beans originated in Peru and were introduced to Europe in the 15th century by Spanish explorers. Today, they are most commonly produced in India, China, the US and Brazil.

We recommend swapping kidney bean in place of ground beef for a heart healthy chili or try out our delicious Kidney Bean Slider Recipe.

Did you Know?

Eating meatless 1 day per week will help reduce your carbon footprint!

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide . . . far more than transportation. And annual worldwide demand for meat continues to grow. Reining in meat consumption once a week can help slow this trend.

(Courtesty of the Meatless Monday Campaign)

FREE Nutrition Education for YOUR School!

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:06:27 +0000

"Students Can Have Their Math and Eat it Too" Giveaway for January 2012

Calling all health-minded students, classrooms, teachers & parents!!!

Students can’t help but learn when they are playing. Students love to eat. Students love to create. Mix a half a cup of creating, a tablespoon of eating and a gallon of learning and you get a nourished and academically successful child.

Veggiecation wants your classroom to have colorful materials to teach students math, social studies, science, literacy and art with vegetables as a vehicle. For FREE. Transform your school’s education into veggie education with Veggiecation.

Schools are already teaching local state standards like persuasive literacy and measurement, right? Why not transform those persuasive literacy lessons into a Vegetable Poster. Students create a poster that will convince a group to love broccoli. Transform a measurement lesson into asparagus as a unit of non-standard measurement. Students measure desks, tables and white boards with asparagus, noting, comparing and ordering the lengths.

Captivate kids' attention with vegetables. Educate and nourish their brain at the same time. Help them prove to themselves and their parents, teachers, friends that they do indeed love vegetables. Eating healthy tastes good. Getting smart is fun!

Free – Your Classroom Package Includes

A Classroom Companion Book 24 Lessons (literacy, math, science, social studies, art) and 5 Games

A Informational Veggie Posters – compelling vegetable characters convey nutrition, geography and science information.

A Family Recipe Book, and Food Service Recipe Book – simple recipes that can be made in class for tastings, in the cafeteria, or sent home with parents to connect the healthy eating habits to the home environment. Perfect for meeting Coordinated School Health goals for nutrition education and parent involvement requirements.

The “Veggiecation Across The Nation” Theme Song CD with Official Dance – perfect for rainy/cold weather indoor recess.

Ballot Box Materials - challenge students to taste recipes, students vote their preference, tally votes to meet a math standard.

1-Year Member’s Only Access to Veggiecation.com – Fun activities for students, classroom tools and support for teachers, family nutrition tips and recipes for home.

If you don’t win this month, enter again next month. We’ll be giving away a set of classroom materials each month during the 2011-2012 school year.

To Enter for your FREE set of Veggiecation materials:

Leave a comment on this blog post with the following information: your state, grade and email address (use this format: name AT email DOT com).
Include the answer to this question: Why do you want to veggiecate your school?

Like the Veggiecation’s Facebook page for a second entry. Leave a comment on this blog post saying you did so.

Share the URL to this giveaway with others via your Facebook page or email. Leave a comment saying you did so.

Winners agree to submit writing from teacher or student perspective. Topic of writing will be teacher and/or student experiences during implementation of the Veggiecation program.

Contest Rules
Only separate comment entries will be counted for extra entries. The contest closes at midnight CST 19th of every month. A winner will be determined by Random.org. The winner will be notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize by responding to the email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be drawn until prizes are claimed.

Always Healthy Mom Blogger, Michelle Rowe, Reviews Veggiecation!

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:50:58 +0000

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to participate in a healthy and positive event for the youth in my area! I partnered with Veggiecation to offer the children a healthy way to eat broccoli and was able to share my passion for children's health at the same time!

The feedback from the event was amazing! E-mails pouring in to share the recipe for Mini Broccoli Trees with Asian Sauce. The kids were able to sample, vote, and learn about healthy eating! I am blown away at the number of children who sampled the demo and "Loved It!" I think many parents were pleasantly surprised too!

Veggiecation gave me the tools to share my passion with my community, with hands on activies geared toward children and the use of positive peer pressure! (This was new to me!) Having done many events in the past, by far this one was most memorable with the help of veggiecation! If you or your community are looking for a way to introduce healthy eating, look no further!

As a Health Educator and Nurse I am constantly looking for support on how to teach children about healthy foods!

The answer lies in the Veggiecation program!

Support in...

Visuals (posters, pictures, activites)
Education Tools (recipe books, stickers, voting ballets and much more)

You will have a successful experience, I guarantee it!

Written by Michelle Rowe

Always Healthy Mom

www.alwayshealthymom.blogspot.com

We're Introducing a New Resource for 2012! The Veggiecation Plate Planner!

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:52:40 +0000

We love providing our Veggiecators with new resources!

Our newest addition, The Plate Planner, is based off of and supports the new USDA MyPlate. This kid-friendly tool to help veggiecate our sprouts on the USDA's recommendations for healthy eating is a printable poster perfect for display in the cafeteria, the school hallway or on the lunch line to encourage healthy, balanced choices.

This new resource can be accessed by our clients by logging into the member section of the Veggiecation website. The plate can be found under "Games and Resources" inside the Veggiecators folder.

We hope all of our Veggiecators are taking advantage of all our sprout-friendly resources!

I Ate My Own Homework

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:46:49 +0000

It seems like we are getting hit from all sides from our doctors, medical researchers, health insurers, the school nurse and the county health commissioner to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and every news outlet you can imagine. We are in poor shape!

The USDA transformed the Food Guide Pyramid into MyPlate this year believing that might be the answer to nutrition education. But since the pyramid, with more detailed information, didn’t accomplish anything, I don’t have much hope for the plate. It’s not that the information isn’t helpful, it’s that it won’t be used.

If we understand nothing else from the symbol, I wish we could get the message that fruits and vegetables should take up half the space on a plate. With recognition of that one fact AND putting it into daily practice, we could solve the most important health problem plaguing the US today - obesity.

All scientific-based research on the subject of healthy weight individuals shows fruit and vegetable consumption higher when compared to the daily intake of overweight or obese individuals.

And not only have our nation’s adults expanded their girth, our children, understandably, are following our lead. There are more overweight and obese children today than ever in our history.

Combining this information with national trends about restaurant meal consumption frequency and selections, the decline of the family meal, and the national economy, nutrition and health experts have been watching produce consumption steadily decline.

So, what’s the answer to my plate, my waist, my wallet and my kids? Nutrition education! This is one subject where you’d love to hear your student say, “I ate my own homework!”

Practically every school subject is ripe for nutrition education. The math class could study fractions with recipes, the art class could study botanicals while social study classes can learn about climate and geography of a country by studying its food. Nutrition is a study of science which spans biology and chemistry with a bit of psychology thrown in. An econ class might study agribusiness, food subsidies and perhaps food marketing. For the green thumbs or green thumb wannabes, an after-school club might study the garden’s seasons.

When I happened across the Veggiecation website, I knew our school had to have the opportunity to get acquainted with it. Instead of complaining about the school lunch, we had the chance to make the lunchroom another classroom for our kids. A food lab if you will.

Young people, like most adults, don’t like change or the unfamiliar and food is no exception. If you haven’t been exposed to sweet potatoes (other than in a pie, perhaps), how would you know what they tasted like? Could some junior gardeners, get some plants started? Even in our zone 5, we think our school can grow produce good enough to...well, eat!

And that’s our plan. We’ll be using the posters with fabulous artwork in our cafeteria, we’ll add some new produce “adventures” onto our trays. We’re planning to feature one vegetable each month and offer up tastes from the recipe book for our students to try; we think this non-threatening approach to increased exposure to vegetables will lead to increased acceptance, over time. Our school serves lunch from K-12 and we think Veggiecation will be useful for all ages.

We’ll get a few seedlings started and keep our parents informed of our efforts in nutrition education. In this way, we’re hoping that our Veggiecation homework results in more meals at home including more vegetables and fruits. We think this will help develop more diverse palates which will serve our kids well, for a lifetime.

Our plate, our waists, our wallets, our kids, we’ll all benefit from more veggies.

Marcia Crawford, MS, RD is a nutrition educator, blogger at MarciaCrawford.net . Her experience has been broad from corporate wellness to clinical settings to college campus. Marcia serves on her local school board and volunteers for the McMillen Center for Health Education. She is married with one son who enjoys his veggies!

Veggiecation's January Giveaway Contest!

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:43:18 +0000

"Students Can Have Their Math and Eat it Too" Giveaway for January 2012

Calling all health-minded students, classrooms, teachers & parents!!!

Free – Your Classroom Package Includes

A Classroom Companion Book 24 Lessons (literacy, math, science, social studies, art) and 5 Games

A Informational Veggie Posters – compelling vegetable characters convey nutrition, geography and science information.

The “Veggiecation Across The Nation” Theme Song CD with Official Dance – perfect for rainy/cold weather indoor recess.

Ballot Box Materials - challenge students to taste recipes, students vote their preference, tally votes to meet a math standard.

1-Year Member’s Only Access to Veggiecation.com – Fun activities for students, classroom tools and support for teachers, family nutrition tips and recipes for home.

If you don’t win this month, enter again next month. We’ll be giving away a set of classroom materials each month during the 2011-2012 school year.

To Enter for your FREE set of Veggiecation materials:

Leave a comment on this blog post with the following information: your state, grade and email address (use this format: name AT email DOT com).
Include the answer to this question: Why do you want to veggiecate your school?

Like the Veggiecation’s Facebook page for a second entry. Leave a comment on this blog post saying you did so.

Share the URL to this giveaway with others via your Facebook page or email. Leave a comment saying you did so.

Winners agree to submit writing from teacher or student perspective. Topic of writing will be teacher and/or student experiences during implementation of the Veggiecation program.

Eat Your Cabbage!

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:22:52 +0000

Known for curing constipation, stomach ulcers, relieving headaches, treating skin problems and inflammation disorders, Cabbage was used for medical purposes by the ancient Greeks and Romans because of its sulphur content. Currently, many holistic professionals and Japanese and Chinese herbalists use cabbage to treat certain diseases.

The most common Cabbages are red, green and Italian savoy and each contains Vitamins A, C and K, fiber, folate and omega-3 fatty acids. The leafy veggie is loaded with phytonutrients, which protect the body from free radical cell damage, so go ahead and eat your Cabbage!

Cabbage contains sulforaphane, which can increase the production of antioxidant enzymes and plays a large role in liver detoxification.

For super-powerful antioxidants, eat your Cabbage, which is full of polyphenols – responsible for anti-inflammatory nutrients!

The anti-cancer benefits in Cabbage are truly remarkable. The glucosinolates found in the veggie are converted into isothiocyanate compounds that are cancer preventive for a multitude of different cancers.

Fresh Fact: According to World’s Healthiest Foods web site, Red Cabbage has more phytonutrients than the green cabbage and the Vitamin C content of red cabbage is 6-8 times higher than that of the green cabbage. Red cabbage also contains anthocyanin, an antioxidant that can help protect brain cells and prevent neurological disease.

Asian Pickled Cabbage Recipe

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT:

Vegetable Peeler

Grater

Knife

Cutting Board

Measuring Cup and Spoons

Mixing Bowl

Whisk

Plastic Wrap

YIELD: 5 Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 small Head of Green Cabbage, cut in quarters, remove core and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 Carrot, peeled and grated

2 cups White Vinegar

1 cups Honey

2 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Ginger Powder

½ cup Water

DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, salt and ginger.

Add the cabbage and carrot to the dressing and toss well.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 days before serving.

Add Some Color To Your Plate

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:15:21 +0000

No one wants to see a plate that’s full of colorless food like white pasta, potatoes and bread. Instead, wouldn’t it be nice to see bright red tomatoes, perfectly orange carrots and leafy plant-like spinach? Here at Veggiecation, we sure think so!

In order to get the most health benefits possible, think color. Remember to keep track of how many servings of fruit and veggies you eat each day and try to push that number as high as you can.

We should be eating five or more servings a day of plant-based foods, so start making your peanut butter sandwiches with fresh fruit, blending a veggie-infused smoothie for a morning snack and crunching on homemade baked kale and sweet potato chips.

To get your fill of fiber, add dark-colored black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans and lentils to your diet. Want to keep your heart young and healthy? Eat red fruit and vegetables like tomatoes, beets, radishes, strawberries and raspberries. Lycopene, the antioxidant found in these foods protects against cell damage and cardiovascular disease.

Looking to improve your eyesight? Include carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and butternut squash in your diet. The beta-carotene converts to Vitamin A, which improves eyesight.

Leafy greens like spinach, kale and Swiss Chard, plus broccoli, green beans, cucumbers, asparagus and Brussels sprouts contain chlorophyll, Vitamins C and E and calcium for healthy skin, hair and bones, cataract and arthritis prevention.

In cases regarding veggies, white food is good!The pigment anthoxanthins found in cauliflower, garlic, mushrooms, onions, parsnips and jicama help to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

How many colors did you eat today?

The All Mighty Mr. Spinach!

lrsuriano@gmail.com (Lisa Suriano) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:45:15 +0000

Do you tell your children to eat their spinach and do you remember your parents forcing you to eat it when you were a kid? Well, there’s a reason everyone’s talking about Spinach - - it is one of the healthiest foods to consume full of vitamins and minerals that protect against many ailments.

If your kids don’t seem to love Spinach yet, cook it with pasta, eggs and even include it on top of your pizza, so they get used to the taste. Encourage them to eat it by discussing how it will make them run faster, grow taller and be a better test taker!

Spinach is concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients including carotenoids and flavonoids to provide you with intense antioxidant protection. Eating Spinach prevents against health issues related to oxidative stress like atherosclerosis and high blood pressure.

High in Vitamins C and E, zinc and selenium, Spinach is found to decrease the risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

Talk about bone health, the Vitamin K in Spinach gives you over 1,000 percent of your daily value!

When you’re picking out Spinach at the store or farmer’s market, make sure to reach for the bright green leaves that look fresh and not wilted, as they have a higher amount of Vitamin C than pale colored leaves.

Fresh Fact:

According to World’s Healthiest Foods web site, Spinach was the favorite vegetable of Catherine de Medici, a historical figure in the 16th century. When she left her home of Florence, Italy, to marry the king of France, she brought along her own cooks, who could prepare spinach the ways that she especially liked. Since this time, dishes prepared on a bed of spinach are referred to as "a la Florentine."

Have fun with the many ways to eat Spinach and try our

Spinach Hummus at your holiday party!

Green makes for a perfect Holiday Hummus!

Spinach Hummus

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT:

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Colander

Food Processor or Blender

INGREDIENTS

2-15.5 oz. cans Chickpeas, drained and rinsed

6 oz. bag of Baby Spinach

¼ cup Tahini

¼ cup Fresh Lemon Jioce

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 clove Garlic, minced

¼ cup Water

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Add salt to taste.

Serve with pita chips or raw vegetables

For more recipes visit us at: www.veggiecation.com

Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/veggiecation