Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Kids are Great



One of our local elementary schools-Daisy Ingraham in Westbrook- is embracing the Healthy Choices-Healthy Kids Initiative, a Westbrook Early Learning Links program. To help facilitate the growing concept of healthy changes we're putting a Tower Garden in the cafeteria. Here the kids can be involved in growing their own good health, harvesting the fruits of their labor and having a hands-on experience in understanding where food comes from.


It was with great care and concentration that theses second graders accomplished the task at hand.

We planted seeds in rock wool with two of the second grade classes. They'll be growing an assortment of lettuces, spinach, cauliflower and parsley to start.

The activity raised many questions from the young inquiring minds;
Where should we put these while we wait for them to sprout? How long will it take? How does the Tower Garden work? When can we put these into the Tower Garden? How many seeds should we plant in our rock wool cube?



And it opened up a vocabulary discussion; Do you know what germinate means? How many of you garden? And do you garden in the dirt? Interestingly two of the students 'grow in water.' Which led us to discussion of hydroponics and aquaponics. They were fascinated, eager and insightful.

A few days later we set the Tower Garden up in the cafeteria. Because we planted seeds with just two of the classes most of the kids had no idea what we were up to. This spawned more intrigue and questions. So we asked them; "What do you think this is?" Their answers were priceless. Here are the top 10 answers they gave. Number 7 is my favorite.

1.Giant bird feeder / apartment  
2.Shoe rack
3. Heater
4.Buoy
5. Night light
6. Chocolate fountain
7. Leprechaun catcher
8.Ice cream cone holder
9. Flag holder
10.Coffee maker
 
Soon the seeds will germinate and we will plant the seedlings in the Tower Garden. All of the students will participate in growing good health and harvesting nutritious whole food. Stay tuned.
 
 
 

Friday, January 30, 2015

Oats 'n Honey Balls

These will likely disappear very quickly so you might want to double up! I prefer to eat them straight from the freezer. 

1 C organic dried oats
1/2 C organic peanut or almond butter
1/3 C pure organic honey (or pure maple syrup)
1/4 t. Ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. 
Form into small balls- I use a melon ball scooper. 
Place in a single layer on a plate or platter and freeze. After half an hour or so they can be put into a plastic bag and kept for a good long time- but they aren't likely to last. 

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Grab and Go Egg MegaMuffin Recipes

Egg Mega Muffins
Easy, healthy, grab and go yum.
If you're really adventurous add freshly milled flax, or Chia seeds to boost gut health.
.
Ingredients-
Eggs-you'll need approximately 1 egg per muffin cup
milk- almond, soy or cow's- approximately 1/2 Tbls. per egg
Add-ins of your choice-
diced ham, cheese, onions, spinach, broccoli,tomatoes, zucchini, scallions, garlic, or whatever

How to:
Preheat oven to 350
Lightly grease  muffin pan.
Layer desired fillings in bottom of muffin cups.
Scramble eggs and milk together.
Fill each muffin cup with egg mixture.
Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes

Store in zip lock or similar for about a week in the fridge. Make 'em with the kids on Sunday, enjoy all week.