A Twist for a Cwist- Fun & FREE online educational challenges for kids

Nutrition can be fun...especially when it is in the form of a Cwist! 

What is a Cwist you ask? Well if you are looking to fill your summer and after school time with fun educational activities with a purpose then look into Cwist. 

How does it work?

1. Log on to www.Cwist.com and request an invite.Once you are invited you can set up your page. 
2. When you are ready to start a Cwist start by picking your age level.

3. Choose a purpose.

4. Choose a topic.

5. Choose a prize (Cwist is linked up to educational toy sites that a child can choose from and work towards).

6. Have fun watching your child spend hours learning new things 

And...don't forget to check out the nutrition related topics! 
Here is a list of the ones I wrote: 

Measuring up Nutrition
Alphabet Art
Beach Ball Nutrition
Farmers Market 
Food Safety Fun
Fruitmask writing challenge
Healthy Pizza Party
My Plate 
My Plate gets moving
Recipe makeover
Seed Math
Slow and Fast foods
Sugar Tracker
Grocery store scavenger hunt

Twist up your summertime routine with an exciting Cwist! 

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www.OnANutritionMission.com
@Abcd Eat Right1
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What are you bringing to the classroom holiday party?

December is flying by and coming up are the exciting holiday parties to commence the holiday break. What will you bring to your child's holiday party? Here are some ideas to incorporate holiday colors with fruits, vegetables, protein and calcium without all the sugar, colors and additives. 

Christmas (Winter Festival) 

Work to include the traditional colors of the season: red, green and blue.

1. Blueberry, strawberry and spinach smoothie

2. Vegetable trays with cucumbers, broccoli, sugar snap peas, and tomatoes with a low fat veggie dressing

 3. Red and apple slices with flavored yogurt dip or nut butter and cream cheese spread on top

4. Dried or shelled edamame

5. Desert dessert (Graham cracker with a layer of nut butter topped with a floret of broccoli)

6.  Mini sandwiches cut out into cookie cutter shapes

7. Red and green grape kebabs

8. Trail mix (crackers, yogurt covered pretzels, yogurt covered raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries or strawberries, dried edamame)

9. Hummus dip with pita bread cut into shapes, broccoli and tomatoes for dipping (hummus can also be combined with cooked beets to add a red color)

10. Popcorn balls with dried strawberries.

For more ideas for the home party visit a recent article I wrote on Education.com!

Walk to School Day is Tomorrow- October 3rd!

This year is the 16th annual National Walk to School Day!

How do you get your child to school? On this one day, consider parking the car and walking into school with your kids. It is a National event and last year 2000 schools participated.

Remember that safety comes first and always follow the safe walking rules instilled by your schools. You can also register your event at www.Walkbiketoschool.org

 

Have fun and don't forget your water so you stay hydrated!

 

 

www.ABCDEatRight.com

 

 

Fun Snacks Attack! More lunchbox ideas

Still fixated on lunchbox ideas as school enters its second week. Tell me what your favorite is!

 

 

How many healthy snacks can you find

in the arrangement above?

This week the focus is on what you can purchase in

the grocery store for quick and healthy snacks.

Yogurt raisins (ears) provide a serving of fruit;

Cliff's Fruit Twists (hair) provide extra fun without the preservatives, additives or colorings, only juice and fruit; Hummus (left eye) is a rich snack that works as an awesome dipping snack; Yogurt with chia seed (right eye) provide calcium, protein and omega-3 fatty acids; Early July peanut butter crackers (nose) are a protein rich and trans-fat free snack; Annie's and Cascadian Farms granola bars (mouth) provides whole grains, fiber, and wholesome ingredients without the colorings and preservatives; Applesauce squeezers (bow tie) provide a serving of fruit in an easy portable pouch.

www.ABCDEatRight.com
www.OnANutritionMission.com

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Cookie recipe for kids = YUMMY!

For another protein packed delicious addition to the

bento box try this recipe.

Quinoa Peanut butter and

flax seeds cookies

2 cups cooked quinoa

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup ground flax

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips or raisins

Combine all of the ingredients above. Roll small spoonfuls into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Why do I blog for healthy kids?

I write about kids health and nutrition because

I can, I should and I desire to.

Over five years ago I had my first child and dove right into motherhood with all sorts of delusions about feeding children. Breast milk was my first challenge which after a rough start went successfully. Then at around six months of age I started our son on solids which proved to be challenging. As I sat day after day trying to figure out what to feed him that would boost his nutrition I realized that other parents were likely in the same boat. Our daughter was born three years later and around the time that I started her on solids Mrs. Obama started her Let's Move Initiative and Jamie Oliver began his North American promotion to help our schools. As I sat nursing and feeding our daughter I thought to myself..I can help! I want to help! I should help because I am a nutrition expert!  I decided that I could jump in and spread the word about childhood nutrition and help decrease the childhood obesity epidemic as well as the chronic diseases that accompany obesity. I started a free weekly e-newsletter, started soliciting local schools, started a school garden at my son's preschool and then eventually launched my blog all under the name of ABCD Eat Right. I write about weekly topics that encourage healthy habits, promote physical activity, provide healthy recipes and discuss ways to involve kids in healthy art or activities. I continue to write because I know that parents have questions and may not know who to ask so I aspire to be there for them!
Happy blogging!

Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter at www.abcdeatright.com today! or like us on facebook.

April Fool's Time Capsule for 2112- Will kids be healthier then?

Today I start a blogging challenge with www.WEGOHealth.com as a health activist! Pretty exciting things are happening at ABCD Eat Right this year and taking this blogging challenge will be a step in another fun direction. Today's challenge is to set up a time capsule to be opened in the year 2112. So to my future great-great-grandchildren ( I hope to have someday) I leave you with a photo image summary of 2012's National Nutrition Month from my company ABCD Eat Right. My personal challenge was to motivate parents this month to get their children's plate in shape and to learn about healthy snacks that every child would eat and love.

How many healthy snacks can you find in each picture below?

Captain Crunchy!

Rainbow of Color

Quick and healthy (store bought) snacks

Can fat be healthy? Sure! As long as you avoid Saturated and trans fats and choose foods that are rich in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat and omega-3 fatty acids.

P.S. Enjoy the photos! The photos were also taken by my husband Kel Thompson from America's Production Company.

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Who is the most important influence for a healthy kid?

During this amazing month of March I have met hundreds of healthy kids! I taught a weekly class that was visited by preschool to early elementary level kids, spoke to an entire elementary (about 900 people), had a Q&A session with a set of local preschool parents, manned a booth at the local green market, visited all the third graders at my son's school (about 160 kids), spoke at a local mostly Spanish and creole speaking community center, had a press release published in a local newspaper and visited the local Florida Atlantic University. 

What did all of these places have in common?  I saw first hand what the role of everyone in a community has on feeding children. From the University students that may have just gotten through their teenage years and may some day choose to have children to the teachers in the elementary school, to the very concerned parents in the local preschool and foreign speaking community center. This role as the leader, educator and listener all packaged in multiple different bodies. Everyone has a role to play but the main role is a positive and healthy influence!


What each person chooses to place in their mouth every day will profoundly effect their future health. Each child that they have contact with will also be effected (directly and indirectly) by what each person chooses to eat.

Choosing a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, low fat dairy, less processed and chemically laden foods, more organic or local products and less added sugar will enhance the quality of all people involved.

Whether it is a teacher, parent, school aged child, preschooler, grandparent, friend, aunt or uncle, cousin, teenager or 20-something every single age group has their role as a leader in the realm of nutrition.
Think about who you influence and what you can do as an adult to make your diet better! Your body and a child's body will thank you .

Even though National Nutrition Month is over we will never stop talking about healthy eating here at ABCD Eat Right! This week we continue our weekly e-newsletter where we left off prior to National Nutrition Month with the ABC's of Nutrition.
What will G week teach us?
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Fun Festival Food for Kids

This past weekend we spent time at the Palm Beach International Boat Show and had a blast as my husband filmed a pilot for a TV show, people watching, looking at amazing yachts, attending a fishing clinic with our son and having custom made Tom's made for our daughter. Love that charity!

The thing that always gets me at festivals and outdoor events such as this is the food. This is not a typical place that you would find healthy food but I decided to do a little research. My son loves Arepas. If you are not familiar with an arepa they are the South American version of a grilled cheese. They are gluten free because they are made from corn meal and the cheese is typically a Mexican type "queso". They are also grilled. Between the pizza, burgers, hot dogs and fried chicken, Arepas are worth trying because they are a little healthier than the typical fare.

If you don't have a festival coming up in your area, consider making Arepas at home. It is a fun and easy way to change things up on the kiddie menu. A recipe that I found to make these yummy and kid friendly treats can be found on the website: My Recipes

For a quick (not perfect) recipe resembling an Arepa take 2 corn tortillas and place a Colby jack or mozzarella cheese in between. Heat pan and brown on each side until cheese is melted.

Arepas are likely a healthier choice when attending these festivals. There are also other healthy choices such as fruit smoothies and of course bringing your own snacks and drinks!

This week is the last week of National Nutrition Month. One more week of visual snack attack. If you do not have our free weekly newsletter sign up today!

www.ABCDEatRight.com

Springing into spring with healthy kids

What does Spring mean to you? To me it means better weather, longer evenings and healthy, fresher food. It is also a time for me to reflect on how the year is going. And a great time to spring clean! The kitchen is the first place that I start my spring cleaning/reorganizing. I usually clean out the pantry twice a year and this year is no different. Every time I clean the pantry out I ponder over whether or not I should throw away food that I will never use.  I hate to waste food. There is just something inside of me that does not like to be wasteful,  but sometimes it must be done. Food will not keep forever. I look at this de-cluttering time as a time that may open up new waves of creativity in the kitchen.

This Spring my focus is to rid our pantry of processed food. I am slowly considering the transition to a wheat free kitchen after reading a book pertaining to the modification of wheat. I am not 100% sold on the idea so this is a lingering thought. I will still maintain a consistent flow of oatmeal, quinoa, rice, corn and potato products through our house so I feel our carbohydrates will be met but the concept that wheat has been genetically modified that its present form could actually be hurting my family is definitely bothering me.

As I clean out the pantry I reexamine the lower shelves that the kids have access to and determine that there is a decent balance of nuts, dried fruits, granola bars, raisins and pirate booty. Enough to complement the fruit drawer and shelf with yogurt and milk in the refrigerator.

My pantry does not look too bad this time around. I am sure that there is always room for improvement but I am pretty satisfied and now, since I have done a brief nutritional assessment update on our family it is time to move to the next room in the house!

Do you need help with your kitchen and lifestyle changes? Consult a Registered Dietitian today!
Brandi@ABCDEatRight.com. ABCD Eat Right also has recipe boxes to help families make healthier meals and a free weekly e-newsletter. Visit our site at: www.ABCDEatRight.com

Help promote healthy nutrition for kids- one pledge at a time.

I wanted to share with you a campaign to help kids eat healthier and be healthier by making one simple pledge each week.

We know that the majority of children don't eat enough nutritious foods to help them develop strong and healthy bodies. Today, over 85% of children are deficient in at least one or more key nutrients.

I am joining the Chef Solus March to National Nutrition Month by making a pledge to help children make healthier

choices each week.

Each week nourishinteractive.com gives a new pledge, one simple goal to focus on to help children eat healthier and some tips to help you get started. It literally takes less then one minute

to show your support.

All pledges are entered into a weekly drawing for cool prizes that promote health (valued at $30-50).

It will only take you a a minute of your time so please support this important cause. Our children are counting on you! You can make your weekly pledge to help kids by clicking here. Please join me and make your pledge for healthy children.

Healthy kids cooking in the kitch

How can cooking in the kitchen help kids become healthy? Most parents shutter at the idea of having the little one in tow as they hectically prepare for a meal. The kitchen can be a dangerous place for kids but as long as safety is the first rule at hand, everyone can have fun and learn at the same time.

We have general rules in our kitchen which were set up for safety. For instance the knives are stored in the cabinet and not in a drawer or on the counter top, they must stand at least 2 feet back when I open the oven door and they have to have their listening ears on at all times when they are helping us.

The joys of listening to our daughter laugh when she helps daddy crack eggs for breakfast or when our son counts off vegetables outweighs the massive mess!

Today I look forward to the kids helping me make a special Tres Leches birthday cake for my husband. I know they will have fun making the cake and learning about how to be safe in the kitchen as well as all the valuable measuring, reading, counting and comparing lessons they will learn are priceless!

What will you cook with your kids today?

We are halfway through March this week and we are celebrating with a visual snack attack of rainbows for your child's plate. If you do not have our newsletter make sure and sign up at www.ABCDEatRight.com

And we are looking to go over 1500 likes on our Facebook page! Click here to help us out!  

Healthy kids and adults eat breakfast!

Healthy kids are starting the day off right with a full tummy! This week is National Breakfast Week and all across the nation kids and adults will be encouraged to eat breakfast. I admit sometimes it is tough to squeeze a quick breakfast in but during the week it does not have to be fancy, just quick and fun. Here are a few ideas for a quick and healthy breakfast:
1. Yogurt on the go stick
2. Cheese stick, cup of juice and toast
3. Nut butter on toast or apple slices
4. Cereal and milk
5. Trail mix (cereal, pretzels, yogurt covered raisins, dried fruit, nuts and seeds)

Here is a link to Parenting Magazine which has 15 quick and delicious breakfast ideas! Click here.

I do have to admit that sometimes things get hectic in our house and I might forget to give the kids breakfast. Usually they ask if I have not asked first but last week we were walking to school and I just happened to be practicing for a presentation in which I was promoting breakfast and Jackson said "Mom, I did not eat breakfast". :( Yes, even though I was talking about breakfast all morning, I neglected to feed my oldest before school. Fortunately his sister had an extra bag of cereal in the stroller and shared it with him. So I am not perfect but I was happy that at least Jackson knew the difference between breakfast and no breakfast. I have him convinced he does better in school with a full stomach. I think it works :)

This week I challenge you to make sure that the kids (and you the parent or teacher) eats breakfast. If you need help with more breakfast ideas take a look at our - Take Out Recipes- Healthy Kids Edition- Recipe box- There are 8 breakfast idea cards. Click here to see more information.

Have a wonderful, breakfast filled week! And if you do not have our newsletter yet make sure and sign up at www.ABCDEatRight.com . This is a fun month at ABCD Eat Right!

Healthy kids Challenge- Forget about New Year Resolutions!

Did you make any healthy kid or healthy family resolutions this year? How are those resolutions working out? Well it a new month so maybe it is time to refocus a little bit. Let's call it Nutrition resolutions and focus on our wellness and activity. Each day of March is a new day to try a new food, learn a new health tip, walk a little further and maybe even explore a new place.

Here is a list of 7 suggested changes for this upcoming first week of March. Use it as a sort of checklist and try each one out. Think fun...think healthy family...think focus :) . It's a new month and remember, anything can change and happen for the better health of your family.


Monday: Eat Breakfast! It is National Breakfast week and breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Tuesday: Stretch for 5 minutes before you leave the house. Take this break to reflect on the important events of the week. 
Wednesday:  Try a beet today. Seriously, did you know that beets have incredible anti-inflammatory benefits for the body? Boil them, bake them or roast them. Top with a small amount of olive oil and sea salt. You can also mash them in to potatoes and make pink potatoes! The kids will love it.
Thursday: Do 10 jumping jacks and 10 push ups before you shower. Just a little reminder about how you can squeeze a quick workout in a small amount of time. My son Jackson loves to do jumping jacks so involve the kids they will think it is fun.
Friday: Go for a family walk to wind down from the week. When you return make sure and drink water to stay hydrated.
Saturday: When you grocery shop let your child pick out a new food. Preferably a new fruit or vegetable to try.
Sunday: Enjoy a family dinner! Have the kids help prepare the food, wash the vegetables or set the table. You can even include some of those new foods they picked out yesterday at the grocery store. If you need new recipe ideas and more planning strategies order our Take Out Recipes- Healthy Kids Edition to get you on the right track! Click here to check it out.


This week we launch a new series of snacks through kids eyes! We wanted to visually express nutrition this month and show schools and parents easy and healthy snack ideas. If you do not have our newsletter visit our website: www.ABCDEatRight.com .

Finding success after failure- fueling up healthy kids

Healthy kids have many things to consider when sitting down for a meal. They may be thinking about the last fast food commercial they saw, the fun snack in their friends lunch, or the fight that you had with them to make them more familiar with a healthy vegetable.

Here are some things to remember that will keep you away from the food police stigma:

1. Don't fantasasize about how your kids should eat, make it happen by leading by example. If you want Felicia to eat her greens then make sure you are eating them.
2. Keep focused and expose a child to that green vegetable or that fancy fruit atleast ten times. It might take this long before they finally accept it.
3. Forget about the fairy tale stories your friends(or family) may tell you about how little Freddy eats all his brussel sprouts and broccoli without a complaint. The mission is to expose them to a healthy lifestyle and to try and lead by example. It is a daily test and some days we fail and most days we succeed. It's important to not focus on the failures, per se, such a daunting word, but the successes. Did they atleast glance at the fancy feast without rolling their eyes? Then that is a small success. Good luck!

Fabulous! It is still F week at ABCD Eat Right. Blog with us and visit our website to sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter at www.ABCDEatRight.com

Eating disorders and nutrition for kids

Nutrition for kids is a huge topic. It carries us from breastfeeding babies to childhood obesity, food allergies, chronic diseases, failure to thrive and eating disorders. The week of February 26- March 3 is recognized as National Eating Disorder week in our country. It is a time to bring recognition to a disease that is prevalent in our thriving country.

The statistics for children aged 8-15 years old is relatively low- approximately 0.1% of children are considered to have an eating disorder. Females are more likely to have an eating disorder but there are many males that also fight the disorder.

An eating disorder is defined by extreme change in eating habits. Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating disorders.

The good news is that eating disorders are treatable with the help of psychotherapy, nutrition counseling and medical care and monitoring.

If you think a child might have an eating disorder it is important to seek professional advice and intervention. Discuss the situation with your pediatrician who can then refer you to the proper channels of mental health and nutritional counseling.

Don't forget to sign up for our free weekly newsletter at www.ABCDEatRight.com .We will continue the ABC's of Nutrition series until March where we will have visual surprises for you in our kid, parent and teacher friendly newsletter!

Exercise..an important part of kids health

What goes along with kids health? Healthy diets for kids and healthy foods for kids are just the beginning. Getting at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week is important for the overall health of a child. The physical as well as mental and emotional aspects of health.

In a world that is gravitating towards indoor activities there are still ways to get moving.
If you have a Wii or other game box look into their sports and dance games. These are a fun and interactive way to get moving.

An online computer resource with short videos attached to incentives is an online site called www.GetSweaty.com. This program is designed for the school or home setting.

Join an organized sports team, dance class or tumbling class. Community centers are a good place to start for less expensive programs.

Once a child gets into elementary school they may only have physical education once every 3 days, if they are lucky. Some schools no longer have a physical education component. In order to help your school get moving more form a wellness committee and look into the guidelines provided by www.letsmove.gov to give you more ideas.

Even the little ones will benefit from exercise so make it a point to get moving to stay healthy!

Don't miss a letter in ABCD Eat Right's ABC's of Nutrition series.

Sign up for the free weekly e-newsletter at www.abcdeatright.com

Healthy Breakfast for Kids

I am always seeking out new ideas for a healthy start to the day. This week, in ABCD Eat Right's Newsletter, we focus on the importance of breakfast for a child. Breakfast keeps a child's mind focused and has been shown to improve their academic performance. Now that being said, not all breakfast choices are alike. Sticking with a protein, whole grain and lean meat or low fat dairy is a great choice to start the day off right.
This week I tried a new addition to the breakfast routine: Quinoa. This pseudo-grain has made a big buzz around our house lately and I have tried to include it in many dishes (you may have seen the quinoa crusted fish last week). I like it because its full of protein, vitamins, iron and fiber.

Here is what I made:

1/2 cup cooked quinoa ( I made about 2 cups at the beginning of the week in order to use it throughout the week)
1/2 cup granola
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt with honey
1/4 cup blueberries

I heated up the quinoa, granola and blueberries then added the yogurt. Blended and ate. Delicious.

Bento Box Basics

The traditional meaning of the word Bento comes from the Japanese culture meaning: a single portion takeout or home packed meal. Traditional bento's include rice, meat or fish, and a pickled or cooked vegetable. The root of Bento means convenience. Something all parents strive to find!

The goal of a bento box is to provide a healthy lunch full of nutritious foods separated in appropriate portion sizes. When packing a bento box the focus should be on protein and whole grain rich foods as the main course. Fruits and vegetables should serve as compliments surrounding the protein and whole grain. Foods that are included in a bento box should be foods that are safe to eat at room temperature and do not require refrigeration. Whether you are looking for a new adventure in the lunch world check out a bento box. The concepts of a bento box are simple but full of bountiful imagination of culinary delights and can also provide a great presentation for leftovers!

For additional information on where to buy bento box supplies can be found on the Just Bento.com website.

I have seen Bento Box's but have often felt intimidated by them. All of those little squares to fill up made it hard for me to think outside the "bento" box per se. I do like the organization of a bento box and the reusable aspect of the box. After doing research for this week's newsletter I have been motivated to try some of the bento box recipes that I found on line and introduce some of the fun characters to the kids. Albeit some of the bento box recipes can be time consuming they were super cute. Check out the recipes at Parenting for more inspiration.

What do you like to put in your child's bento box?

Breakfast battles

This morning my son requested a smoothie for breakfast. I was in a hurry to get out the door and felt that adding a mango to a smoothie took too much time. I then realized that I was not going to win the battle of the mango and that this fruit was very important to my son and he was not going to budge until he got a mango in his smoothie. As I retreated, I began to realize that I was being a bit harsh and that the 2 minutes extra that it would take to peel and dice the mango was really a minute point. Sometimes being in a hurry can decrease the nutrients that our kids receive. We are going to start Kindergarten soon and I guess there will be many mornings that I may have a small battle. Maybe the best bet will be to plan ahead. In the end I am excited that he had to have one of the healthiest fruits out there. It could be worse...he could want MacDonald's.