Month: June 2015

Healthy Start/Départ Santé Partnership Engagement Meeting

‘’And to think that we began this project with about five people.’’ This phrase reflects the substantial development of the Healthy Start/Départ Santé initiative. On Tuesday, June 23, 2015 the HSDS Partnership Engagement Meeting was held at Station 20 West and was attended by over 30 people, who are currently involved in the project. Qualitative data on the impact of this initiative, aimed at increasing physical activity and promoting healthy eating in early learning environments, was presented. There is a growing demand from childcare centres to receive the Healthy Start / Départ Santé training. Comments were presented from different early learning centres demonstrating how they changed the way they operate to include more balanced meals and increase physical activity in their daily routines. The meeting also included various interactive activities during which a number of important themes and objectives emerged, including: Expand the initiative to include minorities (First Nations, Inuit, immigrants, Francophones, etc.) and non-licensed childcare; Aim for more provincial coverage and political representation of the program; Embed the project into Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs at Colleges and Universities to ensure long-term sustainability; Identify ways to better inform, involve and train the parents of young children to make this initiative an integrated lifestyle in the lives of these children, and not just a school activity; Improve online resources to facilitate access and develop an online Healthy Start / Départ Santé training platform (in French and in English). It was interesting to see how all partners were able to collectively work together during the day and energetically share their future visions of this project. A lot of productive work to be done! There is no doubt that all these partners, engaged in one way or another, will lead this project to a higher level in the coming years!

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches

What you need: 1- 1/2 cup of cooked chicken, minced ½ cup of low-fat mayonnaise 1 green onion, chopped finely 1 small celery stalk, minced Salt and pepper to taste Whole-wheat bread slices How to: In a mixer, put in the cooked chicken, celery stalk, green onion, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Reduce the mixture until all the ingredients are finely chopped. Spread the mixture on the bread slices to make the sandwiches. Cut each sandwich into 4 triangles. Put the sandwiches in a Panini grill until the bread turns golden brown. Note: The sandwiches can also be grilled in a regular pan if you do not have a Panini grill.

Chili

What you need: 1 lb ground chicken or turkey 1 green pepper, diced 1 red pepper, diced 1 medium onion, sliced 5-10 mushrooms, sliced 1 can stewing tomatoes (low sodium) Chicken broth (low sodium), to taste 3 tsp. ground cumin 3 tsp. chili powder How to: Cook meat in pot. Add all veggies and cook until tender. Add tomatoes and chicken broth and then the spices. Simmer for 45-60 minutes.   Note: Can also be made in the crock pot.

Miniature Brownies

What you need: 1/3 cup of brown sugar ¼ cup butter 3 oz semisweet chocolate ½ tsp. vanilla 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/3 cup flour 24 chocolate Rosebuds How to: In a saucepan, melt sugar, butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring, until chocolate is just melted.  Remove from heat and let cool for 1 minute. Blend in vanilla and egg; gently fold in flour until blended. Spoon into tiny baking cups. Bake at 350o F in oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Remove from oven; set a Rosebud on top of each. Let cool. Makes 24 brownies Source: The Canadian Living Christmas Book

Meatball and Spaghetti Squash Soup

What you need: For Meatballs 1 slice of whole grain bread, crusts removed and torn into pieces ¼ cup milk 2 lbs (1 kg) ground veal, pork or chicken 2 tsp. dry parsley 2 eggs 2 cloves garlic, crushed with a garlic press or ¼ tsp. dry garlic 2 tsp. paprika Salt and pepper For Soup 2 onions, chopped 1 tbsp. olive oil 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or ½ tsp. dry garlic 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste 5 cups low sodium chicken broth 24 veal meatballs, fresh or frozen 2 cups spaghetti squash cooked and shredded with a fork (about 1/2 squash) 2 cups lightly packed spinach Salt and pepper How to: With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven at 375 degrees. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper. With the rack in the highest position, preheat the oven’s broiler. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds with a spoon. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on its size, or until tender. Let cool. Shred the flesh with a fork. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix the bread with the milk and let soak for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients from the meatballs section and mix well with your hands. Season with salt and pepper. With a small ice cream scoop or with lightly oiled hands, shape each meatball with about 1 tbsp. of the meat mixture. Place on the baking sheet. Grill the meatballs in the oven, one sheet at a time, for about 10 minutes or until cooked and golden brown, stirring halfway through cooking. Set aside. In a large saucepan, brown the onions in the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and meatballs and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the squash and spinach. Bring to a boil and serve. Note: To freeze the remaining meatballs, place them (cooked) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and freeze for about 4 hours or until the meatballs are frozen. Then place the meatballs in sealable freezer plastic bags. Adapted from: http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recipes/5546-meatball-and-spaghetti-squash-soup

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

What you need: ½ cup sugar ½ tsp. vanilla 1 cup mashed pumpkin ½ cup margarine or canola oil 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. cinnamon ¼ tsp. salt 1 cup chocolate chips, almonds and/or raisins How to: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix pumpkin, vanilla and margarine or oil. In a different bowl, mix dry ingredients (including chocolate chips/almonds/raisins). Mix dry ingredients with pumpkin mix. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until light brown and let cool.

Niçoise Salad

What you need: 1lb small potatoes , cooked and chopped 2 cups mesclun or spinach 1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped in half 3 green onions, chopped ¼ cup green olives 1 cup corn 3 eggs, boiled and chopped 1 can tuna Salt & pepper, to taste ¼ cup olive oil ¼ cup balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar 1 garlic clove, chopped 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard Herbs, to taste How to: In a large bowl, mix the potatoes, mesclun, tomatoes, green onions, olives, corn, eggs, and tuna. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a separate bowl, add the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, Dijon mustard, and herbs. Mix well and add to the first bowl as a dressing. Serve immediately after preparing!

Dip for fruit

What you need: ¾ cup Vanilla yogurt ¼ cup Low-fat granola 2 tbsp. Unsweetened, shredded coconut How to: Mix yogurt, granola and coconut together in a bowl. Serves six children *Reference: LEAP Food Flair, Legacies Now, p. 127.

Fruit Kebab

What you need: Choose a variety of ripe, fresh fruit to make into different bite-size shapes, such as: Apple half-circles Banana rounds Cantaloupe or honeydew melon cubes Grape halves Kiwi circles Orange moon shapes Watermelon triangles How to: Remove rinds and make fruit easy for children to cut. Arrange fruit on a small plate and sparkly with cinnamon. Children can spear fruit with a fork. (This is less dangerous than a wooden skewer or toothpick.) *Reference: LEAP Food Flair, Legacies Now, p. 126.

Summer 2015

Check out this month’s Healthy Start Sampler for a feature on active outdoor play, and to learn how to cook fabulous fruit recipes!

Sunrise Early Learning Centre in Weyburn: Working Together Towards Positive Changes

Sunrise Early Learning Centre in Weyburn, Saskatchewan have been very strong proponents of healthy eating since they opened up 9 years ago.  Recently moving into a new space, and opening to the general public, Sunrise ELC has grown and greatly increased the number of children they care for.  Since their expansion, they have had to revamp their menu to be more cost effective.  To do this, the centre utilized 7 or 8 recipes from LEAP Food Flair to use within their 6 week menu rotation.  “Squashy Muffins” (p. 160 in Food Flair) are a favourite of the centre’s children, being noted by staff as “very moist and delicious”.  The centre’s food is all created from scratch, including a variety of ethnic dishes so the children can experience different tastes, textures and flavours from around the world. The Healthy Start resources are well used and have especially come in handy over the winter months.  One educator stated “the (LEAP-HOP) binders are really great because even if you only have a few minutes, you can find a new activity and do it right away”.   Another stated “It (LEAP-HOP) brings your attention to how physical the children are on their own and how easy it is to get them moving…it expands the possibilities.  It gives other alternatives to tag and hide-and-go-seek.” The children are active outdoors, as well as in the school, using the hallways and stairwells to move around when it is cold outside.  Outdoor time is usually free play, but the children enjoy working on their gross motor skills; climbing on pallets donated by Canadian Tire and creating games using recycled tires.  A new favourite is a tunnel that had been taken apart.  The centre was going to get rid of  the long, hollow tunnel, as the children didn’t seem to be using it.   Once taken apart though, the children began using sections of the tunnel in new and creative ways, incorporating the pieces in their play; lifting, rolling and climbing on them. Sunrise Early Learning staff found Healthy Start resources very easy to follow and enjoy its simple and straightforward layout.  One staff commented that “it’s nice they are in point form!  If you don’t have a lot of time, it’s easy to get the information you need”.  The staff also found that even though they had been doing well with Healthy Eating and Physical activity prior to Healthy Start, the training and resources allow them to keep refreshed and focus on their main objective; raising healthy, active children.  They want to let other centres know how easy it is to use the resources and promote active, healthy living in what they do each day.  “You just have to be creative!  Everybody has their own style, but it’s how you work together to work towards the same goal.  Working together as a team, you can definitely make positive changes!”

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