Check out this month’s Healthy Start Sampler for pumkin-themed activities and a feature on active household tasks!
Harvest season is here! In honour of this wonderful season, the Healthy Start team has put together a list of some of their favourite fall recipes to help you make the most of the colder and shorter days! Roasted Autumn Harvest Salad (Holly’s Favorite) Ingredients : For Roasted Vegetables 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 8 baby red or golden beets, or 4 medium beets, scrubbed and trimmed 8 shallots, peeled and cut in half if large 4 medium parsnips (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 3-inch lengths (halve the thicker end pieces lengthwise) 6 long carrots, scrubbed well or peeled, halved lengthwise Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves (from 2 sprigs) For Salad 6 cups of salad greens, washed (e.g. spinach, arugula, etc.) Shallot Vinaigrette (you’ll have some leftovers) 3 tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard 1 tsp. minced shallot Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil Instructions: Roast beets: Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place beets on a parchment-lined piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Wrap in foil and bake until beets are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 30 to 45 minutes for baby beets and up to 1 1/4 hour for larger beets. Let stand until cool enough to handle, then rub off skins with paper towels. Cut beets in half (or into quarters or sixths if large). Meanwhile, roast shallots, parsnips, and carrots: Toss shallots, parsnips, and carrots in a large bowl with remaining 3 tbsp. oil, then season with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with rosemary, tossing to coat. Roast until tender and golden, turning vegetables over once, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Mix ingredients for vinaigrette together in a medium bowl. Toss parsnips, carrots, and shallots with 2 tbsp. vinaigrette in a separate bowl. Toss beets with 1 tbsp. vinaigrette in another bowl (to prevent their color from bleeding). Compose salad and serve: Line a serving platter with greens, lightly drizzle 1 tbsp. on top of greens and arrange vegetables on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Serve salad immediately. Adapted from: http://www.marthastewart.com/334909/roasted-autumn-harvest-salad Kutia (Stephanie’s Favourite) Ingredients: 2 cups wheat 3 qts. water 1 cup poppy seed 1/3 cup honey, dissolved in ¼ cup of hot water ½ cup of chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans Instructions: Dry wheat in 250 degrees oven for 1 hour, stir occasionally. Wash and soak in cold water overnight. Next morning, bring wheat to a boiling point and simmer for 3-4 hours, until kernels burst open. Scald poppy seed, simmer for 3-5 minutes. Drain, grind twice using the finest blade of food chopper. Set aside. Combine honey in hot water. Set aside. Before serving, add sweetened mixture, poppy seed and nuts to cooled, boiled wheat. Molasses Cookies (Marie-Lynne’s Favorite) Ingredients: 2 tbsp. ground flax 1 egg white 1 banana 1 cup whole-wheat flour 1 cup oats (not instant) 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. baking soda Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flax and egg white in a bowl. Set aside. Using a fork mash banana in a bowl. Add flour and oats. Mix well. Add flax mixture and molasses, mixing until everything is combined. Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring well. Scoop out rounded spoonfuls of batter onto a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Makes 20 cookies Adapted from: http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/healthy-recipes/10-healthy-cookie-recipes-fall Meatless Borsch (Stephanie’s Favourite) Ingredients: 3 beets (size of an orange), cut into thin strips 1 carrot, diced 8 cups of water 1 medium potato, diced 2 tbsp. lemon juice ½ cup string beans, green peas, or white beans 1 large onion, sliced 3 tbsp. butter 1 ½ cup cabbage, shredded 1 cup tomato juice or tomato soup ½ cup water, cold 2 tbsp. dill, chopped Instructions: Cook beets and carrot in water for 20 minutes. Add potatoes, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add lemon juice (keeps red colour in beets). Add beans or peas. Simmer until tender. Sauté onion in butter until soft. Add cabbage to onions with ¼ cup of water, simmer until cabbage is tender. Stir into the beets. Add tomato juice or soup. Add dill for added flavour. Bring to a boil. Serves 15. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gabrielle’s Favorite) Ingredients: 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 Instructions: 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. Chickpeas and Cauliflower Curry (Allysha’s Favorite) Ingredients: 3 tbsp. canola oil 1 small onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tbsp. curry powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. paprika ½ tsp cayenne pepper 1 bay leaf ½ tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. granulated sugar ¼ tsp. salt 1 can (19 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained 1 small cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces 1 cup frozen green peas ¾ cup low sodium vegetable broth ¾ cup coconut milk 10 spring cilantro, chopped Instructions: In a large skillet, heat canola oil. Add onion and garlic and sauté until they start to brown. Stir in curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, cayenne pepper, bay leaf, ginger, sugar, and salt. Stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add chickpeas, cauliflower, and peas. Stir in broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf. Garnish with cilantro and serve. Adapted from: http://www.pulsecanada.com/food-health/recipes/recipes?mode=details&recipe=111 Meatball and Spaghetti Squash …
‘I do my best thinking while I am physically active.’ – Dr. Louise Humbert, Associate Dean, College of Kinesiology Early Learning Child Care Educators play a significant role in teaching children physical literacy at a young age. Their purpose is to help kids understand how to move. This enables the children to be better equipped at choosing to be physically active throughout the rest of their lives. During the second morning session of the Healthy Start / Départ Santé (HSDS) September Team Training, Dr. Louise Humbert introduced the Saskatchewan and New Brunswick team to physical literacy, a field of research pioneered by Dr. Margaret Whitehead. There are three main ideas associated with physical literacy. Firstly, one must begin with the motivation to be active. This can include sport but is not exclusively limited to sport. There is a desire to move within us all. We need to encourage and develop confidence and competence around movement. One of the easiest examples of this is for people to start moving by walking as there are little to no barriers to entry for this. Secondly, children need to have the right skills for movement on land, air, and water in order to open up a lifetime of movement. This foundation of physical literacy is comparable to learning one’s A-B-Cs or Do-Re-Mis. Once children have been exposed and are fluent in the alphabet of physical movement, their vocabulary for exercise, sport, and wellness increases substantially. The last component is making the continuous choices to be physically active. The desired outcome is for kids to have the confidence and competence to be physically active for all their years. Other topics covered in Dr. Louise Humbert’s presentation were the testing of gross motors skills in 3-5 year olds using the TGMD2 tool, implementing the tool in HSDS data collection, as well as the introduction of key concepts to the Project and Knowledge Development & Exchange (KDE) Coordinators.
Check out this month’s Healthy Start Sampler to discover a new autumn recipe, to read a feature on active transportation . . . and more!
In the past few weeks, three new people have joined the Healthy Start/ Départ Santé team in Saskatchewan : Marie-Lynne Gaudet is the new Healthy Start Project Coordinator. She will be working with Allysha Larsen in the implementation of the program and in training early learning child care centres in Saskatchewan. She has a Bachelor of Kinesiology degree from the University of Saskatchewan. While completing her studies, she gained experience working with university athletes and the public. Marie-Lynne can be contacted at [email protected] and at 306-653-7454. Holly Hallikainen joined Healthy Start in late August 2014 as the Evaluation Coordinator. She will be spending the majority of her time working at the University of Saskatchewan organizing the evaluation research team, comprised of members from Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. Holly is a Registered Dietician and has a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from the University of Saskatchewan. She is in the process of obtaining her Master of Public Health from the University of Victoria. Before joining Healthy Start she worked as a public health dietician with Northern communities in Saskatchewan. Holly can be contacted at [email protected] or at 306-966-7943. Stephanie Ortynsky has recently started as the new Knowledge Development and Exchange Coordinator for Healthy Start. She will be coordinating the project’s Knowledge Development and Exchange Committee and disseminating research findings to stakeholders. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Master of Public Health both from the University of Saskatchewan. She comes to the team with diverse experience in public health, marketing communications and strategic planning. She can be contacted at [email protected] or 306-260-2592. The Healthy Start team would like to extend a warm welcome to its newest members!
For some, the end of summer marks the end of vacation, and for others, returning to school. In the case of the Healthy Start/ Départ Santé team, it’s time to say goodbye to two of our summer students, Nam Nguyen and Karine Ntihinyuka. Coming to Saskatchewan with the program Young Canada Works, it is with a working knowledge of both official languages that the two young students will go back to their respective provinces, Nam to Manitoba and Karine to Québec. Indeed, their time at the Healthy Start/Départ Santé office has allowed them to experience different aspects of the project, like assembling the APE kits, collecting data, translating different texts, etc. Their contributions did not stop there, they organised activities for Réseau Santé en français de la Saskatchewan (the Healthy Start sponsoring organization) for the Fête fransaskoise (treasure hunt and bike ride). The team wishes them the best of luck on returning to their studies.
It is with sadness that the Healthy Start Team/Départ Santé said good bye to three of their employees this past week. Sarah Gaudet (Project Coordinator), who has been with Healthy Start since April 2013, Jeff Graham (Knowledge, Development and Exchange Coordinator) and Margot Gough (Evaluation Coordinator), who have both joined the team in early 2014. They have left to pursue new academic challenges and/or professions. These three individuals, through their work have contributed greatly to the Healthy Start Project with their enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism. The team wishes them the best of luck on their future endeavours.
The following article has been submitted by a local parent and is a firsthand account of Healthy Start in action at home. For further information regarding best practices for healthy lifestyles in a family setting, please contact us at [email protected] or at 1-855-653-7454. My husband and I work full time and are parents to a 4 year old boy and 3 year old girl. Our supper meals had evolved into a stressful event. It was a rush to get home and get a healthy meal on the table and our 4 year old boy had become increasingly picky. He is also very slight so we started to think, well if he would eat anything that would be good. Our 3 year old girl was a better eater. We found ourselves slipping into some bad habits unknowingly. We compared the two children out loud such as, “Oh, look how much your sister has eaten.” And started treating food like a punishment and reward such as, “If you have one bite of broccoli then you can have dessert.” The nights we didn’t feel like fighting over food, we would make two meals (one for the kids and one for the parents) – as if getting one meal on the table wasn’t enough work! A friend of mine forwarded me some mealtime hints from Healthy Start and we implemented some changes immediately. We recognized our mistakes, such as treating meal time like a performance or a punishment/reward. We learned how children need to be introduced to food several times before they develop a taste for it. We also learned how to prepare a no-fail meal. We started building meals that included at least one item that we were pretty certain the kids would eat and a rule that you have to try everything. When we remember, we try to put the food on the table and let the kids dish up themselves. We learned to not spoil their appetites with milk and pre-supper snacks. If the kids are very hungry and supper isn’t ready – we put out a plate of fresh veggies. I didn’t realize how far we had come until I mentioned we were having tacos for “Cinco de Mayo” and my neighbor asked, “Your kids will eat that?!” In my head I was thinking, of course they will. We had prepared taco meat, salad, fresh peppers, and cheese quesadillas. The kids were guaranteed to like at least some part of that meal! Don’t get me wrong, there is still a loud cheer when we declare we’re making pizza or macaroni and cheese for supper, but there has been a huge improvement in their palettes and lower stress at meal times. I’m grateful for this information and the suppers we share as a family.
Barbecue season is here! In honour of the season, the Healthy Start team has put together a list of some of their favourite summer recipes to help you make the most of the summer months!
Burkey Turgers (Sarah’s Favourite)
Ingredients:
Check out the summer edition of the Healthy Start Sampler for a feature on how to play Bubble Chase with the kids, to discover a new summer recipe (Black Beans & Corn Summer Salad)…and more!
The children love to get moving! We have been learning the Fundamental Movement Skills (from HOP). The children love to push themselves to try new things, which also gives us educators more motivation to learn, teach, and show new movements. ~Jessica, Kinder Kollege, Kindersley, SK
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