Live Healthy America- India!

It was so great to teach the students about India!  They knew where India was located on the globe and already knew a few facts about it!  We learned about spices and that they are very important in Indian cuisine.  They are used to flavor and help preserve food.  Three common spices for Indian cuisine are cinnamon, cumin and chili powder.  Cinnamon is a spice made from the bark of the Cinnamomum Verum trees.  Some people in this culture may chew on cumin seeds to help with digestion.  Chili powder is made from ground peppers and other spices.  Traditional ingredients are spinach, sweet potatoes, onions, chickpeas, and naan.  Spinach is rich in nutrients and provides our body with a lot of vitamins including A, B, C, and E.  Chickpeas are legumes and are sometimes called garbanzo beans.  India grows more chickpeas than any other country.  Naan is a flat bread that is traditionally cooked in a clay oven.  Here is the recipe we made!

Volunteer of the Month!

I opened my email the other day to read the Live Healthy America/ Appalachia newsletter and saw my face!  I was so puzzled and then noticed there was a paragraph by my picture!  After I had read it and saw that I was recognized as the volunteer of the month, I was so greatful!  This is something they have never recognized!  I am so glad that my work does not go unnoticed and that I am making a difference in peoples lives!

Live Healthy America- Gardening!

Today in my Live Healthy America class our lesson was on gardening! Every student said this was their favorite lesson so far this year! We learned that it is a good option to grow your own garden because it is inexpensive, easily accessible and organic!  This way you can get fresh fruits and veggies right from your yard or community garden plot and not have to buy fruits and veggies that have been on a truck for thousands of miles with chemicals and additives on them.  We learned about the different types of gardens which include a raised bed, square foot, or container garden.  There are also community gardens and backyard gardens.  Community gardens are ideal for people who have little land on their property, or live in an apartment or condo. 

The recipe that we made was a Tofu Ranch dressing.  We cut up cucumbers, carrots, peppers, and beets to put on our salad along with the dressing.  All of the students loved how colorful their salads looked and thought it had an amazing taste! Here is the recipe below.

Top 10 Fitness Tips

Looking to shape up and slim down? Good health and well-being are achieveable with a plan.  Read my top 10 fitness tips and start your plan on the road to being healthy!

1.  Set Goals: Goals should be SMART goals.  SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.  Answer these quetions to create your SMART goal:
     - What do you want to get out of your exercise routine?
     - What is the best way to measure your progress?
     - Do you have an attitude geared towards success?
     - Is your goal something you believe is possible?
     - When would you like to accomplish your goal?

2.  Track Progress:  Plan each workout and record your results each week.  It may also be helpful to record the exercises performed, repititions and how you felt before and after you exercised.

3.  Add Variety: You need a variety of veggies and fruit in your diet, and the same goes for exercise.  Set specific days for different muscle groups and change intensity.

4.  Get Moving:  Cardio excercise improves heart health, reduces stress, improves sleep, increases energy, and is great for weight management.  Aim for 20 to 25 minutes of cardio most days of the week.

5.  Strength Train:  Use free weights, weight machines or your own body weight.  This will build muscle, increase bone density and burn calories and fat.

6.  Warm up/ Cool down:  Warm-ups are designed to increase body temperature and heart rate, and to prepare the body for injury free movement.  Cool downs help stretch the body to increase flexibility and decrease muscle soreness. 

7.  Rest and Recover:  Try and get 7-8 hours of sleep per night.  Sleep gives you calorie- free energy.

8.  Have Fun:  Exercise with a buddy.  Choose fun activities like biking, hiking or dancing!

9.  Eat Healthy: In your diet be sure to include fruit, veggies, whole grains, lowfat or fat-free dairy, lean proteins and healthy fats.  This will keep energy steady through the day and will help to prevent overeating. 

10.  Stay Hydrated:  Water regulares body temperature, lubricates joints, and transports nutrients and waste throughout the body.  For intense exercise lasting more than 60 minutes, include an electrolyte replacement such as vitamin water or coconut water. 


some things referenced from healthy living naturally

10 Quick Trail Mixes!

Since there is no Live Healthy America class this week for my students because of my spring break, I figured I would share these healthy trail mix recipes with you!  Making these are great for children's lunches and a good snack if you are on the run!  My favorite is the cheese 'n apples recipe! Try these and find out which is your favorite!

Credit: Easy Meals Healthy Families

Live Healthy America- Russia!

This past week my Live Healthy America class learned about Russia!  The students were so excited because they knew that Russia was a huge country.  We learned that we were going to make a Russian Borscht which is a very popular dish in Russia and it is eaten by people of every age.  Beets are an ingredient in borscht and are very nutritious and rich in vitamin C.  Cabbage is another main ingredient in borscht.  Cabbage comes in many colors including red, purple and green.  Potatoes are a main ingredient in borscht and are grown in over 125 countries around the world.  We learned about russian traditions.  Matryoshka dolls are a series of hand painted wooden dolls.  The largest contains the next in size which in turns opens to reveal the next and so forth.  Usually a set contains six dolls but can contain up to 30!

To prep for making the borscht, the students chopped the cabbage into bite size pieces, tore the chives into small pieces, measured out 1 tablespoon red win vinegar and measured out 1/2 teaspoon thyme.  We let our borscht cook and the students said how it smelled amazing!  Everyone was able to try a cup of the soup and we had leftovers and students requested to take it home for their families!  It was so great to see them have another good time with this class that I teach!

Here is our recipe!

10 Healthy Smoothie Recipes!

Sometimes I find myself craving a smoothie or milkshake and then I remember that those have 500 calories on average!  I found these 10 different healthy smoothie recipes and thought they were amazing!  My favorite is the chocolate and peanut butter smoothie. Try these and find out your favorite!

Taken from: Easy meals healthy families by Meijer

Live Healthy America Class- Ethiopia!

In class this past Wednesday, we learned about Ethiopia!  In this lesson we make Wat and tried Injera.  This is a traditional food from Ethiopia.  First we started out by preparing the food and then while it cooked we learned about the country!  Students started out by chopping the carrots, tearing the chard leaves, chopping the chard stems, chopping the celery, grating the ginger, and crushing the garlic.  After all the food was prepped, we went over a power point on Ethiopia!

We learned about the geography.  I explained to them that this country is landlocked.  That means it does not touch any major bodies of water.  We also went over traditional Ethiopian food like lentils and injera.  Lentils are legumes that come in many different colors and injers is a traditional large spongy pancake made of teff flour and water.  Injera is served with all kinds of dishes on any occasion and eaten with the fingers.  Some traditional Ethiopian spices are paprika and tumeric.  There are more than 70 languages spoken in Ethiopia and one of the official languages is Amharic.  People in Ethiopia prefer to eat with their hands because they say it gives you a more personal connection with your food.

Attached here is the recipe we used to make the Ethiopian food!  Enjoy!

Live Healthy America Class- Italy!

Yesterday our Live Healthy America class was on Italy! The students were super excited to learn about Italy since it was a country they were very familiar with.  We learned that Italy is a peninsula, which is a body of land surrounded by water on 3 sides.  We also learned that the Alps are the mountains in northern Italy.  In italy they eat traditional Italian food and the students have personally eaten many of these foods before!  We learned about Venice transportation and that there are no cars or trucks in Venice!  They use boats to do everything incluidng construction and trash pickup.  Gondolas are a fancy way to travel in the canals.  Lastly, we learned about italian cooking tools like a pasta drying rack, pasta maker, and a tomato press used as an aid in making sauce. 

The recipe that we made was called extra-ordinary eggplant.  The students got to mix the wet and dry ingredients.  We dipped our eggplant slices in the wet first and then the dry bread crumbs.  I explained to them that you have wet ingredients so the dry ingredients stick to the eggplant!  I have attached the recipe below so you can make it yourself!

I have also added a picture of some of the students in my class! You can see our eggplant pieces in front of us as they are ready to cook! :)

Live Healthy America Class Starting Up Again!

Now that school is back in session and winter break is over Live Healthy America is now back in full swing until the end of April!  I will still be teaching my special needs class every Monday.  For the next few months we will be learning about different cultures and their healthy food from around the globe.  This past week we learned about the American South.  We went over on a map of the United States the states that make up the American South and then did a work sheet on it.  We learned about traditional southern foods like okra which has many names including Lady's Fingers and is often used to thicken stews.  We also learned about collard greens which are the official leafy green of South Carolina.  The other traditional southern food we learned about were black eyed peas which are traiditionally eaten on New Year's Eve for good luck. 

The recipe that we made in class was called Soul Stew. With all of the vegetables in this dish, it is very very healthy!  All of the students loved it and many students had tobasco sauce for the first time!  The students told me they had missed our lessons over break and were very eager to cut up and prepare our delicious meal.  I have attached below a picture of the recipe so you can make Soul Stew yourself! 

Here are two of my star students, Jessie and Sarah working hard to prepare food in our Live Healthy America class!