Eat the rainbow, taste the rainbow

When it comes to starting a healthy lifestyle, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is a great way to start. Colorful fruits and vegetables provide a wide range of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals your body needs for a variety of things. For example, reducing your risk of heart disease and cancer. So put those skittles down! The new saying is: “eat the rainbow, taste the rainbow…fruits and vegetables! ”

This week we wanted to really introduce a colorful diet to the kids so we gave out, red cherries, orange baby carrots, and green snap peas. The cups looked beautiful with all the colors mixed together! The children really enjoyed all the fruits and vegetables this week and this was the first time that I only got one or two complaints from the kids on what they were getting. I always have those one or two kids that are afraid to try the fruit or vegetable of the week but, I always can convince them to at least take a bite. With their 8 oz. water bottles in hand (each kid gets one for free every week courtesy of Nestle) and their fruit and veggie cup in the other, it was a great site to see all the kids sit down in the shade to enjoy their “taste of the rainbow.”

A fully loaded truck!

Cherries!

According to EatingWell.com, cherries contain a good amount of potassium which helps ease muscle soreness and lower blood pressure. Also, sweet cherries are rich in beta carotene, vitamin C, anthocyanins (remember these were in blueberries) and quercetin, which may work together synergistically to fight cancer, how awesome?! It is really easy to incorporate cherries into your diet. I like to add them to my smoothies and salads. Check out this delicious and simple smoothie recipe that this blogger created on their website called “Simple Daily Recipes:” http://simpledailyrecipes.com/97256/cashew-smoothie-with-spinach-and-cherries/ This blogger took an interesting combination of healthy foods to create a tasty treat!

Lessons with your child:

For dessert one night on a rainy day, make fruit kabobs! Buy skewers and red, orange, yellow, green, blue/indigo, and violet fruits. Cut them up into small pieces and place them in that color order on the sticks, to resemble a rainbow. Teach your child about the color spectrum, how healthy it is to eat colorful fruits and veggies. Your child will love to make an artsy dessert that tastes sweet along with learning about the rainbow. Maybe you will be lucky enough to catch a beautiful rainbow outside!

Taken from Happy Home Fairy wordpress. com blogger