Celebrate National Nutrition Month by Eating the Rainbow … and a Giveaway! (Podcast #136)

by The Meal Makeover Moms on March 2nd, 2011

March is National Nutrition Month (NNM), and this year’s theme is Eat Right with Color.  To show our readers and listeners some new ways to do that, we invited fellow dietitian Melissa Halas-Liang to join us on this week’s Cooking with the Moms. Melissa is a mom, so she understands the importance of good nutrition for kids. Her passion for feeding families comes across in a big way on her website, Super Kids Nutrition, where Melissa showcases an adorable team of cartoon kids called the Super Crew who get super powers from eating a colorful array of healthy foods.

We’re especially fond of Super Baby Abigail who gets her x-ray vision, super smarts, and ability to fly from all colors of healthy foods  … and we adore Andy whose craving for healthy orange foods fuels his love of sports and the great outdoors. Visit the site with your kids and see which characters pique their interest!

We caught up with Melissa via Skype for a lesson on phytochemicals. When Melissa talks to kids, she refers to these natural compounds found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, herbs, and spices as “fight-o-chemicals.” They protect plants from pollution, the elements, predators, etc., and when we eat them, we’re protected too … from heart disease, certain cancers, memory loss, and diseases associated with aging.  She also shared many of her creative tips for getting kids to eat more color.

Here are just a few of the highlights from our show:

> To increase the color of your family’s diet, Melissa suggests the following:
* Plant a garden. While that may be a bit tough right now in New England, kids everywhere can certainly start planting seeds next month.
* Start Meatless Monday in your home to encourage everyone to try new recipes, colors, and textures.
* Use her Super Food Colorful Food Tracker where kids get to fill in tiny hearts every time they eat a different color.

> If your child shuns vegetables, fruit can certainly serve as a stand in, but never give up on vegetables!
* Have your child find a new vegetable to try at the supermarket.
* Tweak your usual veggie recipes and textures to see if your mini changes spark your child’s taste buds.
* Try less familiar vegetables (perhaps jicama, celery, or sugar snap peas) to ignite your child’s veggie curiosity.

> Melissa is the author of two books, Super Baby Abigail’s Lunchtime Adventure and Havoc at the Hillside Market with the Super Crew® and she’s offering one lucky winner the chance to win both books.

TO ENTER OUR LATEST GIVEAWAY for Melissa’s books, post a comment on our blog (or Facebook) with your best tip for adding more color to your family’s diet. Whether it’s a clever strategy for weaving more beans into your weekly menus or a recent success with a new vegetable, we’d love to hear from you. We will enter you into the giveaway a second, third, and/or fourth time if you …

* Subscribe to our RSS feed
* Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post
* “Like” us on Facebook and/or share the giveaway news with your Facebook friends with a link back to the post

Please be sure to leave us a new comment every time you do something extra …. and GOOD LUCK!  The giveaway ends on March 18th at noon, and as always we’ll use random.org to pick our winner.

For more blog posts on National Nutrition Month from registered dietitians, visit Nutrition Blog Network.

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23 Comments | Filed Under Beans, Fruits, Giveaways, Grains, Podcast, Vegetables, Vegetarian 

23 Responses to “Celebrate National Nutrition Month by Eating the Rainbow … and a Giveaway! (Podcast #136)”

  1. LeighAnn on March 2nd, 2011

    I have to admit that I do “hide” some fruits and veggies. I don’t do the whole puree thing, but I will shred up a sweet potatoe or carrot for a casserole or add them to hamburgers. I’ve been known to add pumpkin or a mashed up avacado to a chocolate cake recipe. My kids love sweets and I love making them healthy!

  2. Miranda on March 2nd, 2011

    We have taco bar for dinner and my son will try veggies if he gets to decide what to eat.

  3. Miranda on March 3rd, 2011

    I’m a subscriber.

  4. Miranda on March 3rd, 2011

    I like you on facebook.

  5. AmyM on March 3rd, 2011

    If you can put cheese on it and/or put it in a tortilla, my kids will try it and will often keep eating it! We also let them pick out fruits and veggies while we are at Whole Foods.

  6. AmyM on March 3rd, 2011

    I like you on FB!

  7. AmyM on March 3rd, 2011

    And I’m a subscriber!

  8. Margot on March 3rd, 2011

    Thankfully my toddler will eat just about anything at this point. At least she will try anything. Shredded zucchini or carrots are my go-to veggies for adding vitamins to otherwise not so healthy dishes like pizza or Mac & Cheese.

  9. Kris on March 3rd, 2011

    We blend a lot of “secret ingredients” into smoothies with greek yogurt, but my kids almost all fruits and veggies pretty willingly.

  10. Teresa on March 3rd, 2011

    Great show today! I really enjoyed learning about the new website. Printed out the Colorful Tracker, which I am going to use with my kids…I could stand to eat a bit better too!

  11. Teresa on March 3rd, 2011

    I like you on facebook

  12. Teresa on March 3rd, 2011

    I posted a link to your blog on facebook

  13. Melissa M on March 4th, 2011

    My latest way to get color into our diet is smoothies and juicing. My 2-yr old gets a kick out of drinking Green Power Juice, and it’s always fun to drink your purple berry or orange-yellow smoothie.

  14. Jennifer (FitMoms) on March 4th, 2011

    I also “hide” some veggies in our foods, but I also tell the kids “how can we make this chocolate birthday cake for Dad healthy?” And they come up with all sorts of ideas like “let’s add some cucumber!” or “I know! We can put in blueberries!” I must admit we haven’t added the cucumber to the cake yet, but blueberries and chocolate go well together!

  15. Stacey on March 8th, 2011

    My family eats pretty well, though I am always trying to get more veggies in the mix. I love the idea of the rainbow and getting the kids involved. I was pretty proud of tonight’s dinner… chili with three different color beans (white, red, and black) served over a baked potato and a broccoli and corn bake with a bit of cheese. Hmmm… I was missing orange! Thanks!!

  16. Helping America Eat Right | Nutrition Unplugged on March 9th, 2011

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  19. virginie on March 10th, 2011

    I try to make our meals the “French way”, with the different courses (salad, main course with side dish, cheese or yogurt, and fruit). This helps teach restraint (you don’t eat your meal all at once) and offers more than 3 opportunities to have something of a different color.

  20. jen on March 11th, 2011

    I have been sorta sneaky, blending Kale &/or frozen broccoli into smoothies. but once my girls drink it I do tell them “hey, guess what? Mommy put Broccoli in there! you didn’t even notice:)”

  21. jen on March 11th, 2011

    tweeted:)

  22. jen on March 11th, 2011

    posted to facebook
    http://www.facebook.com/people/Jen-Kenderdine-Hartman/557367170#!/profile.php?id=557367170

  23. jen on March 11th, 2011

    http://twitter.com/PeachyTuesday2

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