Local Families Appreciate the Garden and Cooking Programs in Mendocino County Schools

Creating opportunities for children to practice healthy habits is at the forefront in Mendocino County. Families are leading the way – planning family meals with their kids, going grocery shopping together, and exchanging ideas with friends who also have busy schedules and/or picky eaters. Schools and community organizations are supporting their efforts and are introducing new ideas by planting and tending school and community gardens, engaging students like Caylin (pictured above) in nutrition education, providing hands-on cooking demonstrations, and of course, incorporating daily physical activity.

Many parents and caregivers know that it can be a struggle getting kids to eat vegetables and to play actively. One new program, BEANS (Better Eating, Activity, and Nutrition for Students), is getting Mendocino County’s kids excited about trying new healthy habits. One local mom, Dawn, says, “It’s about exposure. My daughter gets to go out into the school garden and taste new vegetables; she gets to make and try new recipes with the BEANS program; when she goes to karate class, she hears from Mr. Maldonado how important it is to eat healthy foods – all this exposure from so many sources really makes a difference.”

Many families have been seeing new recipes coming home in their children’s backpacks. BEANS visits local after-school programs every week and is responsible for these take-home lessons – for promoting healthy food choices. BEANS is a grant-funded program of the Network for a Healthy California, administered locally by North Coast Opportunities and the Gardens Project. The BEANS program runs in after-school programs at elementary and middle schools in Fort Bragg, Willits, and Ukiah. Each year, six teens from each community are recruited and trained to be nutrition peer educators. As nutrition peer educators, the teens meet weekly to plan and prepare lessons for the after-school programs. Later in the week, the teens present nutrition lessons, cooking demonstrations, taste-tests, and active games at various elementary school sites throughout the county. The teens are natural role models for elementary school students – and they’re passing on valuable life skills.

Through the BEANS program, students are learning where food comes from, how to prepare meals, and how to make healthy food choices. More often than not, the students then become “teachers” in their own family. They take the lessons learned from gardening and cooking classes at school and push their family to grow or buy new ingredients for the family meal. “The biggest change I’ve seen is when my daughter came home wanting different kinds of lettuce. Before BEANS and the school garden program, she’d never eaten anything other than iceberg lettuce. Also, she loved the taste of the cucumber flavored water she made in the after-school BEANS program – she wanted to make it at home,” says Dawn, “I appreciate the support.”
Dawn acknowledges that getting kids to eat healthy is an ongoing challenge – especially with busy family work and sports schedules. Packing healthy lunches can be difficult when there are a lot of easy-to-grab-and-go items like pre-packaged snack crackers and cheese, go-gurt tubes, chips, and teddy grahams. She shared a few healthy lunch ideas that she’s tried with her kids: veggie straws (a healthy alternative to greasy potato chips… she found them at Costco), clementines, cottage cheese with frozen blueberries, grapes, and almonds.

Preparing a wholesome dinner can also be a challenge for busy families. Dawn suggests a little bit of planning ahead makes all the difference. For instance, in the morning she’ll pack a couple of low-sugar granola bars and waters in her car for the kids to eat as a snack between school and afternoon/evening sports activities. Also, Dawn said, “I use Sundays to prepare food ahead for the week. I’ll cook up some chicken breasts for meals later in the week. I’ll also make a big batch of Bowtie Casserole (see recipe below!) and freeze it so that when we come home late and the kids are hungry, we have a healthy meal ready.”

With all of the challenges that modern families face, it’s great to know that so many individuals, schools, and organizations in Mendocino County are working to promote the health of our children. Healthy families are the building blocks of a healthy county. In the spirit of exchanging and sharing ideas for healthful living, Dawn wanted to share this easy, make-ahead recipe with everyone.

DAWN’S BOWTIE CASSEROLE
1 lb. ground turkey
1 package bowtie pasta
1 package of frozen spinach
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (or she sometimes makes her own)
1 cup grated low-fat mozzarella cheese
Add seasonings to taste

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Remove frozen spinach from its package and thaw in a bowl. Meanwhile, boil pasta according to package instructions. While the pasta is cooking, brown the ground turkey, drain any fat. Squeeze the spinach to remove as much water as possible. Once all ingredients are prepared, layer them into the casserole dish. Begin with 1 cup spaghetti sauce, ½ of the cooked pasta, then ½ of the ground turkey, then ½ of the drained spinach, any seasonings you choose, then ½ cup of grated cheese. Repeat the layers ending with a little extra sauce and ½ cup grated cheese on top. Place casserole in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the casserole is hot all the way through. Serve and enjoy.