Enjoy Summer Garden Bounty

It is summer time and I am thinking about foods that we find plentiful in the garden. Sweet corn here in Iowa is something to treasure. Our gardens are also bountiful with tomatoes; lettuce; squash; beets; potatoes and so much more! Harvesting each of these delicacies and finding delicious ways to prepare them, may be more challenging for us! Do your children find the foods I just mentioned, appealing? If not, it may be because they are foods that have not been on the dinner plate lately!

Introducing new vegetables, especially when in season, is one way to help children learn to enjoy and consume these healthy foods. I want to encourage you to take a peek at our Spend Smart Eat Smart website! This site is full of delicious recipes your family will want to try! In addition to recipes, this website features videos and information to help you when you are shopping, including unit pricing!

We have even launched an APP – for Spend Smart Eat Smart, so that you can access the site from your smart phone, while you are grocery shopping for your family. Happy eating to you and your family this summer!

Barb Dunn Swanson

With two earned degrees from Iowa State University, Barb is a Human Sciences Specialist utilizing her experience working alongside communities to develop strong youth and families! With humor and compassion, she enjoys teaching, listening and learning to learn!

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How About a Pizza Garden?

girl gardeningDid you know that according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, the average American child spends 44 hours per week staring at some sort of electronic screen? Limiting screen time is a great idea, but having an alternate activity to take its place is essential. Consider getting kids up and outdoors, and into the garden.

Families can plant a variety of gardens including vegetable; container, butterfly; flower; or herb garden to name a few. School gardens are popular and children who have some experience at home, with planting seeds, or watering and weeding a garden can return to school with skills that will be an asset to their school garden.

Have you seen a “pizza garden”? Why not plan for a pizza garden that would include planting many of the yummy ingredients on a pizza, including peppers; spinach; basil, tomatoes, onions, and more! Check out this resource for a healthy pizza garden:

Pizza Garden

Check out the Spend Smart Eat Smart website for a variety of recipes that use fresh vegetables. Sometimes all we need is a new recipe and some bounty from the garden, to prove we can cook and eat healthy and enjoy the garden as a family.

Link to Spend Smart Eat Smart

 

Barb Dunn Swanson

With two earned degrees from Iowa State University, Barb is a Human Sciences Specialist utilizing her experience working alongside communities to develop strong youth and families! With humor and compassion, she enjoys teaching, listening and learning to learn!

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