JSA Garden

Super Snack Lady has been very busy helping Johnson School of the Arts to put in a garden at the church behind their school.  Yesterday 10 Target volunteers along with Super Snack Lady and Garden Enrichment students got the garden mulched, the fence up, and the whole garden planted!  WOW!  Check out the photos below to see before, during, and after photos from the garden space!

Here is the "garden" way back in February. 

Here is the "garden" after our work day in
early April when we put all of the compost on the
beds.

Here is the GARDEN now that it's been planted,
mulched, and fenced in!!!

 

What Exactly Can We Do With Spinach?

As some students have found out we are having SPINACH for the month of May in Super Snack Lady's school visits.  SSL often gets the question of: "What do you eat spinach in other than salads?"  Well, it can be cooked and eaten or put in lasagna or even as a pizza topping but otherwise you normally eat it raw.  

Some of you might have heard about this craze called "Green Smoothies" that a lot of people are drinking.  The main ingredient is SPINACH! The thing about making a green smoothie is that you still get all of the healthy benefits of the spinach but can't taste it at all.  When making smoothies with spinach you have to remember back to your elementary art class days and remember if you mix specific colors together that you'll get another color.  For example: 
green spinach + red berries (strawberries, raspberries, etc) = brown colored smoothie
green spinach + light colored fruits (apples, pineapple, etc) = a green colored smoothie!

Recently Super Snack Lady tried to make a green smoothie at home.  Below are pictures of what it ended up looking like along with the recipe!

Everything was in the blender and ready
to go!  Spinach, pineapple, apple, tomato,
banana, and a splash of water.

Half way blended but before the spinach
got in there and made it green.

The finished product!

What exactly did Super Snack Lady put in her smoothie?
2 large handfuls of spinach
1 cup of fresh pineapple
1 apple
1 tomato
1 banana
1/4 cup of water

Blend in a blender, drink, and ENJOY!

May's Fruit and Veggie (and a mystery snack!)

Can you believe that it's already May?!  Not to mention that this will be the last month of Super Snack Lady visits until next school year.  Super Snack Lady has had a very fun and exciting school year and has really enjoyed getting to know all of you! 

Check out the photos below for a hint on the fruit and veggie for this month!

This leafy green vegetable is great in salads.
It can also be added to smoothies for a
big kick of Vitamin A and Vitamin C!

This yummy spring and summer fruit
is perfect to eat plain.  It has it's seeds
on the outside of it.  How unique!

This month Super Snack Lady
will be discussing milk products
along with the normal fruit and veggie.
This is perfect to pair up with
the fruit of the month.  Any
guesses on what it is?

The Adventures of Flat Super Snack Lady Continue!

While the real Super Snack Lady has been very busy with school visits, gardens, and other projects the Flat Super Snack Lady has been busy jet setting all across the United States catching people being healthy and active.  Look below for tons of photos showing where Flat Super Snack Lady has been over the last couple months!

Here, Flat Super Snack Lady is enjoying a warm
day on the beach in Deerfield Beach, Florida!
She loved walking in the sand but also
liked to take a dip in the ocean!

Next, Flat Super Snack Lady traveled to Arkansas.
She visited Mammoth Springs which is the
8th largest natural spring of water in the whole
world! She had a brisk walk around the stream
while making sure not to get to close to the
geese that were hanging out.

The next stop of Flat Super Snack Lady's busy
travels was to Denver, Colorado.  She enjoyed
a nice long hike through the mountains.
The view was pretty awesome too!

Flat Super Snack Lady headed into the cold, Arctic
state of Alaska for her next adventure. 
Here, FSSL is pictured with a snowman that she
built.  She got hungry though and ended up
nibbling on Frosty's carrot nose!

The next morning FSSL enjoyed a chilly
hike along a path that overlooks Fairbanks,
Alaska.  What a wonderful sunrise!

Can you spot FSSL in this picture
that was captured in the Houston, Texas
airport?  She is right at the feet of
the astronaut cow! She's enjoying
the snack of a fruit juice before
boarding the plane to her next adventure!

The last stop of this tour for Flat Super Snack Lady
was Niagara Falls in New York!
Good thing that FSSL stayed back otherwise she
could have gone rushing down the falls!

Flat Super Snack Lady will continue her adventures all summer long!  Check back to see where else she is going to travel!

Science Extravaganza!

Super Snack Lady often gets to do some pretty cool things including playing in the soil in school gardens, doing fun gardening enrichments that include crafts, running around schools in her lime green cape, and most recently: teaming up with Kids On Course to do a Science Extravaganza at Van Buren Elementary!!!

Kids on Course is funded by the Zach Johnson Foundation (the Cedar Rapids pro golfer!) and does a lot of different activities in both Van Buren and Harrison Elementary Schools.  These two schools also happen to be schools that Super Snack Lady visits!!  So, a month or so ago Super Snack Lady was approached to join their Science Extravaganza night and she obviously said yes.

 The theme for this year's Science Extravaganza was Sustainability.  The Kids on Course people broke it down into three parts:  Sustainable You, Sustaining the Community, and Sustaining the World.  They featured many different things such as how to recycle newspapers and make them into hats, how to recycle water bottles and make a bowling game out of it, how to take care of the Earth through recycling, and how to keep you sustained by taking care of yourself through exercise and eating right. That is where SUPER SNACK LADY came in!  

Check out these photos of this AWESOME event!

WELCOME!!!  Come on in!

Do you want to join Super Snack Lady and
"Taste the Rainbow" of fruits and veggies?
Also- a HUGE thanks to these volunteers
who helped Super Snack Lady pass out
snacks to over 300 people!

YUM!  From left to right:
Tomatoes, carrots, grapefruit, lemons
snow peas, cucumbers, red cabbage.

Again, our AWESOME volunteers who
helped make the night run smooth!  They were
all ready for the families to come and eat!

The Kids on Course folks did some
cute and colorful decorations for
Super Snack Lady's tasting!

Mrs. Stock, the principal at Van
Buren is sustainable by re-using
water bottles.  Way to go Mrs. Stock!

The main hallway was transformed into a Lorax
themed hallway with Truffula trees and even
a Lorax!

 

 

Kids could also take a spin on the
prize wheel.  The prizes ranged
from little bouncy balls to t-shirts
and even beach balls and lanyards. 
How fun!

Super Snack Lady did have a lot of fun and the time sure did speed by!  Sadly she didn't get pictures of the tarantula (sustaining the world and keeping animal alive) or the painting of the flower pots.  Kids also got a free book of their choice!  What a GREAT, FUN event!!!

Brain Break Videos

Does your brain need a break?  Has it been thinking too much?  Below are a couple of cute little 2 minute videos that will get you clapping, dancing, or at least tapping your toe all while your brain takes a break from more serious thinking.  Enjoy!

Brave (Big Block Sing Song) 

Eat (Big Block Sing Song) 

Fruit (Big Block Sing Song)   (Super Snack Lady's favorite video!)

 

Tips on Taking the Kids to the Grocery Store

Do you like grocery shopping with your child?  Or do you avoid it at all costs? 

Super Snack Lady doesn't have any kids of her own but she is sometimes hesitant to go to the store during "peak kid hours" (as she calls them) as there is normally a lot of loud noises of kids arguing with parents over a specific food they want, but the parents don't want them to have.  Or the kid is trusted to drive the shopping cart and they run into everything and everyone. 

There is a good blog out there that focuses on healthy, affordable recipes and also gives other shopping tips.  Check it out HERE! The posting from today focuses on how to have a successful shopping trip to the store with your child.  Check it out for some good tips!!!

Community Garden by Johnson School of the Arts

Super Snack Lady has spent the last several months going to meetings and connecting with people in the neighborhood around Johnson School of the Arts (better known as Wellington Heights) in an joint effort to get a community garden started somewhere close to the school.

This was challenging mainly because JSA doesn't have any grass at their school that can be used for a garden.  We quickly made partners with First Congregational Church which is directly behind the school.  They were gracious enough to let us use some of their property in order to make a garden that the whole community and neighborhood could enjoy and work together on.

On Saturday April 6th we held a huge garden kick off event.  We had a great turn out of about 65 people come and go through out the morning to make the garden prep happen!!  Check out the photos below or click here or here to see local news stories on the event.

This shows the lawn that was going to be
turned into the garden once spring
came and the snow melted.

The design was decided based on "pizza wedges"
with each wedge holding different veggies,
herbs, or flowers.  The wedges are outlined
in yellow and the pile of compost was
delivered a couple of days prior to our event.

Though there was a threat of rain showers
the bad weather held off and we had a great
spring morning to spread the compost onto the
garden beds.  MANY THANKS to our
volunteers that helped us!!!

The compost was piled about 6 inches high
on top of where the seeds will be planted.  This
will enhance the soil and make it healthier
for plants to grow in it. 

Within a couple of very short hours the volunteers
had the garden beds all prepped and ready
for seeds once it gets warmer outside!  Where
the wooden pallet is in the middle will be a
seating area for students to observe the garden.

Corey Christiansen who is the chief
meteorologist at KGAN/CBS 2 came
and spoke to kids and adults about
how weather affects the garden
and about his own garden experiences
growing up.

Alicia Aguiar, who is a dietician at 1st Ave
Hy-Vee, came and did a sampling
with kids called "Taste the Rainbow".
Kids tasted fruits and veggies from every
color of the rainbow!

These are some of the pickets that
kids and families painted on the Garden
Kickoff Day!!  They will be incorporated
into the garden in some way, yet
to be decided.  What creativity!

More awesome pickets! (Can you see the one
that Super Snack Lady did?!?  Its second
from the bottom!)

The kids and families that came enjoyed decorating
the pickets according to things that mattered to them.
There is a Girl Scout Troop picket, Boys and Girls Club
picket, and one that reads "Community".  

 Overall we had a GREAT Garden Kick Off Day!!!  Super Snack Lady looks forward to sharing more pictures once plants get planted in the garden and even start sprouting!

Make Your Brain SMART!

As everyone knows April is Iowa Core Testing Month for the Cedar Rapids Community School District. Testing- that is the word of the month.  Below are some tips are how to get kids in the right frame of mind for testing from a nutritional stand point:

Parents:

1. Get enough sleep.  Kids should get 10-11 hours of sleep a night!
2. Get up and get going.  Start your day with a couple jumping jacks or crunches or even hopping up and down.  This will wake you up and get the blood in your body moving up towards your brain.
3. Start your morning with a good, solid breakfast full of whole grains. Oatmeal, whole grain toast, or whole grain cereal are great options.
4. Eat fruits and vegetables.  Trying to eat healthy snacks of fruits and veggies will keep you healthy!  
5. Keep hydrated. That means drink lots of water and not so many sugary drinks like pop.

 Teachers:

1. Take brain breaks between tests!  (If you look at previous posts I've made I've posted several different videos that you can play quickly).
2. Do breathing exercises to calm students' nerves and focus their brains.  It can be as simple as having students sit up straight in their chairs, take a long, silent, deep breath in, and then slowly letting it out.  You'd be surprised at how much calmer students can get through this simple breathing technique.