My daughter and I have been playing around with salads this summer. This one has organic mixed greens, black olives, mango, walnuts, and a splash of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar. Aside from cutting the mango, it was easy to make.
If we all included a salad in our daily menu, or even replaced an entire meal with one, just imagine how much healthier (and leaner) we'd all be. It's so much easier to get our 5 to 9 fruits and vegetables (and healthy fat) a day that way. We just have to be careful with the dressing we choose. If I can't make my own, I am sure to read the label. I don't want saturated fat and unrecognizable ingredients to outweigh the healthy benefits.
Since children watch everything the adults around them do, they're sure to eat healthier if their parents do. But parents are busy these days, and families just don't eat homemade meals as often as they used to. But just imagine if every school had a salad bar. What a message that would send to children. And you never know, it suddenly might become "cool" to eat healthy foods.
So, I'm happy to tell you about the Great American Salad Bar Project. If you've been to Whole Foods lately, you know that they're raising funds to put salad bars in schools across the United States. Your school could be one of them! So, please check out the link to donate to the cause, or to forward the information to your school.
Raising healthy, happy children starts with the food they put in their mouths. I am convinced that a lot of health and behavioral issues can be resolved, or at least improved, simply by changing our diets. Food is the best preventative medicine out there, if we would only let it be. No, I'm not a medical or nutritional expert, but I've probably done more reading on the subject than many of them!
So, why not serve a salad for lunch or dinner tonight? Your family might have some fun creating their own masterpieces. It could be the start of something really wonderful. Hey, you never know...
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