Simple Summer Casserole

FCHS celebrates family meals in the summer with nutritious & tasty recipes! Try the Summer Casserole made with fresh veggies.
http://vimeo.com/28843319

Do you care about your health/wellness on the job???

Did you take time to complete the online Worksite Wellness Quiz that was posted on June 5?

If not, this is a great time to take the 2 minutes quiz to better understand your worksite wellness health.

Take that quiz....your wellness depends on it!

Get Healthy in June 2014!

The start of summer usually gets people interested in physical activity events. Take the family on a walk or hike on a safe path. pack a healthy picnic lunch and head for the nearest lake or beach, find a shoreline boardwalk for a family outing, take a bike ride, or play catch in the yard with the kids or grand-kids! Find a few fun things to do with your family to keep everyone healthy and create special memories!

Check out our Healthy on the Job Quiz!!!

Grow some healthy herbs on your deck or doorstep and try this simple recipe! Fresh Herb Couscous

Twitterchat tomorrow 1-2pm EST

It was fun today to conduct the Wellness in the Workplace webinar with my colleague Kathleen Morgan. Look for our follow-up Twitterchat tomorrow:

Keep the Workplace Wellness discussion going with @justjokins @FFFCoP @Child_FamLN tomorrow at 1pmEST with a #twitterchat #CFLNchat

Spring Recipes using fresh herbs

I am amazed to see that perennials have survived the long cold NJ winter. This week I noticed the chives are alive and well on the back deck! Now is the time to start thinking about using fresh herbs in your recipes. For inspiration and ideas click here.

Consider a walking program for your employees

Walking is the simplest way to increase a person's level of physical activity. Extra steps in the day translate to increased physical activity, burning more calories, toning muscles and increasing stamina. We encourage the use of a pedometers to help employees know how many steps they walk per day and give them some advice about how to increase their number of steps.

Check out Walk NJ Point-To-Point for online tracking of steps and an opportunity to tour parts of NJ.

Get Moving Get Healthy NJ Workforce is now a full year program!

I am very pleased to announce that our online program is now available for 52 weeks! Employers can sign up for the program and we will deliver a wellness focused newsletter to their employees each week. The wellness topics are varied to include information about stress, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, brain health, and lots of other topics. Employees love the messages and the Healthy on the Job Workplace Wellness Newsletter too. The newsletter is lively and informative, even a healthy family-friendly recipe is included.

Contact me to sign up for this free evidence-based informational series!

Water, water everywhere!

In recent conversations with employees I am hearing that more of them are drinking water in place of sugar-sweetened beverages while on the job. This is excellent news! It tells me that people are interested in improving their health and making behavior change. If you haven't made the switch yet consider this:

• one 10 oz. can of soda contains about 10 teaspoons/packets of sugar
• one 20 oz. bottle of soda contains about 16+ teaspoons/packets of sugar 

Would you add that much sugar to your cup of coffee or tea????

Make water your beverage of choice while on the job!

Holiday Parties

Do the food and snack options at holiday parties send you into a frenzy? Too many beautiful foods to taste? Limiting your food consumption during this time or year is difficult to say the least. Here are a few tips that might be useful as you taste your way through the season:

• Be sure to stick to your meal schedule as much as possible.
• Drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated and prevent from becoming overly hungry.
• Enjoy the fresh fruit and veggies available at parties, and try to limit the amount of high-fat dips. Hummus is a good choice because it has protein. 
• Limit the amount of salty snacks, high-fat cheeses, and other foods. Opt for healthier choices.
• Talk to your friends and colleagues rather than making eating the main reason for the party.
• Take a few snacks then walk away from the food tables. The more time you spend standing near the food the more likely you are to continue eating the food available!
• Enjoy your food, just eat less of it.
• Check out the video recipe at the link below:Easy Hummus Snack Recipe

Resource videos for employers!

Be sure to check out the latest resource videos we had created for employers. The video series provides brief clips of information for employers as they move forward developing a wellness committee and design SMART goals for their organization. This video link is a Creating a Wellness Committee:

Small Steps to Health and Wealth!

It has been a very busy spring and summer for our worksite wellness program. We completed the Working Well in NJ Worksite Wellness Toolkit (funded by the NJ Department of Health), and additional employers have joined our network and requested technical assistance in an effort to create a culture of wellness in their organization. I am pleased to say that worksite wellness is very much on the minds of NJ employers!

In addition, Small Steps to Health and Wealth has been added to our online program for employees. Now we are able to offer a full year, 52-weeks of wellness messages filled with articles, evidence-based links, and the Healthy on the Job: Worksite Wellness Newsletter.

Check us out at Get Moving Get Healthy NJ Workforce

Healthy Herbs Info

In time for spring and summer programs, UNL Extension and Rutgers Cooperative Extension have prepared a (free) PowerPoint on planting and preparing foods with fresh herbs. Includes food / herb combos, garnish ideas and more!

Over 100 beautiful slides.

DOWNLOAD at http://food.unl.edu/web/fnh/fresh-herbs-powerpoint

Want a quick peek at all the slides, check this pdf of the entire PowerPoint, check here: http://bit.ly/ZUZxgr

The slides were created by Alice Henneman and Sarah Browning from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and Joanne Kinsey, Rutgers University. Check it out!

Don't do this!

It is easy to fall into the trap of serving the same foods and snacks at meetings. Serving high calorie pastries and muffins are not helping your organization's bottom line. These foods contain high amounts of sugar and fat, which will decrease your productivity and ultimately lead to higher health care costs. Here is a good example of what not to serve at your company meetings!

Today's healthy meeting

Today we had a meeting to discuss worksite wellness with the leadership of the municipality of North Brunswick. I was delighted to see a beautiful array of fresh fruit available for the meeting participants. Check out this healthy meeting photo!!!

Day Devoted to Workplace Wellness

Check out this conference on May 15. We will feature some of the success stories of our current Working Well in NJ workplace wellness toolkit project:
A Day Devoted to Workplace Wellness

Fruity Friday and other stories

Employers are interested in creating a culture of wellness in their workplace. During a recent conversation with a NJ employer I learned they removed three vending machines (one soda, one sandwich, one snacks) from the workplace. In place of the machines a healthy box of snacks is available for purchase by the employees. The employer also instituted a Fruity Friday, fresh fruit available for employees, and a Veggie Monday, fresh veggies available for employees, for alternating months. Of course the employees love these fresh products! Small steps such as these can begin the path to a healthier workplace.

Mini meditation

Stress can be very harmful to your health. The truth is we all face stress on a daily basis....it's how we deal with stress that helps us maintain our health. People who can take a few minutes per day to meditate, or think about a place or situation that makes them content, can relieve stress. Where is your happy place that calms the mind and helps you decompress? Think for a minute about a scene or moment in time that makes you smile. Do you have a picture of that place or the people in your life so you can and smile from time to time?

Interesting recipe experiment

Recently I modified one of my own recipes that makes a very simple and tasty meal. Basil Pesto is delicious and is easily tossed into pasta just before serving. By sauteing some onions, red peppers and broccoli this dish looks and tastes like a gourmet production.

Last weekend I used half fresh kale (one bunch, rinsed and drained) and half fresh basil from my Aero Garden. The result was awesome and a recipe that I will make again and again. The bonus is the recipe is nutritious due to the addition of fresh kale. Soon I will create a recipe video, but for now gives this quick recipe a try. Make the pesto when you have time then freeze it in small batches (I use snack size plastic baggies). Then on a work night, toss the pesto into hot cooked pasta for a family treat!

Basil Pesto

Super snacks for the Super Bowl

People are already thinking ahead to the Super Bowl and the snacks to serve for this annual feasting event. Why not prepare a snack or two that can also serve as a quick energizers for the days following the Super Bowl party? Set aside small amounts in snack-sized plastic bags and take to work along with fresh red peppers or broccoli as a special tasty treat while on the job.

Here is my favorite snack recipe: Roasted Garlic Roasted Hummus

Hearty Soup for Winter

There is nothing like a soup to satisfy the appetite for lunch and boost your energy level for an afternoon of deadlines and unexpected issues. Soup made at home is usually lower in sodium, fat and calories. Try this simple soup: roast a few root vegetables that are available in the supermarket in winter, then turn them into a delicious, fiber-rich and satisfying soup. Make the soup at home and pack for lunch on a cold or rainy day. Here is the recipe:
Roasted Root Vegetable Soup