We know that it's important for all of us - including our kids - to drink plenty of water every day. It's even more important during these hot summer months!

Did you know that thirst is NOT a good indicator of dehydration? By the time a child feels thirsty, he or she may already be dehydrated. Thirst can be quenched long before the necessary body fluids have been replaced. So here are some early signs of dehydration:

• Dry or sticky mouth
• Eyes that look sunken into the head
• Lack of urine for 12 hours or a small amount of dark yellow urine
• Dry, cool skin
• Lethargy or irritability
• Fatigue or dizziness

Hot, dry or windy days can quickly lead to dehydration. If your kids are outside playing or involved in sports, make sure they are drinking extra fluids before the activity begins. They should also drink at regular intervals (every 20 minutes) during activity and after activity. And don't be fooled by all that time in the pool - it's easy to get dehydrated while swimming!   

Here are a few ideas to keep your family hydrated:

• Let your kids pick out fun water bottles and take them with them as they go outside to play.
• If you're going to the pool or a sporting event for the afternoon, freeze your water bottles before you head out. They'll thaw throughout the afternoon and provide a cool drink!
• Watermelon is a great snack to keep the family hydrated!  
• If you're involved in strenuous sports or activities, pack a combination of sports drinks and water. Electrolytes are very important on hot days and you lose those through sweat.
• Liven up your water with fruits and veggies; lemon, lime, cucumber slices, fresh mint, or orange slices.

So what are your favorite tricks for staying hydrated this summer?

Summer time and warm weather are the perfect time to have light, refreshing salads as your main dishes for dinner. Not only are salads simple to throw together on weeknights, but they are a great way to get your family to try foods they may not normally eat.

Berries add complexity and flavor to your favorite salads and pair well with lean meats, low-fat cheeses and veggies. Read below for some easy berry salad ideas that you can have at your next meal!

Strawberry and Chicken Summer Salad – Use spinach for the base of this salad. Add simply grilled chopped chicken pieces, cut up strawberries, goat cheese, and your favorite nuts (we like walnuts or pecans). Top with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and serve.

Berry Chicken Pasta Salad – Prepare your favorite whole wheat pasta, then set aside and let cool. Use a large bowl to combine cubed grilled chicken breast pieces, blueberries, chopped basil, cut up strawberries, feta cheese and pecans. Coat with a lemon vinaigrette dressing, then combine ingridents with the pasta. Let the mixture sit and the flavors blend for about 30 minutes then serve.

Shrimp and Blueberry Salad – For a simple weeknight salad, combine grilled shrimp (tails removed) with blueberries, peas, toasted pine nuts, feta and spinach. Top with a berry vinaigrette and enjoy.

Blueberry Bacon Salad – Present this salad at your next dinner party and impress your friends! This simple salad is colorful and delicious. Simply add rows of blueberries, low-fat turkey bacon, and crumbled goat cheese to a bed of spinach. Drizzle with oil and vinegar and enjoy the combination of these sweet and salty flavors.

Calci M. Bone not only loves the month of June because it's summertime, but most importantly because it's National Dairy Month. Having a month dedicated to her favorite foods is certainly special! Even though it is summer, it is still very important to make sure you are getting in enough servings of dairy each day. You can find out what the daily recommendations are here. Simply drinking milk may not be everyone's favorite summertime treat, so here are some tasty ideas to get your calcium in during these hot months:

• Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt - Try this instead of regular ice cream as a sweet treat following a healthy dinner!
• Yogurt Parfait - Layer some of your favorite berries and low-fat granola on some low-fat yogurt for a tasty snack.
• Berry Smoothie - We have a fantastic recipe that includes both low-fat yogurt, skim milk and berries! Try it here.
• Cheese Kabob - Incorporate low-fat cheese on a skewer in between pieces of fruit such as apples, grapes or berries. 
• Yogurt Popsicle - Freeze your favorite low-fat yogurt (try Greek!) in a popsicle container and enjoy as a refreshing snack!

What is your favorite dairy treat during the hot summer months?

You've probably seen signs around your town or articles on the internet encouraging you to consider buying locally produced goods. In our busy world, it's much easier to run to the local supermarket and gather everything we need for a week rather than taking the time to visit local markets. At times, our budgets or lifestyles don't allow us the luxury of buying local but if they do, here are a few reasons that you might want to take the whole family to the market this summer:

• Meet local farmers - At most markets, you'll meet men and women who are actually working on the farms or have part ownership in the land. They can give you insight into the produce and how it's grown and tips for cooking produce that might be new to you.
• Samples - At most local markets, you'll find everything from beekeepers who produce their own honey, to fresh salsas and jams, local yogurt and even some area farm-to-table restaurants. Often they'll provide samples of their food. It's a great way to get your kids to try new items.
• Entertainment - Beyond the people-watching, these markets often have live music, activities for children or even local artists displaying their work.
• Community - Because most farmer's markets are set up within the community, it's a great time to connect with friends and neighbors.

Do you have a great farmer's market in your community? We'd love to hear more about it.

Do you like stuffed peppers? Peppers are a June Foods of the Month so now is the time to make sure you are eating enough of these healthy veggies! Stuffed peppers are a fun and colorful way to get more of them into your diet. Not only are stuffed peppers an easy and quick option, but they can be filled with so many different ingredients depending on what you have in your kitchen. Here are our favorite ideas:

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers – we love this meal so much that we provided a recipe for it in this post. Check out how to make these tasty vegetarian meals by clicking here.

Tuna Stuffed Peppers – If you want to add more protein to your stuffed peppers, consider filling them with tuna. Use canned tuna fish to prepare your favorite low-fat tuna salad (we use low-fat mayo, mustard, onions, celery and tomatoes). Transfer the tuna fish salad to the pepper “bowls,” sprinkle with low-fat cheese, and broil in the oven until the cheese starts to bubble.

Spicy Baked Peppers – If you love your food with heat, use poblano chile peppers as the base of your stuffed pepper. Fill with a mixture of your favorite chopped veggies, spices, and brown rice or quinoa, then sprinkle with cheese and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble.

Caprese Stuffed Peppers – These make a colorful and unique appetizer or light lunch. Simply cut a green pepper in half, then fill with halved cherry tomatoes, basil, and a drizzle of olive oil. Top with mozzarella cheese, then broil in the oven until the cheese is melted.

Summer is here, which means fun, relaxing beach vacations. Soaking up rays (with lots of sunscreen, of course) on the beach, reading a book by the pool, or enjoying tasty local cuisine sounds amazing right about now! Just because you are in vacation mode doesn’t mean you have to completely abandon your workout routine. Here are some ideas to help you stay active during your vacation so that your return to reality won't be difficult:

Site Amenities – Find out what is offered at your vacation spot. Is there a gym? Are there walking paths or bike trails? What kinds of group activities may be offered at the site? You can walk 9-holes of golf or even rent some bikes to get around.

Plan Ahead – Create a few basic workouts ahead of time that don’t require equipment. (i.e., lunges, squats, and pushups). Take 30 minutes here and there to fit these into your day.

Beach Strolls – Go for an early morning run or walk on the beach. With the beautiful scenery and the sound of waves crashing on the beach, you will have gone a couple of miles before you know it!

Family Fun – If there are tennis or basketball courts, or even a sand volleyball court, gather up the family for some friendly competition. 

Walk – Opt to travel by foot rather than car whenever possible. If you can walk to and from a restaurant or other entertainment spot, it will add up over the week.

See, you can still have fun while exercising on your vacation! What are your favorite physical activities to do on your vacation?

Are you looking for a fun way to keep your kiddos healthy during the summer months? Look no further ... You can get our OWG In the House Kit at a discounted price all month long!

Encourage healthy behaviors with this home-based healthy behavior tracking program that helps families in their quest to become "OrganWise" by gradually adding healthy habits to the daily routine. 

Here's how it works:

• The OrganWise Guys have four basic club rules.  1)  Low-Fat 2) High-Fiber 3) Water and 4) Exercise
  

• There is one book for each rule. Your job is to practice each rule for 7 days with your children.

• Choose the rule you'll follow each week. At the end of each week of healthy habit tracking, you will reward the kids with one of the OWG beanies as a surprise.

• Start the fun over each week, allowing the children to select which behavior they would like to focus on. This can become child-driven as they are excited to complete the various activities contained in each book and for the reward at the end of the week. You can engage your older children as helpers as they can encourage their siblings to make the healthy choices.

It's that simple! Make sure and head over to our website to get yours today!

Get 20% off until June 30, 2013!

Coupon Code: JUNE1301
(Enter code upon checkout)

Smoothies are great ways to get lots of vitamins and minerals while still benefiting from the fiber in fruits and veggies. Drink a smoothie for breakfast, a light lunch or a snack. Berries (a June Foods of the Month) make the perfect ingredient for smoothies. Check out our triple berry smoothie below!

Triple Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

1/2 cup blackberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup low-fat yogurt (try Greek yogurt for extra protein!)
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup ice cubes

Directions

Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend together until smooth. Pour into a cup and enjoy your refreshing OrganWise smoothie after some outdoor activities!

Makes 1 Serving

May Healthy Shopping on a Budget

We are back with our monthly healthy shopping on a budget feature! Last month, we learned to check stores for fresh produce deals and two for one deals on whole wheat pasta and lean meats. This month, we focused our shopping around eggs and spinach, the two Foods of the Month for May.

For a little over $40.00, we made two healthy dinners (with leftovers!), a snack, and breakfast. We ended up with extra food left over from these groceries, so they can be used for more than what we show here.

In May, our strategy was to check out a local superstore’s grocery section to see the deals they offered. We were in luck! One of the most valuable things we learned is that these stores typically have a clearance section for food. We found a box of pasta (the one used in the pasta salad recipe) for about $1.00. The additional ingredients cost about $10, making this healthy dish cost about $1.50 per serving. As a side note – we like to grow our own herbs (including basil) and purchase costly items like pine nuts at a wholesale club to save even more money!

In this day and age of high-impact workouts and regimented exercise programs, simple things like taking a walk can easily get overlooked. As winter fades and our days get longer, talking a walk as a family is a great way to get some extended time together at the end of the day. So, enjoy a healthy family dinner, have the kids help with the clean up and get outside!

Here are a few ways you can make that time fun and interactive:

Gratefulness - Discuss the events of the day and have each family member share what they are most grateful for that day.

Make it a Scavenger Hunt - Have your kids find different "treasures" such as leaves, rocks, alumnium cans (might as well keep the streets clean and do a little recyling at the same time!).

Play a Game - Play a game such as "I Spy" where you describe things you see on the walk route. The person who guesses it correctly gets to come up with the next clue.

Take Your Camera -  Document the walk(s) with fun family shots and make into a small keepsake book.

Get To Know Your Neighbors - Living in a community and connecting with others is part of a healthy lifestyle. Take a few minutes to get to know someone in your neighborhood along the way.

Incorporate Dessert - If you happen to have a nearby frozen yogurt shop, grab some low-fat frozen yogurt topped with fruit for a healty dessert!

With all of your commitments as a family, it might not be feasible to take a walk every night but consider trying it at least once a week for just 20 minutes!

What is your favorite physical activity to do with your family?

On this Memorial Day, we would like to take this time to remember all of the brave men and women who lost their lives fighting for our freedom. We would like to honor the fallen and those families who have lost loved ones. Thank you also to those who are serving our country today!