A Fresh Start – Eating Well with Kids

Welcome to the second week of our “Fresh Start” healthy living guides from the Boston Public Market (sign up on our homepage to receive these in newsletter format)! The Boston Public Market is an all local, indoor, year-round market featuring 38 local farmers, fishermen, and food purveyors. Click here to learn more about these entrepreneurs and the local produce, meat, fish, bread, specialty foods (and more!) that they offer.

This week is about eating well with kids. Shopping in the Market as a family is a great way to explore new foods, meet local producers, and gather ingredients for your dinner tonight. 

Join us at the Market on Sunday, 1/24, 8am-12pm for a special Family Shopping Sunday. Enjoy kid-friendly recipe cards, shopping activities, and tote bag crafts – plus delicious specials and promotions from several vendors for your Sunday family dinner. Cheers to 2016! 

KID FRIENDLY FOOD

Next time you’re at the Market with your kids, keep these activities in mind to get them involved and teach them that food can be fun!
Shopping Activities

  • Kids’ Choice: pick two veggies and one fruit to try this week. Bonus if each fruit and vegetable you choose is a different color!

  • Map Quest: Do you know where your food is coming from? Check out the maps in each vendors’ stall and figure out how far they travel to bring you your food!

  • Taste Test:  Ask for samples and try new foods and old favorites! What is the most delicious thing you tried today?

  • Farm Tales: Ask our vendors to tell you a story! They know how to make cheese, harvest maple syrup from the forest, and squeeze cider from apples.

Mystery Shopping List 

Can you find these mystery ingredients in the Market? Use our hints and ask Market vendors questions to see who can complete the shopping list for dinner tonight!

  • 1 lb roots (Hint: Rabbits love one of the most common root vegetables)

  • 1 bunch of leaves (Hint: These can be green or purple or rainbow colored)  

  • 1 allium (Hint: Vampires don’t like these)

  • ½ lb seeds (Hint: Seeds are used to grow flowers and make flour)

TIPS FROM OUR VENDORS

New Produce Highlight: Purple carrots are pure magic! Packed with Vitamin A and fiber, these beauties add a splash of color to your winter plate; find them at several produce vendors. Purple carrots are as easy and versatile as their orange cousins. Roasting carrots (and other root veggies) brings out their natural sweetness and allows you to customize flavors. Chop purple carrots into coins, toss with Mangé’s lemon thyme vinegar for a savory twist, or drizzle with maple syrup and olive oil for a candied flavor. Roast carrots in a 400 degree oven until tender, and serve as a side dish or on top of salads and rice bowls.  

Promotions:

  • Harlow’s Vermont Farmstand – Starting a new year with more organic foods? Stock-up and receive 10% off $25 or more of organic produce every Thursday in January and February.

  • Stillman’s Farm – Heading north to hit the slopes this weekend? Build your own ski weekend bag and fill it with local, seasonal produce; receive 10% off your purchase over $25 every Thursday in January & February.

  • Soluna Garden Farm – Stock up on tea for warmth and wellness this January and take 10% off refill size bags of all tea blends on Thursday 1/21 and 1/28.  

  • Nella Pasta – Try some ravioli or “take home and bake” options like lasagna made with whole grain dough and local, seasonal vegetables, at 10% off on Friday 1/22 and 1/29.

  • Stillman Quality Meats – For a wholesome dinner for the whole family, pick up a frozen farm-to-table entree; BOGO 50% on Thursdays from 4-6pm.

TIPS FROM THE KITCHEN

We are pleased to introduce Rosanne Walsh, Founder of The Art of Healthy Eating, which offers “Edible Art” classes in the KITCHEN at the Boston Public Market. The Art of Healthy Eating aims to make healthy eating fun and offers products and programs that make it easier to encourage children to consume more fresh produce. Here are Rosanne’s tips for making food fun:

1. Eating the Rainbow. Children are often attracted to colorful candies such as skittles, starburst  and m&ms – forget the candy, and stick with the produce aisle. The pigments that add bright colors to fruits and vegetables are antioxidants and phyto-chemicals that keep our immune systems healthy. Make a pizza and chop up a colorful array of peppers, onions, broccoli and tomatoes and arrange them in a rainbow pattern on the crust and involve your little ones in making it.

2. Fruit Pops. Try fruit on a stick and give your child a chance to make their own healthy Fruit Pops. Slice apples and pears into wedges and stick on small wooden skewers that can be dipped into a healthier version of a chocolate sauce (4 TBS melted coconut oil, 3 TBS raw cacao powder, 2 TBS maple syrup, and 1 TS vanilla) and sprinkled with toppings like shredded coconut, granola, chopped peanuts, or flax seeds.