Ahhh…summer time! A time of relaxation, quality time with your family, traveling, enjoying the sunshine, and sharing moments with friends. This is a great opportunity for helping your family get healthy, too! The farmers markets are blooming, the vegetables are abundant! Grilling vegetables, making fruit salads and experimenting with new veggies are all ways you can encourage your community to eat real foods this summer. So, invite those neighbors over and show them that real food is the best!
It’s not too late to plant your own garden or containers full of fresh tomatoes and cilantro for a show stopping salsa. Enjoy your children and let them get in the kitchen with you. Now that they’re home from school, take some time to teach them old family recipes or create new ones together.
In all that you do, relax and enjoy life and remember to live as close to nature as possible. Your body and your family will thank you!
Healthy Summer Snacks
If you’re heading to the lake, beach, or pool stock up on healthy treats for you and the kids. It’s important to keep them hydrated and healthy in the hot weather!
- Fresh fruit salads
- Freeze protein smoothies in small mason jars
- Frozen grapes on a stick
- Flavor water with strawberries or cucumbers
- Refreshing Fruit Pops (See recipe below)
Refreshing Fruit Pops
You’ll love these refreshing treats this summer! It’s a great way to have your kids try new fruits such as kiwi and starfruit. Make up your own combinations.
Directions:
- Thinly slice various fruits
- Layer the fruit into popsicle molds
- Fill with an organic juice, such as lime or orange, or coconut milk
- Enjoy with your children and their friends
Remember that Strong is the New Skinny!
Have a great summer feeling strong and beautiful in that swimsuit! Not only will you have more energy to play at the pool and beach with the kids, but you’ll look good too! So, try a BOOT CAMP! All around Charlotte women are losing that extra weight and getting healthy with Burn Boot Camp! Devan Kline has developed an amazing system to help women, specifically, burn fat rapidly!
Healthy Sun Protection
We’ve been trained to later up on sunscreen, but new research is informing us otherwise.
Why should we change our lotions?
- Free radicals and other skin-damaging by-products of sunscreens, such as parabens and preservatives, are causing greater exposure to toxins.
- There’s no consensus that sunscreens prevent skin cancer.
- Too little sun might be harmful, reducing the body’s vitamin D levels.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit organization that specializes in research and database collections for our wellbeing! They have developed the Dirty Dozen list for our fruits and vegetables, the Safe Cosmetics database, and the most current list for our sunscreens. They rate thousands of products from 1-10, 1 being the safest for our use.
The best option is to always take shade and wear clothes and hats that block the sun’s direct contact with your children’s skin. But when that’s not an option, look for some of these safer products recommended from the EWG Database (www.ewg.org/sunscreen) for your family.
Farmer’s Corner
A fun activity to do with your kids this summer is visiting a local farm! You can see where your food comes from, talk to the farmer, help in their chores, and enjoy a picnic in nature! 
To find a farm near you, you can go to www.localharvest.org and search their website. But if you live in the Charlotte area, we want to highlight a special farm:
T & D Farms
T & D Farms is a family farm owned and operated by Todd and Danielle Mauldin located in China Grove, NC which is approximately 20 miles north of Charlotte, NC. They have the most amazing 100% grass-fed, grass-finished, hormone free, quality meat. You’ll want to pick some up for your summer cook-outs! And while you’re there, explore the farm with your family. For more information go to www.tanddfarms.net.
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