Hi! Can you believe it’s June already? Summer is here! Time to get into the season with fresh fruits and vegetables. I have been thrilled to see beautiful berries, peaches and melons re-appearing at the farmers market and grocery stores. Perfect timing because you probably didn’t know that June is Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month! This is an easy time for you and your family to follow the recommendation to fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables. For those of you who have kids and are looking for ways to increase their fruit and vegetable intake, here are a few tips…

1. 1. Make it fun!
      ~Provide healthy ingredients and let your kids be creative in the kitchen. Research shows that children tend to try new foods more readily when they help prepare them.
      ~Try smoothies, kabobs, and yogurt parfaits
   2. Make fruits and vegetables more available.
      ~Put out a big bowl of whole or chopped fruit for an easy after-school snack. Present them in a way that’s easy and appealing to your kids.
      ~ Serve a platter of veggies with hummus as an appetizer before dinner. When you hear “I’m hungry!” and dinner isn’t ready yet, this is a great way to meet their hunger with a colorful platter of carrots, cucumbers, peppers, raw broccoli and cauliflower to dip. Then you don’t have to worry about how many veggies they eat at dinner!
   3. Visit your local Famers Market.
      ~Encourage your kids to enjoy sampling the fresh produce. No better place to taste the very best in season!~For all of you in Marin, here’s a link to find a market closest to you: www.agriculturalinstitute.org
   4. Be a good food role model.
      ~Eat fruits and vegetables at meals and snacks and let your children watch you enjoy them.
   5. www.superhealthykids.com/recipe-category/berries/
      ~Click here for some tasty berry recipes your kids are sure to love. One of our new family favorites…

Strawberry Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Bark

Ingredients

• 1 cup – yogurt, plain
• 1 tablespoon – maple syrup, pure
• 1/4 cup – blueberries
• 1/4 cup – strawberries

Directions

1. Mix the yogurt with maple syrup and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
2. Top yogurt with blueberries and strawberries.
3. Freeze for 6-8 hours or overnight. Break up and serve!

And finally some fun riddles designed to highlight especially nutritious fruits and vegetables. Thanks to Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD! The answers to her riddles just happen to score among the top 20 fruits and vegetables for antioxidant power.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month Quiz

You love me in a muffin and as dessert, too; small, plump, and juicy, my color is blue.

Watch out for thorns when you pick this treat; it’s a berry, both black and sweet.

With my reputation, I’m a “stinking rose;” vampire-slayers wear me under their clothes.

Growing in wind, snow, sleet, or hail, you should try this green called _____.

Breakfast, lunch, dessert, or dinner, I’m a great berry that’s always a winner!

A leafy green that’s tried and true; try it raw or fresh-cooked too.

This “baby cabbage” is named for a city in Europe; don’t wrinkle your nose, just eat it all up.

Eat this for breakfast, lunch, or snack; eat it in a corner, just like Jack.

I’m a handsome white veggie that’s truly a flower. I remind you of broccoli and bring phyto-power!

People eat green flowers, which are oh-so-delicious; here’s the most popular veggie cruciferous.

Red and sweet, I’m a vegetable treat.

In popularity, I’m number three; apples and bananas are more loved than me.

Red or green, I grow on a vine; besides a great snack, I make raisins and wine.

My cousins are hot, but I’m red and sweet. On tacos and salads, I just can’t be beat.

Small, round, and juicy, still I’m no berry. Life’s the pits without a _____.

A fuzzy brown bird gave me my name. Without my green color, fruit salad’s not the same.

Don’t go on a diet just to eat me. I’m a citrus fruit, tasty as can be!

I make you cry, but you’re not sad. Peel me and use me — your heart will be glad.

Canned, popped, or on the cob, here’s a little kernel that can do any job.

Named for an egg, classed as a berry, I’m a purple veggie that will make your heart merry.

Answers:

1. Blueberry, 2. Blackberry, 3. Garlic, 4. Kale, 5. Strawberry,
6. Spinach, 7. Brussels sprouts, 8. Plum, 9. Cauliflower, 10. Broccoli,
11. Beets, 12. Orange, 13. Grapes, 14. Red pepper, 15. Cherry,
16. Kiwi fruit, 17. Grapefruit, 18. Onion, 19. Corn, 20. Eggplant.