Bicycle commuters from all over the Quad City area rolled into the annual Bicycle Commuter Breakfast. Locals talk about Bike to Work Week in this MVHN-TV video report.

More Quad City Bike Month events can be found at www.qcbikemonth.com.

By Joe Dennis, Nostalgia Farms, Walcott, IA

Our early spring means a popular favorite is ripe for picking. Nothing beats the taste of homegrown strawberries, a relatively easy perennial crop to grow if you have the space to dedicate in your garden. In recent years great strides have been made in perfecting everbearing strawberries. These berries not only give you a great flush of berries early in the spring but will continue to produce well into the fall.

Here at Nostalgia Farms, we planted some last year and were thrilled with the production of the berries all summer long as well as their taste. Compared to the shipped-in huge berries we find in the grocery store, gorgeous as they may be, they lack any true strawberry flavor. They are picked green and gassed to turn color, never allowing the natural sugars and true flavors to develop. As with so many such crops, I have learned to eat them at their peak and to freeze or can the excess to enjoy in the off-season.

Here on the Davenport riverfront, the outdoor Farmers Market is now up and running. Saturdays are busy as ever, old friends showing up to buy the first produce of spring as well as some of the best selection of plants the Quad Cities has to offer.

Business has continued to grow for us at ‘Fresh Deli’. The response has been incredible, people enjoying our made-from-scratch selections as well as fresh produce six days a week. We had our official ribbon cutting on May 12, 2012, for the new Freight House complex.  Front Street Brewery, Farmers Market and Fresh Deli were all involved in the ribbon cutting ceremony and together we are looking forward to bringing more of the Quad Cities down to the riverfront to enjoy not only the incredible river view, but great local food and beer.

See you at the Riverfront!

Easy Strawberry Pie Recipe

Two salads and one simple dressing recipe

Joe Dennis is a farmer at Nostalgia Farms in Walcott, Iowa. Together with his partner, Ed Kraklio, they sell locally-grown, organic produce at the Freight House Farmer’s Market in downtown Davenport, IA near LeClaire Park, every Tuesday (3-6 pm) and Saturday (8 am -1 pm). You can visit the farm’s website at: www.nostalgiafarms.com. Read more of Farmer Joe’s blog posts on MVHNews, or try any of the Nostalgia Farms recipes on this website.

The fresh taste of strawberries that have just come in to season are sure to make it one of your family’s favorites.

Easy Strawberry Pie

Ingredients
1 pre-baked piecrust
1-quart fresh local strawberries
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup cornstarch

Directions

1. Mash ½ quart strawberries in a pan with ½ cup sugar. Bring to a boil.

2. Mix cornstarch and water, pour into mashed strawberries. Bring back to a boil cook for 1-2 minutes until mixture turns back to red. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

3. Line the bottom of precooked pie shell with remaining berries, slice or keep whole, depending on your preference. Pour cooled cooked strawberries over sliced berries and refrigerate until cold.

4. Serve with whipped cream.

Joe Dennis is a farmer at Nostalgia Farms in Walcott, Iowa. Together with his partner, Ed Kraklio, they sell locally-grown, organic produce at the Freight House Farmer’s Market in downtown Davenport, IA near LeClaire Park, every Tuesday (3-6 pm) and Saturday (8 am -1 pm). You can visit the farm’s website at: www.nostalgiafarms.com. Read more of Farmer Joe’s blog posts on MVHNews, or try any of the Nostalgia Farms recipes on this website.

by Jeni Tackett, Registered Dietitian, Trinity Medical Center

Summer break presents some new challenges for healthy eating. Summer means more time to play outside but can also result in bad eating habits for children. The rate of childhood obesity is increasing and children can gain weight quickly over summer break.  Set your family up for healthy eating all summer long.

Here are 5 tips for healthy eating this summer:

• Do not fall prey to convenience foods. If you have kids at home in the summer while you’re working, it may be tempting to buy poptarts, lunchables, and other easy-to-grab foods. Resist the urge! Buy high fiber cereals that kids like (my children love Cheerios and Wheaties). Cut watermelon into cubes and keep at the front of the refrigerator (what kid doesn’t love watermelon?)

• Avoid the concession stand trap.  You may find yourself at the ball fields or swimming pool a lot this summer.  Plan ahead so that you don’t eat concession stand food all day. Bring a small cooler with sandwiches, fruits, and veggies.  Give your kids a set amount of money to use at the concession stand. Then the child has to budget his or her money and limit the unhealthy snacks for the day.

• Push water. It’s easy to grab pop when you’re out and about in the summer. Instead, talk to your children about the importance of drinking water instead of soda pop. Having pop occasionally as a treat is ok, but the extra calories from pop are affecting the health of all Americans.

• Plan your eating on vacation  Do not set out on a long car trip without healthy foods in your car. Children are destined to get hungry on the road (parents too), so pack a cooler with grapes, cheese, sandwiches, and baby carrots. Buy foods you know your family likes. You will have to eat out at times, but you can arm your family with healthy foods along the way.

• Make late night snacking healthy. Kids stay up later in the summer and can start the bad habit of eating unhealthy snacks at night. Ice cream is a popular food in the summer time, but don’t get in the habit of having a big bowl of ice cream every evening while you watch TV. Buy fudgescicles or small ice cream cups to control portions. Having a fresh fruit like strawberries is an even better choice.

Make a big splash this summer with healthy choices for you and your family.

Jeni Tackett is a registered dietitian at Trinity Medical Center and the Two Rivers YMCA. Jeni majored in Nutrition and Dietetics at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Caroline. She lives East Moline with her husband, Nathan and their two children, Noah and Lily and two dogs. Jack and Lola.For a listing of all of Jeni’s blog posts on MVHNews, click here.

by Jen Foley, MVHNews fitness blogger, Healthy Lifestyles Director at Two Rivers YMCA

Improving your balance may not be number one on your priority list but, maybe it should be. Balance falls into the same category as flexibility, core strength, and mobility. These are all things our bodies need to function efficiently, but many of us don’t actually do exercises to improve them. If you exercise regularly, you already work on your balance without even knowing it. But, just because you exercise doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.

Easy Ways to Improve Your Balance

1. Incorporate balancing exercises into your strength training routine by doing unilateral exercises (one arm or one leg at a time) or by changing your stance. Use a split stance which requires more balance than a wide stance. Even harder, stand on one leg.

2. When you’re using machines to lift weights, sit away from the pad to work on those torso stabilizers.

3. Get an exercise ball. Among the multitude of exercises you can do, you can also simply sit on it while you watch television or work on the computer. You’ll work on your balance and burn a few more calories.

4. Incorporate simple balancing moves all day long. While you’re standing in line, try to balance on one leg for as long as you can. To make it harder, close your eyes!

5. Incorporate yoga into your regular routine. Yoga accomplishes lots of things in one shot: you increase your balance, stability, flexibility and muscular endurance.

Here’s a friend demonstrating a simple balancing exercise we can all fit into our workday:

Jen Foley is the Healthy Lifestyles Director at the Two Rivers YMCA, Moline.  Jen majored in Therapeutic Recreation at the University of Tennessee and Gerontology at Sonoma State University. She lives in Davenport with her husband, Tim and their two pugs Jack and Lucy. She enjoys having an active lifestyle and helping others achieve their goals.For a listing of all of Jen’s blog posts, click here.

The statistics are staggering

According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute: one in eight cyclists with injuries suffer a brain injury, and two-thirds of the bicycling deaths in the US are from traumatic brain injury.

“Cuts, bruises, and even broken bones will heal, but damage to your neck and spine can be permanent. Even a low-speed fall can result in serious injury,” says Dr. Michael Dolphin, fellowship trained and board certified spine surgeon with Orthopaedic Specialists, PC, Davenport

“When a very high percentage of cyclists’ head injuries can be prevented by a helmet, it’s tragic when people ignore this most basic rule.” Dr. Dolphin urges, “The helmet should fit snug and should be worn flat atop your head, not tilted back at an angle. Make sure the chin strap fits securely and that the buckle stays fastened.”

How to Choose the Right Helmet:
Take some time trying on helmets and choose one with the right size and fit. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOC) recommends that a helmet should be:

• Snug. It does not slide from side-to-side or front-to-back.

• Level. It is square on top of your head, covering the top of the forehead. It does not tilt in any direction.

• Stable. The chinstrap keeps the helmet from rocking in any direction. Chinstraps should be replaced if any part of the buckle breaks. Otherwise, a helmet may fly off in an accident. When buying a helmet for your child, be sure to choose a helmet that fits your child now, not one to grow into.

“Young children are particularly vulnerable to head injuries because they have proportionally larger heads and higher centers of gravity, and their coordination is not fully developed,” says Dr. Dolphin.

According to the AAOC, children 5 to 14 years of age have the highest injury rate of all bicycle riders, and bike accidents are a leading cause of death for children. The Academy recommends the following tips for teaching kids about helmets:

• Teach by example. Adults should always wear helmets when doing activities that have potential for collision.

• Be aware that your child is more likely to wear a helmet if he or she likes the way it looks. Make sure the helmet is visible to car drivers.

• Because a baby’s neck muscles may not be strong enough to support a helmet, do not ride a bike at all with a child under the age of 1 year.

• Children should not wear helmets when they climb trees or play on playground equipment. A helmet may get stuck on a tree or piece of equipment and strangle a child.

Head and neck injuries aren’t just limited to avid cyclists, skateboarders or rollerbladers.

Diving in too-shallow water can be severe, resulting in spinal cord damage and significant lost function or even death. Diving injuries can usually be avoided by checking the water’s depth. “If you can’t see how deep the water is – for instance in a pond or lake,” advises Dr. Dolphin, “don’t dive.”

Wading out into the water to check – seven feet is the absolute minimum for even the tamest diving – is the best way to prevent a skull-first discovery that the water is not deep enough. While home pools usually offer the advantage of see-through water, they seldom have enough depth for safe diving.

When summer calls you to jump into the game, use proper safety equipment, warm up, follow the rules and use some common sense. They’re all parts of staying injury-free.