Denton County Healthy Happenings

🌞 Resetting as summer winds down? Settling into a new routine? Help your body adjust with simple habits that support your natural sleep-wake cycle, including morning sunlight, consistent bedtimes, and smart screen habits. 🍃

How to Reset Your Circadian Rhythm Learn how to reset your circadian rhythm with proven strategies like light exposure, a consistent sleep schedule, and healthy daily habits.

🥪 A healthy lunch can help kids stay focused, energized, and ready to learn! Discover tips for packing balanced meals with foods your child enjoys, from whole grains and proteins to fruits and veggies. 🥕

Healthy back-to-school lunches Get tips for packing a healthy back-to-school lunch kids will like and improve their ability to learn.

✅ Back-to-school prep goes beyond the backpack. Get tips on safe travel, healthy lunches, homework habits, bullying prevention and other ways to help your child thrive this year. 🎒

Back-to-School Tips for Families ​There are many things you and your child can do to prepare for school that will make it an enjoyable experience for the whole family.

Introducing Buckle Bear! Would your school, library, or community organization be interested in having a visit from Buckle Bear? This brief puppet show is a hit with the pre-K to 2nd grade crowd, and our team is able to bring him to you. All our community programming is free to you thanks to our generous funding from TxDOT.
If you would like to bring buckle bear to your organization contact [email protected]

Want to practice better portion control? 🍽️ Learn simple strategies like measuring servings, portioning snacks, using smaller plates, and checking nutrition labels. 🥗

Portion Sizes: How Much Are You Really Eating? A dietitian explains what portion sizes are, why it’s so important to pay attention to them and how to practice portion control in your everyday life.

Our Summer Food Preservation Series has come to a close, and what a wonderful series it has been!

It has been such a pleasure spending time with this fun, enthusiastic group of people who made this series such a success. Thank you to everyone who attended, asked great questions, shared your experiences, and brought such positive energy to every class!

Throughout the series, we preserved a variety of delicious foods while learning safe home food preservation techniques. Together, we made Blueberry Spiced Jam and Sweet Pickle Rings using the boiling water bath canner, and carrots using a pressure canner.

A heartfelt thank you to the City of Denton Environmental Services & Sustainability Department for co-sponsoring this series and helping make these hands-on learning opportunities possible for our community.

A very special thank you to Ellen Malone, a Family & Community Health volunteer and passionate canning enthusiast, for generously sharing her time, knowledge, expertise, and positive spirit throughout the series. Your support helped make these classes even more meaningful!

Many thanks as well to the staff at the MLK Jr. Recreation Center for providing a clean, safe, and welcoming space for us to learn and preserve together.
Looking ahead to 2027—if your organization, library, church, or community group is interested in hosting a Preserving the Harvest class, I'd love to bring a hands-on food preservation workshop to your community!

Email me at [email protected] for more information.

Keep harmful bacteria off your plate! 🧼 Sponges, dish towels, reusable grocery bags, and spice jars can spread germs. Learn simple habits to prevent cross-contamination and reduce the risk of foodborne illness. 🍽️

Preventing Cross-Contamination in the Kitchen | UPMC HealthBeat Discover ways to prevent cross-contamination and foodborne illness with simple, everyday habits and prevent foodborne illness.

🥬 Want your produce to last longer and be easier to use? Store berries unwashed, wrap leafy greens with a dry paper towel, and use your fridge's crisper vents strategically. These simple prep hacks can cut waste and save time! 🍓

Produce Storage & Prep Hacks How to get the most out of your produce simply by shopping, storing and prepping.

July is a great time to refresh healthy family habits! ☀️ Try fun 5-2-1-0 ideas like building a salad bar, visiting the library, playing in the water, and making fancy fruit ice cubes to help kids stay healthy and active. 🍓💧

Key habits all year: Ideas for July Have you and your family tried 5-2-1-0? It’s not a show or a dance or a food. It’s an approach you can use to build healthy habits together. Read these ideas for the month of July.

It has been a fun 2 weeks in the kitchen at Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center! Our team has had to opportunity to host a summer food preservation series. So far we have learned the basics of water bath canning and have made blueberry jam and sweet pickles. Next week we will conclude our series making pressure canned carrots.