Lovin' Your Fruits & Veggies for Better Nutrition
March is National Nutrition Month. Fruits and vegetables contain important vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants and are usually low in calories. Eating plenty of vegetables and fruits can help you ward off heart disease, stroke, control blood pressure, prevent some types of cancer, protect against autoimmune diseases and depression, avoid intestinal ailments, as well as guard against cataract and macular degeneration, not to mention make you FEEL GOOD!!! In today's post I've compiled many great ways to eat delicious fruits & veggies.
Dietitians and nutritionists say to eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, but, what does that mean and what's a serving size? The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and American Cancer Society set a serving size for fruit or vegetables to be equal to about one-half cup. Greens like spinach and lettuce have a serving size equal to one full cup. In other words, a person that maintains a 2,000 calorie diet for healthy weight, needs at least 2½ cups of fruits and vegetables each day. In general, those with the most color – dark green, red, yellow, and orange – have the most nutrients.
You may be surprised to learn that only 20 percent of Americans get the recommended daily allowance. But eating at least 2½ cups of vegetables and fruits is not that hard to do when you add it up during your day:
• At each meal, at least half of the meal should consist of fruits and vegetables
• Snacks should also primarily consist of fruits and vegetables
For a visual, initially measure out quantities or pack lunches in containers that you know the estimated measurement (i.e. Laptop Lunches provides a guide on their web site of their waste-free, reusable containers). To help you achieve your daily 2 ½ cups, each of the following fruits and vegetables add up to a ½ cup portion.
Fruits (1/2 cup portion)
one banana
six strawberries
two plums
fifteen grapes
one apple
one peach
one-half cup of orange or other fruit juice
¼ cup of dried fruit
½ cup of berries
½ cup apple or mango sauce
Vegetables (1/2 cup portion)
five broccoli or cauliflower florets
five Brussels Sprouts
six-seven baby carrots or one regular size carrot
one Roma tomato
half of a baked sweet potato
one ear of corn
four slices of an onion
one cup of greens/lettuce/coleslaw
3/4 cup tomato juice
3/4 cup vegetable juice
To help you kick-start National Nutrition Month, I’ve compiled some of our favorite meals packed with veggies & fruits featured on the blog.
Breakfast:
Granola Topped with Yogurt and Fruit
Steel Cut Oats with Berries and Carmelized Bananas
Mixed Grain Waffles Topped with Fruit - the photo shows fresh fruit but in the winter I heat frozen berries, making a syrup and use for my no-sugar topping
Oatmeal with Frozen Blueberries
Swiss Chard Frittata, Zucchini Frittata or whatever Veggies you like Frittata
Breakfast Burritos
Prepare Pico de Gallo:*
1-2 Tomatoes, seeded and chopped (depending on size)
½ Onion, chopped
4 T Cilantro, chopped
1 Jalapeno, chopped (or more/less to your taste)
Juice of one lime (or a little more to your taste)
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
*Can be made ahead
Prepare Guacamole
3 Ripe Avocados**
1 T Onion or Red Onion, Minced
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
1 Jalapeno or ½ Serrano, Seeded & Minced
1/3 c. Cilantro, Chopped
Pinch Salt
½ t Cumin
2 T Lime Juice
Assemble - Scramble Eggs, Heat Choice of Tortillas, top with Pico de Gallo, Salsa, & Guacamole
Snacks
Over the last couple of years we’ve made changes to our snacks. Most of our snacks now consist of raw fruits and vegetables with a dip on the side at times. But the following are a few other options.
Vegan, Gluten-Free Banana Muffins
Any of the muffins can be made gluten-free by using Gluten-Free Girl’s Whole-Grain Flour Mix http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/02/gluten-free-wheat-egg-milk-fr...
Lunch
Dinner (All of Our Dinners Feature Vegetables or Fruits but these are some of our favorites)
Over 20 Brassy Brassica Recipes
Chicken Pot Pie with Roasted Veggies
Tamale Pie (can be adapted for Vegetarian meal)
Cheese, Bean & Spinach Tostados
Tacos de Carnitas with Pico de Gallo & Coleslaw, served with Guacomole & Chips
Vietnamese Lemongrass, Green Beans & Tofu Stirfry
Korean Style Flank Steak in Lettuce Wraps
Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil on Fococcia
Chicken Salad with Zing Salsa Dressing
Cumin Scented Quinoa with Black Rice and Avocado
Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Pears with Pureed Cauliflower
Butternut Squash & Sage Wontons
Desserts
A few ways to help make fruits and vegetables fresh & affordable:
Pick local berries and freeze or buy frozen berries on sale and stock your freezer
I buy fruit and veggies that are slightly bruised and discounted and use in sauces or bananas become “sugar” in muffin, waffle, pancake recipes
Join a CSA
Visit your Farmer’s Market
Grow a garden
Try canning
Resources:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vegetabl...
http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/EatHealthyGetActive/EatHealthy/fruits-and-...
http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/f/servingfruit.htm
http://vaden.stanford.edu/pdf/NNMHowamIsupposetoeatallfruitsveggies_000.pdf
- Login to post comments
Recent comments
6 years 42 weeks ago
6 years 42 weeks ago
6 years 46 weeks ago
7 years 5 weeks ago
7 years 13 weeks ago
7 years 13 weeks ago
7 years 14 weeks ago
7 years 19 weeks ago
7 years 19 weeks ago
7 years 19 weeks ago