by Angela Hinkle | Jun 29, 2016
What’s the best way to enjoy a variety of the nutrients and other substances needed for good health? Eat from every food group every day.
Foods are put into food groups because they provide key nutrients, in about the same amounts. For example, the milk, yogurt, and cheese in the Dairy Group provide about the same amount of the nutrient, calcium. You don’t have to eat from every food group at every meal. However, to get all the nutrients you need for good health, it’s best to eat a variety from each of the five food groups throughout the whole day.
To get that variety, choose different foods within each food group. Oranges are a great source of Vitamin C, but if the only fruit you ever eat is oranges, you’re probably missing out on lots of nutrients in all of those other yummy fruits.![myplate_blue[1]](https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/fcs/files/2015/10/myplate_blue1-300x273.jpg)
Fruits like blueberries, apples, and watermelon are high in the nutrients vitamin C, folate, and fiber, which help to maintain the health of your body and decrease some chronic diseases.
Vegetables like kale, squash, and onions offer potassium, fiber, and vitamin A, which can help to maintain healthy blood pressure, lower risk of heart disease, and keep eyes and skin healthy.
Grain Foods, especially the “whole grain” variety like oatmeal, whole wheat bread, and brown rice, are great sources of several B vitamins and minerals – like iron. These and other nutrients in the grains group help the body to release energy, aid in digestion, and form red blood cells.
Dairy foods, like milk, yogurt, and cheese, are excellent sources of calcium, which is important for building and maintaining strong, healthy bones.
Protein foods, including lean meats and poultry, fish, nuts and seeds, eggs, and tofu, provide the protein needed to build, maintain, and repair tissues in our body. Muscles and organs, like your heart, are made of protein.
You don’t have to and probably shouldn’t eat the exact same thing every day. You should, however, Eat Every Food Group Every Day. It’s a brand new day, go ahead…get started…right now!
For more information on ways to get variety in all the food groups, check out this site from the United Sates Department of Agriculture (USDA): http://www.choosemyplate.gov/MyPlate
by Dorothy C. Lee | Jun 29, 2016
A busy schedule is the most used excuse for not eating nutritiously. When pressed for time, it’s easy to fall into the habit of making unhealthy food choices.
For those who have no time to prepare meals during the work day, yet want to eat nutritiously, one solution is to plan ahead and prepare mini meals and snacks that can be eaten at any time. Not only will this save money, it will help guard against that temptation of vending machines or fast food. Several snacks spaced throughout the day can take the place of several meals. Snacks also help curb between-meal hunger. Snacking is a great solution as long as you don’t forget to make healthy choices.
Here are some tips for preparing nutritious on-the-go meals and snacks:
Planning Ahead
- Your food choices will depend partly on the facilities available where you work. If there is a refrigerator, food selection can be more varied and a microwave is a plus.
- Plan a week’s worth of snacks. Add these food items to your weekly shopping list.
- Invent ways to use leftovers in snacks. Be creative!
- Prepare and pack the food the night before if your mornings are hectic.
- Create a mess kit to keep at your desk. Include a can opener, mug, plate, utensils, and napkins. Paper plates and plastic utensils make clean-up easy.
Pack It Up at Home
- Invest in a selection of small plastic containers that can be easily packed into an insulated lunch bag. These are usually inexpensive.
- Use insulated containers to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.
- Purchase a selection of plastic bags with a variety of seals. Also, have aluminum foil and plastic wrap available.
Snacking by Food Group
- Meat, Poultry, Fish and Alternatives – Try individual-sized cans of fish and chicken; hard cooked eggs; peanut butter; unsalted nuts; cooked, dried peas and beans in salads; and leftover cooked meats and poultry in sandwiches and salads.
- Dairy – Include low fat-yogurt and yogurt drinks in convenient serving size containers, low-fat cottage cheese, skim milk, low- fat milk, and individually wrapped cheeses. You can satisfy a sweet craving with individual servings of ready-made pudding or a flavored cheese.
- Grains – For convenience, include individual serving size boxes of cereal. Choose cereals low in sugar. Select enriched whole grain breads, rolls, crackers, and pita bread. Whole grain or enriched cookies or muffins are a nutritious choice for something sweet.
- Fruits/Vegetables – Fruits are a natural to pack since many come in their own package – for instance, bananas, grapes, oranges, apples and pears. Dried fruits now are available in serving size packets. You also can buy them in bulk and make your own packets.
- Vegetables – Fresh vegetables make great crunchy snacks. Serve with a yogurt- or cottage cheese-based dip, or tossed with a vinaigrette as a vegetable salad.
- Munchies/Combos – Mix plain yogurt with fresh fruits or dry whole grain cereal.
- Trail mix in individual serving size packets travels well. Make your own with dried fruits, unsalted nuts, seeds, and cereals.
- Stuff celery with peanut butter or farmer cheese mixed with raisins.
- Mix salads with cottage cheese and chopped fresh fruits or vegetables.
- Try individual serving size packets of whole grain chips, potato chips, and pretzels.
- Snacks You Can Keep in Your Desk Drawer – Keep a supply of emergency rations such as peanut butter, whole grain crackers, nuts, dark chocolate, and raisins available for days when you forget lunch and just cannot get out.
Munching on this combination during the day may help you resist turning in at the first fast food place you pass on the way home!
by Heidi Copeland | Jun 12, 2016
What’s in season now? Although summer doesn’t officially start for a few more weeks farmers have been busy producing seasonal, summer fruits and vegetables. The seasonal vegetable guide for North Florida Produce has an abundance! Not only are basil and beans plentiful, so are blackberries, blueberries and mulberries, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, melons, okra, peas (southern) peppers, summer squash, and tomatoes. (in the southern part of Florida avocado, guava, lychee, mango, papaya, and passion fruit are showing up)
Fruits and vegetables are loaded with great vitamins and minerals! And eating at least 3-5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables is truly considered the key to good health. Folks who eat a wide variety of colors – both fruits and vegetables, as part of an overall healthy diet, are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Both fruits and vegetables provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.
Eating fruits and vegetables is easy to do!
Have you ever tried using the United States Department of Agriculture What’s Cooking? USDA Mixing Bowl recipe finder? Using this website, I simply checked the box that I’d like to focus on, eating more fruit and vegetables then added the ingredient zucchini to the recipe search box. http://whatscooking.fns.usda.gov/ 
Sixty recipes popped up! I choose the one for Squash Squares.
Squash Squares: Ingredients
4 eggs (beaten lightly)
1/4 cup oil
3 cups thinly sliced squash (use zucchini or yellow squash)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup biscuit mix
1 teaspoon dried parsley (or 2 T chopped fresh parsley)
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated carrots
Directions
- Mix all ingredients thoroughly and pour into a greased 9×13″ baking dish.
2. Bake 25 minutes, or until bubbly and brown, in a 350°F oven.
3. Serve in squares while warm.
Notes
- To freeze – Cool, and cut into squares. Freeze squares on a cookie sheet. When they are frozen, put into freezer bags. When ready to use, take out of the freezer bag, place in microwaveable covered container. Reheat in microwave at medium setting.
- Try 8 egg whites in place of whole egg for less cholesterol and fat.
- Add other thinly chopped fresh veggies into the mix – green or red sweet peppers, spinach, broccoli.
I’ve tried this recipe using both yellow squash and zucchini with equally tasty results. I especially appreciated the suggestions on the recipe to personalize by adding your own twist. Like it spicy? Add a jalapeno! Want to add some pizzazz? Add some diced red pepper for color. Want to eat it later? Just freeze and eat or reheat and eat! Don’t have zucchini on hand? Substitute other thinly chopped fresh veggies. I have even substituted the biscuit mix with a corn bread mix for yet another spin.
Fruits and vegetables are nutritious and delicious. Try adding some Florida fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables to your meals!
by Amy Mullins | May 30, 2016
It’s hard to believe that summer is almost here and the kids are out of school! Often times, when kids (and parents too) get away from their normal routine, poor eating and snacking habits creep in. It’s important for kids (and parents) to have a variety of go-to snacks that are tasty, healthy, and easy to prepare!
Put some thought into which snacks make the best choices, and get input from the kids. Children and teenagers are more likely to eat what you buy (and be excited about it!), if they help in the process.
1.) PLAN: Sit down together and make a list of snack-type foods they might like, and can easily prepare themselves.
2.) LIST: Make a list of the foods you’ll need to pick up at the grocery store.
3.) SHOP: Take the kids with you shopping… let them help fill the cart with the foods you’ve agreed on.
4.) PREPARE: Allow the kids to help wash, cut, portion, and prepare snacks. This will give them more confidence in the kitchen… now and as a future adult.
Stumped on where to get started? Your best bet is to stay away from processed, pre-packaged snack foods, and sugary drinks. These are typically high in unhealthy fats, oils, and sugar, and lack the vitamins, minerals, and fiber fresh and frozen whole foods have.
Try these super easy and healthy snacks:
- Layer vanilla yogurt and mandarin oranges or blueberries in a tall glass. Top with a sprinkle of granola to make a “parfait”.
- Put cubes of low-fat cheese and grapes on pretzel sticks to make “snack-kabobs”.
- Top a banana with low-fat vanilla and strawberry frozen yogurt and sprinkle with your favorite whole-grain cereal for a healthy “banana-split”.
- Use whole grain (flour or corn) tortillas and top with tomato sauce, cut veggies and shredded cheese. Eat it flat (like a pizza) or roll it up (like a wrap).
Keep your children, and yourself, on track this summer by remembering these main messages from ChooseMyPlate and The Dietary Guidelines:
- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
- Focus on whole fruits.
- Vary your veggies.
- Make half your grains whole grains.
- Move to low-fat and fat-free milk or yogurt.
- Vary your protein routine.
- Drink and eat less sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars.
Everything you eat and drink over time matters. The right mix can help you be healthier now and in the future. Start with small changes to make healthier choices you can enjoy. Find your healthy eating style and maintain it for a lifetime.
Find more great ideas with additional resources from MyPlate Snack Tips for Parents
and The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 25 Healthy Snacks for Kids.
by Angela Hinkle | May 19, 2016
“Milk and milk products provide a wealth of nutrition benefits. But raw milk can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can pose serious health risks to you and your family. According to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1993 and 2006, more than 1,500 people in the United States became sick from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from raw milk. In addition, CDC reported that unpasteurized milk is 150 times more likely to cause foodborne illness and results in 13 times more hospitalizations than illnesses involving pasteurized dairy products.”
This is an excerpt from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Protecting and Promoting Your Health website http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm079516.htm. By reading the information and watching the video on this site, you can better understand the dangers of raw milk and how it can affect your family.
Milk is good for you and it tastes great. Just remember to drink it responsibly and safely.
by Angela Hinkle | Apr 1, 2016
“Breaking bread”, or eating a meal with others, is a deeply personal way to foster a sense of belonging. Food is a social glue; it brings us together for conversation, a time to catch up, a chance to connect with loved ones, and it fills our bellies as well.
If you wish to “break bread” (with actual bread), here are some nice, tasty bites of information.
- The hypnotic, heavenly, warm, welcoming aroma of freshly baked bread makes many of us feel that all is right with the world and provides a sense of comfort.
- Researchers have found that the smell of baking bread triggers a positive mood that leads to a higher degree of benevolence, kindness, and concern for the welfare of others.
“Bread – like real love – took time, cultivation, strong loving hands, and patience. It lived, rising and growing to fruition only under the most perfect circumstances”. – Melissa Hill, Something from Tiffany’s
- A fascinating thing about bread is that though it is often viewed as a “poverty fuel”, it can feel like a luxury to even the most monetarily wealthy of individuals.
“”There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread”. – Mahatma Gandhi
- If you’re going to break bread with bread, go for healthy whole grain varieties for plenty of good-for-you minerals, vitamins, and fiber.
Break bread for a healthy life.
