8 Tips - Eat your fruits & veggies
January 20, 2015
Add More Fruits and Veggies to Your Life
Karen Koeppe, Packard Health Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Educator has some practical tips for eating healthy.
- There's always room for more veggies!
- When preparing a casserole, soup or chili, throw in a few extra frozen vegetables.
- Add sauteed sliced portabella mushrooms, zucchini or green peppers to prepared low-sodium pasta sauce.
- Making an omelet or scrambled eggs? Add sauteed tiny broccoli flowerets, chopped summer squash, chopped red and green peppers and some low-fat 2% milk grated cheddar cheese.
- Pre-sliced and packaged peppers and onions in the produce department are wonderful for making quick chicken stir-fries or fajitas.
- Don't just have a "turkey only"sandwich - top it off with romaine lettuce, sliced tomatoes, cucumber slices, grated carrots, sprouts, etc.
- Make a "Veg-Out" bag for snacking (and keep it front and center in your fridge): Beautiful strips of bell peppers (green/red/orange/yellow), grape or cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, broccoli or cauliflower florets, cuke coins, sugar snap peas, etc. Whatever strikes your fancy. Make a big batch as soon as you get home from the grocery store or farmers market, and keep in a gallon-size self-seal baggie. When you feel the urge to chew on something between meals, feel good about making this your snack of choice!
- Fit in fabulous fruit! Eat seasonal fresh fruit for the best pricing and health. Mix and match a few different varieties of locally grown apples in the fall. Remember to take one or two pieces of fruit with you to work or school. It's hard to find fresh fruit when you eat out, and so pricey you won't buy it. This way you have it with you, and it's easy to eat a piece with lunch and as a snack later.
- Use frozen, organic berries (loaded in cardio-protective antioxidants) in smoothies made with fat-free milk or vanilla yogurt
- Keep canned fruits (in natural juices) in your cupboard - inexpensive, good for a long time, and handy when you run out of fresh fruit.
- Work a serving of fruit into breakfast: 4-oz of calcium-fortified orange juice, add raisins or snipped dried apricots or dates to a steaming bowl of oatmeal, or grab a "portable" banana or tangerine as you dash out the door. Fruit is nature's fast food!
- Think of fruit toppings for leafy green salads (try a mix of romaine and baby spinach): mandarin oranges, dried cherries or cranberries, or pineapple tidbits.
