Best Health Tips

·         Plan some meals around a vegetable main dish, such as a vegetable stir-fry or soup. Then add other foods to complement it.

·         Try a main dish salad for lunch. Go light on the salad dressing.

·         Include a green salad with your dinner every night.

·         Shred carrots or zucchini into meatloaf, casseroles, quick breads, and muffins.

·         Include chopped vegetables in pasta sauce or lasagna.

·         Order a veggie pizza with toppings like mushrooms, green peppers, and onions, and ask for extra veggies.

·         Use pureed, cooked vegetables such as potatoes to thicken stews, soups and gravies. These add flavor, nutrients, and texture.

·         Grill vegetable kabobs as part of a barbecue meal. Try tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, and onions.

·         Set a good example for children by eating vegetables with meals and as snacks.

·         Let children decide on the dinner vegetables or what goes into salads.

·         Depending on their age, children can help shop for, clean, peel, or cut up vegetables.

·         Allow children to pick a new vegetable to try while shopping.

·         Use cut-up vegetables as part of afternoon snacks.

·         Children often prefer foods served separately. So, rather than mixed vegetables try serving two vegetables separately.

·         Snack on ready-to-eat, whole grain cereals such as toasted oat cereal.

·         Add whole-grain flour or oatmeal when making cookies or other baked treats.

·         Try 100% whole-grain snack crackers.

·         Popcorn, a whole grain, can be a healthy snack if made with little or no added salt and butter.

·         Set a good example for children by eating whole grains with meals or as snacks.

·         Let children select and help prepare a whole grain side dish.

·         Teach older children to read the ingredient list on cereals or snack food packages and choose those with whole grains at the top of the list.

·         Eating vegetables and fruit provides more fiber than juice.

·         When having juice, pick 100% fruit juice over fruit flavored drinks, punches or cocktails. Fruit flavored drinks do not count as Food Guide Servings of vegetables and fruit.

·         Choose lower sodium vegetable juices - many vegetable juices contain a lot of added sodium (salt).

·         Experiment with recipes that call for different leafy greens such as beet greens, chard, chicory, collards and kale.

·         Make a salad with spinach or arugula instead of iceberg lettuce.

·         Steam or microwave vegetables in a small amount of water for a few minutes to retain more nutrients than boiling.

·         Have orange vegetables such as squash (acorn, Hubbard or butternut), pumpkin, sweet potatoes or yams baked, boiled or pureed in soups.

·         Serve a platter of raw vegetables like green, yellow, orange or red peppers, and cherry or grape tomatoes. Try them with dips made with low fat yogurt or low fat sour cream.

·         Enjoy peaches, mangoes or berries in smoothies, with yogurt or in fruit compotes or cold soups. Have bananas, berries, kiwis or raisins on cereal or in yogurt.

·         Add apples, pears, peaches, strawberries or oranges to salads.

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