Choose My Plate - Vary your Veggies

10 tips to help you eat more vegetables

It’s easy to eat more vegetables! Eating vegetables is important because they provide vitamins and minerals and most are low in calories. To fit more vegetables in your meals, follow these simple tips. It is easier than you may think.

1. Discover fast ways to cook. Cook fresh or frozen vegetables in the microwave for a quick-and-easy dish to add to any meal. Steam green beans, carrots, or broccoli in a bowl with a small amount of water in the microwave for a quick side dish.
2. Be ahead of the game. Cut up a batch of bell peppers, carrots, or broccoli. Pre-package them to use when time is limited. You can enjoy them on a salad, with hummus, or in a veggie wrap.
3. Choose vegetables rich in color. Brighten your plate with vegetables that are red, orange, or dark green. They are full of vitamins and minerals. Try acorn squash, cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, or collard greens. They not only taste great but also are good for you, too.
4. Check the freezer aisle. Frozen vegetables are quick and easy to use and are just as nutritious as fresh veggies. Try adding frozen corn, peas, green beans, spinach, or sugar snap peas to some of your favorite dishes or eat as a side dish.
5. Stock up on veggies. Canned vegetables are a great addition to any meal, so keep on hand canned tomatoes, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, mushrooms, and beets. Select those labeled as “reduced sodium,” “low sodium,” or “no salt added.”
6. Make your garden salad glow with color. Brighten your salad by using colorful vegetables such as black beans, sliced red bell peppers, shredded radishes, chopped red cabbage, or watercress. Your salad will not only look good but taste good, too.
7. Sip on some vegetable soup. Heat it and eat it. Try tomato, butternut squash, or garden vegetable soup. Look for reduced- or low-sodium soups.
8. While you’re out. If dinner is away from home, no need to worry. When ordering, ask for an extra side of vegetables or side salad instead of the typical fried side dish.
9. Savor the flavor of seasonal vegetables. Buy vegetables that are in season for maximum flavor at a lower cost. Check your local supermarket specials for the best-in-season buys. Or visit your local farmer’s market.
10. Try something new.  You never know what you may like. Choose a new vegetable—add it to your recipe or look up how to fix it online.

Peppermint Meringue Snowballs

Makes 3 Dozen
Ingredients
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, optional *
1/4 cup finely crushed candy canes or peppermint candy

Directions
Line two large baking sheets with aluminum foil and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until frothy. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating until whites stand in stiff, glossy peaks. This will take about 10 minutes. Beat in the peppermint extract as desired.

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Drop meringue by rounded tablespoon onto the baking sheets, leaving a 1-inch space in between. Sprinkle tops with crushed candy. Bake1 1/2 hours. Turn oven off and leave meringues in the oven for 30 minutes.
Let meringues cool completely before removing from foil. Store in an airtight container.

* Do not use peppermint extract containing peppermint oil (the meringues will deflate). For best results, use imitation (gasp!) peppermint extract.

Nutrition Information per Serving (1 meringue): 30 calories, 0g fat (0g saturated), 5mg sodium, 7g carbohydrate, 0g fiber, 0.5g protein

Source:
Peppermint Meringue Snowballs

Eating Right Means Drinking Right

The human body is made up of 50 to 75 percent water, or about 10 to 12 gallons, so replenishing your body’s water supply is crucial for proper function.

Staying well-hydrated may seem like a simple task, but you actually may not be consuming enough fluid. At minimum, the average adult female should consume 9 (8 oz) glasses of water or water-based beverages every day. Men need about 13 glasses. The actual amount you should consume may be higher based on your physical activity level, body muscle mass and exterior temperature.

According to the American Dietetic Association’s Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, the average adult loses about 2½ quarts or about 10 cups of water daily. To maintain your body fluid balance, you need to replace it each day.

Some great ways to make sure you're drinking enough each day are to take a water break instead of a coffee break, keep a cup or bottle of water handy at your desk, take a drink whenever you walk by a water fountain and keep a bottle of water in your backpack or tote bag. All fluids like juice, tea, soup and even coffee count, so drink up.

“Although there are many theories about the amount to drink, a safe bet is to drink at least eight cups of water each day to make sure you are properly hydrated,” says registered dietitian and American Dietetic Association spokesperson Dee Sandquist. “If you’re working out regularly, you should ideally drink even more than eight cups.”

Sandquist notes that many foods have a high water content, too, so it would be wise to include them in our diet:

Sources:
http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=3652&terms=water
http://www.eatright.org/Media/content.aspx?id=1520&terms=water

Dairy Tips

Use lower fat milk and yogurt.

If you do OK with milk, drink some each day. Work your way down from whole or 2% milk to 1% or skim (nonfat).

Buttermilk has no butter—it can also be a healthy choice.

Cook with whole milk or 2% milk instead of cream. Then try 1%.

Mix whole fruit (sliced banana, strawberries, or peaches) into plain low-fat or nonfat yogurt for a healthy snack.

Avoid creamers in coffee. Instead, choose reduced fat milk or try evaporated skim milk for a creamy taste without saturated fat.

Go easy on high fat cheeses.

Try sharp cheeses like sharp cheddar or Parmesan—you get more taste with smaller amounts. Slice it thin or grate it.

For snacks, cut a small piece of cheese and put the rest away. It’s easy to eat too much!

Don’t add a lot of cheese to meat sandwiches—regular cheese is high in saturated fat and adds extra salt (sodium).

Ask for pizza with half the cheese and more vegetables.

Go easy on the cream cheese toppings for sandwiches and bagels.

Make lasagna and casseroles with cottage cheese or mozzarella.

Choose cheeses that are low in salt (low sodium).

Pumpkin Season is already here, so try this yummy and healthy breakfast for the whole family!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Makes 4 to 5 Servings (about 14 pancakes)

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cups 1% lowfat milk
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 teaspoons canola oil

Directions
Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, flaxseed, sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Set aside.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, pumpkin, and vanilla in a separate bowl until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.
Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Pour the batter onto the hot skillet using a 1/4-cup measuring cup, forming 4-inch pancakes. Cook until bubbles begin to appear on the surface of the pancakes and the bottoms turn golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook until golden brown, an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
Repeat with the remaining oil and batter.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 320 calories, 10g fat (2.5g saturated, 1g omega-3), 400mg sodium, 46g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, 11g protein, 80% vitamin A, 25% calcium, 15% iron

Source:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Choose My Plate

Go to ChooseMyPlate.gov for information on healthy portion sizes!  They even have an online nutrition and physical activity tracker!

Wondering where to get high quality produce at a reasonable $$$

Downtown Salt Lake Farmers Market

Starting August 30th, SNAP recipients can receive double value for produce purchases, up to $10, at the Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday Mornings and Tuesday Evenings. This match program is sponsored by Select Health and administered by Utahns Against Hunger. Participants can receive  up to $10 matching per day to purchase fresh local produce. For example, if we run your EBT card for $5 you will receive $5 in matching funds. This promotion will last until funds are exhausted so do not delay!!!

The summer  harvest is in full swing. Bring your reusable bags to fill with peaches, tomatoes, melons, sweet corn, potatoes, carrots, onions, eggplant, peppers, chilies, beets, greens, fresh-cut flowers, garlic, herbs and more. Shop for your favorite baked goods, locally-raised meats, jams and spreads, sauces, and everything else you have come to love from the Downtown Farmers Market.

Pioneer Park  300 South 300 West

Saturdays 8 am - 2 pm (June 14th  -  October 25th)

Tuesdays 4 pm to Dusk (August 5th -  October 21st)

Fiber

Fiber is best known for helping to keep food moving efficiently through your body. This is only one of the many ways fiber contributes to good health. Fiber helps prevent:

• Heart disease: Fiber may aid in the prevention of heart disease by lowering your cholesterol.
• Diabetes: Fiber helps control blood sugar levels for people with diabetes.
• Digestive Problems: Adequate amounts of fiber from foods can help prevent constipation and hemorrhoids.
• Weight Gain: A high-fiber eating plan is lower in calories and tends to make you feel full faster.

Consuming enough fiber may be easier than you think. Fiber is found in whole grains, beans and fruits and vegetables. The recommended daily amount of fiber is 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. After age 50, your daily fiber needs drops to 21 grams for women and 30 grams for men.

You can meet your daily fiber needs with 2 cups of fruits and 2 ½ cups of vegetables every day, along with whole grains and beans. Add vegetables to stews and casseroles and add oats to meat loaf, breads and cookies. Add fruit to cereal or eat it as a snack and in salads.

Source:
http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6796

Chocolaty Banana Pops

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients
1 cup 1% lowfat chocolate milk
1 ripe medium banana

DirectionsCombine the chocolate milk and banana in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into four 3-ounce popsicle molds and freeze until firm, about 3 hours. To remove the pops from the molds, run under warm water to loosen. If you don’t have popsicle molds, divide the liquid between four paper cups. Cover each cup with foil, insert one craft stick through the center of each foil, and freeze.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 60 calories, 0g fat (0g saturated), 30mg sodium, 13g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 2g protein

Source:
Chocolaty Banana Pops

Intuitive Eating Principle #10

10. Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition. Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It's what you eat consistently over time that matters, progress not perfection is what counts.

Intuitive Eating Principle #9

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference. Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise. If you focus on how you feel from working out, such as energized, it can make the difference between rolling out of bed for a brisk morning walk or hitting the snooze alarm. If your only goal is to lose weight, it's usually not a motivating factor in that moment of time.

Intuitive Eating Principle #8

8. Respect Your Body. Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size. But mostly, respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are. It's hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical about your body shape.

Intuitive Eating Principle #7

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food. Find ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own appeasement. Food won't fix any of these feelings. It may comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb you into a food hangover, but food won't solve the problem. If anything, eating for an emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run. You'll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of overeating.

Intuitive Eating Principle #6

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor. The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living. In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence--the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to   decide you've had "enough."

Intuitive Eating Principle #5

5. Respect Your Fullness. Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you're comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal or food and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what is your current fullness level?

Intuitive Eating Principle #4

4. Challenge the Food Police. Scream "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created . The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

Intuitive Eating Principle #3

3. Make Peace with Food. Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can't or shouldn't have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing When you finally “give-in” to your forbidden food, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating, and overwhelming guilt.

Intuitive Eating Principle #2

2. Honor Your Hunger. Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all
intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal
sets the stage for re-building trust with  yourself and food.

Use the Hunger & Fullness Scale to listen to your body and pay better attention to when you are hunger and
when you are full.

Intuitive Eating Principle #1

Intuitive eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body. Over the next month or so we will focus each week on 1 of the 10 guiding principles of Intuitive Eating. 

1. Reject the Diet Mentality. Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight  quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating.

Healthy Substitutions

Here are some healthy substitutions you can use as you make your yummy holiday meals and treats!

Ingredient                                                          Healthy Swap

Oil (baking)	One cup of unsweetened applesauce or ¾ cup Greek yogurt per cup of oil.
Oil (cooking)	Reduce by half or two thirds. Or use cooking spray instead.
Heavy Cream	Equal parts half & half and fat free evaporated milk. Depending on the recipe, you may be able to use all half and half or whole milk.
White Flour	Substitute half with 100% whole wheat, oat, or soy flour.
Sugar	1 tsp. of mashed banana per tsp. of sugar.
Salt	Garlic, chili powder, lemon, or salt-free seasonings.
Butter	¼ cup Greek yogurt + ½ cup butter to replace 1 cup of butter.
Eggs	Two large egg whites in place of 1 whole egg.
Gravy	Leave it out, or substitute with au jus.
Chocolate Chips	Reduce by one third or use dried fruit.