Nutrition Pointers

Nutrition Pointers: Fruits and Veggies

• Eat as many as possible—try filling half your plate with fruits and veggies.
• Fruits and veggies are good for you whether they are fresh or frozen.
• Go for a wide variety of colors.
• Eat whole fruits instead of juice—you get more fiber, less sugar.
• Don’t be afraid to make them taste good! Add salad dressing to raw veggies or a little brown sugar and cinnamon to mashed squash.

Tips for Getting More Fruits and Veggies Into Your Diet:

• Add chopped carrots and zucchini to basic pasta sauce.
• Add carrots, squash, or corn to chili or burrito filling.
• Roast vegetables—it makes them sweeter and easier for small children to chew. Cut up any veggie, toss with oil, salt, and pepper, and roast 20‐40 minutes at 400 degrees .
• Try putting apple or banana slices or raisins in peanut butter sandwiches instead of jelly. In cream cheese sandwiches or bagels, try apple slices, raisins or berries.

Fruits and Veggies: Recipes

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into 1 1/2‐inch‐wide florets
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Sprinkle of salt or pepper

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Toss cauliflower with oil and salt in a large bowl.
3. Spread in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and roast, stirring and turning over occasionally, until tender and golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes.

**Note: You can use this technique with other vegetables. Just modify the roasting time:

Brussels sprouts, carrots, or peeled, seeded butternut squash: 30 minutes

Sweet potatoes: 40 minutes

Broccoli: 20‐25 minutes

Red or green peppers: 25 minutes

Sliced kale leaves: 10 minutes

Beets (cover with foil, then peel after cooking): 1 hour

Fruit Dip

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• strawberries, cantaloupe (cubed), bananas (sliced), or any other fruit

Dip:

1. Place yogurt in a small bowl. Add honey and cinnamon; stir into yogurt.
2. Place cut‐up fruit on a plate and serve with yogurt dip.

Baked Apples or Pears

• 4 firm apples or pears
• 1/3 cup honey
• ½tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or other dried fruit
• 3 tbs vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Cut out the core of the apples or pears, trying to keep the whole fruit in tact (if it breaks, it’s not a big deal).
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Divide the mixture into fourths and spoon each fourth into the hole in each apple or pear.
3. Place the apples or pears in a baking dish and bake until they are tender, about 30 minutes.

Nutrition Pointers: Dairy

Things to Know About Dairy:

• Dairy is a good source of calcium, protein, and certain vitamins. Milk is also a good alternative to juice drinks or soda.
• Go for low fat dairy. Buy 1% or skim milk and low fat cheese. Why? Because all dairy fat is saturated fat, which raises the risk of heart disease and diabetes. So if you keep the dairy fat low, you keep your saturated fat intake low.
• Stay away from added sugar or flavored milk—if your child doesn’t drink chocolate milk now, don’t start it with them. Most kids will like milk without any problem and there’s no reason to introduce the extra sugar in there to get them to drink it.

Nutrition Pointers: Fats

FatsThings to Know About Fats:

Fat isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s the type of fat that matters: