Chef Paul: Certain Vegetables and Fruits
March 18 2011
In 2007, Canada’s Food Guide upped their recommended amounts for servings of vegetables and fruits to between 7 to 10 daily…don’t worry, that’s a combined total.
It still seems like a lot.
When you consider that a serving is equal to one medium sized fruit, ½ grapefruit, 1 cup of fruit salad, ¼ cup dried fruit, ½ cup 100% fruit juice, ½ cup of cooked or raw vegetables, 1 cup salad greens, and ½ cup 100% vegetable juice, it can be difficult to get that many fruits or vegetables into your diet; difficult, but not impossible.
The key is, again, to plan ahead. If you plan to have a least two portions of fruit with your breakfast, say a banana and maybe some berries with your cereal; and then make sure to bring a green salad, a side vegetable or some carrot sticks for a snack and at least 1 whole fruit for lunch, you’re already at 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.
With dinner, serve at least two side vegetables or one side and a salad and voila! You’ve reached your target of 7 servings…of course this is your minimum target. Have some fruit for dessert and between meal snacks and you easily attain the recommended amounts.
We North Americans have a diet which consists primarily of meat and potatoes. Now I LOVE me some meat and potatoes but I do know that eating my full share of fruits and veggies helps me maintain my health and gives me plenty of energy to deal with my soon to be three year old…and trust me, you NEED energy for that. As I sit here at my desk, I’ve got 2 oranges and a banana in front of me…okay, make that 1 orange (it was just sweet and tart enough) and one banana. In our staff fridge, I’ve got my yogourt (local organic) and wild blueberries (also local), my spinach salad (local organic) and some arugula (also… yeah, you get the idea) that will find its way into my gnocchi. I purposely packed myself a vegetarian lunch today because I planned on burgers for dinner…and usually we have fries (baked potato wedges) with our burgers and we don’t have salad, though we probably should. (I think I just guilted myself into making a side salad now)
For breakfast, I had steel cut oats and an apple (along with OJ, toast and a coffee). Therefore, adding up my totals for today, I have 8 servings of mostly fruit with some veggies…not bad.
Once you get into the habit of planning out your meals, achieving the recommended amounts isn’t really that hard…you just have to plan.
P.S. Here’s a quick update on our garden. The seeds have begun to sprout already! It’s only been 6 days since my wife planted them but they are well underway. I’ll take some photos this weekend to share with you.
