Are You Eating Enough Fruits and Veggies?

Hello my friends!  This morning, I received an e-mail kicking off a fitness and nutrition campaign at my job.  We are being asked to pick a personal challenge from a list and pursue that goal throughout the month of September.  One of those personal challenges is centered around consuming the recommended amount of fruits and veggies each day.  In reading this, I asked myself...

"What IS the recommended amount of fruits and veggies that I should be eating on a daily basis?"  

I realized I really didn't know!  Of course, I remember learning 3 - 5 servings back in grade school, but I can't say that I have corroborated that in the past 10 years.  I asked a friend who told me 6 - 8, which was a big difference.  So... off to google.com I went to do some research.  What I found was a calculator developed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that can be used to quickly calculate how many servings of fruits and veggies you need per day, based on your age, gender, and activity level.  They also have a handy chart that helps you figure out what a serving size is for different fruit and veggie types.

Here's the link:  http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/fruitsvegetables/howmany.html

I found that I need 2.5 servings (1 serving = 1 cup) of veggies, and 2 cups of fruits per day.  I actually am pretty close to that!  I have fruit for morning and afternoon snacks, and a cup of veggies with lunch and dinner.  I am going to figure out a way to bump up veggies a little bit, but pretty good.  Just another step in educating myself while also keeping you all informed!

Nutrition Tips: Cook ONCE for the ENTIRE Week!

Last night, I had an epiphany.  I was watching Basketball Wives (don't judge) and cooking my clean meals for the week, when it dawned on me, "I've never written on my blog about this!"  So today, I'm fixing that.  I've written more than once about how critical it is for me to eat at home, and plan my meals.  It is impossible for me to eat "out" and still watch my calories, sodium, etc.  I would have to sacrifice something, skip a meal, you name it, to stick to my meal plan.  So, I try to eat at home, where I can control how my food is prepared.  But, for the working woman (or man), eating out is often for convenience too, not just for pleasure.  The fact is, I am so busy with LIFE, it's a task to cook a full meal every night.  To save time, I end up cutting corners, microwaving vegetables, eating cereal, or eating snack foods.

But I have a solution to this!  Instead of cooking every weeknight, what I try to do is spend an hour or two on Sunday preparing my meals for the week.  This is not my own idea -- it is borrowed -- but IT WORKS!  By sacrificing two hours on my Sunday evening, I save way more time on the back end.  I also avoid the chore of figuring out what I am going to eat every evening.  Now, I am by no means self-proclaiming myself as "Chef BoyarBRE"... but the meals I prepped last night look pretty darn tasty, if I do say so myself.  And the best part is, they are 100% CLEAN!

So, what do I typically cook?  Well, I try to maintain a good ratio of carbs : protein : fat (40 : 30 : 30 for those who follow my blog). I think the easiest thing is for me to share the grocery list from yesterday, and the meals I created from it.  Just a reminder -- This is a four day work week because of Labor Day, so my list is a bit smaller than normal:

Grocery List
- 3 large skinless chicken breasts (~8 oz. per breast)
- 1/4 cup panko Italian bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 large piece of salmon (~8 oz. filet)
- 2 zucchini
- 2 yellow squash
- 1 lb. bag of baby carrots
- fresh green beans (2 large handfuls)
- 2 cups brown rice
- sea salt
- Mrs. Dash seasoning
- cajun seasoning
- olive oil
- coconut oil
- non-stick cooking spray

Directions

Meat

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Line baking sheet with foil and spray generously with cooking spray
3. Beat the egg in a bowl, and place breadcrumbs in a plastic bag
4. Take one chicken breast, coat in egg, and toss in plastic bag to coat with bread crumbs
5. Place coated chicken breast in pan and bake for 25 minutes until cooked
6. Heat frying pan on stove at medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil
7. Season remaining two chicken breasts (I use Mrs. Dash and sea salt)
8. Place in frying pan, cover, and cook ~6 - 8 minutes on each side until cooked
9. Wipe frying pan and replace olive oil (reheat to medium heat)
10. Season salmon filet (I use cajun seasoning)
11. Place in frying pan, cover, and cook ~4 minutes on each side until cooked

Vegetables

1. Cut zucchini and squash into 1/4 inch slices
2. Heat frying pan on stove at medium heat with tablespoon of olive oil and tablespoon of coconut oil
3. Place sliced zucchini and squash into frying pan and cover
4. Sautee until the zucchini and squash are soft (~15 minutes)
5. While zucchini and squash are cooking, prep green beans (snap off stem edges)
6. Remove cooked zucchini and squash, and place green beans into frying pan
7. Cover and sautee until green beans are soft (~15 minutes)
8. Remove cooked green beans and rinse out frying pan
9. Add 1 cup of water and place carrots in pan
10. Cover and simmer until carrots are soft (~20 minutes)

Rice

1. Boil 4 cups of water in a medium pan
2. Once boiling, add brown rice, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until water evaporates
3. Check and make sure rice is tender (should yield ~4 cups brown rice)

Meals
Lunch #1:  1/2 cup brown rice + 4 oz. pan-roasted chicken (1/2 chicken breast) + 1/2 prepared zucchini & squash
Dinner #1:  1/2 cup brown rice + 4 oz. salmon (1/2 salmon filet) + 1/2 prepared green beans
Lunch #2:  1/2 cup brown rice + 4 oz. oven-fried chicken (1/2 chicken breast) + 1/2 prepared zucchini & squash
Dinner #2:  1/2 cup brown rice + 4 oz.  pan-roasted chicken (1/2 chicken breast) + 1/2 prepared carrots
Lunch #3:  1/2 cup brown rice + 4 oz.  pan-roasted chicken (1/2 chicken breast) + 1/2 prepared zucchini & squash
Dinner #3:  1/2 cup brown rice + 4 oz. salmon (1/2 chicken breast) + 1/2 prepared carrots
Lunch #4:  1/2 cup brown rice + 4 oz. pan-roastedchicken (1/2 chicken breast) + 1/2 prepared green beans
Dinner #4:  1/2 cup brown rice + 4 oz. oven-fried chicken (1/2 chicken breast) + 1/2 prepared zucchini & squash

There you have it!  My meals aren't very fancy, but they work for me.  Of course, I have friends who get a bit more creative.  Some use shrimp and other types of seafood, make stews and soups, or incorporate veggies like kale, sweet potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, etc.  The key is to plan!  Plan, plan, plan!  It's essential.  Each of my meals yields ~300 calories, which is perfect for a 5 - 6 meal per day meal plan.  It only took me ~90 minutes to do the above this week, and I've saved all meal prep time during the week because of it.  For breakfast, I'm eating yogurt and oatmeal bars right now, so no preparation needed for breakfast either.  And snacks are fruit (peaches, grapes, berries, etc) and peanut butter or granola.