{"id":1147,"date":"2011-03-10T00:18:34","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T00:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/?p=1147"},"modified":"2011-03-10T00:18:34","modified_gmt":"2011-03-10T00:18:34","slug":"how-to-fill-up-on-fruits-vegetables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/how-to-fill-up-on-fruits-vegetables\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Fill Up On Fruits &#038; Vegetables"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mceTemp\">\n<p>By: Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC<\/p>\n<p>V.P of\u00a0Nutrition Services\u00a0and Co-creator of Ignite Your Skinny Gene Program<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;&#8230;..<\/p>\n<p>The crisper \u2013 <em>A <\/em><em>helpful addition to our favorite kitchen appliance or a slightly \u201cmisleading\u201d use of space<\/em>?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>You know what I\u2019m talking about, right? The two special drawers in the bottom of your refrigerator are ideal for storing fruits and vegetables to help prevent them from losing their moisture, but is the size preventing us from filling up on our fruits and vegetables?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1153\" style=\"width: 220px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/fruit-and-veg-box.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1153\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1153 \" title=\"fruit and veg box\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/fruit-and-veg-box-300x199.jpg?resize=210%2C139\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"139\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1153\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Karimian<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here is the million dollar question\u2026.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Why are we limited to <em>two small drawers<\/em> when the recommendation is to eat 7-11 servings of fruits and vegetables per day<\/strong>?<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s 49-77 servings of fruits and vegetables per week &#8211; for ONE person in your household.\u00a0 How could we possibly store that many servings of fruits\u00a0and vegetables in those two small drawers?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Well, unfortunately, changing the type of refrigerator we have may be an expensive ordeal, but let\u2019s <strong>brainstorm some ways to capitalize on our intake of fruits and vegetables with what means we have<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>IDEAS TO INCREASE OUR INTAKE OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong><span style=\"color: #003366; text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Shop With A Purpose<\/em><\/span><\/strong>: When meal planning and grocery shopping, <strong>focus on fruits and vegetables<\/strong>. Choose enough servings for the household <strong>for the week<\/strong> by capitalizing on the three available categories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fresh<\/li>\n<li>Frozen<\/li>\n<li>Canned<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Have An Attack Plan<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Plan to eat the fresh vegetables with a <strong>shorter shelf life first<\/strong>, then move onto the frozen.\u00a0 Canned vegetables are a great back up for the cabinet raid just before your next shopping trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Just a disclaimer or two<\/strong>:<\/span><\/em> When using canned vegetable, choose low sodium and rinse under tap water prior to preparing to reduce the sodium content.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Go For The Bargains<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong>: When choosing fruits, try to pick the seasonal varieties that are on sale.\u00a0 The great thing about the standard fruits &#8211; such as apples, oranges, pears, and bananas &#8211; is that they usually keep well over the course of the week. So in theory, you can buy 7 apples and eat 1 each day of the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <span style=\"color: #003366; text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>Mix It Up<\/strong><\/em><\/span>: Alternatives to the fresh fruit are frozen, canned, or jarred.\u00a0 Frozen berries and mixed fruit blends are perfect to add to smoothies or on top of yogurt or oatmeal.\u00a0 Canned fruits in their own juice or light syrup can be a nice back up as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <span style=\"color: #003366; text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>Make the Substitution<\/strong><\/em><\/span>: Jarred fruit, specifically speaking about applesauce, is a very handy thing to have in the cupboard to use as a fat replacement when baking, an add-in to your light jell-o, or just a plain and simple cup of applesauce for a snack.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <span style=\"color: #003366; text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>Shop Around<\/strong><\/em><\/span>: If you feel the fresh fruits and vegetables at your neighborhood grocery store are too expensive, look to your local farmer\u2019s market to provide you with the seasonal produce for a lower price.\u00a0 To locate a local farmer\u2019s market near you, check out:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/apps.ams.usda.gov\/FarmersMarkets\/\">http:\/\/apps.ams.usda.gov\/FarmersMarkets\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once you have purchased your fruits and vegetables, the <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>next step is to eat them<\/strong>!<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here are some meal and snack ideas to meet your daily intake goal\u00a0of <strong>7 to 11 servings <\/strong>of fruits and vegetables per day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Breakfas<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #003366;\">t<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Include a piece of fruit with your toast or cereal<\/li>\n<li>Add banana or blueberries to hot or cold cereal<\/li>\n<li>Add fruit to yogurt<\/li>\n<li>Egg whites with spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes, and onions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Lunch<\/span><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Include a piece of fruit for your dessert<\/li>\n<li>Try salad as main entr\u00e9e with added baked chicken or tuna<\/li>\n<li>Add lettuce and tomato to your sandwich<\/li>\n<li>Eat carrots or red and green pepper sticks\u00a0<\/li>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\ufeff<\/span><\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Dinner<\/span><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Serve every dinner with a vegetable and\/or a salad<\/li>\n<li>Prepare stir-fry vegetables as part of main dish<\/li>\n<li>Add vegetables to pasta and rice dishes<\/li>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\ufeff<\/span><\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Snacks<\/span><\/strong><\/span>: \u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dip sliced celery, mushrooms, carrots, red pepper slices in low fat ranch dressing or hummus<\/li>\n<li>Top pudding with fruits<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Eat any piece of fruit (such as orange, apple slices, grapes, strawberries) or cottage cheese with cucumber slices, green pepper scoopers, or spinach<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Add blueberries to vanilla yogurt<\/li>\n<li>Spread peanut butter on apple slices or bananas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Remember- if you want to be lean, you&#8217;ve got to start\u00a0eating green!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These are just a few tips to get you started. Experiment and try some of your own, then share them with us.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/About-Emily.jpg\"><\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/?category_name=emily-barr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-1156\" title=\"About Emily\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/About-Emily1-1024x296.jpg?resize=517%2C149\" alt=\"\" width=\"517\" height=\"149\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/?category_name=emily-barr\">Read more articles by Emily Barr\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/free-consultation.php\">Contact our Nutrition Team and receive a free consultation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC V.P of\u00a0Nutrition Services\u00a0and Co-creator of Ignite Your Skinny Gene Program &#8230;&#8230;.. The crisper \u2013 A helpful addition to our favorite kitchen appliance or a slightly \u201cmisleading\u201d use of space? You know what I\u2019m talking about, right? The two special drawers in the bottom of your refrigerator are ideal for&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/how-to-fill-up-on-fruits-vegetables\/\" class=\"excerpt-read-more\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[111,68,222],"tags":[672,673],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90Iz0-iv","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}