Fruit and Veggie Challenge: Day Two

Try this yummy salad as a side dish with dinner tonight!

Zesty Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

 

· 2 cups fresh broccoli florets

· 2 cups cauliflower, chopped

· 1 red onion, sliced in rings

· 1/2 cup zesty Italian dressing

· 1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the broccoli, cauliflower, onions and dressing. Toss, cover and refrigerate. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds before serving.

FILL OUT YOUR SURVEY HERE: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dDBMSWtrbDUxM3pCSDZuUVNHcjgydlE6MQ

Fruit and Veggie Challenge: Day One

MyPlate & What is a Serving of Fruits and Vegetables?
Fill Half Your Plate

Making It Simple: The Half-Your-Plate Concept

 

What does a serving of broccoli look like? How many baby carrots are in a cup? Even the most well-versed nutrition professionals don’t have all these measurements memorized! So let’s make it easier: fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables at each meal or eating occasion.

 

Making fruits and vegetables the focal point of every meal will help you meet your recommended amount each day—and you won’t have to do all the math!

 

The new healthy MyPlate icon developed by the USDA supports this concept … fill half your plate with colorful fruits and vegetables at every meal! Check out our About the Buzz article for the details of MyPlate and what it means to you.

 

FILL OUT YOUR SURVEY HERE: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dDBMSWtrbDUxM3pCSDZuUVNHcjgydlE6MQ

One Week Fruit and Veggie Challenge!!

Welcome to a challenge within a challenge. I hope that everyone has been finding the challenge and the blog helpful. Even if you aren't filling out the survey each week, hopefully the goals have made you more mindful of your health and fitness.

Tomorrow we will kick off a 7-day Fruit and Veggie Challenge! This was done at my job and I think it is a great way to get more healthy foods into our diet.  The challenge is simple: get 8 servings of fruits/vegetables each day for 7 days.

Why?
The CDC and the Produce for Better Health Foundation have launched a national campaign with the message, "Fruits & Veggies -- More Matters."
The new slogan replaces the old "5 a Day" campaign, which dates back to the early '90s. The reason? Under the U.S. government's latest food guidelines, five servings of fruits and vegetables may not be enough. Adults need anywhere from 7-13 cups of produce daily to get all the health benefits of fruits and vegetables -- including possible protection against obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
(from http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/fruits-veggies-more-matters)
What is a serving?
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets a serving size for fruit or vegetables to be equal to about one-half cup. Greens like spinach and lettuce have a serving size equal to one full cup. One serving of sliced fruit is equal to one-half cup; however a single piece of fruit, such as an apple or an orange counts as one serving.

Here are some typical serving sizes for fruits and vegetables:

Fruits

• one banana
• six strawberries
• two plums
• fifteen grapes
• one apple
• one peach
• one-half cup of orange or other fruit juice

Vegetables

• five broccoli florets
• ten baby carrots
• one Roma tomato
• 3/4 cup tomato juice
• 3/4 cup vegetable juice
• half of a baked sweet potato
• one ear of corn
• four slices of an onion

(http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/f/servingfruit.htm)

I've updated the survey for you to fill it out each day by indicating the number of servings you ate. If you can't get to the survey online, feel free to email or text me your numbers and I'll add them in for you.

Each day I'll post a delicious recipe or fun tip to help you get your 8 servings in.

Ready? Let's GET CHALLENGED!

Trigger Toning: Squeeze Exercise Into Your Day

Trigger Toning: Squeeze Exercise Into Your Day

Train yourself to fit in exercise between daily tasks.

Article By: Paula Gardner (http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=49721)

Trigger toning is about incorporating toning exercises into your daily routine so that they become as much of a ritual as cleaning your teeth. You do your movements throughout the day, fitting them in without effort.

Although they don't give you a workout in the same way as aerobic activity, this type of exercise is vital if you want to firm up while losing weight.

Trigger Happy
The trick is to use specific moments during the day as triggers to remind you to do toning exercises. These need only take out a minute or two of your time and, at the end of the day, you'll be amazed at the amount of toning time you squeezed in.

Even small moves help keep you and your joints flexible, as well as burning off energy. And we all know that every little bit helps.

Trigger: Getting Out of Bed
First thing in the morning, stretch to the ceiling on tiptoes and then, feet firmly flat on the floor and legs straight, gently bend forward as far as you can. Don't worry if you can only reach your knees or shins, within weeks you'll find yourself much more flexible.

Trigger: While Cleaning Your Teeth
Lift yourself up and down on your toes as you brush. Calf raises are great for flabby calves and a good pre-ski exercise.

Trigger: Waiting for a Bus or Train
As many buttock clenches as you can manage.

Trigger: Watching TV
At the beginning of the show and during each commercial break, get on the floor and do 10 sit-ups or push ups (start off doing push ups on your knees).

Trigger: When the Telephone Rings
Breathe out and hold stomach muscles in for a count of 20.

Trigger: Waiting for Coffee to Brew or the Kettle to Boil
Standing press-ups against the wall or 10 squats.

What triggers do you have throughout the day that you could use? You can use anything from checking your email to emptying the cat food bowl as your trigger. Be creative and consistent with your "reminders" and activities.

How to Squeeze Exercise into your Day

How to Squeeze Exercise into your Day

from http://www.healthybydesignprogram.com/index.php/HealthyByDesignBlog/2012-06-20

My strategy has been to take exercise out of the box ( or gym) and figure out how to make it work for your lifestyle.

Willpower is sure to fade; schedules will always get over-crowded if you let it and there will never be the perfect time to exercise so just make up your mind that you are going to squeeze it in no matter what.

It must work for your life. Once you decided not it is not optional then you will begin to seek out ways to make it fit into your schedule.

Here are some ways to squeeze exercise into your daily routine.

1. While talking on the phone, stand up instead of sitting, balance on one leg, go for a walk, do lunges, squats or stretches.
2. Spice up your bathroom routine -- while brushing your teeth, balance on one leg, do isometric abdominal exercises by sucking your abs in towards your spine, stretch or do wall squats
3. Not a fan of housework? Look at it as an opportunity to improve your health. Turn vacuuming into lunges; window cleaning into an arm workout and imagine the possibilities you can create with a broom!!!
4. Instead of trying to carry all of your groceries, files or garbage in one trip, take some extra time and make a few trips.
5. Who says meetings always have to be in a stuffy boardroom? Book a walking meeting and kill two birds with one stone.
6. Use commercial breaks during your favorite TV program to do push ups or abdominal exercises. Challenge yourself to improve each week.
7. Your chair is the perfect height for tricep dips ( see the picture above) -- make it part of your daily routine to do 10 dips before dinner; this will tone and strengthen your triceps.

Healthy Fall Apple Recipes

from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/healthy-fall-apple-recipes/pictures/index.html?nl=EATS_092612_P1-Headline

An Apply A Day

Apples are loaded with good stuff like fiber, vitamin C and beta carotene; we've got sweet and savory recipes to get you through apple season.

Homemade Yogurt With Apple Compote
Ellie Krieger's Apple Muffins
Pork Chops With Apples and Smashed Potatoes
Whole-Wheat Apple Pancakes
Beet and Apple Salad
Apple-and-Ham Salad
Apple-Berry Brown Betty
Sauteed Cabbage and Apples
Apple-Honey Drumsticks
Green Apple-Sourdough Pancakes
Ham, Swiss and Apple Wraps

Thanks to Naye for passing along this tasty link!!

Sicilian Cauliflower Pasta

Meat Free Monday: Sicilian Cauliflower Pasta

Sicily was ruled by Arabs in the 10th and 11th centuries and their culinary legacy lives on...

 

Ingredients

2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
1 bay leaf
400g wholewheat mafalda corta
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 rounded tbsp freshly chopped flatleaf parsley
Freshly grated vegetarian Parmesan, to serve
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of saffron threads
1 small-medium cauliflower, chopped into small florets
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
A pinch of crushed dried chilli
50g raisins
50g pine nuts

Method

Soak the saffron threads in 2 tbsp boiling water and set aside.
Cook the cauliflower florets in a large pan of boiling salted water for about 4 minutes until tender. Scoop the cauliflower out of the pan, drain and set aside, and reserve the water. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, add the onion and cook over a medium heat until tender but not coloured. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute.
Add the raisins and pine nuts to the pan and continue to cook until the pine nuts are toasted and lightly golden. Add the cauliflower, steeped saffron, sun-dried tomato paste and bay leaf to the pan along with 150ml of the cauliflower cooking water. Season and cook over a low-medium heat for about 5 minutes, lightly mashing the cauliflower with the back of a wooden spoon to make a sauce and adding more water if necessary if it starts to look dry.
Meanwhile cook the malfalda corta in the cauliflower water according to the packet instructions. Drain, reserving 1 cupful of the water and tip the pasta into the sauté pan with the cauliflower sauce. Add the lemon juice, chopped parsley and stir to combine. Add some of the reserved water if needed. Serve with lots of freshly grated vegetarian Parmesan.