How to Squeeze in All Nine Servings of Fruits and Vegetables

The eternally wise folks over at the FDA keep increasing the serving recommendation for daily fruit and vegetable intake. And I have nothing better to do than to try to keep up with it. Here are some creative things that my family is doing to ensure that we get all nine servings in by 9 PM.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Plenty of your favorite fruits and vegetables.

1. Plan ahead the night before. Take your fruits such as grapes, baby carrots, raisins and orange slices and place a hand full of each in its own separate baggie. Make multiple bags so that you have plenty for you, the kids and daddy the next day. Yes people, this is a family affair.
2. The following day, add fruit to whatever you decide to have for breakfast. We are always adding fruits such as raisins, Crazins and bananas to our oatmeal, cold cereals and yogurt in the morning. Making pancakes….top with some bananas and strawberries and a dollop of light whipped cream and you have a home-made Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘n Fruity. Make sure you add at least one full serving of fruit. Try drinking one serving of 100 percent fruit juice in the morning. Yup, 100 percent fruit juice does count as a serving. (Servings #1 & 2)
3. On your way out the door to school or work in the morning, grab two snack bags, one to eat with lunch, the other in the afternoon when the munchies kick in. You can also grab a whole apple. Apples travel very well in the car or in a hand bag. Bananas… not so well. FYI, a large apple actually counts as two servings of fruit. (Servings #2 and #3)
4. For after school snack, make the normal turkey or tuna sandwich, but make it a new family tradition to top every sandwich with some fruit or vegetables. Don’t be afraid to experiment. You might find that your youngest loves pineapple on her ham sandwich. While lettuce and tomato are always natural choices, fresh or sautéed spinach and tomato are even better in terms of nutritional value.
   Try having a serving of fruit as a side with every meal, along with, or ideally instead of, the chips. Grapes, baby carrot sticks or coleslaw works well with any sandwich. (Servings #4 and #5)
5. Why not take some fresh spinach and start dinner with a spinach salad. Nice thing about a spinach salad is depending on the size, you could essentially get two servings of vegetables with the salad alone. Not a salad family--- try having pizza night but this time make it at home and top with tomatoes, sautéed spinach and broccoli and let’s not forget ham and pineapple for the baby. (Servings #6 and #7)
6. Always end the day with fruit. If dessert is the last meal of the day for your family as it is mine, try making fruit and yogurt parfaits for dessert. The kids will love it, plus it will be a lot healthier than cookies or ice cream. If you must have your Bryers before bed, toss it in a blender with a ton of fresh or frozen fruit and make smoothies instead. Depended on the amount of fruit you use, you can add another one or two servings. (Servings #8 and #9)

Tips & Warnings

• Make it fun by keeping a “Nine by 9” log on the refrigerator door. Create a simple chart and write each person’s name along the left margin. Then, create a column for each day of the week. At the end of the day, reward each family member with a star for every fruit and vegetable serving consumed that day. If your family is as competitive as mine, you will have no problem reaching your “Nine by 9” target….you may even exceed the target some days. Have fun!