Month: February 2020

By Lauren Weaver, Texas A&M Intern

Is It Really All or Nothing?

The road to good health can seem so intimidating! We’re constantly surrounded with extreme nutrition advice. Especially around the beginning of the year when everyone’s resolution seems to revolve around weight loss. Go on a juice cleanse, workout for two hours a day, go vegan, try eating only meat, and the list goes on. It’s no wonder people feel defeated before they’ve even began.

Let’s set a couple of things straight. First, better health doesn’t always mean weight loss. Second, no – health isn’t an all or nothing approach!

Eat Right, Bite by Bite

March is National Nutrition Month^®, and this year’s theme is “Eat Right, Bite by Bite.” The hope behind this message is that people see that every bite counts. Every step you make to improve your health is a step in the right direction. Every step makes a difference.

Try a Bite

Try making realistic, attainable goals for yourself. If being active every day isn’t something you can do right now, start with two days a week. If making half of your plate fruits and vegetables seems impossible, start by including a fruit or vegetable in every meal. What matters is that you start.

Check out these ideas and take a bite for your health!

• Try eating a new fruit or vegetable.
• Cook a meal together as a family.
• Get active in a fun new way – dance, yoga, frisbee golf – the possibilities are endless!
• Start exercising two days a week.
• Include a fruit or vegetable in snacks and meals.
• Pack a homemade lunch instead of going out to eat.

Taking a first step can lead to other steps. Remember, we all start somewhere! Just take a step, take a bite, and eat right, bite by bite.

By Lauren Weaver, Texas A&M Intern

Edited by Andi Champion, CHEF

Trying to keep on track with your health goals while juggling your family’s schedule can seem like an impossible task. By the time everyone is home for the day, cooking a full meal is the last thing anyone wants to do.  For many of us, home-cooked meals fall by the wayside, often replaced with eating out which is expensive and not nearly as nutritious. The good news is, there’s a solution that can save you so much time and money –meal prepping!

What is Meal Prepping?

Basically, meal prepping is just preparing your meals ahead of time. It’s efficient because everything is being done at once, so it can be a huge time-saver.

You can prep as few or as many meals and ingredients as your family needs. If you just want to prep breakfast and lunch to save time in the mornings, you can do that. Or if you don’t want to have to come home and cook, you can just make dinners. You can even prep part of a meal such as pre-chopping the vegetables or pre-cooking grains or protein so that there’s less to do when you get home.

Step-by-Step

1. Pick your recipes the weekend before you need them.
2. Make your grocery list. Try not to overbuy – if two recipes call for half an onion, try to note that and just buy one.
3. Head to the store. This is where you can save a lot of your time because you get all your grocery shopping done at once.
4. Get prepping! Casseroles, muffins, one-pot dishes, quiches, breakfast burritos, soups, and sandwich fillings are just some of the many dishes that make well ahead of time and can even be frozen.  Don’t forget to take advantage of different preparation methods in the kitchen. That way you can have soup on the stove, while vegetables are roasting in the oven, while you mix up muffin dough on the counter.

One last tip: Meal prepping is a great way to get the entire family engaged in the kitchen. With so many foods being prepared, there’s a job for everyone and it helps you get it all done even faster!