How to Add Color to Your Family’s Winter Meals

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

10:03 AM

Keep it fresh this winter by adding colorful fruits and vegetables to your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

 

Fruits and vegetables contain nutrients and minerals that your body needs to stay healthy. Eating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables throughout the week will help get you the recommended amount of nutrients. The more colors you include, the more variety of nutrients you will get. For example, bananas contain high amounts of potassium, while oranges contain high amounts of Vitamin C.

 

Adding nutrition, color, and flavor to your family’s winter meals doesn’t have to be hard. Actually, it can be cost effective by focusing on these three things: Fresh, Frozen, and Canned.

Fresh

Fresh fruits and vegetables can usually be found at the front of the grocery store. Fresh can be an affordable option when the fruit or vegetable is in season, meaning it is in peak ripeness, flavor, and nutritional value. Pomegranates, pineapple, kiwi, grapes, oranges, apples, and bananas are seasonal fruit choices in the winter months. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, kale, squash, beets, and brussels sprouts are some of the seasonal vegetables choices in the winter months.

 

Frozen

Frozen fruits and vegetables are an affordable and nutritious way to get more color in meals during the winter time. All the bountiful produce you might find fresh in the summer is at available in the freezer isle of the grocery store. These fruits and vegetables are quickly frozen at the peak of their ripeness, flavor and nutritional value and ready for you and your family during the off seasons.

 

Canned

Canned fruits and vegetables can be enjoyed all year long at a fraction of a price! Same as frozen, canned fruit and vegetables are processed when they are in peak ripeness, flavor, and nutritional value. Canned fruits and vegetables are perfect for a quick dinner or adding more nutrients and colors to your favorite recipes. Look for no-sodium or low-sodium canned vegetables and fruit in 100% fruit juice.

 

Start adding fruits and vegetables today with these simple and affordable ideas:

Fruit

Top your whole grain cereal and hot oatmeal with fresh seasonal fruit or dried fruit.

Add fruit to your whole grain pancake mix.

Have whole or cut up fruit readily available for snacks or as a side to complete your balanced meal.

Think of fruit at dinner by adding fresh seasonal fruit to salads or pair with cooked lean meats.

 

Vegetables

Add fresh or frozen vegetables to your morning eggs or smoothie.

Have cut up vegetables readily available for on the go snacks.

Enjoy vegetables with a dip, like low-fat ranch or hummus.

Add 1 more vegetable to your favorite family dinner.

 

Additional resources:

• Find out how much fruit you and your family should eat each day here.
• Find out what types of vegetables you can choose and how many vegetables you and your family should eat each day here.