It is essential to plan meals and prepare a list before heading to the store. Impulse shopping can quickly fill up the grocery cart with empty calories and extra costs.
Canada’s Food Guide at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng. php is a good starting point to help plan a variety of meals. The following are recommendations from Canada’s Food Guide to get you started:
Vegetables &fruit
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• A serving is 1/2 cup (125 mL) of fresh, frozen or canned vegetables or fruit or 100 percent juice or 1 c. (250 mL) of leafy raw vegetables or salad or one piece of fruit.
• Select at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day to ensure that you are getting enough vitamin A and folate. Examples of green vegetables are arugula, broccoli, chard, dandelion greens, kale-collards and salad greens, including Romaine lettuce or spinach. Orange vegetables include carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin or yams. Orange fruits like apricots, cantaloupes, mangoes, nectarines, papaya and peaches also contain vitamin A and can be selected in place of one orange vegetable.
• Fresh, frozen or canned vegetables are all nutritious options. Select canned vegetables that have lower sodium (salt), or drain and rinse with water to lower the salt content. Canned fruit packed in heavy syrup has more sugar and calories, so select fruit packed in fruit juice or choose unsweetened frozen fruit.
• Whole vegetables and fruits have more fibre than fruit or vegetable juices. Only select juice occasionally. When buying juices, pick 100 percent juice. Fruit flavoured drinks, punches or cocktails have more sugar and do not count as a food guide serving.
• Check the salt content on vegetable juices and select a lower sodium vegetable juice. Satisfy your thirst with water instead of juices.
• Food with “vegetable or fruit” written on the label does not mean they belong in the guide’s vegetable and fruit group. Fruit candy, jams or spreads, vegetable chips and ketchup may contain a lot of sugar or fat or are high in salt.
• Serve vegetables and fruits with little or no added fat, sugar or salt and avoid extra breading and sauces.
Grains
• A serving is one slice (35 grams) of bread or 1/2 bagel (45 g) or 1/2 pita (35 g) or 1/2 tortilla (35 g) or 1/2 c. (125 mL) cooked rice, pasta or couscous or 30 g. cold cereal or 3/4 c. (175 mL) hot cereal.
• Make at least half of your grain choices whole grains such as whole wheat pasta or couscous, barley, brown rice, oats, quinoa or wild rice.
• Look at the ingredient list rather than the colour of a food to determine if it is a whole grain food. Brown bread may simply be white bread coloured with molasses.
• Buy bread, pasta and cereals made from whole grains. The first ingredient listed on the food package should be whole wheat, whole oats, whole rye, whole grain corn, brown rice, wild rice, barley, bulgur or oats. Choose whole wheat, multi-grain or pumpernickel varieties of bread, bagels, pita bread or tortillas.
• Pick a cereal that is made with whole grains, bran or oats. A high fibre cereal provides at least four grams of fibre per serving. Oat and wheat bran cereals may not be whole grain but they are still good high fibre choices.
• Choose grain products that are lower in sugar and salt. Limit grain products high in fat, particularly those made with hydrogenated and trans fats such as cookies, crackers and other baked goods.
• Keep cookies, cakes, pastries, pies, croissants, and doughnuts for special occasions.
Milk &alternatives
• A serving is 1 c. (250 mL) milk or fortified soy beverage, 3/4 c. (175 mL) yogurt or 1 1/2 oz. (50 g) cheese.
• Select lower fat milk, skim, one or two percent, or drink fortified soy beverages. The soy beverage should be fortified with calcium and vitamin D.
• When selecting yogurt, check the label for calories and sugar content. Choose one with two percent milk fat or less. When selecting cheeses, look for less than 20 percent milk fat. Limit food that is high in fat and calories like cream cheese, ice cream, coffee cream, whipping cream and sour cream.
Meat &alternatives
• A serving is 2 1/2 oz. (75 g) or 1/2 c. (125 mL) cooked fish, shellfish, poultry or lean meat or 3/4 c. (175 mL) cooked beans or lentils or 2 eggs, 2 tbsp. (30 mL) peanut butter or 1/4 c. (60 mL) nuts and seeds.
• Meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and tofu are inexpensive sources of protein, are high in fibre and low in fat. Use dry roasted nuts or seeds that have no added oil or salt.
• Select poultry or lean pork, beef, veal, lamb, moose, caribou or deer. Lean or extra lean cuts include inside and outside round roast, eye of round steak or roast, strip loin steak, sirloin steak, rump roast and lean or extra lean ground meat or ground poultry. When eating poultry, discard the skin.
• Limit the amount of fat or salt that is added during preparation. Avoid bacon and processed meats and sausages because of their fat and salt content. Select low fat and low sodium varieties. Avoid fish, meats and poultry that have added breading and sauces.
• Plan to include at least two servings of fish each week. Select char, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines and trout because they are particularly high in omega 3 fatty acids, which have heart health benefits.
Why fats are necessary
• Suggested servings per day: 2–3 tbsp. (30 –45 mL) A small amount of unsaturated fat needs to be included in your diet each day to ensure you get the fat required for good health. Unsaturated vegetable oils include canola, flaxseed, corn, olive, peanut, soybean and sunflower. Limit butter, hard margarine, lard and shortening .
• The healthy fat can be incorporated into meals while cooking or as salad dressings, mayonnaise or margarine.
Make a list
• With Canada’s Food Guide in mind, look through grocery store flyers to see what’s on sale and what can be used in menus for the week. Also look for basic staples that may be on sale.
• Check to see what fresh food you have on hand that can be used. Food that has to be discarded because they spoil, are stale dated or freezer burned is like throwing your money in the garbage.
• When menu planning, think about how you can cook once and use the food for two or three meals or lunches.
• Keep track of your menus. That can make it easier to plan and shop in future. Post your meal plan for the week on the fridge door so the first person home can start the meal.
CONTEST: GO-TO GADGETS
What is the handiest gadget in your kitchen? We would love to hear about what it is and why you can’t cook without it. We will draw from the entries for a basket of kitchen wares and share your stories with readers. Send a brief explanation along with a picture of your gadget by Oct. 30 to: Kitchen Gadgets,The Western Producer,Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4.
Betty Ann Deobald is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and a member of Team Resources. Contact: team@producer.com
