What an amazing day! As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I am lucky to both work with and to know so many wonderful women. I hope you all have taken a moment to soak today in and recognize that this day is about you! 

Here is my fruit and veggie log for yesterday and today. I’ll spare you all of the details and give you the meat and potatoes 🙂

Tuesday:

1/4 cup avocado with tomatoes with eggs (1/4 fruit serving)

2 cups romaine (1 veggie serving) with 1/2 cup diced onions, carrots, hearts of palm (1/2 veggie serving)

1/2 guava (1/2 fruit serving)

1/2 cup sauteed broccoli, zucchini, carrots and onions (1/2 veggie serving)

1 cup grapes (1 fruit serving) 

1/2 cup papaya (1/2 fruit serving)

Veggie Servings: 2

Fruit Servings: 2.25

Woohoo! Week 1 was successful! I get bonus points for eating at least 2 servings of fruit and veggies per day!

Wednesday: Today marks the 1st day of week 2… I have to up my fruit and veggie intake to 3 servings EACH person day! I was struggling with 2 so we will see how this goes!

Daily Activity: display your washed fruits and veggies on your desk. I had a facts n’ snacks seminar and ended up with leftover apples, bananas and oranges. I kept them in the bowl and displayed them on my desk.

1/2 cup papaya (1/2 fruit serving)

1/2 cup onions and mushrooms, Sauteed  (1 veg serving)

1/4 cup diced tomatoes and avocado (1/4 fruit serving)

1 cup green grapes (1 fruit serving) 

2 cups romaine  (1 veg serving) with 1 portobello mushroom (1 veg serving), 1/2 cup tomatoes (1/2 fruit serving)

1 cup sautéed spinach and mushrooms  (2 veggie servings) 

1/2 cup papaya “ice cream” (1/2 fruit serving) with 1/2 cup blueberries (1/2 fruit serving) 

Vegetable Servings: 5

Fruit Servings: 3.25

It takes a lot more planning to reach at least 3 servings, but apparently I can do this 🙂 

Sunday was Day 5 of the Fruit and Veggie Challenge and since I have already eaten everything I am going to today, I will go ahead and add in Day 6! Since I needed to complete 5 activities this week, I will only report on one since it was the 5th. 

Sunday:

Breakfast: 2 oz turkey burger patty (can you tell I was trying to get rid of them at this point?), 1/4 avocado (1/4 fruit serving), 1 cup green grapes (1 fruit serving), + coffee

Lunch: Sushi! 1 cup lettuce with ginger dressing (1/2 veggie serving), 1 cup miso soup, 1 naruto maki (salmon + tuna + avocado + cucumber wrapped in cucumber) (1/4 veggie serving) + 1/4 cup hibachi broccoli (1/4 veggie serving)

Dinner: Bison burger + 1 cup sautéed spinach (1 veg serving) + 1 cup papaya (1 fruit serving)

Total:

Vegetable Servings: 2

Fruit Servings: 2.25

Monday: I decided to try a new fruit today. I had to run by the farmers market to pick up healthy snacks for our facts n’ snacks seminar tomorrow at work, so I figured what better place to find something new! I went to the exotic fruit aisle and was impressed at how many random fruits I have tried. But, then I saw the thai guava… I have tried the red/pink guava before but I have never had a “thai guava”. Winner!

Yum. It turned out to be mildly sweet, slightly acidic, crunchy and refreshing! I read that you can eat the skin and the seeds, so I tried those out and they were surprisingly good. Be careful not to chip your teeth on the seeds though, as they were super hard!
The thai guava is also rich in phytochemicals, vitamin C (4x the amount that is in oranges!), vitamin A, and fiber. Some studies have shown guava is great for your skin, too. No wonder with all the vitamin A and C it contains.

Breakfast: 1 egg + 1 egg white + 1/2 cup tomatoes and avocado (1/2 fruit serving) + 1/4 cup diced onions (1/4 veggie serving) + coffee w/ coconut creamer

Lunch: Grilled chicken wrap w/ sautéed mushrooms, spring mix, tomatoes, jalapeños (total 1/2 veg serving) w/ balsamic vinaigrette and hot sauce to dip

Dinner: 1 grilled portobello mushroom (1 veggie serving) + 2 cups romaine (1 veggie serving) + 1/4 cup diced tomato (1/4 fruit serving) + 1/2 cup diced onion, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts (1/2 veggie serving) + 1 Tbsp lemon garlic vinaigrette + 2 oz grilled sirloin + 1/4 baked potato (plain) (1/4 veggie serving)

Snacks: 1 cup papaya (1 fruit serving) + 1 thai guava (1 fruit serving)

Total:

Vegetable Servings:3.5

Fruit Servings: 2.75

 Happy Monday! 

Today we had our amazing handyman here finishing up our shower. We had our soap dispenser fall off, so we needed some tile replaced. Anyways, I figured it was a good time to finish up our blanket ladder! It cost less than $10 to make and it looks great! We typically throw blankets on our couch when we leave the house because our husky loves to jump up on there and slime it with his fur. We didn’t have a great place to store the blankets, so I went to pinterest for help. Here are the instructions to create a super simple and beautiful ladder!

Materials:

2 – 1×3 x 60″ pieces of wood

5 – 1×2 x 16 1/2″ pieces of wood 

Wood glue

Hammer

Nails (app. 1 inch)

Primer and paint

We went to Home Depot and had the pieces of wood cut. Then, we brought everything home and got to work.

Put the 2 – 60 inch pieces side by side and then measure out the rungs of the ladder. 

Put the wood glue on the rungs at 6 inches, 18 inches, 30 inches, 42 inches and 54 inches. Then, nail them down. Super easy, right? Now it is time to paint. 

I used a white indoor/outdoor paint primer to start.

I was going for the same look as the inside of our front door; a vintage blue-gray look. 

Let the primer dry and then put one layer of the blue-gray over the primer. It will dry a little streaky and will give you that distressed vintage look. 

Voila! Time to hang some blankets! 

Here is my update on the fruit and veggie challenge 🙂 

Daily activity: Choose 6 fruits and 6 vegetables to eat this month… I also want to include something new…

Fruits: Avocados, blueberries, strawberries, papaya, mango, banana

Vegetables: Butter lettuce, onion, broccoli, asparagus, artichoke, carrot

Breakfast: 1 cup coffee + 1 tsp coconut creamer; 1 egg + 1 egg white + 1/2 cup blueberries + 1/2 cup grapes (1 fruit serving)

Lunch: 2 cups butter lettuce (1 veggie serving) + 2 oz turkey burger patty + 1/2 cup diced onion, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts (1/2 veggie serving) + 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (1/4 veggie serving) + 1/4 avocado (1/4 fruit serving) + 1 Tbsp lemon garlic vinaigrette

Dinner: 1/2 habanero grilled chicken wrap + 1 cup raw celery & carrots (1 veggie serving)

Snacks: 1 cup chocolate soy milk; 1 cup veggies (raw asparagus, carrot, zucchini) (1 veggie serving) w/ ranch + crackers with goat cheese + 1/2 cup raspberries and strawberries (1/2 fruit serving) + a few grapefruit mimosas… so not only did I have fun at a baby shower, but I got another 1/2 serving of fruit from the 100% juice 🙂

Total:

Vegetable servings: 3.25

Fruit servings: 2.75

Day 4 complete! Happy crunching 🙂 

Today I decided to read about the nutrients in different fruits amd vegetables. The website, http://http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org, is a great website to learn all things fruit and veggies! You really learn the importance of eating from the rainbow. 

Here is my progress on Friday. It was a bit of a challenge to eat healthy at lunch because I had an off-site lunch meeting. And they had dark chocolate raspberry brownies to tempt me… but I resisted the urge 🙂 

 Breakfast: 1 egg + 1 egg white + 1/4 avocado (1/4 fruit) + 1/2 cup diced tomatoes and onions  (1/2 vegetable)

Lunch: 2 cups salad mix (1 vegetable) + 3 oz baked salmon + 1 tsp balsamic vinaigrette + 1/4 cup black bean, corn amd tomato salad (1/4 vegetable)

Dinner: 2 oz grilled salmon, 2 oz grilled top sirloin, 2 cups butter lettuce (1 vegetable) + 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, onion, hearts of palm (1/2 vegetable), 1/4 avocado  (1/4 fruit)

Snacks: 1 cup papaya, mango, pineapple (1 fruit), 1/2 cup blueberries + grapes (1/2 fruit) 

Total: 

Vegetable: 3.25

Fruit: 2

Day 3 complete! Have a great weekend 🙂

Day 2 complete! I even created a new recipe to help me to increase my fruit intake for the day! I have made banana “ice cream” a million times, but have never tried it with papaya! Plus, I added coconut almond milk to make it extra islandy tasting. The farmers market by my house has delicious (and huge) papayas right now, so I have been stocking up. Papaya is not only high in vitamin A and C, but it is also a good source of fiber (colon health) and magnesium (heart health). It is also high in antioxidants and an enzyme called “papain” that aids in digestion and possibly wound healing¹.

Recipe makes 2 1-cup servings

Ingredients:

1 cup diced frozen papaya

1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened coconut almond milk

1 tsp honey (if you want it sweeter)

Instructions:

Take the papaya out of the freezer and let it start to defrost. Or you can put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Add the coconut almond milk and the honey. I like a heavier coconut flavor, so I added about 1/2 cup.

Take a hand blender and blend the ingredients together. That’s it!

I have a KitchenAid hand blender that is wonderful!

Final Product: Delicious!

Back to the Fruit and Veggie Challenge…

Daily Activity: I logged my meals in MyFitness Pal and synched up to Virgin Pulse to get my points. Only 2 days into the challenge and I am realizing that I am struggling to get my fruit servings in and I definitely did not eat enough today… I only had half of my protein needs for the day That’s not very good as your body doesn’t store protein, so you need to get your daily allowance every day! I will definitely work on that going forward!

Breakfast: 1 egg + 1 egg white with 1/2 cup diced tomatoes and white onions (1/2 vegetable serving) with a slice of avocado and a cup of coffee with 1 Tbsp coconut milk creamer.

Lunch: 2 cups romaine (1 serving vegetable) + 1/4 cup diced tomatoes (1/4 veggie serving), 1/4 cup onions and peppers (1/4 cup vegetable serving) + 2 oz turkey burger patty + 1 Tbsp lemon garlic vinaigrette.

Dinner: 1 medium artichoke (1 vegetable serving) + 1 Tbsp lemon garlic vinaigrette + 1/2 cup sauteed spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes (1 vegetable serving)

Snacks: 1 cup strawberries + papaya (1 fruit serving); 1 cup coconut papaya ice cream (1 fruit serving)

Water: 48 oz

Total Vegetable Servings: 4

Total Fruit Servings: 2

Checkmark for today! Tomorrow I will eat more in general, but definitely more protein.

*One interesting  and not so fun fact about papaya is that if you are allergic to latex, then you may be allergic to papaya. This is a rare reaction and is known as a cross reaction, so please be careful eating papaya if you are allergic to latex. You can get the same reactions (itching or irritation in the mouth, swelling, hives, stuffy nose, wheezing, etc.)¹.

1. Papaya: Health Benefits, Uses, Risks