Get 5 to 10 a day the easy way

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How’s your health? If you’re in need of incentives to eat better and add more fruits and vegetables to your diet this year, here’s some motivation for you! A new medical analysis finds that eating five to 10 servings of fruits and veggies every day can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer and early death.

Vegetables and fruit are not only loaded with vitamins and minerals, but are also high in antioxidant-rich phytonutrients, such as flavonoids, lycopene and beta-carotene. Research shows that they help prevent, and may even reverse, a wide variety of chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, eating lots of vegetables and fruit reduces your risk of catching seasonal colds and flu.

If you’re concerned about your weight, a diet rich in vegetables and fruit is associated with better weight control and can even aid in your weight-loss efforts. To get started, try to eat a minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and then slowly work toward more.

If this seems overwhelming, start the day with 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. Slice bananas or strawberries on top of your cereal. Have a salad with lunch, and an apple for an afternoon snack. Include a vegetable with dinner, and you’ll already have five a day. To reach a goal of 10 servings per day, try adding a piece of fruit for a snack or an extra vegetable (like carrots or green beans) at dinner.

There are so many choices when selecting fruits and vegetables. Have you ever tried kiwi fruit? How about asparagus? Try something new that helps you reach your five to 10 a day goal. Keep things fresh and interesting by combining fruits and vegetables of different flavors and colors, like red grapes with pineapple chunks, or cucumbers and red peppers. You can get your 5 to 10 a day in many ways because fruits and vegetables come fresh, frozen, canned, dried and as 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice.

Here’s an easy guide to determining a serving:

• a medium-size piece of fruit
• 3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) of 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice
• 1/2 cup cooked or canned vegetables or fruit
• 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
• 1/2 cup cooked dry peas or beans
• 1/4 cup dried fruit

When you keep fruits and vegetables visible and easily accessible, you tend to eat them more; for instance, store cut-and-cleaned produce at eye-level in the refrigerator, or keep a big bowl of fruit on the table.
Try this delicious recipe for Power-Packed Breakfast Muffins, and you’ll be on your way to five to 10 a day in no time!

Power-Packed Breakfast Muffins

These muffins contain healthy servings of fruits and vegetables to start your morning the 5 to 10 a day way! They also make a wonderful snack or dessert. Or put the muffins in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to three-months.

The fruit and vegetables in these muffins help you meet your 5 to 10 servings a day goal. (Depositphotos photo)

1 cup flour, whole wheat
1 cup flour, all-purpose
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar or stevia
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 tablespoon butter, unsalted, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup broccoli florets, steamed
1 small zucchini
1 medium carrot
1/2 medium apple
1 medium banana
2 tablespoons apple juice
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/4 cup nonfat yogurt, plain

1. Heat oven to 350 F. In a medium-size bowl, mix together flours, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In a mixer or another large bowl, mix the sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla. Beat well.
3. In a food processor, combine the steamed broccoli, zucchini, carrot, apple, banana, apple juice and applesauce. Pulse until thoroughly mixed. Combine the fruit and veggie puree, and the yogurt, into the wet ingredient mixture (sugar/butter/eggs) and beat until mixed.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until well-combined into a batter. Line muffin cups either with paper or foil liners. If you prefer, grease the cups or liners lightly. For reduced-fat recipes, spraying the muffin cups or paper liners with nonstick cooking spray will help prevent sticking.
5. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way full.
6. For mini muffins: Bake in a 350 F oven for 15-20 minutes, turning the pan after 10 minutes.
   For regular-size muffins: Bake in a 375 F oven for about 20-25 minutes, turning the pan after 1 -minutes.
7. Bake until the tops are slightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean, or they bounce back when you touch them in the center with your finger. Yields 36 mini muffins or 20-24 regular-size muffins.

Angela Shelf Medearis is an award-winning children’s author, culinary historian and the author of seven cookbooks. Her new cookbook is “The Kitchen Diva’s Diabetic Cookbook.” Her website is www.divapro.com. To see how-to videos, recipes and much, much more, Like Angela Shelf Medearis, The Kitchen Diva! on Facebook. Recipes may not be reprinted without permission from Angela Shelf Medearis.

(c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc., and Angela Shelf Medearis