Do you also find it hard to believe that the winter is over, and that the spring is coming?

Hopefully, once we all will get used to such rapid pace of time. We’ll certainly have to, as it doesn’t look like it will ever slow down. Yet the good news is that we aren’t helpless before it – we are armed with numerous tips on time management. (Many thanks to the authors of all those bestsellers and blogs.)

Now their recommendations can help us plan our job, study or even travel. They are quite universal and prove to be really effective. But they don’t consider one very important issue – our everyday diet.

Remember how you sacrificed a healthy lunch to prompt completion of an urgent project. Remember how your kid said that he or she didn’t have enough time to eat well because of some momentous college event or just because of the huge amount of homework. Doesn’t it seem to you that balancing time management and healthy diet may appear rather complicated?

This year professionals from the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics have decided to put this challenge high on the agenda and come up with practical solutions to it. Within the framework of their annual education and information campaign the best American registered dietician nutritionists are going to share the ideas of healthful food planning and cooking in bulk.

Marky’s Gourmet Store is happy and ready to join the celebrations of National Nutrition Month 2018, providing all customers with top-quality, nourishing, and versatile products. Plan your healthy menu with us!

“Go Further with Food”

This is the main them of NNM 2018. Kristen Smith, RDN and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Spokesperson, encourages to plan a menu and prepare meals on the weekends, or whenever you can make time for cooking without hurry. Smith and her colleagues are sure that taking such simple steps can help us raise to manifold everyday challenges of our nutrition and enjoy healthier lifestyles.

The crucial advantages of sticking to the “Go Further with Food” strategy on the daily basis coincide with the original purposes of the entire campaign. They are simple, realistic, and useful. Here is what they imply:

• Prep meal plan doesn’t exclude variety of foods, so you won’t have to cross your favorite products out of a grocery list. Probably, you’ll just need to cook them in a slightly different way.
• Cooking several meals on the weekends will save you a great amount of time during the workweek. Besides, when you have enough healthful and delicious food in reserve, you can always enjoy balanced meals, however busy your day is.
• Preparing foods in advance and going further by making nutritious snacks and meals can successfully prevent food loss and waste. That provides smart economy of products in the refrigerator and your money.

How to make a week, fortnight or even month menu well-planned and nutritious? Catch some guidelines from Marky’s and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics experts.

Salads in Mason Jars

You can store them in the fridge for 5-7 days without worrying that any of the fresh ingredients goes off. Just layer them properly, and enjoy healthy breakfasts or lunches all week long.

Here are some flavorful and crunchy ideas for you: (mind the layers)

• vinaigrette dressing (2 tbsp. honey + 2 tbsp. olive oil + 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar + salt and ground pepper to taste), thinly sliced apple, crumbled Feta cheese, mixed greens, mixed nuts;
• hummus (2 tbsp.), olive oil + salt + pepper to taste, 1/4 c. diced fresh tomatoes, 1/4 c. chopped red onion, 1/4 c. fresh chopped cucumbers, 1 c. cooked quinoa, 1/4 c. crumbled Ricotta cheese, chopped black olives;
• mayo for dressing, canned white beans as a base, sliced black or green olives, minced red onion, celery to taste, canned albacore tuna, hard cooked eggs.

Your Favorite Nibbles in Lunch Boxes

It is believed that the history of a lunch box starts in the 19th century when industrial workers held their lunches in sturdy containers, and when schoolchildren took some food from home in “lunch pails” to eat during the break.

Today lunch boxes come in all shapes and sizes, literally. All you need is to choose the ones you like and find a free hour or two to stuff them with healthy foods that you and your dearest prefer. Such meal prep can provide you with quick and nutritious solutions for family dinners during the workweek, to say nothing of perfect office or school lunches.

And one more essential thing: if you take the whole responsibility for preparing lunch boxes, don’t forget to check if your sweetheart and kids take the boxes to school or work in the morning.

Take a look at these delicious and healthful combinations:

• pack pita bread with olives, salami, fresh baby tomatoes, grapes, and some cheese deep or eggplant deep in a small separate container;
• pack ham and cream cheese roll-ups, favorite veggies, sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon, and these buttery cookies with dried berries;
• pack pre-cooked couscous, potato or your favorite pasta together with anchovies, sardines or chicken, add some snap peas, a clementine or candied apricots.

Large & Nutritious Dishes

They don’t seem to need additional introduction. You can opt for anything meaty, cheesy or fishy as long as it includes some ingredients you already have in the fridge and can be consumed within two or three days. Consider your family’s food preferences and prepare what you all like in advance.

Here is an interesting meal prep recipe from FamilyCircle – Orange-Dijon Pork Tenderloin. The recipe implies four servings, but you can take more of each ingredient and cook in bulk easily:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. pork tenderloin
• 2 c. brown rice, cooked
• 1/4 c. chopped toasted hazelnuts (or other nuts)
• 2 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1/2 c. orange marmalade
• salt and black pepper to taste
• tossed salad (if desired)

Directions:

1. Stir together soy sauce, mustard, and marmalade until combined and set aside.
2. In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, season the meat with salt and pepper. Saute the tenderloins for 3 min., turn, and saute 2 more min. Spoon the mustard mixture over each tenderloin. Cover and cook for 3-5 min.
3. Sprinkle nuts over the ready meat. Serve with rice and salad.

Smoothies as a Portable Dessert

Just try them if you haven’t made any so far! You’ll be delighted by tastefulness, nutritiousness, and practicality of this treat.

First, a smoothie is a very healthy thing: even when you blend your favorite fruit and veggies, after pulverization you still get the foods in their entirety. It means that your body would receive the same (or almost the same) number of vitamins and minerals as if you ate raw fruit or vegetables.

Second, you can make many batches of smoothies at once, freeze some for the healthy future, and always have a compact and tasty dessert to enjoy after the meal.

Check these tips on cooking the best smoothies:

• start making them with two mugs of milk, fruit juice or coconut water in order to prevent any damage of a blender blade;
• keep fruit and vegetables frozen or try Marky’s freshest frozen French fruit purees as a healthful alternative;
• experiment with tastes and colors – come up with multiple creative combinations and treat your family with original desserts every day.

More Ideas of Celebrating NNM 2018

• Plan a healthy family menu for at least one week and try cooking new dishes with your favorite products together.
• Choose one physical activity and do it together with your dearest and nearest during the whole month. But there’s no need to force yourselves to turn into an everyday habit. For example, jogging twice or thrice a week would be enough to make a good start on the way to upgrading your lifestyle.
• Do some math. Calculate your daily or weekly energy losses and the number of calories you need to compensate them. By the way, these statistics can help you come up with the right meal prep ideas for the whole week.
• If you know any registered dietician nutritionists, don’t forget to congratulate them on March 14. It is official RDN Day, created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and first celebrated ten years ago, in 2008. RDN Day commemorates the contribution of these specialists to the advancement of the nutrition status in the United States, Canada, and around the globe.

Food planning should become an integral part of our time and budget management. All in all, investing in nutritious menu is much more beneficial than investing into medicines and procedures.

Stay healthy and make your NNM celebration really delicious together with Marky’s! Take care.