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Five-a-Day, the Baptist Health Way

img class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-3345″ alt=”Five-A-Day, the Baptist Way” src=”http://showcase.republicahavas.com/websites/baptist-health-news/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Five-A-Day-the-Baptist-Way-300×300.jpg” width=”300″ height=”300″ align=”left” />Now that the first week of school has passed, how did you do in the food department? Did your children leave the house after a nutritious breakfast? Or was everyone running around helter-skelter trying to make it out the door on time?

Did you pack a healthy lunch? What about dinner? Did you cook the meal or did you pick up some fast food?

If you didn’t get an A+ after your first week of school, don’t worry. There’s plenty of time to make the grade, and Baptist Health’s “Five-a-Day, the Baptist Health Way” is here to help.

“Five a Day, the Baptist Health Way” is an easy guide you can use to follow the healthy food plan based on USDA guidelines [1], which encourage you and your family to reach for more fruits and vegetables.  A good goal is to eat two cups of fruit and three cups of vegetables per day.

Lucette Talamas, a registered dietician at Baptist Health,  prepares dishes that follow the guidelines. They include her Cool Cucumber Tomato Salad and baked sweet potato fries.

Cool Cucumber Tomato Salad
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 ripe medium tomatoes
3 medium cucumbers
½ medium onion
¼ cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chopped fresh dill weed (or ¼ teaspoon dried dill)

Preparation:

Nutrition fact: Cucumber is a good source of vitamin C. Tomato is high in vitamins C and A.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Optional: ½ teaspoon curry powder and ¼ teaspoon ground cumin.

Preparation:

Nutrition fact: Sweet potatoes are high in vitamins A and C and a good source of dietary fiber.