February is finally ending. 28 days seemed like 100. Glad to be welcoming in March 2023!!
As many of you know, we’ve taken some time off from the kitchen the last few weeks. There’s a lot going on in our family and we needed this time to focus and take some time to fuel our family. So we’ve been practicing some of the fueling tips listed below! While we attend PT sessions, undergo surgeries, get our ducks in a row for spring vegetable planting and all that goes into the growing season, we still hold out hope to have periodic pop-up menus through the end of the season. As well, as posting helpful recipes you can try at home. So, please check in with us by visiting our website and facebook page. We’ll be posting! In the meantime, take a look at this year’s March National Nutrition Month tips below. The theme is “Fuel for the Future.” It’s a good one this year!
March is National Nutrition Month ~ “Fuel for the Future”
The National Nutrition Month theme for 2023 is “Fuel for the Future”, which encourages people to learn about nutritional needs at each stage of life, sustainable eating, self-love and carefully planning out meals and snacks for your health and your pocketbook. Sounds simple enough. If you’re not naturally one of those over-planning, organized, got your ducks-in-a-row maniacs, a step in that direction can be simply ordering soups for a few meals. It’s a tremendous help with meal-planning and gives you a little more time for yourself to “fuel for the future.”
The Fuel for the Future campaign includes tips on how to give your body the opportunity to run smoothly throughout your life to meet each stage that comes along, as well as staying one with the planet, saving money by doing so and being good to yourself.
Food is the fuel that keeps your body running smoothly, so by giving it the nutrients it needs to meet each stage of life, you make life a little easier for yourself as you transition. Registered nutritionists can be very helpful in mapping out your health and life-style goals, as well as help you reduce your risk of any diet related diseases by giving you a blue-print for a personal nutrition treatment plan. The campaign has a great list of tips. They’re list below. Please take a peak! It’s Fuel for the Future!!
Learn how YOUR personal nutritional needs change over time
- Meet with your nutritionist to explore what your particular nutritional needs may be at each stage of life.
- Find an RDN who specializes in your unique needs
- Learn how nutrient needs may change with age.
Plan your meals and snacks to not only stay properly nourished throughout the day, but to SAVE MONEY!
- Check your pantry before buying more food, use a grocery list while shopping, shop sales and clip coupons.
- Find creative ways to stretch your food-dollars by reinventing leftovers instead of throwing them away.
- Today’s food prices are soaring, putting strain on household budgeting and leaving us with less money to buy what we need. Check out community resources and governmental programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children and local food banks.
- Learn how to make tasty foods at home with new flavors and foods from around the world. For recipe ideas, we offer many on our blog page https://pepperandsaltkitchen.com/our-blog/
- Keeping everyday enjoyable by including your favorite cultural foods and traditions in your meals.
- Avoid fad diets that promote unnecessary restrictions.
Sustainable Eating
- GROW FOOD! Start a garden with some of your favorite foods and grow at home!
- Buy foods in season and shop locally when possible.
- Eat with the environment in mind.
- Purchase foods with minimal packaging and take your own reusable produce and shopping bags to the grocery store! Here’s a good product to consider buying (on Amazon) ~ Betterblue 100% Organic Cotton Produce Bags, Reusable & Eco Friendly
Self-Love
- This includes both your physical and mental health.
- Draw the line to help with stress management. Sometimes you have to say “no” at work or to your family in order to manage and preserve energy.
- Recognize your needs and carve out time to be thoughtful to yourself by setting boundaries.
- Let go of toxic, draining, one-way friendships.
- Cultivate community and friendships that are supportive and give you a sense of love and well-being.
Fuel your foundation for friendships and family-connection by planning meals each week with people who make you smile and laugh.
- This is really good medicine! It can be a simple lunch, brunch, dinner, happy hour, picnic — you name it. Just do it with someone you love.
- Hanging with your peeps is good medicine and as we all know, here in the cloudy, cold northwest, calibrating mental health is as important as your physical health. Sharing a meal together, whether it’s a four course meal with cocktails and wine or a simple plate of potstickers, cultivates connection and polishes our emotional and spiritual being that supports our mental and physical self. This engagement contributes to the blueprint of everyday life and kind of empowers one to be the architect of their happiness.
- When we choose to share a meal with another person, we are making key connections in our brain that help us regulate our emotion.
- “Sharing a meal together has also been shown to increase the secretion of oxytocin, more commonly referred to as “the love hormone” or the “cuddle hormone”. This hormone, when secreted, increases feelings of love and closeness between humans. So, eating together causes a physiological response that draws people to one another. The release of oxytocin is known to aid in the digestion of foods as well! (borrowed from Kristina Grabner, Family Counselor
- When we take time to sit down at a table and engage in conversation with others, we pay more attention to what we are eating. The sights, smells, and tastes are heightened. Studies have shown that mindful eating reduces the risk of overeating which reduces the risk for health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
- More tips regarding the benefits of sharing a meal together from an earlier Pepper & Salt Kitchen blog post: https://pepperandsaltkitchen.com/2023/01/12/benefits-of-sharing-a-meal-together/