Date: March 2026
Can’t decide what to pack for lunch this work week? Need some tips to encourage your family’s pickiest eater to try vegetables?
As we focus on the connection between food and health this month, we wanted to share a few expert tips from our Community Impact Coordinator-Nutrition, Agustina Niebylski, who teaches our Nutrition Matters program!
These tips can help provide inspiration for delicious and nutritious meals.
Healthy snacks: a good rule of thumb to make a healthy snack is to have a fruit or a vegetable paired with one other food group.
For example:
- Banana + oatmeal
- Carrots + Hummus
- Berries + Yogurt
- Pineapple + cottage cheese
- Apple slices + nut butter
- Peach slices + granola
*Fruits or veggies can be fresh, frozen, or canned.
Dealing with a picky eater: did you know that it can take many times (12 or more!) offering a new food before kids are willing to try it?
- Use repeated, low-pressure exposure to the new food you are trying to introduce. Patience works better than pressure!
- Small portions: introduce a tiny taste of new food along with a safe, preferred food.
- Fun presentation: use cookie cutters for shapes, offer dips, or create fun names for foods!
- Let them explore and encourage interacting with food by touching, smelling, and help preparing it, rather than just eating.
- Be a role model by letting your children see you enjoying the foods you want them to try.
No time to cook a nutritious meal? No problem! Here are some options for a nutritious and quick meal:
- Turkey + spinach wrap: whole-grain tortilla + dip + spinach + turkey slices
- Chickpea salad pita: mashed chickpeas + olive oil + lemon + salt & pepper + sliced veggies stuffed into a pita bread.
- Chicken or tuna salad: Canned chicken or tuna + diced celery + diced onions + mayonnaise or Greek yogurt + lemon juice + salt & pepper served on a piece of toast with lettuce.
- Sweet toast: whole wheat bread toast + cream cheese + sliced peach + honey
- Peanut butter banana toast
Does meat requiring washing before it can be cooked? The answer is no!
Do not wash meat before cooking it. Washing can actually spread germs all around your kitchen.
Cooking to the right temperature kills germs on meat and poultry, so washing these products is risky and not necessary for safety.
Check out the link here to view the USDA’s guide on safe minimum internal temperature for meat: https://tinyurl.com/yc2pvc5b
Make sure you’re staying hydrated! It’s about to be a hot spring and an even hotter summer. Lack of hydration can lead to symptoms such as headaches, fatigue and dizziness, so here are some tips to help stay hydrated:
- Drink water and low-fat milk often. Low-fat milk is a great option for hydration because of it’s natural electrolytes and nutrients.
- Make it easier by carrying a reusable water bottle with you, keeping water at your desk, in your car, and by your bed throughout the day.
- Do you want to add some flavor? Mix in fresh fruit slices like lemon, lime, and cucumber or herbs like fresh mint leaves or basil.
- Limit sugary drinks: they can be a fun treat once in a while, but not an everyday habit. They are packed with added sugar without the nutrients you need and drinking too much can lead to dehydration.
