Eating Nutritiously From Your Freezer

MISSION, KS--(Marketwired - Dec 5, 2013) - (Family Features) Few would argue about the importance of eating a nutritious, balanced diet. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to do it.

In fact, more than half of Americans surveyed by Nestlé and Harris Interactive said they are unaware of MyPlate, the dietary guidelines from the USDA that make up a nutritious diet. What's more, consumers only come close to meeting dietary guidelines a mere seven days out of 365 in a year, according to the NPD Group's National Eating Trends® database.

This confusion, along with the idea that a balanced diet shouldn't feel like a chore, led Nestlé to create the Balance Your Plate program. It offers easy solutions to help you create deliciously balanced, perfectly portioned meals that include the foods you love while meeting MyPlate guidelines.

Building balanced, nutritious meals has never been simpler with the help of MyPlate (choosemyplate.gov), and the Balance Your Plate program (meals.com/balance) which helps you quickly assemble high-quality balanced meals using frozen prepared entrees as the center of the plate. Frozen prepared entrées are a great way to get a jump start on creating a balanced meal and allow you to still enjoy many of the foods you already love like pizza and lasagna. With the Balance Your Plate program, all of the math has been done so you can follow the simple menus to enjoy a tasty meal that fits easily into the MyPlate guidelines.

At meals.com/balance, you'll find two weeks of nutritious, balanced menus that meet MyPlate recommendations. Each day includes one to two frozen prepared meals and provides around 2,000 calories. It also suggests menu modifications for a 1,500 or 1,800 daily calorie diet -- all while meeting the dietary guideline recommendations:

Breakfast

• Breakfast burrito made with: 1,6-inch corn tortilla, 1 egg, scrambled 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup no salt added canned black beans, 2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup cantaloupe cubes
• 1 cup coffee

Lunch

• 1 LEAN CUISINE® Asian Style Chicken Salad Additions™ with: 3 cups romaine lettuce, 1/2 ounce slivered almonds (1,800 calorie diet: replace 1/2 ounce slivered almonds with 1/4 ounce almonds; 1,500 calorie diet: replace 1/2 ounce slivered almonds with 1/4 ounce almonds)
• 2 ounces whole grain roll with 2 teaspoons soft margarine
• 1 cup pineapple orange juice* (1,500 calorie diet: replace juice with water)

Dinner

• 1⁄6 DIGIORNO® Rising Crust Pizza - Pepperoni
• 1/2 cup baby carrots with 2 tablespoons hummus
• 1 cup canned peaches, in juice (1,500 calorie diet: replace 1 cup peaches with 1/2 cup peaches)
• 1 cup low-fat milk

Snack

• 1 cup low-fat chocolate milk (1,500 calorie diet: replace 1 cup low-fat chocolate milk with 1 cup fat-free chocolate milk)
• 4 graham cracker squares (1,800 calorie diet: replace 4 graham cracker squares with 2 squares; 1,500 calorie diet: replace 4 graham cracker squares with 2 squares)

For more Daily Meal Plan suggestions and nutrition information, check out meals.com/balance.

About Family Features Editorial Syndicate
This and other food and lifestyle content can be found at www.editors.familyfeatures.com. Family Features is a leading provider of free food and lifestyle content for use in print and online publications. Register with no obligation to access a variety of formatted and unformatted features, accompanying photos, and automatically updating Web content solutions.