As a mom of three, I faced a few tough table-time challenges. One example that stands out, was when my middle son refused to eat salad. Can you imagine that…truly a nutrition nightmare for a nutritionist mom! I knew I had to think of a way to attract him to that bowl without making our kitchen a battleground.

As a solution, I kept in mind that my son was a citrus fruit fan. So I gave him a bowl of oranges while the rest of us had a medley of salad veggies topped with the same fruit. I felt comforted in knowing that at least he was still getting the wealth benefits that citrus fruit provides.

Then slowly and regularly, I added some greens to his citrus bowl, and then included some tomatoes, and so on, until he became a salad-lover like the rest of us! Now he’s 6’4” and he is making and buying his own salads, most of which, by the way, contain a variety of his favorite citrus fruits!

Oranges are an excellent source of vitamins C and good source of fiber, folate and potassium. Oranges also supply lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that may help reduce risks of heart disease, diabetes, age-related macular degeneration and prostate cancer.  Citrus fruit, in general, by the way, are members of a family of fruit that healthfully hydrate. Although particularly essential in warm climates, adequate hydration is important year through, for all ages.

Besides contributing a wealth of valuable nutrients, did you know that the vitamin C in citrus fruit also boosts the absorption of the iron that’s in leafy greens?

Salad, Meet Citrus

 Ingredients:

 1 cup each of fresh kale, spinach and arugula – washed and spun dry

6 leaves of fresh mint – washed, dried and chopped

2 oranges – peeled and cut into pieces

1 small fresh beet – peeled and cut into cubes

Jicama – ¼ cup – peeled and cut into cubes

1/2 avocado – cut into slices

Nuts – small handful, unsalted

Balsamic glaze – drizzle

Directions:                                             

1. Place greens (Including mint) on a large platter or in a large salad bowl.
2. Top bed of greens evenly with oranges, beets, jicama, and avocado.
3. Top with nuts.
4. Squeeze balsamic glaze decoratively over salad.

Serves 4 (for side salad)

But this story is about eating together as a family, at the table. It doesn’t matter if the “table” is at home or at a restaurant; nor does it matter if the meal is breakfast, lunch, or dinner. What matters is having that family meal.

When you share a meal, you’re more likely to share a conversation, share a feeling, or share a memory. Studies have shown that families who eat together generally have healthier diets—richer in fruits and veggies but lighter on fried foods and fat—than families who don’t. Regular family meals have also been associated with higher grades and lower rates of substance abuse and depression in children.

So how can your table become a magnet for family members? These tips may entice them:

• Keep a pen and a blank piece of paper labeled “shopping list” on the counter. Your kids are more likely to eat the foods they request than the ones you choose for them. Even simpler: Type up a list of your family’s favorites so that everyone can just circle their desired items.

• Take your kids to the supermarket. When they are young, you can play food games with them, such as choosing food by color or shape. As they get older, you can teach them how to read food labels, an invaluable skill.

• Encourage your kids to get down and dirty in the cooking process. It’s exciting for them to eat food they prepared themselves. If you have several children, cook with each of them individually to impart cooking skills and knowledge about healthy eating.

• Have a family cook-off where each member is challenged to come up with something delicious and healthy using only a limited number of ingredients. Award prizes for the most creative, most colorful, and most interesting dishes.

• Assign designated nights where each child can choose the appetizer, main dish, side dish, or dessert. That way, each person feels like he has contributed to the meal. You may want to provide the options, though, so you don’t end up feeling like a short-order chef.

• Be spontaneous. If the weather is nice, eat in the backyard. Mix things up and have breakfast for dinner. Heck, maybe even eat on pillows on the living room floor. All that matters is eating together, as a family.

• Aside from healthy food, the most important item on the menu is good conversation. Start a fun dialogue or play games at the table to keep mealtime lighthearted. This is also a great opportunity to share the day’s events or what you’re all thankful for.

A great responsibility rests on parents’ shoulders because children mimic their parents’ behavior. It still brings me great joy to have cooking parties with my grown kids and to watch them make wise choices when they stock their own pantries and refrigerators. A parent’s chief goal should be to raise a child that is healthy—both physically and emotionally. A healthy diet is a great way to forge that path.

So where do you start? I recommend making a commitment to eat more fruits and vegetables. People who eat more fruits and vegetables are less likely to suffer from chronic diseases and there aren’t many other foods groups that are low in calories, and provide a variety of vitamins and minerals. Fruits and vegetables can also help you lose weight when substituted for higher calorie, higher fat foods.

As a mom of three boys and grandmother of one, my kitchen is the heart of my home. Although food shopping, cooking and baking are like therapy to me…even I don’t always have the time to chop, peel slice, and dice!

Here are my 5 simple hacks to eating more fruits and vegetables:

Boost up your burger by putting a new spin on an old favorite classic dish. If you’re looking for a simple way to skyrocket the nutrients in your dinner, try adding chopped mixed veggies to ground turkey. Opting for turkey instead of ground beef, reduces cholesterol, saturated fat, and calories. The addition of diced veggies and spices will not only add flavor and color, but also bring big benefits by increasing fiber and valuable vitamins and minerals, too! Try using a mini muffin tin and make extra so you can freeze them and bring them for lunches during the week.

Enjoy pizza night any night without a side of guilt. Have you seen riced cauliflower in the supermarket? A cauliflower crusted pizza starts with a base of veggies that you can build onto with fresh tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, shredded cheese and chopped garlic. It can be vegan, gluten free, high in fiber, loaded with veggies, high protein, low sodium, or rich in calcium…but any way you slice it…it’s delish!

Meet your vegetable goals. We’re told to eat around 9 servings of fruits and veggies each day but sometimes that seems nearly impossible. The solution to stay on track could be as simple as remembering to reach for a can of V8 100% Vegetable Juice. Each 5.5-ounce can contains one full serving of vegetables, without any prep required. V8 does double-duty by also helping us hydrate. I’ve found it helpful to keep a V8 5.5 oz can with a straw next to my keyboard while I’m trying to meet a tight deadline. That’s one serving of vegetables right there.

Pick the proper portions. Since most foods in the produce aisle don’t wear labels, defining specific portion sizes, can be tricky. Did you know a “serving” of vegetables is equivalent to: ½  cup of raw or cooked vegetables,1 cup of raw leafy greens  or ½ cup 100% vegetable juice?  One “serving” of fruit is 1/2 cup of fresh, frozen or canned fruit, ½ cup of 100%fruit juice, or 1⁄4 cup of dried fruit.

It’s way too easy to get caught up in the rush of everyday life and forget to take care of YOURSELF. Take a walk, listen to music, take a bath, call a friend or make your favorite recipe. Just be sure to include fruits and veggies at every meal and your body will thank you for that habit. Taking time for ourselves helps us be better mothers, partners, and friends.  Go squeeze yourself onto your own to-do list today!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by V8 100% Vegetable Juice and the opinions are my own.

These pros are ditching meat, fish, cheese, and eggs for fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains. That means they’re for foods that are high in fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, instead of artery clogging fatty and cholesterol rich foods. And while The Centers for Disease Control says NFL linemen in particular have a 52 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than the general population, specifically because they spend their careers gorging on burgers and meats, the switch to veganism doesn’t come without skepticism from fellow-players and fans who think football and animal-free eating just don’t mix.

While according to a 2016 Harris Interactive Poll commissioned by the Vegetarian Resource Group about 3.7 million American adults are identified as following a vegan diet. People typically go to plants to lose weight, improve heart health, “clean up” their diet, or improve the environment… not improve performance on the field. But in addition to health benefits like decreased risk for heart disease and colorectal cancer, as well as decreased blood sugar, some people will experience real field-gains from a vegan diet. That’s because, according to Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, vegan diets can help promote increased energy, improve blood and oxygen flow which helps repair torn muscles and tendons faster, and speed up recovery from training and injuries.

But maintaining weight is important for these pro football players. How many calories might a tight end need on a daily basis? According to CBS Sports, professional NFL players consume anywhere from 6000-9000 calories a day during season, looking for a balance of protein, complex carbohydrates, and fat – much like any athlete. For an NFL player that looks like eating high-in-plant-protein meals and snacks every two hours. That might look like 2 dozen oat blueberry pancakes with a large almond milk avocado smoothie for breakfast, nuts, fruit, and lots of vegan protein smoothies or hummus and veggies for a snack, a whole grain bean burrito and roasted vegetable salad with corn bread for lunch and a cauliflower pizza topped with all the veggies for dinner. A peanut butter banana oatmeal muffin for a snack before bed with some herbal tea for better digestion.

What about for your athlete at home? Whether you have a child playing on the high school football team or a gymnast, dancer, swimmer or skeet ball enthusiast, young athletes are as always influenced by what they see in the professional arena. So when four months after tweeting that he had stopped eating animal foods, Arian Foster was running more yards on the field than nearly any other player in the NFL (over 650 yards and 9 touchdowns), leaf-eating started looking attractive for young athletes everywhere. Or at least, made skeptics stop short in their tracks, and make some sports-loving kids and their chefs take pause.

If you have concerns about your child’s interest in vegan eats, the same rules apply as with nutrition in general. Eating a good balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat is key. But before getting into the nitty-gritty of macronutrients, determining a young athlete’s calorie needs is key. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that girls between 14 and 18 years old eat between 1,800 and 2,400 calories per day while suggesting that boys in the same age category need 2,000 to 3,200 calories daily. The more active the young athlete is, the most calories they need to consume.

Teenagers involved in sports should be getting 130-160 grams of carbohydrates a day, which is about 45-60% of their total calories, according to the Canadian Paediatric Society. In both vegan and non-vegan diets, the majority of carbohydrates should come from minimally processed foods that are high in protein and nutrients like whole grain breads and pasta, brown rice, legumes, and vegetables.

The rest of a young athlete’s diet should come from 30% of good fats like olive oil, omega-3 fatty acids, seeds, nuts, and avocados. And lots of protein. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, young athletes should be getting .5 grams of protein for every pound of weight. So a teen weighing 100 pounds should get 50 grams of protein, while a teen weighing 160 pounds should consume 80 grams of protein. If your teen athlete is interested in a plant-based approach, try to encourage inclusion of great tasting and protein plant-based foods featuring ingredients like green peas, quinoa, nuts, chickpeas, edamame, hemp, seeds, and more. Be sure to read food labels to see what you’re really getting.

If you’re hesitant to start your athlete on a vegan diet or they simply love the occasional burgers too much, consider suggesting the 80/20 plan that Tony Gonzalez uses– 80 percent plant-based foods, and 20 percent animal protein that mostly comes from fish and chicken. Just look at his stats over the last 5 years and you’ll know it’s working for him: he’s as strong as ever, hardly ever comes out of the game, and has double-digit touchdowns.

Below are some fun snacks that are great for all athletes, vegetarian, vegan or otherwise… and they make fantastic game day appetizers when couch-gating at home:

• Bruschetta Topped Hummus
• Sweet Potato Smoothie 
• Tortilla Hummus Pizza
• Easy Spicy Vegan Chickpea Chili featuring Sabra
• Toast with almond butter and banana (no recipe needed – just grab a grainy piece of whole grain bread and add your favorite nut butter and sliced banana)
• Avocado toast with hummus (Elevate your avo toast by adding hummus to boost protein and fiber)

Disclosure: I partnered with Sabra Hummus to bring you this post and the opinions are my own.