MyPlate Meals

Plan your meals the MyPlate way!  The MyPlate graphic is the building block to help provide a visual of how a healthy plate should look.  To build a healthy plate, you need to include foods from each food group:  fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy. Here are some tips for choosing foods from each food group:

• Fruits.  Fruits can be fresh, frozen, canned or 100% fruit juice.  Some examples of fruits grown in Maryland are apples, pears, blueberries, cantaloupe, peaches, pears, strawberries and watermelon.
• Vegetables.  Vegetables can be fresh, frozen, canned or 100% vegetable juice.  Examples of vegetables grown in Maryland are: asparagus, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, corn, eggplant, kale, peppers, potatoes, salad greens, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. 
• Grains.  Grains are found in foods like wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain.  Foods that are considered grains are bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortilla, and grits.  
• Protein foods.   Protein foods are all foods made from meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products like tofu, nuts, and seeds.  
• Dairy.  Foods that are found in the dairy group are fluid milk, milk-based desserts like ice cream and frozen yogurt, cheese, and yogurt.  

 
To learn how to add each of the MyPlate food groups into your meal plans, visit:
Meals on a Budget
Cooking with Kids
Family Meals
Meal Planning Worksheet