Catching up with our Ambassadors
Half Your Plate is a movement that anyone can follow. Filling half your plate with fruits and veggies at every meal is a simple way to ensure you’re leading a healthy lifestyle. To help encourage you to follow along we catch up with our Half Your Plate Ambassadors to see how they’re filling half their plates during the pandemic.
Melodie Daoust
What’s going on for you during the pandemic?
For my part, nothing is new in my routine here, in Montréal. I still train off-ice at the Olympic Stadium 4 times a week. We actually just got a derogation by the Quebec government to give us the opportunity to practice as a team at the Auditorium of Verdun. That has been the biggest highlight of the month for me personally!
Why do you love Half Your Plate?
I love everything about Half Your Plate. First, I love being part of a community that promotes healthy lifestyle. It also makes me more aware of what I eat and what I need in my plate in order to fuel myself with proper nutrients. I also love the fact that Half Your Plate is supporting me. Your support has helped me tremendously.
How have your eating habits changed during the pandemic?
The pandemic has given me more time to be at home, so it has definitely given me more time to cook. My eating habits haven’t changed that much, but it has helped me to be more aware of the amount of fruits and vegetable I need on my plate.
Do you have a Half Your Plate tip to share?
Personally, I just love going on the Half Your Plate website and discovering a tons of new recipes. My tip to share would be to educate yourself by spending time on the website.
What recent recipe do you want to share?
I have recently just made a butternut squash with homemade spaghetti sauce. It was delicious!
Rebecca Johnston
What’s going on for you during the pandemic?
I haven’t had much going on. Been continuously posting about new meals that I try and make that are healthy and encourage others to be eating half their plates of fruits and veggies.
Why do you love Half Your Plate?
I love Half Your Plate because I have always been a believer in eating healthy and watching what you eat for optimal health. Its important for people to realize the importance of eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and I love to be advocate for that. Having a healthy lifestyle is very important to me!
How have your eating habits changed during the pandemic?
They honestly haven’t changed a lot. The biggest thing I noticed is that I have not eaten out at a restaurant nearly as much during the pandemic. I have been instead cooking healthy meals and I feel a lot better when I know what I am putting in my food.
How are you filling Half Your Plate during the pandemic?
I am eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. Majority of my meals are mostly fruits and vegetables on my plate with protein and a little bit of a carb. I like to share my meals on social media and show everyone some fun healthy meals I have been eating.
Do you have a Half Your Plate tip to share?
To make sure that you see a lot of colour on your plate for each meal!
What recent recipe do you want to share?
I would love to share my goat cheese and chicken stuffed portobello mushrooms I made during the pandemic. They were stuffed with peppers, onion, chicken, and goat cheese. They were delicious!
Florence Maheau
What’s going on for you during the pandemic?
My Olympic spot is still on! I am working hard towards that goal that should happen next July. Our team and myself have had a lot of setbacks since Covid-19 started last March. We have had to change the location of our fall training camp just a couple days before our departure but we are making the best we can with what we are given. We are truly feeling grateful to be able to still train even in those times.
Why do you love Half Your Plate?
I love Half your Plate because they promote the lifestyle that I live and that I want to promote with others. Half your Plate stands by fueling an active healthy lifestyle with fruits and veggies which I couldn’t agree more with. I also love that they provide tools to make eating healthy affordable.
How have your eating habits changed during the pandemic?
I don’t think my eating habits have changed but I definitely improved on some things. Over the summer, I was able to stay close to home and help with my parent’s garden. I think eating fresh vegetables during the summer made me realize that I needed to keep this habit going even over the winter months. I now take a minute to look over at the Half your Plate website to see what fruit/vegetables are in season every month so I eat fresh and local fruit/vegetables as much as I can!
How are you filling Half Your Plate during the pandemic?
Like I mentioned, I try to fill half my plate with veggies and fruits that are in season! My favourites in the fall are most definitely squashes, apples and beets! I also try to always have something healthy to snack on. A new thing that I tried during the pandemic is dehydrating my own fruits. It’s easy and it packs really well, no more squished bananas!
Do you have a Half Your Plate tip to share?
My Half Your Plate tip would be to try and make a list of your meals for the week. That way you can make sure that you eat enough fruit/veggie throughout the week, and you can shop around to get the best deals!
What recent recipe do you want to share?
I love butternut squash soup. I think I have made it already 5 or 6 times!
– 2 butternut squash
– 4 garlic cloves
– 2 sweet onions
– 1 tablespoon of ginger
– 8 cups of vegetable broth
– Salt and pepper
Cut the squash in half
Empty the squash and put 1 garlic cloves in each of them
Cover with a bit of olive and add salt and pepper
Cook for 45 min at 375 Celsius in the oven
Wait for the squash to cool off before you empty them
Caramelize the onions in a big pan with the ginger (takes around 10 min)
Add the squash, garlic and broth to the onions and ginger
Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes
Use the hand mixer to smooth the soup and add broth if necessary
