Canada's food guide

Welcome to the March food guide newsletter!

This month we feature: skills for healthy eating, from grocery lists to using leftovers

In this issue

• Recipe of the month
• Skills for healthy eating
• Healthy eating recommendations
• Translated food guide snapshot of the month
• Next month

Recipe of the month

Try these delicious slow-cooker burrito bowls, perfect for everyone from beginner cooks to seasoned chefs!

Skills for healthy eating

Knowing how to plan, choose, buy, prepare, and store food are important skills that can help you eat healthily.

Planning

Planning is an important skill to help you develop a healthy eating pattern. Here are some planning tips to try:

• To decide what meals and snacks you'd like to eat:
  • browse the food guide kitchen for recipe ideas
  • think about your schedule and how much time you have to cook and prepare foods
  • plan meals using foods you already have
  • make note of recipes or ingredients you could prepare ahead of time for faster cooking
• Make a grocery list:
  • scan flyers for sales on healthy foods
  • write down items as you run out of them
• Post your plan where everyone in your household can refer to it

Try meal planning from start to finish in 4 steps.

Choosing

The foods we eat are influenced by a variety of factors. Some examples include:

• income
• food access and availability
• culture and food traditions
• food and information environment
• family and household make up
• nutrition knowledge and food skills

Canada's food guide is designed to be flexible. It acknowledges the factors that shape your eating patterns and encourages choosing a variety of healthy food options. These can include fresh, frozen, canned, or dried:

• vegetables and fruits
• whole grain foods
• protein foods including protein foods that come from plants more often

Learn more about healthy food choices and how to make healthy meals with Canada's food guide plate.

Buying

The food you buy regularly become part of your eating pattern. What you eat on a regular basis matters to your health. Access to affordable and healthy foods is important to support nutritional health and well-being. Explore the options available in your community, such as:

• grocery stores
• bulk food stores
• farmers' markets or co-operatives
• community programs offering affordable foods

Here are some tips to stretch your food budget:

• Adjust recipes to lower cost: Does a recipe call for quinoa, but you don't have any? If you have brown rice, try using it instead. Knowing how to make recipe substitutions can help you use the foods you have.
• Shop for seasonal produce. Fresh vegetables and fruits are usually less expensive when they are in season. Try canned or frozen options when buying out of season produce.
• Pick up some plant-based proteins. Lentils and beans are often less expensive. Learn how to cook with plant-based protein foods and try to incorporate them into your dishes.

Preparing

Preparing meals and snacks often involves skills like chopping, mixing and following a recipe. If you're trying to increase your confidence in the kitchen, here are some ideas to build your skills:

• Make a goal to cook more often. This can help you rely less on highly processed foods.
• Join a community kitchen or virtual cooking class.
• Explore the food guide kitchen to find new recipes along with step-by-step photos, and videos
• Explore cooking skills articles, such as:
  • Measure ingredients like a pro
  • Adjusting recipes to meet your needs
  • What does it mean to season to taste?

Storing

Storing food properly can:

• preserve food quality
• limit food waste and help save money
• ensure food safety

Check to see if you're storing vegetables and fruits properly.

Storing food leftovers is important to keep food safe. Learn more about how to safely store leftovers.

Healthy eating recommendations

Following Canada's food guide healthy eating recommendations can help you to build a healthy eating pattern.

Learn more about Canada's food guide healthy eating recommendations.

Translated food guide snapshot of the month

Canada's food guide is a suite of online resources made to meet different needs. It includes the food guide snapshot, available online in many languages.

This month, discover the snapshot in Simplified Chinese (Mandarin) / 简体中文.

Next month

In April, we will explore resources from Canada's food guide.

Originally published: March 4, 2025