Daylight Saving Time ends today, with most of the country falling back an hour to return to Standard Time. This time change marks the end of the harvest, and store shelves and road side stands offer wide varieties of squash, apples and pumpkin during this time.

Celebrate with a Fall Harvest Family Meal of Squash and Leek Lasagna, Apple Salad with Yogurt Honey Dressing and a Light and Creamy Pumpkin Mousse.

Warm your family as the weather cools with other hearty Fall Harvest recipes, including Roasted Fall Vegetables, Slow Cooker Fall Pork Tenderloin, Fall Ratatouille and Cinnamint Cappuccino.

If you haven’t already, register now to add these and other healthy recipes to your own personalized meal plan and shopping list. It’s free!

How often do you come home from a hectic day at work and struggle to determine what to do for dinner? More than likely you are all too familiar with this feeling.

One of the best ways to avoid racking your brain every evening to come up with an answer is through meal planning. By planning a few meals for the upcoming week, you will alleviate this unnecessary stress and have more time to spend with your family.

Family meals are especially important when you have children. Research has also shown that children and teens that eat regular meals with their families are nearly 5 times less likely to use drugs or smoke than those who do not eat family meals on a regular basis. Dinner is often the best time to have meals together as this is when everyone is winding down from a busy day. This can also be a time to learn about your children, how their day has been, and simply reconnect with one another

Meal planning can be very beneficial for your health. It allows you to have more control over portion sizes and helps to avoid spur-of-the-moment purchasing of fast food as a last resort. Ensuring that you and your family are eating nutrient-rich foods is a lot easier when planning in advance and making meals at home. When you can eliminate last minute trips to the store, you’ll have more time to prepare meals and side dishes full of functional foods, which are excellent for you and your family’s health.

Meal planning can also help you save money. When you have a plan of what you will need to purchase for the week ahead, you will be able to reduce the number of random purchases you make while you’re shopping and you’ll save gas by making one trip to the store instead of multiple trips each week.

Part of meal planning is having an idea of what ingredients you will need in the coming week, and creating a shopping list containing those ingredients. When you arrive at the store you’ll know exactly what you need, so that you can avoid the uncertainty of what to purchase, which can often lead to impulse spending.

Making the commitment to a meal planning routine is just the first step. The next question is where to find the meals that you will make. We offer hundreds of recipes and meal ideas for you to browse, so that you can find the perfect recipes for you and your family. Once you have found the recipes that you want to try, be sure to make use of our shopping list and meal planner to get you started on the right track.

Functional foods are foods and food components that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Functional foods do more than just provide nutrients – they may play a role in reducing your risk of disease or in improving your health. These foods include health-promoting ingredients or natural components found in conventional, fortified, enriched or enhanced foods.

As we learn about them, it becomes apparent that it's impossible to duplicate Mother Nature's unique combination of vitamins, minerals and other components found in whole food - especially since many of their health promoting components are still being discovered.

Here are just some examples of functional foods and why they may be beneficial:

Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. Avocados are also a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure and guard against heart disease.

Beans may help lower cholesterol, combat heart disease, stabilize blood sugar, reduce obesity and cancer risk, and relieve hypertension. Beans are a good source of insoluble fiber, which promotes digestive health and relieves constipation. Beans also provide soluble fiber, which can help reduce fat levels in the blood.

Milk provides calcium, vitamin D, protein and other essential vitamins and minerals, including potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A and B12, riboflavin and niacin that work together to build strong bones and help prevent osteoporosis. Milk also contains - Components in milk, such as sphingomyelin, bioactive peptides, whey and lactoferrin are being studied for their cancer-fighting and immune-boosting properties.

Oats are naturally low in fat and the soluble fiber from oat products, when added to a low-saturated fat, low-cholesterol diet, may help reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering LDL cholesterol.

Spinach is rich in a number of essential nutrients, including folate, magnesium, vitamins C and A, and lutein. Each of these nutrients plays a crucial role in our health, from preventing neural tube defects, to fighting free radicals and nourishing good eyesight.

Strawberries are naturally high in fiber, vitamin C, folate, potassium and antioxidants -- anti-disease and anti-aging nutrients that work by destroying "free radicals" -- making them a food that promotes heart health, reduces the risk of certain types of cancer and gives a boost to total body wellness.

Tuna is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which can help lower the risk of heart disease. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least two times a week because of its heart healthy benefits.

Walnuts have many potential health benefits. They may enhance mental function, lower total and LDL cholesterol and reduce risk of heart disease. Walnuts exert a number of positive effects on arteries, including decreasing inflammation and reducing levels of substances that promote clogged arteries. The American Heart Association recommends eating walnuts for heart health.

Yogurt is created by adding special bacteria, called “cultures,” to milk. Some of these bacteria are called "healthy bacteria" or "probiotics". Probiotics may also help strengthen the immune system, and prevent some cancers and high blood pressure.

There are many potential health benefits of consuming functional foods –- only some of which are listed above. Nutritional research has shown that eating functional foods on a regular basis, as part of a balanced and varied diet, can enhance health and reduce the risk of many acute and chronic diseases.

Functional foods can be found in your grocery store and you may even have some of them in your refrigerator and pantry already! Our functional foods list contains more examples of functional foods, as well as their health benefits and active components.

There are several long-term benefits of getting enough calcium, such as strengthening your bones, reducing blood pressure and minimizing your risk of certain cancers. And, people with higher calcium intakes generally weigh less and have less body fat than people with lower calcium intakes. There is also scientific evidence that people with high blood pressure can reduce their blood pressure by eating a diet high in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, also know as the DASH diet.

Calcium is best known as the major mineral responsible for building strong bones, especially during childhood and young adult years, but it is also used by the body for other purposes. When you don’t consume enough calcium, your body starts to take it from your bones for other jobs, such as muscle contractions, blood clotting and proper nerve functioning. This removal of calcium from the bones to other parts of the body leaves your bones weak and fragile. If this continues over time, you could develop osteoporosis.

Contrary to popular belief, osteoporosis is not a natural part of aging and is preventable in most people. Yet, calcium is one of the nutrients most likely to be lacking in the American diet. According to government statistics, nine out of ten women and seven out of ten men fall short of calcium recommendations. Keeping your bones healthy and strong is a lifelong task that requires a balance of healthy foods, such calcium-rich dairy foods, and weight-bearing activities, such as walking or strength training.

Calculate your calcium intake to determine if you’re getting enough calcium in your diet with the Calcium Quiz. This tool will evaluate your intake of calcium-rich foods to determine if you need more calcium. It will also offer suggestions for how to improve your calcium intake and help you set goals to reach your daily calcium needs.

Also, check out our article on preventing osteoporosis to learn more about the importance of calcium!

This blog posting is part of the Meals Matter Nutrition and Fitness Challenge. Return to Nutrition and Fitness Challenge.