Kids and adults need calcium for bone and teeth health. You can get the right amount of this essential mineral from readily available foods that are great for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dairy, cheese and fish are notable calcium foods that you can incorporate into your meal plan. The wide variety of sources will keep your menus balanced, nutritious and interesting.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends 1,000 mg of calcium per day for adults, and calls foods with 200 mg or more per serving high in calcium. High-calcium main dishes give your diet its biggest nutrient boost toward the recommended daily dose. All of the entrees below are high in calcium, some of them prepared from several ingredients with lower mineral content.
Breakfast
Breakfast is a good time to get your daily dose of calcium. Some enriched cereals, such as General Mills Total varieties, have 100 percent of the daily value (DV) of calcium. The calcium total grows when you add a cup of low fat milk or calcium-fortified orange juice.
Note that cream in your coffee is not a significant mineral source, but fortified rice or soy milk are. A spinach and cheese omelet, a bowl of yogurt, or two waffles with strawberries are breakfast main dishes that make use of well-known calcium foods eggs, milk and cheese.
Lunch
A bologna sandwich on white bread served with corn chips, a tostada with guacamole and a cup of cottage cheese with tomato slices are all high-calcium main dishes that are light enough for lunch. At the drive thru, you can get 20 percent or more of your daily dose of calcium from a taco, a cheeseburger or a fast food submarine sandwich (6-inch roll) with corn chips.
Other lunch ideas include Greek salad with feta cheese in pita bread and picnics made up of calcium foods such as canned sardines, string cheese (mozzarella) and almonds.
Dinner
You can get a large part of your daily dose of minerals from homestyle high-calcium entrees such as creamed chicken over cornbread or black-eyed peas and brown rice. Adding any leafy green on the side such as spinach, collard greens, kale, turnip greens or beet greens will create a meal that provides nearly 50 percent DV of calcium.
More main dishes for dinner made from high-calcium foods include: clam chowder and a wheat roll; 2 slices of pepperoni pizza; cheese enchiladas; and tofu stir fry with rice and egg or Chinese cabbage.
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