Weezl and friends Phase 2 -giving it a whirl for Shirl! Testing meal plan for a month

artybear

OK....I'm no expert but...

I would personally say that 5 a day is good but more is better because it would be replacing more naughty things. For example I tried to get mr arty to eat more fruit yesterday because he ate porridge, a lunch of white bread, processed ham and two packet of crisps, a dinner of burgers, wedges, bacon and white rolls, half a cheesecake, two packets of biscuits and a packet of revels. As well as salad, two apples and two oranges ( I know he is a human dustbin!!!!) so I'm trying to replace say the crisps with more fruit as even though its still sugar I perceive it as 'better'. (Dont know if that is technically right though)

However Kitty and James will be eating the planner YOU will provide so will already be fairly healthy so 'more' will not necessarily be better as they are not replacing the naughty stuff IYSWIM???

In regards travel/amount of fruit I have no idea..we could all grow our own and only eat the 'correct' amount so everybody would get the same in a perfect world but I dont think thats possible so I dont think you should not eat fruit thats in the shops because technically there isnt enough for everyone.

I dont think I have explained myself very well sorryxx

Bigjenny

I think the 5 a day is fine, its only a guideline.

Its like most guidelines, ok one day and the next day someone will tell you something completely different. Or, if it's good for you one day its not the next.:D

I always prepared my veg portions 'by eye' as to what I could eat that day, but have been weighing them when cooking the recipes from the planner. I found that my 'by eye' portions were usually bigger than the recommended 80g.

Another thought. The 5 a day is a general guideline for everybody. Do children need less than adults, do active people need more than sedentary people, etc.

Lesley_Gaye

hmmm, interesting. Nothing about eating or any green issues are black and white are they.

I believed that there was a consensus amongst nutritionists that 10-12 was an optimum level and had many a study to back it up. Is this not what you are finding?

the many many miles undertaken by food before we can buy it is one of the reasons I try to buy local if I can, although that has gone out the window rather with the budget I have been sticking to lately. I try not to buy out of season stuff, but hadn't really noticed where potatoes come from

we generally have around the 10-12, including any potatoes and beans and when I eat that way, I feel healthier, livelier and my skin looks its best, esp in the summer when we have lots of salads from the garden

twinkle_star_2

I think the reason for the enormous difference of the five a day to the eight or nine a day is often that the official UK fivie day thing restricts what you can count as a serving.

For instance, last time I checked, beans could count as one portion if they weren't also your main source of protein. Initially I thought fair enough but then I started thinking - why exactly? It's not as though the amino acids for protein and the vitamins can't exist at the same time.

And only one juice portion can count. I assume this was to encourage greater consumption of fibre which juice lacks. But what if I eat lots of fibre anyway. Can i count two juice portions?

I think those guidelines were set up to try and ensure that people on standard British diet (ie meat) ate more healthily in general. But if you're already eating a mainly plant based diet (as the vegan plan will be) then your protein sources as well as your vitamin and mineral sources will often count as one of the five a day anyway. So, in the traditional five a day that would negate it thus leading to many vegan organisations suggesting that you should aim for 8-9 per day.

Did that make any sense?

I think what I'm saying is five a day could/should be fine but it depends what you count as a portion.

Edit: actually what I'm saying is the five a day is irrelevant as long as you're getting all the relevant nutrients. It was just set up as a guideline (and they picked it out of thin air).

hornetgirl

I think 5 a day is fine. It's a concept that people are used to hearing about, even if they don't do it.

hornetgirl

In the nut roast recipe, the title refers to lemon stuffing, but there is no mention of this in either the ingredients or the method. Is this a hangover from an earlier recipe?

weezl74

hornetgirl wrote: »

In the nut roast recipe, the title refers to lemon stuffing, but there is no mention of this in either the ingredients or the method. Is this a hangover from an earlier recipe?

done, thanks

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

Allegra wrote: »

How's about a chickpea salad, rainbow ? Use the ingredients in the houmus recipe, only instead of whizzing up in the processor pop into a bowl and dress with the rest of the ingredients (oil, vinegar, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper, even chili powder if you fancy it) - and it might be even nicer if you nick half an onion from another recipe and slice it in.

Excellent idea, thank you I think I might lightly fry the chick peas/oil/garlic first, to give a bit more 'bite', then dress with the rest of the oil, lemon and seasoning. NOM

:T

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

aless02 wrote: »

rainbow, on weezl's blog i did post nutritional info on a lot of the recipes, including the snacks.

weezl.wordpress.com - sorry cannpt do linkies am on my phone

Thanks - I'll have an investigate later :money:

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

shanks77 wrote: »

Rainbow forgot to say in earlier post if you find the pate too strong the next time, if budget allows buy chicken liver. It is dearer but gives a much milder pate that i found more palatable and more likely to be eaten. The pigs liver is prob very good if you like liver but i dont. Ex thinks the pigs one is the best but will happily eat the chicken one so, it might be worth a try.
HTH xx

Thanks - I'm fine with liver pate, just hate houmous!