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

weezl74

Sian, I've sent you a reply to our email account.

I've answered it very seriously, but I actually think it's a joke email, but I guess we can't take a gamble on that.:D

Yep, I'll happily add more to the nutrition pages, although the (joke?) emailer hadn't read what's there already, so I'm not sure what good it'll do. But as you've said, at least a real shirley would have more information, if we embellish those pages.

Juliemk, thanks, an email address would be fab, and I'll ping you a spreadsheet :T:T:T:T:T:T

weezl74

sian, scrap the message I've sent you, I think I'll upload a new FAQs about nutrition page, thinking of the following wording, and then we can just write, say thanks, and refer to that...? Whaddyathink?

Frequently asked nutrition questions:

So who is the average family you’ve designed this for? We chose a family of four, and assumed they were average heights and the right weight for their height, we assumed they did a moderate amount of exercise each day. Since we have based the planner on averages, you may find that you need to add more calories into the planner if you are very tall, heavier than average or if you do a great deal of sport.

Does the planner contain enough calcium? We have assumed an average daily need of 1,000 mg daily, which our research showed had general consensus amongst health care professionals as being sufficient for 97% of individuals.

Really? I can only see a block of cheese and a drop of milk, but it’s a whole month! We couldn’t afford to meet your whole family’s calcium need using these more expensive foods, but the calcium is there, don’t worry! For example, the instant oat cereal used in several of our recipes contains 1330 mg of calcium per 100g, whereas cheese contains just 739mg per 100g.

Does it contain my 5 a day? Our monthly meal planner contains 680 fruit and vegetable portions, and thus exceeds the government recommended 5 a day.

Where? I can only see a few fresh carrots! Ah, please don’t be fooled into thinking that for your 5 a day, fresh is best! There are a few reasons why tinned, dried and frozen foods are just as good if not better than fresh ones. In dried fruit and vegetables the goodness is condensed, so much so that we need even less of these to count as a portion! Frozen and canned foods have the advantage of being picked and packed the same day. With fresh foods this isn’t the case. In the winter a large proportion of the potatoes eaten in the UK have taken 2-3 weeks to reach the supermarket shelves, coming from Egypt. There is some evidence too that the way vegetables are canned can even increase their health giving benefits, with canned tomatoes being richer in antioxidants than their fresh counterparts, for example. 32% of the fruit and vegetable portions in our meal planner are fresh.

Is there enough fat / energy? Growing children need fat! Absolutely! We have provided 32% of the calorie intake through fat, in keeping with current guidelines that fat should account for 20-35% of our daily intake. We’ve also ensured that there’s enough energy to keep each member of your family going all day(between 2,000 and 3,000 calories per day each depending on gender and age).

So are we filling up on cheap white bread? The bread is cheap, because it is handmade, we do not however feel this is an unhealthy choice, since white flour contains more calcium than brown/wholemeal flour. So we were happy to choose it since there is sufficient fibre in the meal planner. By having handmade bread, we are also ensuring the bread doesn’t contain harmful additives.

So are you nutrition experts? We take a great deal of care to ensure our recipes and meal planners meet all government recommended standards for nutrition. We have extensively researched the month’s shopping list. None of our team are dieticians and we do not make any claims that we are giving you medical or dietary advice, but what we can say is that we have followed the government guidelines on nutrition, which we know have taken account of healthcare professionals advice and the latest research. Of course no recipe website will have analysed each micronutrient eaten at every meal, but we are currently happy with what we are offering to families in financial difficulty. Our team are always looking at research evidence though, and you are very welcome to send us links to professional journals if you are aware of new research which we have not yet had a chance to look at.

Sian_the_Green

Brilliant.

Though, pet peeve, "so much so that we need even less of these to count as a portion" would please me if it said fewer of these rather than less

Murrell

Of to work now, but just wanted to say the onion tart tatin was successful. Will report back in more detail later!

Sandra
x

weezl74

Hi lesley

Sian_the_Green

We do give ourselves away with our thankfulness don't we

weezl74

yep! And then I make you talk so this thread isn't all just bonkers weezl having a chat with herself :rotfl:

domesticgoddess789

Wow! The website is looking fantastic- well done everyone!

I just noticed the Leftovers list has been put on there and squealed at my OH to come see it shouting "Look! I compiled that!" I'm so proud!! (Little things please little minds eh?)

shanks77

That nutrition part looks really good Weezl and i think you should have answered most peoples queries about it but you can be sure there will be someone who has another question that we havent thought about. Do you think we might need to add a bit about the omega or do you not want to start in with every little detail?
xx

Lesley_Gaye

weezl74 wrote: »

Hi lesley

hiya - I was watering the blueberries and looking up their growing conditions. I have put them in a bed with hostas. It is too light since cutting down a tree for the hostas, but the blueberries need the light, hmm what to do

did you want me to do something?