Five portions a day?

angeltreats

I would really recommend the book Tender by Nigel Slater (the second one, with the pink cover). It's all about fruit and what to do with it. Nigel has so many lovely ideas. The library should have a copy as it's quite expensive to buy.

squeaky

For lots of ideas with different fruit see: The Complete Cooking Collection

Scroll down to the fruit section.

lostinrates

Need2bthrifty wrote: »

I rarely eat desserts/puddings and I know that some people don't like mixing sweet and savoury on the same plate but I love having some fruit in my salads. I put grated apple in with some shredded cabbage, beansprouts, small amount of green chilli and grated ginger and dress with some lemon juice - makes a delicious crispy, fresh salad which goes nicely with cold meats and I've even had it along with curry.

A few grapes or peach/orange segments mixed in with a green salad are also nice.

As others have said I freeze stewed rhubarb/apples and have it with either porridge, yoghurt, cornflakes for breakfast.

I only recently found somewhere on this forum that you can freeze bananas - I had a banana ice-lolly the other day and it was lovely - the freezing had changed the texture of the banana and much to my surprise it was very much like a nice smooth ice cream.

I second fruity salads. There are some classic slads including fruit....apple celery and walnts for example. Pear and blue cheeses.

Imlike some ornage juice as a salad dressing on green salad, it s light and fresh.

I have also used nectarines in green salad with air dried hams.

I will be trying your shredded salad soon, it sounds great!

daska

FairyPrincessk wrote: »

I wouldn't discount fruit entirely--fruit can be where you get some of the variety in colour that ensures you're getting different micro-nutrients. If you aren't into it, then certainly try to make the bulk of your fruit and veg with veg but I'd still try to get at least one or two in.

There's a huge variety of colour in veg. Just think of the different types of beetroot, cabbage, potato, carrot, bean, tomato - red, purple, yellow, green. Most of them are available in more than one colour. And berries are good!

(The huge, sweet fruit we eat now is a relatively recent addition to our diet, it's been bred to accentuate those features. More traditional varieties tend to be smaller, more intense, less sweet and available over much shorter seasons.)

FairyPrincessk

Daska--I certainly didn't intend to discount the variety in colour amongst vegetables. My statement was based on the implicit assumption that the OP wanted to introduce a healthy diet on a budget. I just wanted to point out that fruit can be an easy way to introduce some of that colour--particularly on a budget. Since what is economical varies with the season, and winter can be difficult for finding cheap variety it might be helpful to consider fruit as a colourful supplement since the OP doesn't seem to particularly enjoy it.

I agree--large sweet fruit is a recent addition to our diet--but then so is a lot of the variety we take for granted now.

daska

FairyPrincessk wrote: »

Daska--I certainly didn't intend to discount the variety in colour amongst vegetables. My statement was based on the implicit assumption that the OP wanted to introduce a healthy diet on a budget. I just wanted to point out that fruit can be an easy way to introduce some of that colour--particularly on a budget. Since what is economical varies with the season, and winter can be difficult for finding cheap variety it might be helpful to consider fruit as a colourful supplement since the OP doesn't seem to particularly enjoy it.

I agree--large sweet fruit is a recent addition to our diet--but then so is a lot of the variety we take for granted now.

It can be, but the OP's opening point is that she doesn't like fruit! What's interesting though is that whilst it's true we have greater variety from all over the world, we also have far less variety in fruit and veg that is more 'traditional'. It's only recently that we've started to move away from the orange carrot but it's not 'new', the orange was specially cultivated. The UK has hundreds of varieties of apple, but how many do you see in the shops?

ostrichnomore_2

Do you get yours? Shall we have a thread where we list the day's 5 a Day achievement?

I don't quite make it but I'm trying - it goes in fits and starts of enthusiasm, but I really need to start to eat more healthily again, keep losing weight, and this seems a good way.

What are your tips for getting enough? It's easy to add a little bit of something but hard to add enough for a whole portion! I like veg, but it's the quantity you have to eat to get a 5 a day portion that stumps me. Planning on upping my fruit intake to at least one a day.

Here's how I'm doing this week (this isn't all I ate, just the fruit and veg).

Yesterday
Lunch - sandwich had some lettuce and onion but probably not enough to count = maybe a half if I'm pushing it.
Dinner - broccoli, spring onion + watercress - 3
Total 3.5

Tuesday
Lunch - apple -1
Dinner - asparagus, steam bag of carrot/sweetcorn/broccoli (only counts as one according to the pack) - 2
Total 3

Monday
Dinner - mixed roast veg with onion, carrot, red pepper, yellow pepper and asparagus, good mix but quantity probably only came to 3
Grapes - 1
Total 4

Sunday
zero

Saturday
Breakfast - apple - 1
Lunch - mixed veg in a curry - 1
Dinner - cabbage and cauliflower - 2 (maybe, don't think it was enough cabbage really, you have to eat loads)
Total 4.

So as the teachers say, 'must do better!'.

FairyPrincessk

I usually get my five a day--but it took awhile to get into the habit. I found that if I get at least two in at breakfast that really helps.

I also try to think about it when I do my meal plan--which usually means we have a veggie based meal at least every other day. Since I eat leftovers for lunch this means either lunch or dinner will have lots of veggies--the other usually has at least one as well.

so, Today:

Breakfast--Porridge with an apple chopped up into it, Juice (I know juice isn't the best, but I do like it).
Lunch--Leftover warm salad from Tuesday night's dinner (last night there were no leftovers) Has chickepeas, celery, red onion and herbs mixed with brown rice and feta--probably only counts as one, possibly two.
Dinner-Roasted red pepper soup, will make up about two servings, bowl of kiwi or mango--probably only a half to 3/4 serving as most kiwis are only about 60-70gr.

To be honest, I don't consider today to be a great day. I try not to rely too much on fruit as it should probably be a 2:3 kind of balance, and using chickpeas and juice are two that I prefer not to count--but they do. I find eating soups also helps to boost it, plus they're cheap!

Chris25

blitzing veggies into stock, sauce or gravy helps & helps to use up those limp bits left in the rack/fridge

We have a glass of juice with breakfast too.

*niptuckfan*

i have been on weight watchers since Jan and this has made me realise and i now get my five a day, for me its having fruit with porridge, tinned fruit as a pudding with yogurt , soup and salads for lunch and upping my portions of veg with main meals - can honestly say i feel so much better for it (apart from occasional wind lol) i also have been trying veg that i havent before...kale being an example