healthy family meals

anniesguesthouse

Frozen veg and even frozen fruit is a lot cheaper than fresh and with it you will have no waste. You could thaw out a serving of the frozen fruit to use with smoothies and on yoghurt/cereal the night before. It's also worth looking for the marked down fresh fruit/veg when you're in the shop then freezing it yourself when you get home.

Tesco's frozen fruit range...
350g blueberries £2
500g mango £2
450g pineapple chunks £2
350g cherries £2
350g raspberries £2
500g summer fruits mix £2

Morrison's frozen fruit range...
500g blackforest fruits £2
500g summer fruits mix £2
350g raspberries £2
350g blueberries £2

EstherH

Farmfoods do frozen berries -450g I think for £1 or 3 for £2 and good deals on frozen veg but as I said before, one of the reports in today's newspaper said that frozen and canned no longer count.

Esther x

[Deleted User]

remember that a portion of pulses/cooked bean/lentils/dal counts as one - and also they are full of protein

Too much fruit is not a good idea as fructose, although a fruit sugar, is still a sugar...

Don't forget that side salads, home made salsas, home made mixed raitas, home made tomato, onion, garlic pasta sauces also count (and are much cheaper!)

If you ditch the TV & screen time and convenience foods and spend some time cooking it's not that hard!

eg:

• breakfast - slice wholemeal toast, poached egg & 2 grilled tomatoes
  
• lunch - baked potato, bean salad & a banana
  
• dinner - chicken & spinach curry (inc onion, tomato, garlic, ginger), brown rice, yogurt raita (made with tomato, cucumber & spring onions)
  
• snacks - satsumas, raw carrots

that's at least 7 portions and varied carbs

We buy frozen veg alongside fresh, and also buy 'value' ranges - the shape and size of carrots doesn't affect the taste. If you have a large family then buying sacks/boxes of veg direct is a great way to save money - eg 12kg carrots around £4-5 and 25kg potatoes £6-8, 5kg onions £2-3

newthrift

I don't know about canned but frozen should count provided it defrosts itself it when cooked it's steamed and not in the microwave as this can kill some of the good. Frozen has many added benefits to 'fresh' store bought as it is frozen at the time or within hours of picking/cutting so less nutrients become lost!

meritaten

I don't count whether its 5 a day. I just try to incorporate veg and fruit into our daily diet. and vary the veg and fruit. and try to use the deep coloured veg such as red onions, beetroot etc. the dark greens, spinach, savoy cabbage, broccoli. then add the salads. lettuce, cucumber tomatoes etc. I don't see a problem here. it ISNT more expensive to eat this way. compare the cost of vegetable to that of meat and its much cheaper.

boredjellybean

to be honest I haven't tried to count how many/day we have but I'd say we're pretty healthy & I cook most meals from scratch so I know I can easily up the amount, perhaps we're stuck in a rut, it seems to be lots of pasta & sauce in our house or salads, I like the idea of more Indian food as that always seems to go down well & I for one adore dhal, so yeah more pulses thrown into food might me a winner as well as veggies

Lilyplonk

Around 2yrs ago, I started an NHS 'Changes' Healthy Eating Plan - when the dietician advised me to have between 7-9 portions of fruit/veg per day, I really thought she was having me on :eek:.

But you know what - it honestly wasn't that difficult . By replacing mid-morning/mid-afternoon snacks with a piece of fruit, and having fruit with FF Yoghurt, or FF Fromage Frais, as a dessert, the extra fruit intake soon mounted up.

Of course, you DO have to be aware that fruit is indeed a source of sugar but it's Fructose and therefore less refined, so not quite as damaging to the system. The increased vitamins and minerals contained are really beneficial as well .

On top of that, extra veggies/pulses in casseroles, side-salads, deli-counter-style salads and extra portions of veg on dinners while reducing the size of meat portions all meant that I didn't feel deprived of food quantities .................... it was all just better balanced .

Along with increased activity level AS I've lost weight, it has worked - I've lost 7stone PLUS my son has lost an amazing 12stone!!!

boredjellybean

Lilyplonk wrote: »

Around 2yrs ago, I started an NHS 'Changes' Healthy Eating Plan - when the dietician advised me to have between 7-9 portions of fruit/veg per day, I really thought she was having me on :eek:.

But you know what - it honestly wasn't that difficult . By replacing mid-morning/mid-afternoon snacks with a piece of fruit, and having fruit with FF Yoghurt, or FF Fromage Frais, as a dessert, the extra fruit intake soon mounted up.

Of course, you DO have to be aware that fruit is indeed a source of sugar but it's Fructose and therefore less refined, so not quite as damaging to the system. The increased vitamins and minerals contained are really beneficial as well .

On top of that, extra veggies/pulses in casseroles, side-salads, deli-counter-style salads and extra portions of veg on dinners while reducing the size of meat portions all meant that I didn't feel deprived of food quantities .................... it was all just better balanced .

Along with increased activity level AS I've lost weight, it has worked - I've lost 7stone PLUS my son has lost an amazing 12stone!!!

WOW Lilyplonk well done to you & your son !!! :j

littlegreenparrot

Some years ago I had an issue with high blood pressure.
The advice on the Blood pressure society website was to eat between 7-10 portions a day. Apparently the government guidance was set at 5 because they thought people would at least try for that, they might not even bother for 10!

Essentially more is better, I don't track it as I used to as blood pressure is back to normal but I still try to base meals around veg rather than meat, and snack on fruit/veg.

The easiest thing I found to do was get at least two portions at every meal, that plus two snacks of fruit/veg met the quota and felt do-able.
Best thing is to do the best you can, increase where possible.

meg72

EstherH wrote: »

I saw this 'upping' of the amount of f&v we are supposed to have on the newspaper review on the news last night. Two of the papers said 10 a day and one report said that tinned and frozen don't count and neither does fruit juice. There is no way I can do it without counting frozen veg as that is what we mainly have. Part of me is alarmed at this news and the other part is thinking that they keep changing their minds over everything and so ignore it.

Esther x

I find a report that says frozen and tinned don't count but like you after years of being told it does, I shall ignore it and carry on as usual.