1. Chop up some carrots, peppers and/or cucumber and keep it in the fridge for when you feel hungry. If you have some hummous dip your crudités in it!
2. Always have a store cupboard full of tinned vegetables and fruit such as chopped tomatoes, baked beans (sugar free), peaches and grapefruit. Buy tinned fruit in its own fruit juice as this is a better choice than the ones in syrup.
3. If you like dried fruit keep raisins, prunes and apricots in your kitchen. You can also use them to stuff an eating apple and bake in the oven.
4. If you are in a rush and have to resort to a ready meal, add some steamed vegetables or salad to the meal to balance it out. Try to have a piece of fresh fruit for dessert.
5. Quick food needn’t be unhealthy food; stir-fries are an excellent way to increase the amount of vegetables you eat.
6. Try making a list of meal ideas and a shopping list for the week, keeping in mind which days you’ll have time to cook from scratch and which days you may want something easier to assemble. You will be amazed how much easier it is to achieve your five-a-day as you’ve planned in advance your week’s fruit and vegetable intake.
7. Use pulses. One portion of your five-a-day can come from pulses such as lentils, baked beans or peas. You can buy organic frozen peas and also organic tinned kidney beans.
8. Got some fruit lying around? Make a smoothie! Bananas are an excellent base for a smoothie, but any fruit will do. Add organic soya, rice or oat milk and use a blender to whiz it all up. A 12 ounce glass of banana and apple smoothie equals two servings of fruit – an easy and delicious way to add produce to your diet.
9. Have you ever had bored children at home wanting to do something in the school holidays? Why not get them involved in the kitchen, ask them to help you with something fun like baking a fruit cake or making a dessert such as a fruit crumble. Eating the end product together is great fun.
10. Choose meals that are packed with veggies and desserts that are fruit based. Craving soup for dinner? Choose a chunky vegetable stew. Is pasta on the menu tonight? Remember that tomato-based spaghetti sauce counts as a vegetable. Having pizza for lunch? Buy one with added mushrooms, green peppers and onions; then add your own broccoli when you get home. Craving something sweet for dessert? A baked apple with honey is delicious. Unsweetened organic live yoghurt mixed with fruit (or a spoonful of pure fruit jam – no sugar) is a sweet, creamy, satisfying, nutritious and light alternative to sugary, fatty cakes and desserts that will weigh you down.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 11:34 am and is filed under General Health, Nutrition and Healthy Eating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.