Menu Planning...But What To Cook?!

Having just read a post by The Madhouse on menu planning (sorry this piggy backing seems to be becoming a habit) I thought I would do a quick post on the subject rather than make my comment go on for ever !

I started menu planning a few weeks ago now, and I am loving it :D  My reason for doing this was basically because I was throwing away so much food it was a crime.  The Daddy likes good food, and as I never had a plan I always had to make sure that I had all the ingredients available for just about anything he or I might decide to make - can you imagine how much waste this creates ?!  When you add in to the equation that I buy predominantly organic food it was also costing a small fortune.  I have a fixed 'allowance' from The Daddy to pay for food, all of Star's needs and all of my own and finally realised that by wasting less money on food I would have more to spend on Star and me.  Now don't get me wrong, I am passionate about organic food so I'm not buying cheaper, just buying less.  I also now buy most of my meat from an organic farm shop near where I live as I found that not only is it locally produced, with a great butcher who will prepare anything for you, it is also about 25% cheaper than I was paying with Ocado.  


The outcome of all this is that I have managed to reduce my grocery spend by between 25 and 50%.  I also feel more organised and actually think we have a more healthy diet as I now plan, for example, how much red meat we eat in a week. We never run out of anything, I never have to scratch my head to think 'what am I going to cook tonight ?', we have a tasty, nutritious meal every night and we have little or no waste.  Can you tell that I'm rather evangelical about this new regime ?!


I have all the 'meals' that I ever cook listed on the laptop, and each week, on Sunday, I copy and paste into this weeks menu plan.  I then update my scheduled Ocado deliveries which arrive on Monday morning, and again on Friday morning.  Star and I also visit the farm shop for our meat on Tuesdays and Saturdays.  Job done...simples !


There is one draw back that I can see.  Because I'm now alot more aware of what I'm cooking I am also much more aware of the limitations of my recipe repertoire, and I do find this very frustrating.  I have a bookcase full of recipe books but either don't have the time to wade through them for inspiration, or am too worried that the end result will be disappointing.  I find the best recipes are those that have been tried and tested by friends and family and come highly recommended. I have asked the lovely Wendy for recipes in the past.  All have been fab but, wonderful as she is, I can't rely on one person, so I have an idea that I would like to float, just to see if there would be any interest...


I'm thinking about doing a weekly menu plan post and thought I could put a mclinky up (? not even sure what it's called let alone know how to do it!) for others to post theirs.  We can all then have a look and if something catches our eye the poster could be invited to share the recipe.  Those not on the menu planning bandwagon could still participate by sharing their favourite recipes.  I'm sure there are lots of mums/dads/cooks looking for kitchen inspiration ! 


If you think you would be interested in participating in this in some way, or can suggest a better format, please do let me know...

Menu Planning...But What To Cook?!

Are you getting enough Magnesium ?

Did you know that only 25% of people consume the Recommended Daily Amount (the bare minimum needed to prevent deficiencies) of magnesium yet it is shown to be effective for eclampsia and preeclampsia, palpitations, severe asthma, migraine, lowering the risk of metabolic syndrome, improving glucose and insulin metabolism, relieving severe period pains and alleviating leg cramps in pregnant women?

 

The authors of a recent review article on the therapeutic uses of magnesium said “Research has shown that the mineral content of magnesium in food sources is declining and that magnesium depletion has been detected in persons with some chronic diseases”. The review identified compelling evidence for the use of magnesium for the conditions listed above.

 

Magnesium is an incredibly important, yet commonly deficient mineral, but is a challenge to diagnose deficiency. The review points out that “diagnosis of mild to moderate magnesium deficiency is challenging because patients may be asymptomatic”  Considering the relative safety of magnesium and the high number of people with deficiencies it seems sensible to maximise magnesium intake through foods such as almonds, cashews, spinach, whole grains and legumes and/or dietary supplements.

 

Sources:
Guerrera MP, Volpe SL, Mao JJ. Therapeutic uses of magnesium. Am Fam Physician. 2009 Jul 15;80(2):157-62.

Are you getting enough Magnesium ?

Shoppers guide to 'clean' fruit and veg

Having already introduced the concept of avoiding the consumption of pesticides I thought it might be helpful to point you in the right direction in terms of the worst offenders so here are the 'dirty dozen', worst first...


Peach
Apple
Pepper
Celery
Nectarine
Strawberries
Cherries
Kale
Lettuce
Grapes
Carrot
Pear


So, the advice here is either buy organic, grow your own, peel or if all else fails, minimise your consumption.  To cheer you up however, here are the 'clean fifteen', best first, which you can eat without caution...


Onion
Avocado
Sweetcorn
Pineapple
Mango
Asparagus
Peas
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Aubergine
Papaya
Watermelon
Broccoli
Tomato
Sweet Potato


Hope this helps :-)


This list has been produced by the Environmental Working Group in the US.

Shoppers guide to 'clean' fruit and veg

Quick, easy, family friendly, nutritious recipe...

Following on from my post about supplementation here I thought it might be useful to do the the odd post about healthy eating and in particular healthy recipes that are also suitable for babies/toddlers.

I am not one for spending hours in the kitchen unneccesarily.  And by that I mean cooking mutiple meals for different family members.  From about 9 months Star has been eating with us, and I always overcater to ensure that I can feeze a few portions – there are occasions when The Daddy and I want to eat something that Star wouldn’t appreciate.

So, before we get into the detail, some general principles…

• Buy the best quality ingredients you can afford, or better still, grow your own.  This doesn't mean shopping in M&S, but choosing free range, or organic if possible.  If you can't just make sure you wash all fruit and veg thoroughly (and peel if you can) to remove surface pesticides and limit the amount of meat and dairy you eat to minimise your exposure to the livestocks antibiotics and artificial hormones.

• Buy and use produce at it’s freshest.  If this is not possible/available buy frozen.  The nutrient content of food diminishes in parallel with the time it takes to get from harvest to plate.

So, the recipe.  This is one of Star’s favourites, and mine too.  It is meat free but provides all the required amino acids to make a compete protein meal.  It is also high in fibre and therefore very filling – perfect for the last meal of the day to fill up little tummies to last through the night.

You will need:-

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas (or dried and soaked equivalent)

0.5 x 400g tin of coconut milk

200ml of water

1 tsp fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic

1 red or green chilli

1.5 tsp korma curry powder (or make your own if you can find a recipe – and please share it !)

2 good handfuls of spinach

1. Finely chop (or quickly whizz in a mini processor) the garlic, chilli, ginger and onion.  Transfer to a pan      and soften in some oil.
2. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, curry powder and water and leave to simmer for 5 mins, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the cocnut milk and simmer for a further 2 mins, stirring occasionally
4. Add the spinach a couple of mintues before serving.

Serve with boiled brown rice.  This is important as it provides the amino acids missing from the chickpeas to complete the protein.  As previous white rice eaters we like the brown basmati best.  I mash Stars before feeding him as the chickpeas are too big for him and despite his mouth full of teeth he tries to swallow them whole !

I hope you like this as much as we all do.  I have found it hard to find family friendly nutirious recipes so if you have one I’d love to hear about it !

Quick, easy, family friendly, nutritious recipe...

Do we need supplements in a modern diet ?

At last, I have engaged brain, put pen to paper  fingers to keyboard and decided to do a post on a subject I am passionate evangelical about.  Good nutrition.  I must warn you that this will be the first of many.  I could drone on about this for YEARS.  So in an attempt to not overload you and bore you stupid I will adopt the drip feed  approach.  Bite sized chunks and all that.


Today I am going to post about giving children multivitamins.  Horror of horrors, yes it's true.  In fact, Star has had them since he was, hmmm, let me think, five days old.  There are a few common arguments people put forward for not taking/giving their kids multivits...

1. We get all the nutrients we need in our food/milk

 Not true.  The nutrient levels in food today is a fraction of what it was 30+ years ago.  Intensive farming has left the soil depleted.  Fertilizers supplement the major deficiencies but not all the macro nutrients.  If you need proof, send off a hair sample for analysis and I guarantee, however well you eat, you will have deficiencies. When you add in the fact that most people a) don't eat the perfect diet and b) have a lifelstyle/diet that exposes them to anti-nutrients ie pollution, stress, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, there is simply no hope of getting everything you need from food.  


     2.  Recommended Daily Amounts (RDAs) of nutrients are printed on packets of food/baby formula....


...so we know we're getting enough, right ?  Again, not true.  You need to ask yourself how the levels of RDA have been arrived at ?  The RDA is set at a level to prevent diseases of malnutrition.  We're talking scurvy and rickets here.  It is not set at a level to ensure we are the fittest, strongest, healthiest we can be.  Not by a very long way.


Of course the other thing as far as babies goes, is that if they are exclusively breast fed (which of course I wholeheartedly agree with), breast milk is only as nutritious as the mothers nutritional status.  And what's more , that leaves even fewer nutrients for the mother.


So, having established why I believe in supplementation I will give you one example of a study that has been done to demonstrate further.

A new study from the Karolinska Institute (the highest ranked university in clinical medicine and pharmacy in Europe) has shown that supplementing with multivitamins has no effect on the incidence of asthma, eczema, hayfever or atopic sensitisation.  However,  when they looked at data from children who started supplementing before the age of four, they found a 39% decrease in the risk of sensitisation to food. 

  

In the researchers own words “our results show no association between current use of multivitamins and risk of allergic disease but suggest that supplementation with multivitamins during the first years of life may reduce the risk of allergic disease at school age”.

This is just one little fact to consider.  There are so many others, and I will post further at another time, but doesn't it make you think ?

One last point.  If you work for a pharmaceutical company, or are a believer in their doctrine that all you need is drugs, please pass by and don't feel the need to comment.  I am not blogging about this to have heated debates on the subject but to put some info out there for open minded people to consider.  I've studied the subject, and seen the effects on my own family and am not about to have my mind changed. So There !

Do we need supplements in a modern diet ?