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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think a portion of fruit and veg isn't that big

177 replies

Rufusgy · 14/09/2015 14:09

Constantly people say how the portion of fruit or veg needed is big and people don't often get one in a meal. I've just created a dish with at least four portions with my tomato pasta lunch.

200g of tomatoes
2 large onions
80g button mushrooms
100 mung bean fettuccine

Then also but not enough for a portion
2 cloves of garlic
Bunch of basil
1 tbps tumeric
1 TSP Kayne pepper
A pinch off kelp
Handful of k olives

Onions were saluted in water too, no fat here. All this fits in one bowl and was just right for my lunch.

To think a portion of fruit and veg isn't that big
OP posts:
squoosh · 14/09/2015 15:33

I aim for five portions of veg per day and am more than satisfied if I meet that!

MaidOfStars · 14/09/2015 15:35

I aim for five portions of veg per day and am more than satisfied if I meet that!

I'm more than satisfied if I remember that's how many I'm supposed to be eating Wink

Ta1kinPeace · 14/09/2015 15:37

That bowl is an M&S pasta bowl - judging by the size of the fork
which means your lunch is more than my total calorie needs for a day.

Nice ingredients but way, way too much for one person.

beardsrock · 14/09/2015 15:38

Rock'n'roll certainly ain't dead in that household.

PurpleDaisies · 14/09/2015 15:41

2 large onions?! Considering it is supposed to be full of goodness it looks a bit brown.

Snozberry · 14/09/2015 15:41

Why is soup no portions? That makes no sense.

squoosh · 14/09/2015 15:43

Soup definitely counts!

PeppaWellington · 14/09/2015 15:43

lol lol lol at Fettuccinecarbonara.

Who are these people who are constantly saying "the portion of fruit or veg needed is big and people don't often get one in a meal. " tbh I can't quite decode that sentence - does it mean the same as "lots of people think a portion of fruit or veg is a bucketful?" and also "a portion of veg is more than an actual meal?" This makes no sense.

I have never met these people. Who are they and who is paying them any attention? Just tell them fuck off and eat their chips.

Frequency · 14/09/2015 15:43

Why isn't soup a portion?

I consider myself to be reasonably educated on nutrition and I count soup as a portion or 2, depending on what's in it.

I think maybe you mean mean tinned soup? Homemade soup would definitely count towards your five a day.

I aim to eat a healthy variety of fruit and veg each day, soup is often included in that, I don't really count how many, as long as a meal contains proteins, fruit or veg and a source of fiber I'm happy.

I can't be doing with all this counting and measuring.

BlackeyedSusan · 14/09/2015 15:46

I love onions too. unfortunately they make me a little unpleasant to be around about four hours later... Blush

now where do you get this mung bean fettucine?

I occasionally weigh a portion of salad... and yes it is possible to get seven portions in a bowl. to say I was Shock was an understatement. (beetroot, tomato, carrot, cucumber, red cababge, raw broccoli, peppers)

it is not to be recommended unless you are used to that amount of fibre. or like sprinting and hurdling random household objects

Thelushinthepub · 14/09/2015 15:46

There isn't likely to be enough of each of those veg in a bowl of soup to make a portion is what I meant... The soup might be one portion though

SnozberryGrin at onion lasagne, can't believe I missed that

MaidOfStars · 14/09/2015 15:47

My homemade soup is basically pureed vegetable mix (broccolli, carrots, onions, anything and everything leftover from dinner) with a splash of stock thrown in. I'm pretty sure it contains some portions of fruit and veg.

MaidOfStars · 14/09/2015 15:48

BlackeyedSusan

I'm vegetarian so perhaps should be used to eating large amounts of vegetables. But I'd be fighting you right to the loo door.

Frequency · 14/09/2015 15:51

Yup my soup is mainly just veg. I'm making some later to take to work tomorrow.

4 portions of soup, made from a whole butternut squash, 2 medium red onions and 2-3 medium carrots.

All of that divided into 4 bowls is surely at least one portion per bowl, if not 1.5?

OurBlanche · 14/09/2015 15:53

Soup is sometimes counted as just 1 portion for the same reasons as juice. The processing breaks down or removes the fibre which reduces the health benefits of eating it in the first place.

BlackeyedSusan · 14/09/2015 15:53

we all have hypermobility which sometimes means the guts can be a little sluggish. dd's consultant has recommended she eat more fruit and veg to try and encourage things along naturally. perhaps this is why we can eat shed loads of the stuff.

Frequency · 14/09/2015 15:54

Have we scared OP off or is she on the loo do you think?

IsabellaofFrance · 14/09/2015 15:55

She is too busy on another thread bemoaning that parents on low incomes feed kids crap - because, obviously everyone can afford mung bean fettucine!

OurBlanche · 14/09/2015 15:56

Ah! So that's why she has abandoned the plastic bag tissy, too!

BabyGanoush · 14/09/2015 16:02

I love mung bean noodle, but only know the very fine ones you get in Thai/Laoan/Vietnamese cooking (nice in soup)

Not sure I ever added kelp to anything.

Or turmeric and olives in the same dish

I love mung bean noodle in chicken ginger broth with chinese greens. Have you tried that?

ilovesooty · 14/09/2015 16:03

She'll be thinking of another ridiculous attention seeking thread.

SlaggyIsland · 14/09/2015 16:07

Why no fat? Some vitamins are fat-soluble so you're wasting your time if you can't actually metabolise them.

BiddyPop · 14/09/2015 16:08

OOps, I'm not trying to confuse people.

Say in my lunch - I count my 2 carrots as 1 portion, and my 8 olives as another 1 portion.

But I know that the olives wouldn't be a full portion in the official 5 a day guide. So that's why I aim for 10 of the portions that I count, as I'd be losing myself on half portions otherwise.

And I then try for at least 10 in a day. Somedays, if I have my salad (I remember it about 3 work days a week on average) and a decent enough mix of veg in dinner, and a couple of pieces of fruit at work, and a smoothie for breakfast (a tub of raspberries, half a tub of blueberries, heaped teaspoon of almond butter, handful porridge oats, handful mixed seeds, maybe 3-4 tablespoons of natural yoghurt and good dollop of apple juice - serves me for 2 mornings), I may get over 20 of my sized portions - but then there are days when I struggle to get 5, so I aim to balance it out over time as well.

I am very far from a clean living person though.

Frequency · 14/09/2015 16:27

Your diet sounds great Biddy, but again time consuming and expensive for a busy, low income family.

Bakeoffcake · 14/09/2015 16:38

Love some of the posts on this thread. Grin

My first thought on seeing that lunch is that it is massive, I couldn't eat that much in one sitting. How many calories is it OP?