30 plant-based foods a week, so hard

[ILookAtTheFloor]

I'm really struggling with getting 30 plant based foods a week as per Tim Spector's advice on gut health.

I've counted last week and I can only get to 17! It's hard as I tend to batch cook for both ease and budget.

How can I get more in? I already include lentils, wholegrain rice, quinoa etc. Any tips welcome! Anyone else trying it?

Could you use frozen spinach to add to pasta when you boil it? Even with a jar of sauce you're adding veg? It comes in cubes. Or frozen sweet corn to add to the last couple of mins of cooking time?

Salads!!

That's what's missing and will easily rack up so many more veg.

Pomegranate is a good one this time of year as you can add to salads / mains or eat as a snack.

The Green Roasting Tin cook book is brilliant for new and exciting ideas for plants.

Oo, fun idea, is it sponsored by Otolenghi?
I didn’t properly eat until supper tonight today but even so…
Coffee
Handful of nuts
Satsuma
Apple
Sourdough bread
Peanut butter
Apricot jam
Then supper…
Onions
Garlic
Potatoes
Carrots
sprouts
Pudding was rice pudding made with coconut milk
Risotto rice
Coconut milk
Pomegranate seeds
Can I count the spices?
Nutmeg
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Rose petals
Fennel seeds
Star Anise
Excluding the spices that’s 15!
There’ll be some doubling up over the week, but I generally use a lot of ingredients. I got up to 27 one meal last week 😂

@ILookAtTheFloor

I'd love to eat porridge but I just hate anything creamy or milky, so even milk substitute for oats turns my stomach.

Can porridge or eats be made with water?

Yes you can make porridge just with water. It still tastes nice with all the added extras a d you could always add honey or something if you want

For breakfast I often have a smoothie made with frozen mixed berries, spinach and Greek yogurt. You could vary the ingredients.

I'm also currently obsessed with making Nigellas breakfast bars which are full of oats, seeds, nuts, coconut and dried fruit.

Salad or soup for lunch. Herbs and spices in your dinner - job done!

We use sunflower, pumpkin seeds and linseeds. These also go into muesli with oats and one or two types of nuts plus dried fruits.
Frozen fruits and vegetables could vary your intake.
Grow basic garden herbs like rosemary and thyme, salad leaves are easy to grow in summer, you could buy a mixed leaves seedpack.

I find 30 a week easier than 5 a day as I often have variety but not sufficient quantity to constitute a traditional "portion".

Breakfast of oats, mixed nuts, mixed seeds, banana, orange juice, coconut yoghurt and a coffee has me practically halfway. Lunch of veg soup, cheese salad sandwich, humus and crudites, bean wraps over the course of a week probably takes me to 30 . Then dinner - onion, garlic, carrots peas, broccoli, sweetcorn, legumes, wholemeal pasta, rice, cous cous, potatoes would all feature at least once a week.

I tried totalling up over a few weeks last summer and always got in the 40-50 range. Didn't bother counting herbs/spices as got too complicated!

I log my food on my fitness pal so I just went back through the last week. I got 33, but that doesn't include herbs, spices, individual seeds in bread, things like lemon juice or lime juice in cooking, fruit teas, anything I don't bother logging. I didn't include oils, not sure if they count? I also didn't count individual ingredients in things like ready made beetroot falafel and Graze mix. So I guess it would be a lot more if I counted all those things. I like having a variety of fruit and veg though, I'd get bored of the same things all the time. The DC wouldn't do nearly so well, they only like about 3 veg each and they tend to stick to about 4-5 fruits as well.

Trying to think what I have. Typically over a week or two I'd have most of these at least once

Raspberries
Blueberries
strawberries
Apples
Melon
Satsumas/oranges
pears
peaches
black cherries
fresh lemon and lime

Onions/leeks/shallots/spring onions
Tomatoes
carrots
celery
red/yellow/orange peppers
courgettes
aubergines
mushrooms
spinach
pak choi
cavolo nero
purple cabbage
white cabbage
peas
baby corns/sweetcorn
radishes
celeriac
butternut squash
sweet potatoes
cauliflower
broccoli
beetroot
swede

rocket
watercress
cos lettuce/iceberg/little gem
purple endive
avocado
fresh herbs in large quantities e.g. - parsley/sage/mint
ginger
chillies
garlic
bean sprouts
cashews
walnuts
almonds

red lentils
green lentils
kidney beans
black beans
brown rice
red rice
wild rice
quinoa

Not had the best day, today and the week will likely get worse, as there is covid in the house. I fall down on fruit, anyhow as most of it doesn't agree with me and I don't like sweet stuff.

Breakfast: eat natural low sugar granola, so oats, coconut, almonds and seeds, though Al in small amounts
Banana
Bucket of coffee.

Lunch: leftover beef and barley stew. As well as the barley, onion, celery, carrot, turnip, leek, a bit of mushroom for umami.
A piece of seeded sourdough.

Dinner. Pasta, bit of jarred tomato sauce (sausage and chicken) peppers and a handful of assorted salad leaves.

Had a bowl of crisps, tonight!

I think the whole purpose of aiming for 30 is that for a lot of brits, the only plant based food is potato and grains and definitely not wholegrain. Even your typical cheffy creation only has the token tomato or bit of leaf to make it look pretty, rather than something that grew in the ground being the bulk of the dish.

Does coffee count ?
Went out for dinner last night so not the healthiest still;
French onion soup (1)
Bit of lettuce/ tomato in my burger (2)
Tarte au cotton (1, it had definately seen a lemon) so 4 total 19 yesterday 21 if you can count coffee and olive oil !

Those PPs listing things like weetabix, bread, risotto rice, pasta and cous cous, it is only whole grains which count, not refined carbs so some of those are out completely out and some would only count if they are wholemeal varieties.

I try to do this but the 30 is really hard! Soups are an easy way of blitzing up lots of veg and I like little salady bowls with roasted veg, chickpeas and some sort of grain.

do seeds count?

chia pudding
crushed lindseed, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds over salad
variety of salad leaves (spinach, rocket, lettuce, pickled cabbagez)
sprouted seeds (mung beans, cress, mustard, rocket, broccoli...)

This is quite fascinating to read. I try to eat local seasonal veg for the planet. Any suggestions of more variety for an English winter? I really don't want to be buying avocado any time of year or strawberries out of English season

I’m doing this. Use the freezer to solve the batch lunches/dinner - soups I make and then freeze the rest as I don’t like eating the same thing each day. I’m doing it with gluten free which I think is easier. I have no trouble reaching 30. Different nuts and seeds makes it easier. It’s making me buy a wider variety of fruit and veg. It is expensive though. Some interesting combinations I ate dal with avocado yesterday - lentils, onion, courgette, avocado, brown rice. Do a lunch like that 6 times a week and you get to 30. Normal family dinners possible as I try and get the variety at breakfast and lunch.

That sounds arbitrary and insane and also an eye wateringly expensive way to eat. You also sound really over-anxious.

Just eat food, good food, not processed or too sugary. Exercise regularly and drink plenty of water. You'll be fine.

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea Why is prioritizing eating vegetables arbitrary and insane?

Muesli for breakfast (or daytime snack) and you can get at least 10 per portion:

grains: oats, barley, wheat, spelt

nuts: Brazil, hazelnut, almond, walnut, cashew

dried fruit: date, sultana, (does dessicated coconut count?)

seeds: sunflower, pumpkin

Keep the grains the same but vary the quantity of individual nuts and seeds so it doesn't taste exactly the same every day. You can add cinnamon too.

@rosewater20 not prioritising vegetables per se, that's brilliant. But 30 different ones a week? Thats arbitrary and insane to get anxious if you don't hit that number. The cost and air miles is eye watering.

In the olden days people ate local, seasonal food. They might have had nothing but potatoes or cauliflowers available. They certainly didn't have access to quinoa and Brazil nuts and courgette and beetroot all at the same time. This tim bloke sounds like he's selling a product.

Frozen fruit to get the variety without the waste. Personally I don't think I could bring myself to buy fresh strawberries in January anyway. You could get bags of mixed frozen fruit, up the variety.

@flowerycurtain, it's pomegranate season!

I've found getting a seasonal veg box good for getting different things to try. There's always 6 or 7 different types in there before I buy things like lettuce and tomatoes.

To get more in I do a big veggie roast, roasted roots Yotam Ottolenghi recipe or just make a salsa verde on the side.

Soup is another excellent way to get diversity in.

We use frozen berries on top of plant yoghurt too.

[quote UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea]@rosewater20 not prioritising vegetables per se, that's brilliant. But 30 different ones a week? Thats arbitrary and insane to get anxious if you don't hit that number. The cost and air miles is eye watering.

In the olden days people ate local, seasonal food. They might have had nothing but potatoes or cauliflowers available. They certainly didn't have access to quinoa and Brazil nuts and courgette and beetroot all at the same time. This tim bloke sounds like he's selling a product.[/quote]
But they would have been growing things in their gardens which automatically raises variety, and eating whole grains and probably foraging for wild foods as well.
He isn't selling anything - he's the guy who runs the Zoe covid study. I'm sure he doesn't advocate getting hung up on the number - it's a guideline for what is best for gut health. Based on proper research. 🤷‍♀️

He's a cofounder of ZOE. He's definitely selling it.

As the sensible advice goes: eat food, not too much, mostly vegetables. Of course variety is good but to get het up about hitting 30 different ones a week, every week is too much.

I'm following the same advice on 30 plants but from Megan Rossi's book. In her book herbs and spices count as 1/4 and I cook with a lot of spices. She also counts different colours of the same food as individual plants so a green, yellow and red pepper would be 3. I make my own bread and use 5 types of seeds.

It seemed difficult the first week but my habits have changed quickly. Instead of cooking with an onion base in my chilli I use finely chopped onion, carrot and celery. Instead of using black beans or kidney beans I've switched to a can of mixed beans. Normally I'd throw some soy beans into a stir fry towards the end but now I grab a handful of soy bean, peas and broad beans. I used to like rocket or baby spinach for a side salad but have switched to mixed baby leaves. It starts to add up really quickly with just a few switches.