Most nutritious/nutritionally dense meals

[SlayPantaloonsSlay]

Help!
have come the realisation that I need to get my shit together and e kinder to myself. I’m starting with wha I eat - and is a low base given a go day without a single one a day. Please share your suggestions- bizarrely I am a competent cook🙏

It might be easier to just swap one meal and not how you feel afterwards? What do you eat in a normal day?

Good for you for making changes!
Whats your intention? Put on/ lose wait? Eat less junk? What do you like eating? Spicy, salty, meat, fish, veg?

This is a great website:
https://www.checkyourfood.com/

Ten a day the easy way by James Wong is a great cookbook for this. Currently €3 on amazon kindle or €7 hardcover. People also recommend eating liver, it's very nutritionally dense. As a vegetarian I can't vouch for that!

Thank you
I just eat crap and carbs atm and initially I want to give my body nutrients and nourish it - any weight loss can come 2nd
uve just slid into this pattern over time - I want to stop being tired all the time as a ststt
I like flavourful foods and can do spicy

The book has changed title to Eat Better the Easy Way. Deliciously Ella all had great recipes.

Stir fry
5 bean chilli
shakshuka
veg soup

you can find recipes online for all these

Agree with @ShittyShouter Perhaps start with a good chilli.

Onions, tomatoes, kidney beans, mince. I add celery and lentils to mine plus a healthy amount of cayenne.

Served over brown rice, that gives you 6 veggies, loads of protein and fibre, and the flavours you are looking for. Make a big batch, simmer gently for an hour, then cool and freeze some portions for later.

And soups are brilliant. Whatever you have in the way of veg, with cheese or cream or leftover meat added. I make a spicy fish soup with frozen hake. Inexpensive, healthy, hydrating and great for lunch on cold days. Store cupboard ingredients too when you have nothing fresh in.

@ShittyShouter mentioned vegetable soup which is good. A “stew” would be heartier for a main meal. Protein of your choice. Any combination of vegetables you fancy, just remember to put the softer ones in towards the end of cooking so they don’t turn to mush. You can add canned beans and/or lentils. Experiment with herbs or spices. Your body needs some carbs so maybe dumplings or a cobbler top. Serve with brown rice/pasta.

About a year ago I made the same decision - to be fair I've always liked my fruit and veg but I'd been reading a lot about Zoe nutrition/eat at least 30 different plants a week.

I stocked up on seeds and pulses and started adding things to my diet/replacing things. I also cut out as much processed food out as I could which wasn't that hard for me as I do tend to cook from scratch - it was mainly snacks I had to bin.

For breakfast I make overnight oats with mixed berries (frozen are much cheaper) and add ground flax.

Lunches I make various veg soups (easy to freeze/chill for another day) or Dahl which I'd never eaten before but I love it now. In summer I love chopped salads with added roast veg/chickpeas and seeds. I also make my own hummus which is very easy if you have a nutribullet or similar.

Dinners - curries or casseroles with lots of added veg and pulses. I chuck spinach in most things and a handful of lentils.

Every week I make a diary note of all the plant foods I've eaten and it used to be hard to get to 30 different ones but now I'm way over that without thinking much about it.

Ambitious kitchen on facebook has some great recipes.

These are my favourite nutrient rich foods

Scrambled eggs, smoked salmon on granary bread
Lentil soup - simply lentils, a carrot, onion and stock blended together
A salad with lots of different things inc chicken, humous, pomegranate seeds, cashew nuts and the usual salad ingredients
For breakfast, an orange cut and peeled with yoghurt and granola
Chilli or curry with both protein and lots of veg
Roast chicken with lots of veg

Easy nutrient dense snacks to have around:

bananas, avocados, olives, nuts, organic live full fat yogurt, organic dark chocolate

I eat a lot in the mornings and it seems to stop me eating crap later. So make sure you have a good breakfast and a couple of snacks mid morning otherwise you might turn to eating in the evening and if I do that I don't usually make good choices. So have something like carrot sticks and hummus and a handful of nuts during the morning.

A few people have mentioned soups, I'm liking Minestrone at the moment and sometimes make a pan of it to last me and DH a couple of days for lunch.

Beef stew is nutrient rich and fairly easy too. We add the potatoes to the stew so it's a complete meal but you can serve it with crusty bread to dip in. Great on a Winter's night

Do you think that swapping your rice and pasta to the brown would be ok? Both seem to have a lower GI and both are a bit better for you.

Do you eat any oily fish? I think the recommendation for girls and women is twice a week, I'm not sure I hit that every week though.

And you can do simple things like if you're having a sandwich always try to add at least one salad thing to it so if you're having ham, try ham and rocket

Google Deliciously Ella's recipes (she also has an excellent app). I've never eaten such nutritionally dense food. I feel sooo satisfied after her meals because she packs so many nutrients into each recipe.

I'd agree that aiming for 10 portions of fruit and veg (predominantly veg) a day is a great place to start. Also at least 2l water.
The great thing about this is that to eat that volume you naturally sacrifice some of the less healthy things you were eating.
Soups, curries, chillies, salads are all great for this.
After that I'd focus on eating produce not products. Basically real food that's not been messed around with too much.
Are you an able cook?
Are there any budget restrictions?
Do you have time to cook?

Thank you everyone
yes I’m a competent cook and there is mostly just 2 of us to eat and one who will eat anything. . I usual buy organic meat eggs and milk due to animal welfare.
the idea of going form 0 to 10 is making me gulp!
I’m not drinking enough water so I plan to drink about a litre more.
I like fish but can’t remember the last time I bought it
im tryong to start making some new year changes early!!

https://www.sussexfitness.co.uk/kale-cashew-soup/

I recommend this

I think I'm with you. I try to eat some nutritious food and do like fruit and veg but the thought of trying to plan out 10 a day, every day and then having to drink 2 litres of water a day on top, well, I just don't think I could do it.

I'd advise making some simple changes. Take a water bottle with you to work. Like I said earlier, if you're having a sandwich try and add something like rocket or cucumber and try and swap at least one snack for fruit.

A dahl with loads of veg and sweet potatoes

That's a good idea, I love a good Dahl

If 10 is too ambitious start with 5 or even just including veg with every meal.
Do you actually enjoy veg or would you be best looking at hidden veg recipes?
Could you post a typical day of food so that we could suggest simple swaps?

Yeah I think so
weetabix coffee
croissant nuts
c heese sandwich
pizza
chocolate bar and sweets
tea and coffee

Placemarking

Want to join me @Parsley1234?

Can I join along please? I am existing on toast and cereal and feel awful but cannot be arsed to think of real food