Waitrose web series: add your tips and questions on nutritious food and have the chance to win £100 of Waitrose vouchers

[GeraldineMumsnet]

Mumsnet are working with Waitrose to produce a six-episode web TV series that will launch in September and they want your feedback to help shape this episode on cooking nutritious food for the family.

How can you achieve a balanced diet in your cooking for the week? Do you have any favourite 'substitute' ingredients eg celeriac instead of potato?

Whether you're offering advice or looking for it, please post here and we'll try and take the best tips and questions and build some of them in to the microsite where the web TV series is going to be shown.

Everyone who takes part in this or any of the Waitrose threads will be entered into a draw to win £100 of Waitrose vouchers.

And if you want to star in the web series, you can find out more and volunteer here.

I put beans into casseroles (blend them first to make them into a paste) to get the extra protein into foods - this also thickens casseroles so you don't have to add wheat or other stuff.

"hide" extra veg - courgettes,mushrooms, peppers in a tomato/bolognaise sauce by chopping very finely

I make shepherds pie fairly frequently but it's slightly different each time.
If i think the DCs are low on veg then I use less mince but add more chopped carrots, peas, sweetcorn etc.
For the topping I rarely use just potato, it's usually a mixture of normal potato, sweet potato, parnsips, squash (not all at once but a mixture of two of the above).
If we haven't had curry that week then i'll add some cumin, paprika and turmeric.
I sometimes add frozen soya beans to the mince and any other veg that is about to go off can be chopped up and added.
Sometimes I'll use a tin of tomatoes and less stock
And if I'm cooking for children other than my own I chop the veg up smaller (in case other children don't like veg) and put tomato ketchup in with the mince.

And if I'm worried there might be some resistance to my delicious dish then when i serve it I pile the shepherds pie high up on the plate and do a cute pattern of baked beans around the outside with the child's initial spelt out in baked beans on top.

We give the kids the Ellas Kitchen fruit smoothies as a treat - they are full of fruit and they think they are getting something special, only it is just fruit! They are great for taking out and about as snacks, as DS likes choosing whether he will have a Red one or Green one or Yellow one!

As a part-time working mother of two, not only do I look for nutritious meals but ones that are time saving too. I make up a large lot of bolognaise in my slow cooker using, not only mince but onions, courgettes, peppers, tomatoes, carrots and tomatoe puree and leave it cooking for the whole day until tea-time, ensuring a very tasty "melt in your mouth" bolognaise! We have it that day with spaghetti, or various pasta for whichever one "takes their fancy" then I make either a shepherds pie, with a potatoe & parsnip topping or a lasagne depending on which ingredients are in the house at the time. The second meal is either frozen for later in the week or put in the fridge for the next day. Not only time saving but two very nutritious & relatively cheap meals, providing everyone with a good portion of their 5-a-day.

DS (16 months) is dairy intolerant, but DD isn't, so have to make dairy free recipes that are a happy medium.

So, cook by color. Potatoes, cauliflower = white, for instance.

Cauliflower/Potatoes, or Yum Spuds

Bake 2 potatoes
boil cauliflower/garlic glove
scoop out the insides of potatoes
puree potatoes/cauliflower/garlic clove with Oatly Cream
Put mixture back into potato skins and bake for about 15 minutes.

(add anything white... )

Hasn't this been done like a million times already?

Planning.

Try to think ahead and balance the number of red meat/veggie/fish/other meals you're having per week according to your interpretation of what's healthy for your family.

Have (preferably home-made) jam on tap - I'd rather see the kids with a slice of bread and fruity jam or a home made jam tart than a biscuit or crisps, and even the healthiest kids can rebel at carrot sticks and apples as snacks sometimes.

I don't really substitute ingredients much, short attention span.

My favourite stab at healthier eating is a vinaigrette or herb vinegar dressing on potatoes or veg rather than butter.

red lentils, in any dish containing mince, substuitue half. No-one ever notices.

Lots of veg in bolognaise sauce and any other meaty sauce, chopped up finely so they don't really see it.

Any fruit is better than no fruit, so I make fruit sauces from rasps, strawbs etc and freeze to use with ice cream.

don't stress about the healthiness of individual meals, take it in context, so a meal of fish and chips once in a fortnight in amongst other healthy dinners all equals a balanced diet overall.

Put fruit and veg into cakes. Muffins can be made with anything from turnips to bananas