Fruit & Veg record - anybody care to join?

[Shoeshelpplease]

I have recently read How Not to Die (well, on Audible actually) and its absolutely fascinating. All the different benefits different veg have and the different benefits each has depending on raw v cooked.

It advocates a plant based diet, but that wont happen for me. I am however committed to reducing meat and increasing the amount of veg (mainly) and fruit in my diet.

Would anybody be interest in joining in recording the different veg they have managed to achieve each day and in what ways? I'm talking pretty hard core here - aiming for 9 a day with a big variety.

I'd find it really interesting to see how others are achieving it.

1.5 cups full of kale and spinach, a handful of fresh mint leaves (I'm not sure if there is enough in to 'count'), blueberries and an orange - in with three cups of water.

Actually it's quite nice and I'm not a big fan of leaves so it's one way to get them down. I also add flaxseeds and once it's blended I put in a tablespoon of chia seeds. I'm going to switch one of the fruits to a veg like cucumber once I get use to it.

That's a 1.5 cups each of kale and spinach. It makes too much for one drink but I leave what's left in the fridge and threaten the kids with it finish it later.

My day is planned out and really going for it today.

For breakfast I had a one minute flax muffin with pecan nuts and

1. Goji berries
2. Raspberries

Washed down with a smoothie made of loadsof spices and

1. Huge mound of parsley
2. Frozen spinach

For lunch I have made a dip with chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic and

More spinach

1. Lemon

and I have chopped up loads of crudites for today (and tomorrow) of

1. Celery
2. Red pepper
3. Carrot
4. Tomatoes

10. Cucumber

For tea, I have lamb in the slow cooker in a gravy of

11. Red onions Celery

and will be having that with

Carrots
12. Green beans
14. Brocolli
15. Cabbage

I am feeling so healthy just typing that!

Thanks Elementtree, I will try that

No problem Lawn, it works pretty well if you switch the orange for lemon or pineapple too.

Morning:
Green smoothie (4)
Oats, banana and raspberries (2)

Lunch
Kale salad with red onion and garlic (2)
Apple (1)

Dinner
Veggie fajitas
Mushrooms, onion, red pepper and green peppers (4) with nutritional yeast in place of the cheese.

Total 12.

B: smoothie: spinach, berries, banana, yogurt, flax, almond milk (3)
L: spiralized butternut squash; veggie bolognese sauce; salad (3)
D: beans on toast; 2 packets crisps (agh); birchermuesli with berries
S: Apple with 1tbsp almond butter (1); 2 squares cacao;
Juice: cucumber, spinach, raspberries, lime, apple, carrot (5)

= 12

Everyone's doing really well, it looks like. I may try the green smoothie over the weekend.

Had a rubbish day yesterday as was out for most of it and then at my mum's for dinner so had to take what I was given:

B: none (v bad)
L: ham salad, so lettuce, tomato, cucumber (3)
D: fillet steak, mushrooms, tomato salad (2), a pear (1)

So 6 for yesterday. Poor show. Back at my own house today, though, so will do better.

Don't beat yourself up Lurking. Remember that's still
Pretty amazing based on today's standard westernised diet.

Today for me breakfast flax muffin with pecans and

1. Raspberries

Smoothie wit lots of spices and

1. Rocket
2. Parsley

Lunch is humours made including

1. Lemon
2. Spinach

And crudités of

1. Peppers
2. Cucumber
3. Broccoli stalks
4. Tomatoes

Tea will be tuna mayo salad with

10. Radicchio
11. Carrot
12. Pomegranate seeds
13. Coriander
14. Radishes

Morning: Green Smoothie.

Today I used frozen berries which included blackberries so my green smoothie looked like a pint of stout when I finished. I had kale, spinach, mint, a lime and celery, flax and chia seeds. It was not as nice as usual. (5) I'm counting the lime and the mint as half each.

Lunch: Ate out but had the house salad with halloumi cheese and waved goodbye to any idea that I could be vegan. Little gem, spinach, cherry tomatoes, red onion, spring onions, cucumber (5, because I've already got spinach on the total) we're not counting grapes in wine are we?

Dinner will be an orange, beetroot and bean salad. (2) I think, because dh is cooking and I'm topping up on, erm, fermented grapes.

I'm beginning to feel like there has been a shift in the foods I like. I've been eating more fruit and veg about six weeks now, before I started the book, and I am really looking forward to foods I normally wouldn't have time for. I'm waiting for broccoli sprouting seeds to arrive in the post

Total 12.

Morning all.

Back on track yesterday:

B: Greek yoghurt with half a grapefruit, a handful of blueberries and some strawberries (3)
L: Home-made veg soup (carrot, leek, onion, celery, fennel) (5)
D: Out last night so had to make a rushed snack before I went - tuna and chickpea salad with celery, tomatoes, olives, herbs (4)

So 12 for yesterday. Out again tonight (oh dear, this is not a typical week) so will try to cram as many as poss into breakfast and lunch at least!

Totally agree, Elementtree - I find myself looking forward to eating veg now rather than just shoving them down my throat because they're good for me. I'm going to start growing them this year, I think!

Elemnttree, yes I think your taste buds and choices do evolve as you go down this path.

Can I ask where you got your sprouting seeds from? That's the next thing on my list

So todays looking good:-

Breakfast is a flaxseed muffin with pecans and

1. Blueberries

and a very green, very strong smoothie (almost too much for me and that's saying something) with lots of spices and massive amounts of

1. Celery
2. Parsley
3. Corriander

Lunch will be some leftover salad from last night with tuna mayo with sesame seeds and

1. Avocado
2. Pomegranate seeds
3. Tomato
4. Radish
5. Radicchio

10. Cucumber 11. Green pepper

and tea will be fish kebabs with

12. Red pepper Cherry tomatoes

and sides of sauted

13. White sprouting broccoli
14. Cavolo Nero

Both of which are new to me and I am a bit excited about trying them ... sad!

I'm away for the weekend and not expecting to do as well but part of my new resolve is to stop this 'all or nothing' approach to life. Ie either I am being ubber healthy or am pigging out like its the end of the world.

So my goal for this w/e is to achieve some balance, enjoy myself and learn when to say stop. Then start afresh on Monday.

Good luck for the weekend everybody.

Have a lovely weekend shoes.

I got the seeds from www.premierseedsdirect.com.

I was just going to get the ones from Amazon with next day delivery but the reviews were complaining that many of the seeds failed to sprout and people seemed to rate this company more highly on that score but they took forever to arrive - almost a week.

Why thank you Element!

The Cavolo Nero was gorgeous, like kale but sweeter. So much so I'm going to get some seeds and try growing my own ... and I have far from green fingers. Very dark green, almost black, which is unusual so there must be some relatively scarce nutrients in there.

I steamed them in a large wok (just with the residual water from washing them) then added olive oil and sesame seeds at the end.

Also, I am not happy eating leaves like this when not organic. The large exposed surface area means more pesticides. So I've recently bought some wash from Amazon. 2 minutes soaking and a thorough wash and apparently most (or some) of the pesticides are removed.

Has anybody else experience of this?

Great weekend and for the first time I can remember, I achieved some balance. So a couple of treats but I didn't go wild and think sod it as I normally do.

So today, breakfast was chia pancakes with

1. Blueberries

Green smoothie with lots of spices and

1. White sprouting broccoli leaves (rather than waste them)
2. Parsley
3. Coriander

Lunch was salmon mayo salad with

1. Rocket
2. Raddichio
3. Radish
4. Cucumber
5. Tomatoes

10. Raw carrot

Tea is meat free Monday consisting of black bean tacos (minus the taco bit) and creme fraiche with the same salad as lunch and a salsa including

11. Mango and
12. Avocado
13. Red onion

I had a bit of an average weekend, spent all day Saturday buying ingredients and ages preparing the veg for a new meal and it was grim - inedible. Then made a hash up of sprouting broccoli where I lost most of the seeds down the sink when I was changing the water. Made an awesome eight point hitter smoothie then opened the cupboard to get a glass out which happened just to fall out and shattered in my smoothie mixing bowl. So I was over it by Sunday but I'm back up and running today.

Today

Breakfast
Porridge- banana and blueberries
Smoothie- kale, spinach and orange

Lunch
Salad, kale, spinach with black bean mix with red onion, red pepper, corn, corriander, jalepeno and lots of spices and lime.

Dinner
quesadilla with above bean mix with mashed avocados and sweet potato chips

Total 13

Bought a proper smoothie maker, much better than an immersion blender.

Elementtree, Blomey that was a Saturday. At least you were able to pick yourself up and back on it. This is the balance I am striving to achieve instead of thinking fuck it!

We have a nutri bullet and that type of thing is awesome
For making smoothies but also getting he limps out of gravies, making Yorkshire pudding mix, pancake mix, sauces, dips etc and so very easy to clean. Should male your juicing life easier. You can add ginger, turmeric, hemp, chia etc and it breaks it all down.

We had meat free Monday last night with black bean tacos (minus taco bit for me), salsa and tonnes of salad for all. It was a huge hit as tonnes of flavour in it and my carnivore husband did son even rated it very highly.

One thing from the books I got was to increase legumes which I am trying to do

Here's a great, healthy day to us all.

Really good day yesterday:

B: Greek yoghurt with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries (3)
L: Salad with tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, plus some rye crackers and a bit of cheese (3) then a plum (1)
D: Home-made veg soup with carrots, leek, celery, fennel, broccoli, lentils (are we counting pulses? might as well) (6), then an orange (1)

So 14 for yesterday. That followed a similar weekend, averaging out at maybe 10 a day.

I'm going to have leftover soup for lunch so on target for another good day. My weight loss is stagnating a bit but I think that's because I'm nearly at target weight so those last few pounds are being quite stubborn. Just trying to focus on eating for health instead.

Hi, yes we probably should count beans and pulses.

So todays another looking good day.

Breakfast was a flax seed muffin with

1. Strawberries

and my green smoothie with spices, fresh turmeric, fresh ginger and

1. White sprouting broccoli leaves
2. Massive bunch of corriander

Lunch was salmon mayo with some left overs and salad.

1. Black beans (left overs)
2. Leaves
3. Radicchio
4. Monks beard
5. Wild garlic leaves
6. Radish

10. Cherry tomatoes 11. Cucumber 12. Leftover roasted aubergine 13. Leftover butternut squash

Then tea will be chicken and coconut burger (no bun) with side dishes of

14. Garlic mushrooms in a creme fraiche and wild garlic sauce
15. Celeriac and butternut squash in a dish with dried lime balls and
16. Copious amounts of red onions and garlic and
17. Tinned tomatoes

Wow, that's not bad!

Can I join? Not sure I can reach the heady heights that you guys do! I'm not dieting, but need to try to maintain my current weight as am on steroids.

Yesterday (8)
Breakfast: Baked beans and parsnip hash brown (2)
Lunch: Tuna mayo sandwich with lettuce, cucumber, tomato and satsuma (4)
Dinner: Chicken, mushroom and pea risotto (2)

Today (6)
Breakfast: Avocado on toast (1)
Lunch: Cheese, coleslaw and mixed salad sandwich, satsuma (3)
Dinner: Turkey steak in brioche bun with salad and avocado (2) not sure it counts as it is repeated

I'm watching you all and you're amazing! I'm definitely eating a lot more veg these days and have upped fruit too.

Can I ask for a brief synopsis on raw v cooked for say, a few examples of common veg and some idea on spices?

Today I had porridge with a banana, snack of strawberries, nuts, seeds and natural yoghurt; lunch was Turkey wrap with mixed leaves, grated carrot and red pepper; pear; curry for dinner with onions, garlic, tomatoes and ginger (tiny portions I suppose!)

I do a yummy smoothie with avocado, spinach, celery lime Apple and pineapple.

Great to have some some new fellow veg lovers.

Mikodo, cooked v raw but is taking it to the next level, it's quite in-depth. The most common fruit with a difference is the tomato which in general are far superior nutritionally wise when cooked. The book goes into detail also about the difference with chopped veg in terms of the nutritional value depending on how long after chopping it is ingested. For example when making broccoli soup, it is far better to whiz up the raw broccoli and then cook down, rather than cooking then breaking down.

Re spices, the absolute king is turmeric, either fresh or dried. Always add some pepper to get maximum benefit. Ginger and cinnamon also have a very high nutritional value. Then lots of others have different purposes.

Herbs are significant, parsley and coriander are wonderful for detoxification.

Chia seeds excellent, flax seeds are recommended daily but in ground form as the whole seed can just pass through. Will spoil soon after grinding so best to have freshly ground.

I really would recommend the book. It is hard going. But in audible form it is easier.

Today's plan is:-

Breakfast of flax muffin with pecans and

1. Strawberries

Green smoothie with spices and

1. Spinach
2. Beetroot
3. Parsley

Lunch is a is soup with almond butter, turmeric and

1. White onions
2. Sweet potatoes

Tea is a go for it stir fry, probably one of the easiest dishes to get maximum veg value, base of pork, then empty the contents of the veg drawer:/

1. Pok chow
2. Bean sprouts
3. Monks beard

10. Red onion 11. Carrot 12. Cavolo Neto 13. Red pepper 14. Asparagus 15. Fennel

Have a great f&v day all!

Thanks Shoeshelpplease. I knew about tomatoes alright; v interesting about broccoli! Im trying to think what I can add slices to... had ginger yesterday but rarely use turmeric. Used to put cinnamon on porridge so will start again! Thanks! Will check in later!

Yesterday.

Morning - green smoothie. Kale and orange
And oats with strawberries, blueberries and bananas. (5)

Lunch
Spinach and rocket with more bean mix (which I love now and can make a huge batch and chuck on leaves/ potatoes) red onion, red pepper, corn, corriander, jalepeno and lots of spices and lime. (7ish)

Dinner
Red lentil curry (lentils and onion) motherload of tumeric with curry powder and chilli with broccoli (3)

Total 15.

We have something resembling a group now!! Hello veg loving newbies.