If you’ve ever been keen to snoop inside the fridge of a Nutritionist, then you’re in the right place. Remedy Drinks asked me to open up the fridge and reveal all my nutrition secrets. Well, maybe not secrets, but definitely the foods I cannot live without to support mine and the family’s health. Let’s take a look…
- Without fail each week there are plenty of FRESH VEGETABLES (and fruit on the kitchen table). These are definitely the foundations for mine/family’s diet, and feature in every meal and snack. If you aim for 30 different plant points each week that’s a great way to ensure your diet is diverse and acquires nutrients from a variety of sources. If you struggle with vegetable intake in particular, having them on hand is actually the best place to start. If not on hand / in site, then it can be hard to keep on top of eating them throughout the day. My simple tip here is when you’re thinking about a meal, you pop a veg in. It might look like this…
- Breakfast : toast with eggs – add some spinach or tomato
- Snack : fruit and yoghurt – add a carrot on the side
- Lunch : pasta – eat some leafy greens with it
- Snack : chocolate and coffee (the reality for many!) – enjoy half an avocado too
- Pre-dinner drink (Remedy Kombucha, of course) – go for sliced cucumber or similar
- Dinner : snack on veggies whilst you’re making it or ensure that low starch veg hit the plate before the protein or starchy carbs
- PREPPED FOOD quite literally saves me for lunches and the family for school lunches and quick dinners week to week. I usually look at what remains from the week before and do a quick cook up (bake, steam, grate) so that they are ready to pop into meals. Some of the prepped foods featured this week are leftovers that can be reheated for fast lunches, boiled eggs, steamed vegetables, snacks ready for the kids/school run including gummy jellies (recipe below), overnight soaked oats (soaked in kombucha last week and coffee this week – variety is the spice of life!)
GUMMY JELLIES / Makes 40 small jellies
4 tbsp grass fed gelatin powder
½ cup water
600ml fresh orange juice or a mix of orange, lemon, lime
4 tbsp honey
Mix together gelatin and water in a bowl with a fork and set aside to bloom. (It will be a stiff consistency) Add orange juice to a saucepan or microwave proof jug and heat until hot but not boiling. Stir in the honey. Whisk together gelatin and orange juice mix and then pour into moulds or a lined container. Set in the fridge 3-4 hours. Slice and store in the fridge.
- FERMENTED FOODS AND DRINKS including Remedy Kombucha, kraut, kimchi, miso, yoghurt and Remedy Shots. Fermented foods are chock full of live cultures such as lactobacillus, streptococcus and leuconostoc to support the diversity of microbes that reside in our gut. The gut microbiome plays a critical role in metabolic and immune health as well as influencing neurobehavioural traits. Ginger Lemon is one of the OG kombucha flavours by Remedy and to this day a family favourite. I love the ginger for the anti-inflammatory properties infused into this gut loving, fizzy, booch refreshment. We also keep Remedy Shots on hand – there are 4 in the full range, we have 3 in the fridge atm – Digestion, Sleep and Immune+ (just missing Energy in the fridge today!). The Shots are made with a base of Remedy’s long aged kombucha brew, then boosted with functional ingredients to support your health needs. Functional ingredients serve a specific purpose beyond basic nutritional needs. Remedy Kombucha and Shots do not contain any sugar (win!) as the slow brewing process of the kombucha, brews out all the sugar leaving us with a tasty drink, full of live cultures and organic acids to support gut health.
- GROUND FLAX/LINSEED – as a Nutritionist with a special interest in women’s health, I always have the ingredients on hand that I educate on, so I can not only educate, but create as well. Nutrition is learned very differently when it is incorporated into a food context so I do my best to educate in that way… and with great taste, naturally. I’ll put ground flaxseed into homemade wraps and bread, on top of yoghurt and cereal, into porridge, as part of a homemade seed cracker, into energy balls, you name it. It’s an amazing food to include as part of a woman’s health protocol as it’s rich in phytoestrogen lignans and fibre which can help to regulate menstrual cycles by helping with oestrogen clearance and ‘balancing’ hormones.
- FLAVOUR PUMPERS – salsa verde, good quality mayonnaise, aioli, walnut pesto, pickles, olives, cheeses etc. because simple meals like steamed veggies and boiled eggs can actually become flavour bombs with a few extra elements added to them. That way nutrition and health isn’t mundane and boring, but is constantly inspiring, satisfying and always delicious. Whilst there are so many different condiments you can keep in the fridge to help with meals, aim to build up your collection of the healthiest options available over time. Those without additives, less healthy oils (than extra virgin olive oil) and without sugar, just like the Remedy no-sugar drinks we keep in our fridge too.
*This is a partnered post with REMEDY DRINKS. All thoughts and opinions expressed are the author’s own*
