WHOLEFOOD MENU IDEAS
Breakfast Ideas
- Biolive yoghurt with chopped fruit salad, and sprinkled with nuts & seeds
- Oatflake porridge and low fat milk, rice milk or soya milk:
(Top your porridge with any of the following)
- Chopped pear, apple, banana,
- 1 tbsp of whole or ground nuts and seeds
- 1 tbsp ground linseeds
- Red berries (if not in season you can buy frozen)
- Shelled hemp seeds
- Prunes
- Sultanas
- Sugar free homemade muesli with soya or rice milk (many shop bought mueslis have added vegetable oil which is unnecessary. Make your own and store in an airtight jar for use as you wish. Just mix: Jumbo oatflakes, chopped almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chopped apricots, sultanas, dried cranberries. For extra flavour use toasted oatflakes (spread the oatflakes on a shallow oven tray and place in the oven at 180C for about 10 minutes). Try Health food shops for good alternatives.
- Brown bread with peanut or cashew nut butter and sliced banana
- Poached or scrambled organic egg on wholemeal toast served with grilled tomato.
- Egg fried brown rice with vegetables
- Oatmeal pancake wrapped around fresh fruit topped with biolive yoghurt.
- Wholemeal pitta bread filled with cottage cheese and fresh sliced fruit.
Note: all of the above contain some protein which helps to maintain blood sugar balance and reduce hunger pangs before lunch.
Smoothies are an excellent way to get much needed nutrients and are tasty, satisfying and soothing on the digestive system:
You can vary them any way you wish but the following is a typical recipe:
1 Banana
1 cup low fat milk, soya milk or rice milk
1 carton biolive natural yoghurt
1 cup mixed berries.
You may wish to add some milled linseeds to this but ensure you drink a glass of water also.
Snacks
- Rice cakes or oatcakes and homemade hummus (Blend a can of drained chickpeas, with 2 tablespoons tahini, 1 clove garlic, juice of 1 lemon, pinch seasalt, ½ teaspoon of cumin and 1 tablespoon hempseed oil (optional). This will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.
- Handful of nuts or seeds
- Fresh fruit
- Sardines on rye or wholemeal bread or oatcakes
Lunch
Make a mixed salad from some of the following ingredient suggestions in each column. Remember to add something from the protein list to help balance blood sugar levels.
| Vegetable and fruit | Protein | Cabohydrate | Flavouring and oils |
| Mixed leaves | Beans | Brown Rice | Olives |
| Celery | Lentils | Wholemeal bread | Nuts |
| Apple | Sardines | Couscous | Tahini / nut butters |
| Spring / Red Onion | Bluefin Tuna | Bulgar wheat | Olive Oil |
| Cucumber | Cold Salmon | Rice cakes | Hempseed oil |
| Raw grated carrot | Boiled Egg | Oatcakes | Nori Seaweed |
| Beetroot | Feta Cheese | Wild rice | Lemon / orange |
| Avocado | Cottage cheese | Sweet potato | Garlic |
| Peppers | Roll mop herring | Rye bread /crackers | Balsamic Vinegar |
| Courgette | Chicken | Sprouted bread | Fresh Herbs / pesto |
| Cooked broccoli | Nuts / seeds | Wholewheat pasta | Soy sauce |
| cauliflour/ cabbage | Yoghurt / quark | Spelt | Chilli |
| Sprouts | Goats / sheep cheese | Wholemeal Pitta bread | Lime |
Avoid using mayonnaise as it provides calories without essential nutrients, and opt instead for an oil rich in omegas 3, 6 and 9. Yoghurt flavoured with mint makes a super salad dressing. If using broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage in a salad always make sure they are lightly cooked first.
For convenience: boil a quantity of beans together and freeze. Boiled brown rice will also keep for 3 days in a cold fridge. Add some turmeric to the rice while cooking for its antiflammatory properties. Make your salads as colourful as possible, since coloured fruit and vegetables contain highly beneficial nutrients.
For the cold winter days:
Make homemade soup with lots of vegetables. Throw in some lentils for protein and serve with sprouted wheat bread and hummus. If you are struggling for flavour, buy some chilled soups but add in all lots of fresh vegetables yourself to boost the nutritional value.
Main Meals
- Baked fish with steamed vegetables and rice
- Salmon with salad and jacket potato
- Nutloaf with green vegetables and oven roast vegetables
- Sweet potato
- Stuffed vegetables with salad and rice
- Chicken with spinach and almonds and brown rice
- Spanish omelette with green salad
- Lamb chop with rosemary and garlic rice with green vegetables
Desserts
- Poached pears in apple juice and redwine
- Stuffed apples with almonds, sultanas and orange
- Oven baked banana with red fruit puree
- Brown rice pudding
- Fresh fruit salad with crème fraiche and honey
Remember: Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day but not while eating. Reduce coffee and tea consumption. Eat slowly and chew food thoroughly. Prepare your own food as often as you can. Refined foods such as white bread, white rice, pasta, cakes and biscuits are stripped of essential nutrients and many contain undesirable additives. They do not contribute to sustained good health.
RECIPES
1 -Roasted Seeds – Full of essential fatty acids, and good oils.
Place a handful of seeds, Flax, Hemp, Sunflower, Pumpkin, Sesame and Pine nuts, in heavy frying pan (use no oil) and heat on a medium heat, moving all the time until the seeds are just lightly browned. Allow to cool, Store in an airtight container in fridge. When hot sprinkle with a little Soya sauce as an option.
2 -Ground seeds/ nuts
Grind a mixture of the above seeds, or individually in a coffee grinder. Add to salad dressings, porridge, smoothies, yoghurt, bread etc.
Nuts contain many essential fats, vitamins and minerals, 1 small handful per day.
Almonds (calcium) Peanuts (folate), Brazil (selenium), Cashews (iron), Hazelnuts (Vitamin E), Walnuts (alpha linolenic acid – lowers LDL cholesterol)
4 – Pancakes
1 cup of flour, – wholemeal, or spelt, rye, rice, buckwheat, millet etc which are wheat-free.
1 egg.
1 cup milk – cows, goats, Soya, rice or nut milks. Add mixed seeds to mixtre or on top.
Make as normal pancake recipe. You can fill with either savory or sweet fillings.
5 – Spicy Beans
1 tin organic mixed beans in water
1 tin tomatoes
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
Olive oil
Chopped red, yellow peppers, mushrooms etc
Chilli spice from jar (to taste, 1 teasp)
Fry onion, & garlic in olive oil. Add tins of beans and tomatoes and chilli & remainder of ingredients. Cook for about 10 -15 min.
Serve with rice, salad, soured cream or natural yoghurt or wholegrain pitta bread, like tacos. Add cheese and pop under grill for a change. Can also add smokey bacon when cooking.
6- Juicing
Use washed and peeled fresh fruit and vegetables, if home grown or organic just wash and enjoy the extra nutrition from the skins. Carrot, apple, celery plus ginger, lemon and beetroot, a great Heart protective juice.
7 – Sprouting seeds – Seriously nutritious
Put about a tablespoon of seeds into large jar, and cover with tepid water.
Leave overnight, rinse off water and rinse 2-3 times per day.
You will have lovely nutritious greens all year round.
Seeds to sprout: alfalfa, green and brown lentil, mung bean, soya bean, fenugreek and radish etc. Ue in salads, sandwiches.
