Thinking outside the box and appreciating what my mentor has given me

I said I'd do a blog concerning family meals, making them healthier and keeping them low cost. I won't go into recipes and what-nots, just try to give you a little food for thought and encourage you to expand your culinary skills beyond chicken and potatoes.

Since I've got to know Charlie Wall, of Cambridge Bootcamps, she's always been inspiring and supportive. She gives me nutritional advice, mental strength and the confidence to change myself for the better. I now automatically think of my food in terms of vitamins & minerals, how it will benefit my body, the quality of my food and also to use my imagination and not be held back by traditional views and menus.

So, we all know that good quality fruits and vegetables cost a lot of money. Well, yes they do, but if you are putting quality food into your body, you're less likely to feel hunger between meals, thus saving on chocolate/crisps/fizzy drinks etc. Also if you are getting the correct amount of minerals into your diet, you will find you don't have as many cravings for chocolate, or wine etc. I found a quote not so long ago, that says something along the lines of  “So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.” There are many versions of this saying, but it really is true and has inspired me daily to make the right choices for myself.

With regards to specific foods, like legumes, pulses, grains, beans and seeds, the world is your oyster. Just pick a bag of something from the wholefoods section of your supermarket and Google recipes when you get home. Tinned foods are good, like kidney beans for a quick chilli, or cannelini beans for a stew, and tinned chickpeas are great for a quick hummus. Dried beans require a little more planning, as they need a soak overnight and longer cooking time, but are cheaper and keep longer (in their dried form they keep for about a year!!) and lentils are brilliant, especially the yellow or orange ones which can go from bag to table in as little as 20mins.

I make Chilli con Carne with soya mince (dried, then rehydrated at home) and tinned kidney beans. Vegetable and adzuki bean lasagna (I whizz the cooked beans with a hand blender so they resemble meat).
Just think of a good family meal that stretches and that the leftovers can be taken to work the next day, and substitute the meat for something else. Buckwheat Bolognaise, Stuffed Peppers with Lentils, Lentil Soup, Mixed Bean Stew, Quinoa salad, Brown Rice Risotto.

Some of my favourite foods are Chicken Nuggets (made from chicken breast, coated in seasoned polenta then baked), Adzuki Bean and Quinoa Croquettes (whizz beans and quinoa, bind with an egg, roll into croquettes and coat in breadcrumbs, then bake), Home Made Baked Beans (made with tinned haricot beans).......the list goes on!!

The only limits to your family meals, is your imagination and your thoughts on "what makes a meal?" There is more to a meal than meat, as I've found out, and I hope this has encouraged you to blend a little more "wholefood" into your diet.