The ‘suggestions’ for what to eat and drink at different times of the day are given to demonstrate that you can eat enough nutritious
food so that you don’t get hungry, and yet still not consume an excessive amount of fat, ‘added’ sugar, and salt (although until manufacturers
reduce the amount of salt in their products, that will probably be quite difficult to achieve). You may choose completely different
items to eat and drink, but try to have a rough idea of how much fat, ‘added’ sugar, and salt you’re consuming, and ‘spread’ your
fat intake throughout the day. Also, remember that it's a lot less stressful to make any changes to your diet gradually - for
example, you could start by considering what you eat and drink for breakfast, and then a week later consider what you're eating and
drinking for lunch, and so on.
If you tend to eat a microwave ‘meal in a pack’
for your evening meal, because you want something which is ready to eat in a short a time as possible, you could try having some soup,
or nibble some strips of peppers, celery, or carrots, or have a few cherry tomatoes, as a quick ‘starter’, before taking a bit more
time to prepare a main course similar to the suggestions given in this section.
The suggestions below include vegetables, but even if you choose something which isn’t usually eaten with vegetables, such as Chilli con carne, there’s no reason why you couldn’t serve a vegetable with it – remember, the nutrients in vegetables are essential for your health and appearance. In the case of Chilli con carne, you could serve it with tenderstem broccoli. As the availability and quality of fresh vegetables can vary, always keep a selection of vegetables in the freezer, and some canned vegetables in the cupboard, to make sure that you’ve always got some vegetables to add to your evening meal.
The meals below are from Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, but you can, of course, choose similar
items from your preferred supermarket. The suggested amounts are for one person. If you are cooking just for yourself, the other half
of any products will keep in the fridge until the following evening – which means that you would eat the same main course for 2 evenings,
but you can always vary your vegetable or dessert.
Main courses:
· One Marks & Spencer ‘lightly
dusted’ Scottish haddock fillet (about 9½ grams of fat – less than 1 gram of saturates, just over 1 gram of salt), plus 3 or 4 boiled
small potatoes (such as Charlotte), and peas. If you like, top the potatoes and peas with a heaped teaspoon of margarine - this
will add about 6 grams of fat (about 1 gram of saturates) to the meal. If you can’t get ‘lightly dusted’ fish, ‘breaded’ fish
contains a bit more fat, but not as much as fish in batter.
· Half a pack of Sainsbury’s ‘Inspired to cook’ Lemon & coriander chicken (less than 1 gram of fat, including less than ½ gram of saturates, and just under 1 gram of salt), plus half a sachet of Ainsley Harriott's Citrus Kick Couscous, served with peas or another green vegetable, and one or two grilled or baked tomatoes. The "UK Nutrition Information" on the couscous label refers to values per 100 grams and 'per serving' which seems to be a bigger portion than 100 grams, which is one sachet. However, you shouldn't need to eat more than 50 grams, i.e. half a sachet, with a vegetable and tomatoes - so that would be only 0.6 grams of total fat (0.1 gram of saturates), and 0.45 grams of salt (remember that the amount of salt in an item is equal to about 2 ½ times the amount of sodium).
· One Marks & Spencer Chicken Breast with
Garlic & Herb (about 2½ grams of fat, including about ½ gram of saturates, and less than ½ gram of salt), plus ½ pack Marks &
Spencer Ratatouille (about 2 grams of fat, including ½ gram of saturates, and just under 1 gram of salt), with some boiled rice stirred-in
(boil 40-50 grams of rice with a pinch of turmeric). If you’re just cooking for yourself, pierce the film on the ratatouille container
with a fork, and then carefully peel back the film far enough for you to be able to spoon out half the ratatouille into a bowl to
keep in the fridge until the following evening. Press the film back on the original ratatouille container, and microwave it for 1
minute and 30 seconds, then stir and stand for a further minute. Check that it doesn’t need any further cooking, then stir in the
boiled rice. You can wash the container and film to use to cook the other half of the ratatouille.
· Half a pack of a Marks & Spencer ‘Count on us’ Beef Casserole (5 grams of fat (1 gram saturates), and about 1 gram of salt ),
served with 2 or 3 small potatoes, such as Charlotte, and some sliced green beans or cauliflower. The package of beef casserole states
that it’s for one person, but if you eat ½ a pack with potatoes and other vegetables, it makes two decent-sized nutritious meals.
· One Marks & Spencer Steak Yorkshire Pudding (just
under 4 grams of fat (1½ grams of saturates), and about 1 gram of salt), with a couple of vegetables, e.g. cabbage or sprouts and
carrots.
· Either one Marks & Spencer Extra Lean quarter pounder beefburger (about 5½ grams of fat (about 2½ grams of saturates, about 1 gram of salt), or a home-made lean,
salt-free burger, plus half a pack of Marks & Spencer Red cabbage (about 3 grams of fat (about 2 grams of saturates), and about
1 gram of salt). Serve with 2 or 3 small potatoes if you like. Although this meal contains about 2 grams of salt, it is a nutritious
meal, rather than a lightweight junk-food snack which can contain the same amount of salt.
· Sainsbury’s ‘Inspired to Cook’ Chicken with red wine sauce (about 3 grams of fat (about 1 ½ grams saturates), and about ½ gram salt),
with at least one ‘coloured’ vegetable, such as carrots or tenderstem broccoli, and 2 or 3 small potatoes.
· If you like Marks & Spencer Beef Lasagne, you may not have noticed that a pack contains a massive 38 grams of fat, and a whopping
18.8 grams of saturates – plus nearly 2½ grams of salt! However, if you use a spoon to scrape the white sauce off the top of the lasagne,
and throw it away – well it does look revolting if you pile it onto a small plate before you discard it! – you will have substantially
reduced the fat content. Then cover the lasagne with sliced tomatoes before baking. Serve with a couple of teaspoons of grated parmesan
cheese (it will contain about 1 gram of fat, about ½ gram of saturates), and tenderstem broccoli. It’s difficult to know how much
fat the lasagne contains without the white sauce, but it would be best to have a low-fat dessert to follow.
· In a small bowl, mix together 4 tablespoons
(60 ml) Marks & Spencer Honey & Mustard marinade (about 8 grams of fat (about 1 gram of saturates), 18 grams of ‘added’
sugar, and about ¾ gram of salt), with 4 tablespoons (60 ml) of either fresh, or Crazy Jack, lemon juice, and add a skinless chicken
breast (negligible fat), which has been cut into about 6 chunks. Leave the bowl in the fridge for at least 5 minutes. Pre-heat your
oven to gas mark 6 / 200°c/ 400°F. Place some non-stick foil onto a baking sheet, and curl the foil a bit around the edges, to form
a rim. Place the chicken and marinade onto the foil, and place in the oven. Cook for about 30 minutes, turning the chicken over after
the first 15 minutes, and stirring the marinade. Whilst the chicken is cooking, boil 2 or 3 small potatoes, and some sliced green
beans. When serving, scrape off any marinade remaining on the foil, and sprinkle on the potatoes and beans. The ‘added’ sugar content
of the marinade might seem high, but it’s worth using-up some of your ‘added’ sugar allowance on a marinade, glaze, or sauce, to add
taste and variety to chicken and lean meat meals.
