Practical Food Tips (Without Diet Nonsense!)

This blog post is all about providing some practical food tips from a gentle nutrition perspective - i.e. without all the diet nonsense to ruin our run! Below, I explore how to embrace (and love) meal prep, creating your own snack box and how to make the most of ‘pantry back ups’. These are such fabulous and easy tips that’ll help make meal time more enjoyable!

Embrace meal prep

Folks…meal prep needn’t be rigid, prescriptive, focused on calories, etc…that’s not helpful for anyone!

Meal prep can be a fabulous way to feel more prepared around your food choices, have lots of easy yummy options on hand, save time, aaand remove a lot of the overwhelm that comes with having to make decisions around food (especially when you’re already hungry or after a long day)

 What i recommend is to prep a bunch of easy options on the weekend (or whenever suits you best) for the few days or week ahead. then at each given meal time, you can pick from your selection based on what you feel like and your hunger levels

 

Here are two of my favourite meal prep suggestions:

1. Cook a big batch of some of your favourite meals nd pop serves into containers (you can freeze them so they last longer). One pot meals work wodners here – think soups, curries, stews, etc.

2.  Roast a big tray of veggies. Cook a large pot of wholegrains, prep some protein (eg boil some eggs, roast some chicken, bake some tofu, get a few cans of salmon). Keep them all in separate containers, then when it comes to meal time combine a serve of each together. Top it off with some fat and flavour depending on what you’re in the mood for, like some avo and salsa for a Mexican flare; some hummus and dukkha for a Middle Eastern feel; or a dressing with sesame oil and tamari for an Asian inspired dish.

 

Create your own snack box!

This practical food tip was inspired by the wonderful Kali Gray, a beautiful friend and mentor of mine. Get yourself an actual box and fill it with easy, nourishing and satisfying snacks so that you’ve always got options on hand – super helpful when you’re hungry and don’t want to search for food or try to figure out what to have!

In fact, make yourself a few boxes – keep one in your pantry (for shelf stable snacks), another in your fridge (for things that need to keep cool), and even create a ‘snack bag’ to keep in your bag or car so you’ve got options when you’re out and about

Here are some ideas for what to put in your snack box (including some combos)

  • DIY trail mix – pop your favourite nuts and seeds in a jar along with things like shredded coconut, cacao nibs and dried fruit

  • Roasted chickpeas or fava beans

  • Muesli bars – I love the Carmen’s Fruit Free ones as I find they’re gentle on digestion

  • Dark choc coated rice cakes

  • Hummus / avo / ricotta + ryvitas

  • Tahini + banana

  • Plain greek yoghurt + fruit 

  • Any nut spread + Vita Weats (i love Mayvers super spread)

 

Top tip: many snacks we reach for are made of ‘simple carbohydrates’, meaning they cause a quick spike then fall in blood sugar levels (ie they’ll cause a short spike in energy followed by a crash and feeling hungry again quickly). Instead, aim to combine a ‘complex carbohydrate’ with a source of fat and / or protein to help stabilise your blood sugar leaves – meaning your energy will be more stable and you’ll feel fuller for longer!

Stock pantry back ups

Pantry back ups are basically all things you can keep in your pantry (or freezer) that come together to create delicious meals. By always having these on hand, you have a yummy meal only a few mins away from being in front of you.

Top tip - create a running ‘menu list’ of all the meals you can create with your pantry back ups. That way, instead of racking your brain for ideas when you open your pantry at the end of a long day, you can just look at your list for inspiration! Feel free to keep adding to this list and tweaking it as you go

Here are some pantry back ups to start with (some of which will be better kept in your freezer of course)

 

Protein

  • Canned fish - salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, mussels, etc

  • Canned legumes - chickpeas, lentils, black beans, 4 bean mix, etc

  • Frozen salmon

 

Carbs

  • Wholegrains - brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, etc

  • Wholemeal / legume pasta

  • Wholegrain crackers – e.g. Ryvitas, vita weats

  • Rolled oats

  • Muesli

  • Bread (keep a loaf in the freezer)

 

Fats

  • Extra virgin olive oil

  • Other oils – e.g. Hemp seed oil, flaxseed oil, sesame oil

  • Nuts and seeds

 

Veggies / fruit

  • Frozen mixed veggies

  • Frozen spinach

  • Frozen edamame

  • Tinned tomatoes

 

Flavour hits

  • Dried herbs and spices

  • Tamari

  • Vinegar

  • Nut and seed butters

  • Nori

  • Nutritional yeast

  • Fermented foods – e.g. Pickles, sauerkraut, olives

 

Other bits & pieces

  • Veggie stock

  • Coconut milk

  • Frozen fruit

 

Meal ideas

  • Black beans + quinoa + frozen veg + mexican spice mix

  • Frozen salmon + brown rice + frozen edamame + tamari + nori

  • Lentils + pasta + canned tomatoes + italian dried herbs + frozen spinach

Nina Kingsford-Smithpractical food tips, food tips, gentle nutrition, intuitive eating, meal prep, non diet meal prep, intuitive eating meal prep, snack tips, snack ideas, snacks, pantry cooking, cooking from the pantry, pantry back ups, non diet tips, nina kingsford smith, healthy happenings