Rachel is a university qualified nutritionist based in Balmain, Sydney. She is a busy working mum of two teenagers, so is practical and realistic with her advice. Specialises in peri menopause, menopause, gut health, weight issues, low FODMAP diet and sports nutrition. Online and in person consultations available.
I absolutely adore soup and it is my go-to lunch in winter. Soups are a great way of getting in more plant foods in an aim to get to the target of 30 different plant foods across the week. Why 30 plant foods? This is to support the microbes living in our gut which need a diverse range of plant foods to flourish. These soup recipes are delicious, healthy and filling from the plant protein.
Read MoreIf your goal is to improve your health the number one thing you can do is add more vegetables to your diet. We know that eating plants is good, but eating a big VARIETY of plant foods is better, as it seems to encourage the growth of different species of helpful bacteria in our gut. So add flavour to your plants with extra virgin olive oil, herbs and spices and add some different varieties to your trolley each week. Here’s 6 of my current favourite salad recipes.
Read MoreAs the weather warms up I’m always on the lookout for new substantial salads. I’m a huge fan of the Community cookbook by Hetty McKinnon and this recipe is a favourite, with the hot flavoured oil poured over the freshly grilled broccolini. The original recipe uses broccoli, but I have a bit of a childhood trauma from broccoli so use broccolini instead! This just goes to show it’s really important to try different cooking techniques to find a way to change the taste of vegetables you dislike - in general though, extra virgin olive oil, parmesan, garlic and chilli all work wonders!
Read MoreWhat to do do when you’re tired, hungry but know you should have a salad with dinner? Enter my super speedy thai quinoa salad! This plant powered salad packs in a load of different veggies plus plant protein and is ready in 5 minutes, plus holds up in the fridge for leftover the next day. Winner!
Read MoreIt's heating up here in Sydney! With a newly vegetarian teenager in my house I'm trying to get in the habit of creating a big, substantial salad on a Sunday that can work as leftovers for the week. Or I get on the #meatfreemonday bandwagon. Here's 6 of my favourite salads, and one little extra.
Read MoreHad a few requests on insta and FB to share the recipe for my “buddha bowl” - a quick plant powered lunch or light dinner, perfect for this cold weather! Incorporating soy-based foods like tofu is an excellent way to get protein, iron, calcium and healthy fats into your diet with relatively little saturated fat, so beneficial for cardiovascular health. Soy products like tofu and miso are also rich in isoflavones which may reduce your risk of prostate cancer and has a protective (or at worst neutral) effect on breast cancer risk.
Read MoreLow FODMAP Ratatouille. I’ve always loved the flavours in ratatouille, but it does have a few things you need to watch when it comes to FODMAPs. Thankfully those things are very easy to change so you can still get the same delicious flavours.
Read MoreHow many different plant foods do you eat in a week? The American Gut project recently found that found that people regularly eating 30+ different types of plant foods per week had a more diverse microbiome than those eating 10 or fewer different plant foods a week. Recent research has shown the richer and more diverse the community of gut microbes are, the lower your risk of disease. Can you add a couple of different plants this week?
Read MoreBusy? In a rush? Know that you should be eating more veggies and fish but not sure where to start? If you’re flying in the door after a busy day and need something easy to get on the table that’s healthy and tasty for your family here is a round up of my favourite vegetarian and pescatarian meals.
Read MoreWe love soup for Meatless Monday or after Saturday morning sport. However often a plain vegetable soup can be low in protein and leave you hungry later on, so I’ve added chickpeas which are a terrific source of plant based protein and fibre. Adding pear brings a beautiful sweetness to this dish. This soup is very simple to put together with the oven doing the bulk of the work.
Read MoreI'm always on the look out for shelf stable products that are healthy and delicious that I can serve up for a quick lunch or dinner. Since my daughter became vegetarian I've explored some new areas of the supermarket and came across this product in the fridge section which she and I both think is delicious!
Read MoreDo you have sporty teenagers? With the winter sports season kicking off, you might be wondering if your teenagers are eating the right types of food to support healthy growth and development as well as their training and competition. It's not all about protein powder to get "shredded", or litres of sweet sports drinks!
Read MorePerfect for entertaining, or for a family dinner with the hopes of leftovers, here's how we've been enjoying our grilled veggies. Our secret is to include a punnet of figs (so cheap at the moment - and they used to be such a luxury!) and to marinade before grilling. This is a delicious side to barbecued steaks, sausages or halloumi.
Read MoreI hate to use the term superfoods (eye roll) but I was thinking about all the lovely food we are blessed to be surrounded by this time of year and that I associate with Christmas. I thought I'd share some of their health benefits as well as recipes that my family enjoy this time of year. I'd love to hear about your Christmas super foods too! My favourite part of Christmas is sharing a meal with the people that I love. Food should be seen as part of the celebration - not something to feel guilty about. Include plenty of fresh fruit and veggies and some lean protein and use the time off work to schedule in a walk or run. Consider Mindful Eating over the Christmas break by making more conscious food choices, paying attention to how you eat, and practicing self-acceptance.
Read MoreHas your teenager recently announced they are a vegetarian? Mine has! The rest of the family eat meat and I'm too busy to be cooking 2 meals every night so here's some ideas for how I cope. I've also seen quite a few vegetarian clients recently with iron deficiency so I'll outline some common nutrient concerns with a vegetarian teenager and how to avoid them.
Read MoreIf you hang around the sports nutrition world you'll see there's a lot of fuss about beetroot juice, which has recently been promoted to a Grade A supplement by the Australian Institute of Sport. Whether you are trying to improve your exercise endurance, improve your blood pressure or just add more veggies to your diet - check out my beetroot smoothie.
Read MoreAs a nutritionist people often come to see me for weight loss, glowing skin or extra energy. These might be a measure we can see on the outside but I believe it is far more important to invest in your internal health and do everything you can to reduce the risk of lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Around 1.7 million Australians have diabetes, including silent, undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. I wrote about pre-diabetes and insulin resistance here. With more than 100,000 Australians having developed diabetes in the past year it is likely that you know someone living with diabetes.
I first came across Hit100 when researching a university assignment looking at strategies for managing diabetes and insulin resistance. Hit 100 is a meal delivery service catering specifically for people living with diabetes. The meals have been developed by dietitians and prepared by chefs and are aimed at improving blood sugar levels. Hit100 were kind enough to offer me a few frozen meals to try.
We tried:
chicken tikka marsala
hearty beef stew
pumpkin and ricotta lasagna
There are plenty of other choices on the hit100 website including some great looking breakfast and lunch options like corn fritters and oat and berry pikelets.
The Hit100 meals are based on the latest healthy eating guidelines containing non-starchy vegetables, good quality carbohydrates, healthy fats and lean proteins. These are the guidelines we all should be following - whether or not we have insulin resistance, diabetes or not.
If you have diabetes you don't need to avoid carbohydrates - carbohydrates play an essential role in your diet as they are the main source of energy your bodies rely on to function optimally. Many carbohydrate based foods are also a good source of fibre, vitamins and minerals, which all act together to keep us healthy.
I heated the dishes in our oven (microwave for 5 mins is also an option) for 35 minutes and tried the meals with my two teenage kids. We enjoyed all the meals with the favourite being the hearty beef stew closely followed by the chicken tikka marsala. What I loved was the generous serve of veggies on the side. I was concerned that the veggies would not heat up well in the oven but they had a delicious lemon salsa on them and were all eaten up.
I liked that the meals had a decent amount of protein (17 for the lasagne to 29 for the beef stew) and you could see real pieces of chicken and beef. The sodium levels are less than 120mg/100g which means they are considered as low in salt. The portion size was ideal for a woman, an active teenager or man might like these for lunch or need some extra veggies at dinner.
While I am a big fan of cooking and believe you can put together a quick healthy dinner in less than 20 minutes, I realise not everyone likes cooking and also sometimes even 20 minutes is too much to ask. These are a great option to have in the the freezer and much much healthier than takeaway pad-thai. I also think they would be a great option to get for an older parent or friend who might not enjoy cooking for themselves.
You can head over to the Hit100 website and try an introbox.
Want to know more?
You can head over to Hit100's website and try an introbox - which is a great taste tester of what they're all about. For $69.95 you’ll get:
+ 5 main meals
+ 2 mini meals
+ 2 breakfasts
+ 2 yoghurts
Enter coupon: ‘racheleagleton10’ at checkout to receive this exclusive $10.00 discount (valued at $79.95)!
* As mentioned Hit100 provided these meals free to me for my review. I only post reviews of products that I like and am happy to use. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely mine. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.
This is my new favourite dinner that I could eat every day for a month and not tire of. You will desperately hope there will be enough for leftovers for lunch! This recipe is full of veggies, black beans and quinoa so it delivers plenty of fibre and plant based protein which is a winner for preventing lifestyle diseases such as some cancers, cardiovascular disease and stroke plus it tastes amazing and will keep you full for ages.
This recipe was inspired by marin mama cooks but I've increased the veggies and beans a bit and "Australianised" the ingredients. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does.
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 red chilli, half the seeds removed and sliced
1 cup well-rinsed and scrubbed quinoa
1 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 rinsed and drained cans of black beans
1 can tinned diced tomatoes
1 medium zucchini diced
2 red capsicums, diced
1 tablespoon Mexican spice powder (I used Herbies but masterfoods do one too or use 1/2 tsp chilli, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander)
pinch of salt
1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
juice of one lime
chopped fresh coriander leaves, greek yoghurt and shredded sharp cheese to serve
Heat the olive oil in a large frypan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and fresh chilli and cook for one minute stirring well.
Add in the chicken stock, quinoa, black beans, tinned tomatoes, zucchini, capsicum, salt, and spices.
Stir well, then bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and leave to simmer for 20 -25 minutes until cooked.
Before serving stir through the lime juice and chopped coriander. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of greek yoghurt.
Serves 6
I love homemade pizza on a hot summer night. I use a wholemeal spelt flour in my pizza base to improve the fibre content, and because I find the wholemeal spelt gives better results than wholemeal flour. If you have a sensitive tummy spelt can sometimes be better tolerated than a traditional wheat flour as it has less gluten (but it is NOT gluten free). If you're pushed for time you can use wholemeal pita breads - however a Thermomix or stand mixer means the making the dough is very painless as long as you have time to let it rise.
A couple of years ago we had a beautiful holiday in Andalusia, Spain. We'd sit out in the garden and start our meal with short glass of gazpacho which you could buy in tetra packs from the supermarket. I've come up with this recipe which gets some veggies into everyone before the meal has started. I tend to use tomato juice (no added salt or sugar), it would be better to use real tomatoes but I can't get that lovely rich tomato flavour from the disappointing supermarket tomatoes. The advantage of tomato juice is there is no de-seeding or peeling. Think of it as a red green smoothie!
2 slices crusty bread
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 small garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1L tomato juice
1 red capsicum, seeded, chopped
1 lebanese cucumber, seeded, chopped, plus extra finely chopped as a garnish
1/2 long red chilli, seeded
3 green onions, chopped
2 tabs olive oil
Break bread into large pieces and place in a bowl (or your thermomix bowl). Pour over red wine vinegar and set aside for 10 minutes
Place bread in a blender or food processor. Add garlic, sugar, tomato juice, capsicum, cucumber, chilli and green onions, and blend until combined (1 minute speed 10 in thermomix). With processor running, pour in olive oil in a thin stream
Transfer gazpacho to a large jug, cover and refrigerate until chilled. Just before serving, stir well with ice cubes and add extra finely chopped cucumber as a garnish.
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