vegetables – Claire Baseley

7th October 2016

Published by claire at 7th October 2016

Categories

Wedding prep

A Nutritionist’s Wedding

A bit of a self-indulgent blog this time, as I’ve just received my wedding pictures and I thought it would be a bit of fun to recount how I put an unusual nutritional twist on my wedding! The wedding theme I’m a big tea lover and my now husband used to leave my favourite cup by the kettle with a teabag every day before he left early for work. One morning I came down to discover he’d spelt out “Marry Me” in teabags, so the tea theme was born! Tea is pretty good for you but as a nutritionist who didn’t want a traditional wedding, I wanted a quirky (and thrifty) twist to the day. Anyone who knows […]

5th October 2016

Published by claire at 5th October 2016

Categories

Courgette, carrot and feta fritters with mint

I recently went to Kefalonia for my honeymoon and we ate these delicious fritters with our meal one evening, so I decided to give them a go when we got home. Vegetable fritters are versatile and a great way to get your 5 a day but the addition of feta and mint gave a real taste zing which makes them fantastic for dinner parties (use the leftover mint for caipirinhas!) Makes about 8 fritters You’ll need 1 large courgette, grated 2 carrots, peeled and grated A handful of shredded fresh mint leaves Black pepper 1 egg, beaten 8 slices of feta cheese, about 2cm square and 0.5cm thick 1tbsp rapeseed oil How to Mix together the courgette, […]

22nd August 2016

Published by claire at 22nd August 2016

Categories

What happened to the Childhood Obesity Strategy?

The recently published Government report on Childhood Obesity made for disappointing reading for most health campaigners with criticism being levelled at the reduction of a 50-page document to 10 pages of suggestions and proposals, issued in the parliamentary recess, in the middle of the Olympics, while ministers were away and therefore unable to discuss the content in parliament. Overall, there were numerous key omissions versus last year’s Public Health England recommendations, notably on supermarket price promotions and marketing but also in the area of early years’ nutrition. Why is this important? PHE’s evidence-based report showed that marketing, whether via TV, brand characters, advergames or product placement within the supermarket, can influence children’s food preferences in favour of less […]

28th October 2015

Published by Claire at 28th October 2015

Categories

Veg-first: A novel approach to weaning

Traditional weaning practice is to give babies bland or sweet foods for their first tastes. Using a vegetable first approach is a novel but evidence based way to help babies learn to love vegetables; a habit that lasts potentially for many years. Babies are born with few taste preferences but they do have a naturally sweet tooth. Breastmilk is sweet and so this is beneficial for the first months of life, where breastmilk (or infant formula) is the sole source of nutrition. However, once weaning starts, it’s apparent that sweet foods like fruits are much preferred and greater quantities are eaten compared with vegetables, particularly the more bitter, green varieties. These tastes, that are typically less sweet or even […]