Tag Archives: oily fish

Dairy Free, Family Meals, Gluten Free, Recipes, Special Diets, Vegetarian, Weaning, Wheat Free

Broccoli fish fingers: get that veg in.

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Fish fingers are always a sure-fire hit in our household. I usually make them plain and serve with veggies but wanted to sneak extra veggies into the teething boy. When he feels under the weather he just hands me his vegetables off his plate. Monkey.

So I blitzed up half a head of broccoli and rolled the fish in it before adding the breadcrumbs. It was a bit messy but making your own fish fingers always is. However they taste SO MUCH BETTER than the bought ones. Plus I used gluten free breadcrumbs so they were suitable for me 🙂

“The J boy hoovered these up, saying NumNumNumNum”

Dietitian UK: J Boy eat Broccoli fish fingers

BROCCOLI FISH FINGERS

Serves 4

20 mins preparation and 20 minutes cooking time

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 head broccoli

4 fillets fish (I used half salmon, half haddock)

2 tbsp flour (gluten free if needed)

2 eggs

Breadcrumbs (gluten free if needed)

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Finely chop the broccoli, as finely as you can. Alternatively blitz it in a food processor.

Defrost the fish if it is frozen and slice into fingers.

Put the flour and eggs into 2 seperate bowls and the breadcrumbs and broccoli onto 2 plates.

Dip the fish into the flour, then the egg.

Roll in the broccoli, the dip back in the egg and roll in the breadcrumb. Pat the breadcrumb down all over it.

Repeat with all the fish.

Place on a baking tray and either cook straight away or if you can leave to firm up in the fridge first.

Cook at Gas Mark 5 for 20 minutes.

Dietitian UK: Broccoli fish fingers 1

Nutrition Education

The Mediterranean Diet

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A lot of people would like to live in the Mediterranean. The weather is warmer than the UK, the landscape goes from rugged, to rural to beautiful beaches and it often feels more relaxed. That relaxed, warm lifestyle also brings benefits for food. 

The Med diet is well researched and known to have benefits for major health conditions. It may help prevent heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, lower cholesterol  and prevent metabolic syndrome. Benefits can also be seen for Alzhiemers, dementia, depression and Parkinsons.

The Mediterranean diet is not really a diet but a way of life. Regular meals are a key component with meals being an occasion for sitting down and taking time to enjoy food and company. Eating regularly and slowly is something that can help with blood sugar control, weight management and IBS. 

Clinical trials have shown positive effects of this type of diet on reducing the risk of overall mortality, cardiovascular disease and also total cholesterol levels. A significant effect has been seen on cancer incidence and mortality too. The Med Diet has been shown to be more effective than a low fact diet for making long term changes in the risk factors for heart disease and inflammatory diseases. 

 

Summary of the Diet:

Low in saturated fats

Low in salt

Low in sugar

Moderate meat and dairy intake

Moderate fish consumption

Moderate alcohol intake alongside meals

High intake of fruit, vegetables, legumes and unrefined carbohydrates

 

I love this diagram of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid.

 

Taken with permission from: http://dietamediterranea.com/dietamed/piramide_INGLES.pdf
Taken with permission from: http://dietamediterranea.com/dietamed/piramide_INGLES.pdf

 

Eat More:

Fruit and Vegetables – eat a variety and a range of colours to get a mixture of antioxidants and micronutrients.

Fish – at least twice a week, at least 1 portion should be oily (tuna, salmon, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines).

Eat more beans and pulses. Try adding lentils to meat dishes, or make a vegetarian curry with beans. Falafels and hummous make great lunchtime options.

Wholegrains – for example oats, brown rice, wholemeal bread, couscous, bulghar wheat and plain popcorn.

Nuts and seeds once a day as a snack will provide healthy fats, protein, vitamin E, magnesium and are filling.

Include Olive oil.

Drink plenty of water.

 

 References:

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/mediterranean-diet-topic-overview

http://dietamediterranea.com/dietamed/piramide_INGLES.pdf (2010 Fundacion Dieta Mediterrainea)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20810976

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21854893

Nutrition Education

Vitamin D, do you get enough?

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Vitamin D is one of those nutrients that we often forget about yet is very important. Suddenly, it’s having a come back and becoming a hot topic.

So what’s the fuss about?

Hands up if you know what vitamin D is even needed for? Those of you who said bone health get a gold star. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, specifically your gut. It helps you maintain the levels of calcium and phosphate in the body so that you have enough for bone mineralisation and bone growth. It also plays a role in cell growth, immune function and reducing inflammation in the body.

Too little vitamin D affects your bones, they can become thin and brittle. Rickets in children and osteomalacia/osteoporosis in adults are due to too low vitamin D levels. Worryingly rickets is on the rise in the UK, as is osteoporosis. So we really need to be thinking about looking after our bones.

Children 1-7 months need 8.5μg/d and those aged 7months-3 years 7μg/d, pregnant and breastfeeding women 10μg/d. There are no set levels for those 3-64 years but it is now recommeded all adults take a 10mcg supplement daily or at least in winter months.

Why? Most people know we make vitamin D when we step into the sunshine, however there are numerous issues with this. To get enough of the right type of sun’s rays all year round you need to live in the right area of the world. In the UK we unsuprisingly don’t fall into that category. Having pale skin means you accrue vitamin D 10 times faster than darker skinned people, but we are now out in the sun less and less, plus when we are out there is usually sun cream on the skin preventing the UVB rays getting through and so stopping vitamin D being made. Somewhere we need a balance.

After World War II the NHS was born (1947) and vitamin drops were given to all children under 5 for free, these included vitamin D. This is not standard practice now and many little ones are not getting enough of the D love in their life. In fact my little one wasn’t until recently.

But what about vitamin D in foods I hear you all cry…well that’s the main problem, it’s not found in that many foods. Here’s a few – oily fish, some canned fish, shitake mushrooms, eggs and fortified cereals and margarine. In America milk, orange juice and cheese is all fortified too. There’s a debate over whether more foods in the UK should be fortified at the moment. What do you think? 

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