A printable version of this lesson is available for download below.

Doctors For Nutrition asked Deeni Betar-Young, APD, for her tips on buying and preparing food.

What strategies do you recommend for accessing food that is both healthy and low cost?

• Make use of frozen fruit (e.g. berries, passionfruit pulp, mango) and vegetables (e.g. spinach, stir-fry mixes, peas)
• Buy in-season produce (it’s cheaper!)
• Buy bulk portions of staple shelf-stable items such as chickpeas, lentils, rice and oats (bonus tip: Indian and Asian grocers usually have very cheap rice and legumes!)
• If you’re near one, utilise your local farmer’s market for cheap, fresh, seasonal produce

Try growing your own veggies! Some easy ones to grow are silverbeet, tomatoes, carrots and lettuce, but it will depend on your location. To find out what grows well in your climate, try this website: https://www.plantwhatwhen.com/search_australia.html

What are your go-to dishes that are quick, healthy and affordable? What are your favourite recipe resources?

Some go-to dishes are:

• Chickpea, sweet potato and spinach curry with brown rice
• Minestrone soup
• Kidney bean chilli with brown rice
• Tofu pad thai with brown rice noodles
• Burrito bowls
• Lentil bolognese (tip: add beans and spices to turn a bolognese into a chilli and you’ve got a new meal!)

Doctors For Nutrition recipe section is full of many dietitian-approved whole food plant-based recipes, tried and tested by the members of the Advisory Council.

Here are some great free recipe websites:

• Forks Over Knives
• Minimalist Baker – oil and refined sugar free category
• Clean Food Dirty Girl
• Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
• Healthspan Dietitian

What is the role of meal planning? How can meal planning help people to achieve their nutrition goals?

When it comes to healthy eating, preparation is key! Meal planning involves brainstorming a set of meals to prepare for the week (or so) ahead. It is a helpful activity to reduce the time and effort that goes into healthy eating so that it can be simple and more stress-free. Planning ahead means that you can determine what ingredients you’ll need to buy, work out how long you’ll need to prepare the meals and do any prep work ahead of time to make it easier for yourself on the day.

It’s particularly useful for families when there are multiple different food preferences and dietary requirements at play. It also means there’s less of a chance that you’ll fall prey to the last minute takeaway orders or be tempted by those less nutritious convenience options if you’ve got them in the cupboard.

How can people get started with meal planning? Are there resources that GPs can recommend to their patients?

Step 1

Collate a list of favourite recipes that suit your needs (how much time you have, what ingredients you have on hand or are easy to find, what suits the dietary preferences and/or requirements you’re catering for).

Step 2

Plan out which recipes you’d like to designate to which days. Consider:

• Time constraints (e.g. put easier meals on busy days)
• Incorporating a variety of meals/ingredients/cuisines to make it interesting and maximise the variety of foods and nutrients you’re consuming

Step 3

Take stock of what ingredients you have on hand and write a list of ingredients you’ll need to buy.

Step 4

Designate time to prepare meals. Some people choose to designate one day a week to make meals, others prep every couple of days. Work out what suits you best. Also consider making time for preparing ingredients/meals ahead of time (e.g. chopping vegetables the day before, making a salad dressing at the start of the week, putting the slow cooker on in the morning).

Tip

Prepare for busy days, lazy days and unpredictable times by freezing some extra portions of the cooked meals you’ve made (if they’re freezable). You’ll thank yourself later!

Doctors For Nutrition have a simple and informative meal plan created by Emily Levy, APD. It includes recipes, tips and information on plant-based eating, and is available for anyone to download for free.

Downloads

PDF version of this lesson

About Deeni Betar-Young, APD

Deeni is a dietitian and nutritionist, educated at Flinders University. She works in private practice, providing consultations to people in Adelaide and around the world via Skype. One of her main areas of endeavour is in helping people transition to and maintain plant-based diets, particularly to prevent, manage and treat chronic conditions. Deeni also specialises in gastrointestinal disorders and food intolerances, and uses behaviour change counselling to motivate people to overcome their personal health challenges.

Deeni personally adopted a plant-based diet in 2013. This was motivated by numerous factors and she feels it is the single best lifestyle change she’s ever made. Continually amazed by the incredible results her patients have achieved from moving towards more healthy plant-based diets is a big part of what fuels Deeni to continue being a passionate advocate for this way of eating.