Bridget Hunt is an accredited Clinical Nutritionist and mother of two boys. Bridget is extremely passionate about living a balanced, wholesome and uncomplicated lifestyle. She is a firm believer that the dietary and lifestyle choices we make are inherently reflected in our physical and mental health. Diet doesn’t need to be labelled or over-complicated; when it comes to diet, simple is best. Foods are meant to fuel us, and eating should be enjoyed.
Breakfast
Breakfast would ultimately be either savoury or sweet. Sweet would either be a macronutrient, balanced smoothie of some sort, containing, fruit (frozen berries or banana), greens (spinach, kale, zucchini, cauliflower), nut butter or avocado, protein powder, yoghurt and nut milk.
I love to get my vegetable intake off to a good start, first thing in the morning. The RDI's (Recommended Daily Intakes) are 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit per day. A savoury option will always include cooked or raw greens (spinach watercress, kale), mushrooms or tomatoes, 2 eggs (poached or in an omelette), smoked salmon, fresh herbs, sauerkraut, avocado, and possibly a slice of sourdough (depending on how I’m feeling). This breakfast ensures I cover all bases getting a good source of vegetables, fats, carbohydrates, fibre and protein.
Lunch
Lunch will usually be a mixture of either leftovers, depending on what we had for dinner the night before, or a salad made from a number of things I prepared during my weekly meal prep! I like to keep meal prep simple and have a range of salad items chopped ready to go. I always aim to have vegetables at every meal of the day to make 5 serves per day achievable. I like to add a source of protein, which will usually be a tin of salmon or tuna (a great source of calcium), boiled eggs, or tempeh.
Dinner
Dinner is usually my creative outlet! I love experimenting with different meal options and foods. I am married to a country boy with basic tastebuds, so I do have to keep within my limits, and pleasing both always provides me with a challenge. If we are keeping it simple, we will always have vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, zucchini, a form of starchy carbohydrates.
Lately, that has been homemade crispy potato/sweet potato chips and protein which for me will be fish, chicken and turkey mince and occasionally beef. Last night, we had a creamy vegan pumpkin, spinach and macadamia pasta with pulse pasta. I typically include legumes in my diet very regularly, they are a great source of plant-based protein and soluble fibre which is essential for the health of our digestive ecosystem (microbiome).
Snacks
Snacks, I love to have veggie sticks, capsicum, cucumber, carrots, celery with either hummus or nut butter. Boiled eggs are also a great snack on the go that are rich in nutrients and protein. Nuts and seeds are always a solid option or some seasonal fruit! I also love making raw treats to snack on! You can find a ton of recipes on my Instagram account.
Recipe: Creamy pumpkin, Spinach and macadamia pasta
Ingredients
- 1 x 200g packet of mungbean fettuccini
- ½ x cup macadamias
- ¼ x pumpkin roasted
- 1 x handful of fresh parsley chopped finely.
Sauce
- ½ x cup cashews (covered with boiling water for 10 mintues)
- 3-4 x cloves garlic
- 3/4 x cup nutritional yeast
- 1 x cup coconut milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees,
- Chop pumpkin and coat in olive oil and bake for 20 minutes or until tender.
- Add all sauce ingredients to a high powered blender for 1-2 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook pasta following directions as per packet
- In a pan, on medium heat, toast off macadamias
- Once toasted, add spinach, pasta, pumpkin and cheesy sauce to the pan and allow to simmer. Add more pepper and salt to taste, + 2 x tbsp. pasta water if it is too dry.
- Add ¾ of the parsley (saving some for serving), and allow to wilt.
- Serve with fresh parsley and pepper.
You can learn more about Bridget Hunt on her Blog or Instagram.
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