the Mutunga $2.00 challenge The Mutunga $2 Challenge® recipe book A NUTRITION SPOT By Kathy Austin (Health & Nutrition Researcher) While we are eating differently it may be a good idea to learn a little about nutrition. The main components of our foods are carbohydrates, protein and fats. Whilst carbohydrates are an important part of our diet, many people eat far too much starchy carbohydrates, such as bread, rice, pasta and potatoes, due to lower cost or taste preferences. If we do eat these foods, we should use the wholemeal/wholegrain version. Balance this with 7 to 9 daily servings of vegetables and fruit, the non-starchy carbohydrates. Chemical free vegies and fruit will rarely be available on $2 per day, but don’t forget the local vegie gardens. NEVER knock back an offer of fresh produce from a local garden – anytime. Barter if you need to and try growing the easier ones yourself. Silver-beet, rhubarb, bok-choy and zucchini seem to perform reasonably well for people with pink thumbs. Meanwhile, eat your fruit and vegies as fresh as possible and raw if you can. One experience in Kenya was a gift, from one unpaid college lecturer to another unpaid lecturer (our host), of a large plastic bag of unshelled green peas from his garden. After an hour of socialising over pea-pods, this became pea stew, served with ugali (like damper made from whole maize meal – quite dry). We ate the same the next night. The meal was filling enough to allow us to sleep (yes a real consideration in this part of the world); it had plenty of fibre, carbohydrates and some protein from the peas. A little onion, tomato and green capsicum went into the stew. Let’s face it - this is really healthy compared to some of our food! Cutting out the cappuccinos, snack bars and potato chips is a great step in the right direction if replaced with plain, simple, unrefined food.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 13:51:17 +0000
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