I call this a challenge because it can really be mind-boggling to stuff those nutrients in on a daily basis.

I went through phases with this one and it all really started when having our first born. My initial phase, I called it stress! I totally freaked out if I had missed one of the 5, sounds silly but having our son made me go to extremes until it eventually got easier. Second phase was educating myself and becoming more nutrition conscious, getting to know that I can base all meals on fruit and veg and that’s all it really takes. Third phase was finding a practical cooking way that fits into our routine comfortably enough so I can rest assured that most of the nutrients are taken every single day.

One of the easiest methods we like to use is ‘bulk cooking’. I like to call it like this because it literally is cooking in bulk, portion and freeze. Soups and pies fall under this category as well as other dishes and I really find it easier in winter time as we love these dishes and I can bulk them up with our favourite veggies and other filling nutrients. I am planning to post my cooking for this weekend so watch out for it on instagram.

Week-ends are the best opportunity for me to bulk-cook as kids are with me all day and my eldest likes to be given little tasks to help out. Get prepared for the mess, but hey-ho it is what it is! So, normally I cook fresh dishes for the day over week-end but then I also cook freezable dinner dishes to serve me throughout the week for after work. Jas is usually off Mondays and Tuesdays so that gives big brother another 2 days in the kitchen with daddy as he cooks freshly for the day and prepares his videos ready to share with you guys 🙂

So, back to the 5-a-day, an interesting NHS course had thought me that 5-a-day is best taken as 2 fruits and 3 veg. That makes it easier doesn’t it?

Our daily routine starts off with squeezing fresh OJ, then kids like banana over their breakfast, Jas takes his fruit an hour before his morning gym session and I take mine as part of my mid-morning snack. That’s 2 out of our 5 in already. Then 3 different types of veg over lunch and dinner which is easily stuffed in.

So basically if you follow a basic routine, that’s you done! Of course, the more veg the merrier so variety is the key. Also, once I know that we had good food throughout the day, it makes it easier for me to justify that cheeky little (big) sweet treat 😉

Rob