Jenny Huston is a jewellery designer and founder of the Edge Only jewellery brand and former RTE 2FM DJ.
Where do you shop?
Lidl, Tesco, The Food Co-op and Asian markets.
Can you list the contents of your weekly shop?
Eggs (organic), carrots, onion, courgette, cucumber, Pink Lady apples, lemons and limes, blueberries, avocados, sweet potatoes, frozen vegetables (carrots, broccoli, corn, petite pois), spinach, Quorn chicken chunks and Quorn mince. I buy tins of tomatoes, baked beans, black beans, mushy peas and coconut milk. I also usually buy passata, black olives, chillies, quinoa, corn pasta, glass noodles, tofu, sugar-free biscuits, buckwheat, goats cheese, natural yogurt and skimmed milk.
Describe your typical breakfast
Two eggs ‒ either scrambled with baked beans or on a Sandwich Thin as an omelette sandwich or fried on Quorn sausage patties and two cups of tea.
Describe your typical lunch
Tuna wrap with shredded carrot, rocket, spinach, olives and cucumber.
Typical dinner
Vegetable curry with Quorn chicken chunks.
Snacks
Cereal, seed or nut bars or sugar-free biscuits.
Is there anything you won’t eat?
Meat. And I’m not a big fan of turnip or parsnip.
What would you cook to impress someone?
A Thai curry from scratch.
What is your guilty food pleasure?
Crisps, jellies and pizza.
What is your ultimate comfort food?
Black bean chilli.
What is your favourite takeaway?
I almost never order take away, but if I was going to it would be a vegetarian Thai green curry with brown rice and prawn crackers. Camile is great and Kanum is my music festival staple. I swear half the joy of Electric Picnic is which take away curry starting with a K will I have next?! Kinara, Kanum, Kerala Kitchen…
Have you tried any diet fads?
No, but I’m a past member of Slimming World.
What would be your Last Supper?
Cheesy nachos with guacamole and red wine and salted caramel chocolate if there was room.
Rosanna’s Verdict:
Jenny’s weekly shop contains a great range of fresh whole foods, including plenty of colourful fruits and vegetables. She buys antioxidant-rich blueberries, leafy greens, and sweet potatoes and carrots rich in beta-carotene. It’s also great to see that she stocks up on avocados, packed with healthy fat, and some complete sources of vegetarian protein, including eggs, tofu and quorn.
Jenny’s shop also contains some nutritious complex carbs, including quinoa, buckwheat and beans. It’s a super balance of nutrient-rich foods, perfect for creating healthy meals and snacks.
For breakfast, Jenny generally has eggs. Known as an excellent source of protein, eggs help to support your body’s growth, repair and production of antibodies, hormones and enzymes amongst many other functions. The essential amino acids must be eaten in your diet regularly to encourage normal growth and development, and it’s generally advised to eat a protein-rich food with every meal and snack.
Protein foods also help to stabilise blood sugar levels to maintain energy levels and help you to stay feeling full for longer. Alongside her eggs, I would encourage Jenny to eat a fibre-rich food, such as steamed spinach or kale, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms or even a handful of nuts and seeds if she’s under time pressure. Eggs and other animal-based foods are devoid of fibre, while plant-foods are rich in this important nutrient. Therefore, it’s a good idea to combine plant foods with animal-based foods at every meal. Fibre helps to support normal digestive health.
Jenny’s lunch is usually a tuna wrap packed with vegetables. This makes a great, balanced lunch as it contains protein, carbohydrate and a range of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. To further boost the meal’s fibre content, I would advise that she opts for a wholegrain wrap. Avocado makes a great addition to a lunchtime wrap as its healthy fat helps to keep you feeling more satiated for the afternoon.
For her evening meal, Jenny generally goes for a vegetable curry with quorn. Stews, soups and curries make a brilliant cold-weather dinner and root vegetables and starchy veggies including carrot, onion, sweet potato and butternut squash, are nourishing and filling yet low-calorie additions. Beans and lentils also make a low-calorie, protein-rich addition to meals. While she’s eating plenty of cooked vegetables at dinnertime, I would also suggest that Jenny includes some raw or lightly steamed leafy greens with her meal to avail of their rich array of vitamins and minerals.
Jenny’s overall diet is very low in refined sugar, with jellies an occasional treat, and full of healthy, whole foods. Even her comfort food and takeaway choices are considered much better alternatives to the usual takeaways. Adding in some more fibre at breakfast, healthy fat at lunchtime and a handful of berries as a snack during the day would boost her diet even more. Well done Jenny.
