Mixing it up

The first day of the 100 foods challenge means you obviously clock up lots of new ingredients. Therefore my list of new additions for today is relatively short, but still I made an effort to eat some different foods when I'd usually have eaten quite similar meals and I'm up to 49 different foods in two days.

Eating this way means buying more foods in smaller quantities which isn't usually the most economical way to shop.

This is where freezing can come in - instead of eating leftover dinner the next day, freeze your leftovers and eat them the next week to keep up the variety.

It also helps if you live with someone so you can share your dinner, as cooking and eating for one is more likely to lead to waste of fresh food.

For durable foods it's much easier - I have a big box in my cupboard containing a whole range of bags of different nuts, seeds and dried fruits. I add these to my breakfast each morning so it's easy to eat a different type every day of the week. I also use different spices on my brown rice porridge so will start rotating allspice, cinnamon, turmeric and ginger.

Herbs are another easy food to rotate. Although they go off quickly you can freeze them in small batches and then add them to your cooking - basil, coriander and parsley are all tasty options.

Rotating oils and fats in your cooking also helps vary the flavours and balance out the ratios of the different fats in your diet. I cook with olive oil or coconut fat, and pour cold walnut, flax or sesame oil on my salads.

Today's additions:
Raspberries
Almonds
Walnuts
Cucumber
Hummous
Plain doritos (don't tell anyone!)
Celery
Carrot
Coriander
Courgettes
Black pepper
Avocado
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