Hi Kathryn

– Book reviews are a really good idea. New books as well as any good recipe books you have.
– The barley posts would be good too. Indeed any post on using more grains and the benefits of grains would be helpful.
– I also loved the series on what you ate for 2 weeks so if you are ever lacking in inspiration you could always just blog about what you ate that day. This might seem boring to you but I love knowing what other people eat!
– Another thing I have often wondered about is yoghurt. There are so many different sorts in the supermarket but what is good and what isn’t? Is no fat as beneficial as full fat? Does it need to be “live?” How often should you eat it – everyday? Is natural/bio better than the fruit flavoured ones?

How these ideas are helpful.

Jacqueline

I like book reviews! Especially the type that saves me the time of having to read the book myself :)

All those ideas sound great, but I guess the ones that interest me the most are the book reviews, barley series and $7 dinner challenges. Hope this helps!

I’m interested in the more in-depth nutrition advice. It’s so hard these days to follow all the different nutrition terms and different things I’m reading in the news. (For instance – I read today about how they want to add iodine to bread because most people aren’t getting enough iodine. I feel so out of date – I thought that iodine deficiency was one of the problems we solved decades ago!)

And as Jacqueline mentioned – yoghurt, yoghurt would be a good thing to get more information about. For instance, I’ve been eating the Black Swan yoghurt exclusively for a couple of months now because I really like the taste/texture. Then I read about how the bacterial content in yoghurts is different, and when I went to check what I was eating with the Black Swan brand, I couldn’t even figure out if it is a yoghurt with the good bacteria added or not.

Book reviews would also be good. Also, if you’ve got tips on which books to read about eating healthier/nutrition. I love the recipes and the cookbooks but it would be great to have some more solid reading as well.

Thanks for the blog Kathryn – it’s a great resource and inspires me to eat better!

all sounds good – I am a little less interested in the nutritional questions but even those would interest me – I love to see recipes so some barley and baking ideas would be good – and book reviews are also good. Your blog has lots of good ideas so keep doing it – unless those accounts really need doing :-)

Haven’t posted before but I thought this was a good time. ;)

I’d be interested in all of the things you listed however, ways to alter recipes to make them healthier would be great! You said biscuits and I’m instantly intrigued. How do I make these without filling myself full of oils and fats? Barley would also be interesting, I have no idea what to do with it. Budget recipes are always handy and I expect that they will become more and more important in the coming months.

I love the idea of quick veggies – in fact, I struggle – always – with quick ways to use green leafy veggies, specifically. I’m not much of a salad person (seems like so much work for so little eating time!), but LOVE cooked greens. Again, I’m basically lazy – would love some quick and yum ideas!

I also like your idea about budget recipes, and I’m a big fan of barley – both sound good!

And increasing non-animal protein ideas would be welcomed as well. :)

More veggies!!! I like veggies and know their importance, but just can’t seem to get our recommended intake in. Thx :)

You mentioned to me that you were thinking of doing a post on which nutrients are absolutely essential and which ones are optional extras, if your diet is basically balanced and healthy. My specific question was about tomatoes – the only kind I like are the big, ripe juicy ones that are in season in summer and which, for some reason, just don´t seem to be available here. I´m never been able to stomach tinned tomatoes, purees, ketchup, etc. Should I be worried about missing out on lycopene? Other than the lack of tomatoes, my diet is very healthy indeed.

I love, really love, your blog. I come here at least once a week to read and on average another time to get a recipe. All those ideas sound great reading. FOr me especially I’d like the ’’five quick ways’’ half written post because i’ve picked up a number of great tips from you. we are vegetarian and i think we eat pretty healthily – your blog has helped me find great ways of avoiding the common too much pasta and cheese vegetarian trap. so YES, how to use new grains is great so would love to hear about barley (I have started using both quinoa and millet weekly since hearing about them here). with Xmas coming up some healthy treats would be fab. I’d also love book reviews (I bought The Greens Cookbook after reading about it here) and also pointers to other bloggers with great recipes, as you always do. I regularly come to you for new recipes and ideas. So all in all? Please whatever you do don’t stop this blog. Pretty please?!

I love all of those ideas! The one about making sweet things better for you was the one that stood out the most for me. I also loved the series you did about what you ate, I found it really motivational as well as interesting.

increase your vegies + healthier sweet treats get my vote!

I would like to see articles on eating/cooking for IBS and hypertension.

With summer now behind us for the year (in my part of the world), I feel much more like cozying up on the couch at night and reading, so book reviews are sounding especially nice. But all the ideas sound really wonderful, Kathryn. Whatever you do, be it posting book reviews, recipes, tips, or even just slowing down for a while to refresh, know that you’ll always have a fan here that’s not going anywhere.

I also vote on increasing your veggies – it’s something I think 90% of the population are “meaning to get around to thinking about considering thinking about” but never get to – so would be great!

I’m particularly interested in the budget recipies and the and the socio-economics of eating. Bring it on! :-)

all good ideas!
i’d also be interested to hear your thoughts on this topic:
http://blogs.smh.com.au/lifestyle/chewonthis/archives/2008/10/_what_if_theres_someone.html
not sure if you have written about this before, but it’s something that is probably relevant to a lot of your readers – either those struggling with their own weight and health, or those with loved ones who are struggling.

kathryn, your blog has given me no ends of inspiration to change the way i eat and i am truly grateful for all of the information you post. i would love to see the post on increasing vegetables and also the one’s for healthy baking recipes (i bake all the time for work/rehearsals/friends but don’t feel like enjoying the treats anymore, so i would love to have some recipes for everyone). as others have said, the posts you did on what you ate for two weeks were fantastic. it’s actually the first thing i saw on your site and was like a blue print for when i started changing my diet.

I’d love some recipes for healthy biscuits and other sweet stuff.

And what about something like great ways to eat legumes in summer or other “idea” posts where you give us some ideas and then we can contribute more ideas through the comments.

I am curious about vegetarian recipes. My partner is vego, I am not. When we eat together, it’s vegetarian – but I feel like there’s only so many variations on vegetables&pasta, vegetables&rice, vegetable soup or chickpeas that I can do.

How to keep vegetarian dishes interesting for a non-vegetarian eater? I find I really miss the extra flavours that meat/bones/animal fat can give to soups, or casseroles etc

Also interested in: how to wean myself off a BIG fixation with added salt and is mustard bad for you? Because I eat French mustard in scary quantities. The barley posts? YES PLEASE.

I’m seconding Ann B.
Delighted with your date and walnut muffin recipe. They are a great breakfast gift to a fussy milk avoider in my life. Now to try the apple ones!

I like the barley idea but unfortunately the ….um… atmospheric effects around my partner afterward stop me eating it very often. How about a series of posts on different grains. I’ve walked past interesting bulk sacks of amaranth and millet recently but not had an excuse to buy, especially as I’d better do something with the wild rice and quinoa I’ve already got first.
Like the book reviews too.
If still short on inspiration, how about going through the alphabet with recipes, like the Great Big Vegetable Challenge, except make it the Unusual Healthy Ingredient challenge? :)

I’d enjoy all of those suggestions. I’ve just started a new job – can’t get out at lunch time to buy anything interesting to eat. No doubt a good thing as it forces me to save money and eat home prepared, but I’m running out of ideas. I do reheat extras from the night before, but get sick of that too. Suggestions for non-boring healthy low fat lunches would be great – particularly things that have a lot of filling power so I don’t go looking for a sugar hit about 3.30pm.

Kathryn, I am a big fan of your soups but I would like to hear about some great summer recipes (salads especially!) and maybe a Christmas/holiday season inspired post since it’s so easy to let your guard down at this time of year.

All of those sound like great topics. Personally, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how to influence others to eat healthy. From my family to coworkers, to the world at large…how do we help make change??

Barley – yes, please!

And, with lots of space on my bookshelves…yeah, go on. Book reviews would be lovely.

Mojo will come back – you just need a little break away, I reckon. Always does the world of good! X

Thanks so much to all of you for your comments. It’s really useful for me to read what you’re interested in. And I think there are enough ideas here to see me well through until Christmas!

Rest assured I have no intention whatsoever of stopping Limes & Lycopene – this is a temporary break in transmission only. After over two years of blogging I enjoy it too much to give up. Plus I’m damn proud of this site.

Over the last six months my working life away from Limes & Lycopene has boomed. Which is of course great! But a busier working life has made blogging more difficult. I’m working at the moment on getting more organised and establishing a better routine to my working life – which includes blogging.

My aim is to get into a pattern of posting three times a week. This means each week there will be two posts of new content, plus my normal Friday Quicklinks post. I’m not quite there yet with the routine, but that’s my aim.

What I am going to do, is take a bit of time off. I’ll post some Quicklinks this week and next. I’m hoping to have a guest post up next week. And then I’ll re-start my regular new content posts the week beginning 4 November.

My monthly newsletter will go out next week, and that will have more information on what’s coming up on Limes & Lycopene. If you want to sign up click here.

Again thanks for all the suggestions and enthusiasm in your comments. I’m going through them and absorbing your suggestions and you’ll see some of this stuff roll-out in the next two months. So stay tuned.

Hi Kathryn,

I love your blog and check it regularly. I find it really inspirational and useful for keeping me on a healthy eating track. I especially like your posts on mental health, managing stress, and general well being and how food interacts with these things. Also, I love the way you focus on the small, manageable changes we can all make to live a healthier and happier life.

I thought all your ideas above sounded good, too. Especially the ones on barley (I’ve had a bag of barley in the cupboard for close to 12 months now but just haven’t got around to cooking it! I’d really like to make a barley salad for work lunches but haven’t found the right recipe yet. Would love to read your suggestions!)

The healthy puddings and biscuits sounds good, too as I love baking biscuits but often hold off because I know I should snack on healthier things.

Eating on a budget sounds good, too.

Thanks for your blog, Katherine. It’s a great read and resource.

How about turning your attention to the need to alkalize and the amazing benefits of increasing your alkaline-forming intake and reducing your adic-forming one…?

For starters look at Robert Young’s site. I use www.alkalinebydesign for my guide (UK-based qualified practioner).

Look forward to your thoughts.
Merle