Hi folks, this post let’s talk about autumn healthy weight gain food ideas.
Autumn is a beautiful season that has incredible produce to help us with our healthy weight gain goals.
As the temperature starts to drop, let’s welcome both the change in season and foods we’ll be eating.
Eating seasonal locally grown food is better for our wallets, environment, farmers and even our gut.
In fact some studies show gut bacteria can increase when we eat a varied diet of healthy whole foods.
And feeding our bodies healthy warming produce this season will do wonders for our well-being.
Here is a look at what goodies autumn will bring.
What Autumn Produce is Available In Australia
Here are just some of the fresh produce we can expect to enjoy.
Fruits:
Autumn fruits include papaya, nectarines, kiwi fruit, bananas, strawberries, rhubarb, persimmon, pomegranate, watermelons, apples, figs, pears, peaches, plums and lemons.
Vegetables:
Root vegetables are plentiful in autumn including sweet potato, turnip, beetroot, potatoes, swedes, parsnips and carrots.
Other vegetables include broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage, sweet corn, cucumber, eggplant, cauliflower, leek, tomatoes and pumpkin.
So now let’s dig into the best part, which is the many meal options on hand for healthy weight gain in the autumn.
Weight Gain Food Ideas
Breakfast
Autumn mornings tend to be quite cool and a hot breakfast is a great way to start the day.
- Porridge
Porridge is made from whole grains, contains fibre and plenty of good nutrients.
Also, Harvard researchers found eating porridge among other whole grains can lower mortality rates.
There are many different types including semolina (cream of wheat), maize meal, oatmeal, millet, barley, rice porridge etc.
Perhaps think about toppings for porridge like ground spices (e.g. cinnamon and nutmeg), honey or maple syrup, nut butters, bananas, seeds, flaked coconut, nuts, berries or other fruits in season.
Importantly, for our weight gain purposes use full cream milk for porridge.
- Warm baked goodies
Just think how lovely it is to start a cold day with your hands wrapped around a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Naturally, on the side would be either some warm freshly made healthy muffins, pancakes, pikelets, crepes or banana bread.
True, some of these may be more lazy weekend brunch foods but you can still whip up something pretty quickly on a week day morning with your trusty kitchen tools.
Or you could bake up some healthy home-made goodies on the weekend or evening, and warm up in the oven for breakfast.
- Bread.
“The best thing since sliced bread!” This is a great expression.
I love bread (and not just sliced bread).But quality bread, not cheap, filled with nasty additives and preservatives “bread.”
Overall, bread is adaptable and great for breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner.
I’m not going to go into the different types of bread. I think that is a journey of discovery you would do well to go on your own.
Your morning toast could include some of these possibilities.
Savoury options:
Baked beans, olives or olive tapenade, smoked salmon, hummus, and canned fish like sardines and tuna.
Certainly eggs are a given here. What are your favourite eggs? Poached, scrambled, hard boiled, fried, omelette, baked? Include some vegetables like mushrooms, spinach or capsicum.
Good quality cheeses including spreadable ones like cottage, cream cheese, feta or harder cheeses like pecorino.
Tomatoes- freshly sliced/ fried/ grilled regular or roasted cherry tomatoes are just some delicious ideas.
Nut butters- The (always popular) peanut butter as well as others like cashew butter, almond, tahini, hazelnut butter, walnut butter etc.
As well, try out several toppings at the same time as well for more calories: e.g.
Avocado on toast with scrambled eggs, or almond butter and banana slices on toast, or even cream cheese with smoked salmon or tomato slices.
Sweet options:
Molasses, honey or maple syrup goes well on toast.
So do sliced seasonal fruits (berries, bananas, avocados, apples) with nut butters on bread.
Finally, what about Greek yogurt or cream cheese with berries drizzled with honey or maple syrup?
Healthy Weight Gain Food Ideas
Lunch And Dinner Options
Autumn healthy weight gain food ideas will always include home-made comfort cooking.
In fact autumn and winter is when your oven and slow cooker really shine.
In general, you need to do a tiny bit of prep work, then pop it in and let it cook.
Slow cooker meals
Slow cookers are great for “set and forget” cooking with very little prep time needed.
Use them for one pot meals, chilli, casseroles and stews.
Slow cookers are also perfect for meat and poultry including budget cuts such as thighs, wings, beef brisket etc. Cheaper cuts of meat cooked this way are soft and full of flavor.
And of course left-over slow cooked meat can be shredded and used in sandwiches, wraps, omelettes, added to salads or meals like noodles or burritos.
Oven meals
Similarly, ovens also take little effort to produce amazing results.
Remember those root vegetables we mentioned?
They are perfect for the oven.
And the simplest of recipes includes adding some olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika or cumin, then leaving them to roast into tasty flavours.
Of course you can enjoy a number of single sheet pan meals including turkey, lamb, chicken, fish or steak, roasting alongside those root vegetables.
It’s win-win. You get a healthy meal with little prep work and cleaning up after.
Also you can use the oven to make one dish meals like pasta bakes, tuna bakes, lasagna and moussaka.
I for one love potatoes roasted in the oven.
They are cheap and tasty and you can use them in so many ways.
For example crunchy garlic roasted potatoes, shepherd’s pie, stuffed baked potatoes or scalloped potatoes.
My mouth waters just thinking about it!
Stovetop Meals
Likewise these meals have different methods including sautéing, frying, boiling, steaming etc.
Everyone knows of mashed potatoes but why not try mashed sweet potatoes or parsnip puree? Or what about a combination of mashed root vegetables?
I also like single pot/pan recipes.
Some examples include fajitas, quiches, stir fries, fried rice, omelettes and bolognaise.
Have a look at other cuisines for more ideas of healthy weight gain meals.
For instance Hungarian goulash, Asian curries or Italian pastas and risottos?
For pastas, try well known favourites such as pasta Alfredo, or pasta with chicken and mushrooms, or meatballs and pesto pasta.
There are also plenty of grains that can be cooked on the stovetop including rice, couscous, buckwheat and quinoa.
Meanwhile those without a slow cooker can use the stovetop for delicious stews and casseroles.
Soups of course are another amazing autumn meal but I’ll go more into that in the winter foods post.
Salads
There is something very comforting about eating warm salads in cool weather.
Roasted mixed vegetables in a salad are perfect for this time of year.
Or how about roasted pumpkin paired with avocado and poached or roasted chicken?
Other options could be a lamb salad with potatoes, warm seafood salads like grilled fish/ prawn salad with roast vegetables, sliced beef /chicken and noodle salads, warm pasta or grain and mixed bean salads.
Certainly don’t forget to include some good quality cheese in your warm salad.
Also add fruit to your salad for some crunch and natural sweetness, such as pomegranates, grapes and apples.
Desserts
To be honest, after a filling meal like the ones mentioned above, I don’t generally feel the need for dessert.
However if you do, why not enjoy the sweet autumn fruit like sliced papaya, strawberry, baked banana or other baked fruit sprinkled with nuts?
I believe a little fruit, cheese and nut platter is a lovely option whatever the weather.
Or how about some stewed fruit like pears, rhubarb or plums with honey and ginger?
Another option could be a slice of healthy home-made banana or pumpkin bread or pie. Enjoy with a hot drink.
And finally, that’s it from me for this post.
I hope you enjoy these autumn healthy weight gain food ideas.