Whilst I have been vegan for 25 years, my husband has only recently made the changed from vegetarian to vegan, hence previous posts including dairy.
It is easy to have all the nutrients we need and my husband, a triathlete, has increased his fitness levels and maintained a healthy weight.
Breakfast was wholemeal toast with Vitalite margarine and Marmite.
Lunch was sausages, burgers, halloumi and vegetables.
Clockwise: Red and sweetheart cabbage sauteed and sprinkled with sesame seed.
Baked halloumi, oven cooked Quorn Vegan Hot and Spicy burgers and Linda McCartney vegan, soya free sausages.
Clockwise: Sauteed new potatoes, lightly sauteed cauliflower couscous (we’ve decided we prefer this raw), wok fried leeks, courgettes, mushrooms and baby plum tomatoes.
Raw cauliflower couscous with very finely chopped leeks, mushrooms, red cabbage and walnuts and the broccoli which I prepped but forgot to use!
Early evening we had banana pancakes with raspberries, blueberries and natural yoghurt…again. It is still a big favourite.
Presentation on the plate isn’t my str
ong point but it all did taste very good. Oven gas 6/7, large flat mushroom on a tray for ten minutes, red peppers placed on the tray and back in the oven for ten minutes. Mushrooms topped with mince (Quorn mince, finely chopped red onion and courgette, baby plum tomatoes half a glass of white wine, salt, pepper, vegetarian worcestershire sauce, marmite cooked earlier) back in the over for ten minutes, topped with cheese and back in the over for ten minutes! Served with boiled cauliflower and broccoli…the trick with this is to pour boiling water over the florets and cook until just tender, a smidge more or very tender, according to your preference.
A little of the weekend’s fare…
Salad, breakfast untouched, breakfast half eaten, ratatouille-esque in the early stages, ratataouille-esque almost cooked.
Breakfast was layered thus: a goodly spoonful of Skyr natural yoghurt, a spoonful of muesli, handful of raspberries, handful of blueberries, topped with a dollop of Onken natural yoghurt.
The ratatouille-esque dish contained red onion, courgette, red cabbage, sweetheart cabbage, red pepper, mushrooms, tinned chopped tomatoes, sea salt, pepper, smoked paprika.
The weekend alcohol count? Three small glasses of Shiraz and one of Sauvignon Blanc.
One mashed banana whisked into two eggs and fried in a little oil, topped with natural yoghurt, blueberries and raspberries…low fat, low calorie, high protein, sensible carbs, natural sweetness, fibre, no gluten. Breakfast is good :o)
Last night, because we finished earlier than usual we decided to go out for dinner and not feel tired! I had the usual paneer tikka with saag bhaji and because it’s actually okay sometimes, I had dessert.
Today I shopped at Tesco. It was a typical food selection.
No water, nuts, seeds or oils this time as I’m well stocked with those.
I also bought an electric “health” grill…a total impulse buy. I’ve had the George Forman ones before and rather liked them. I do grill a lot of vegetables and halloumi so it seemed better than always using the oven or the cooker grill, which makes the kitchen unbearably hot and takes too long to heat up when I fancy a quick grilled veg filled wrap. I bought Tesco’s own brand and checked reviews when I got home and am pleased to say they are excellent.
I shall let you know how much fun we have!
One way to get an extra portion of vegetables in your day is to use cauliflower in devious ways!
Cut a cauliflower in half, remove the main chunk of the stalk, break into florets and blitz it, half at a time, in a food processor till it looks like cous cous.
At the weekend I served it with courgettes, mushrooms, leeks, celery, almonds, all very finely chopped, and some plump dried fruit. It’s great like this and it’s also good with a dressing As the picture shows, I also served it as rice (tossed in oil, spread on a baking sheet and roasted at Gas 6 for 12 minutes) with a Quorn and vegetable curry. This also has the added bonus of keeping carbs sensible.
As the picture also shows, we had a sneaky bag of Lentil Curls from the Co-op…they were my once-a-month crisp alternative. No alcohol at all this weekend and we didn’t miss it.
I enjoy going out for dinner. I like informal and fine dining, the former being a more frequent occurrence for us…actually it’s very frequent! If you’re dining out for the joy of eating then throw caution to the wind and enjoy. If it’s because you’re hungry, had no time to prepare dinner, too tired to prepare dinner then do be aware of what you eat.
We mostly do it because we work long hours and if we nip out to eat we aren’t distracted by work. Thursday evening was one of those occasions. We have three regular haunts (have just discovered a fourth) whose menus we know well and this helps with making a sensible choice.
On Thursday I chose paneer tikka with gobi bhaji. It’s a tandoori cheese dish, with onions and peppers and a side of cauliflower and it’s “sensible carbs”. I rarely choose rice as it’s delicious and the portions are huge and I eat the lot. My husband chose a lamb balti which included a naan bread the size of Wiltshire AND he ordered mushroom rice (one of the most delicious) then realised it was too much food for one meal. As is the case for most of us, when it’s on the table, we eat it. So do beware of over ordering. We find take away portions to be even larger, so again, be wary. I generally order starter portions.
Personally, I prefer quality over quantity.
If I’m going to overload on carbs and calories, then it has to be worth it.
I love pasta and where possible always use wholewheat. A particular favourite is tagliatelle but I have yet to find a wholewheat version of this, so as a low carb alternative I use cabbage. Yes, cabbage! Slice a sweetheart cabbage cross ways (I was using this one to make sauerkraut…a great dairy free probiotic) and this is what you get.
I plunge the cabbage into boiling, lightly salted water for about three minutes.
Last night we had it with a Bolognese sauce made using leeks, mushrooms, Quorn mince, tinned chopped tomatoes, white wine and fresh basil. I seasoned it with pepper, a tiny amount of salt and a goodly dollop of Marmite. Even if you’re a Marmite hater it’s worth using but season cautiously as it is salty.
Yesterday I had a small bowl of muesli with oat milk for breakfast and a few almonds and Brazil nuts throughout the day.
Dinner was a frittata filled with leeks, tomatoes, mushrooms, courgettes and red cabbage, all sliced and stir fried in olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper before placing in a pie dish and covered in six free range eggs. Cooked in the oven Gas 6 for about 25 minutes, sprinkled with cheddar after 15 minutes. Served with a salad of substantial green leaves, so these do count as one of my five a day.
The red cabbage ended up overcooked and pale blue!
This was delicious hot and scrumptious cold the next day.
A brilliant low carb, high protein dish and one of my favourites.
I had the usual two cups of caffeine coffee, three of decaf coffee/tea and
four glasses of water.
Meals, snacks and groceries 