Day 11 Two Breakfasts

Menu Log
Breakfast: blueberry muffin and orange scone
Lunch: pancakes and eggs
Supper: beans and rice

Today was the day of breakfasts. Bethany and I had our normal breakfast while the boys slept. On the nights when Brad works till about 4am at Panera he doesn't get up till about noon. Today was one of those days and I was at a loss on what to make for lunch so we had breakfast again. You all know what pancakes look like so no picture. You also know what beans and rice look like but I hate posting without a picture so.....

I'm sure all of you know that beans and rice make a complete protein and I'm always looking for ways to get my much needed protein. Brad brought the bread home from Panera so that was a good addition. I ate 2 bowls and several pieces of bread.
I also had some chai with almond milk later in the evening. Now I am facing the hunger that hits me like a mac truck every night about this time. I'm going to have to do some research on some good filling foods that I can eat before going to bed. If anyone has some ideas for me please help me out. I'M STARVING. Going to go raid the fridge now.

Day 10: Chicken?

Menu Log
Breakfast: Steal cut oats ,cinnamon roll
Lunch: Chicken? wraps
Supper: left over tofu stir fry

The interesting meal of the day is Seven Grain Crispy Tender wraps AKA fake chicken. Brad has tried some of these at work and said they were really good so we got some and made wraps out of them. They don't taste like chicken but they are crispy and have a sort of nutty/potato flavor. I really enjoyed them. Didn't miss the chicken at all. I took a picture of the packaging so if you want to try them you can. The individual pieces are small so I used 2 per wrap. They have 8 or nine to a package so enough for 2 people.

As you can see they look like chicken tenders. I put shaved carrots, cucumbers, and ranch dressing with mine. I'm glad Brad stumbled on to this item. I will be eating them again.

Day 9

Menu Log
Brunch: pancakes and eggs
Supper: Tofu stir fry with rice
Bethany has been sick the past couple of days and slept very poorly last night so I got very few hours of sleep. We slept in and Brad was a saint and fixed us a yummy brunch. I snacked on apples, granola etc. in the afternoon and then fixed a good supper. The picture looks really orange for some reason but it turned out good. I am not a huge fan of tofu and I think it's because I really don't know how to cook with it. I found a website that gave some good tips on cooking tofu so it wasn't soggy. I cut the "firm" tofu into about 1 inch slices and pressed it between a clean cloth on my cutting board.You have to press it firmly enough to squeeze out the extra liquid without breaking it. Then I dry fried it in a nonstick pan on low heat until most of the moisture had cooked out of it and it had a golden brown crust. I made a marinade of soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and garlic, stuck all the tofu and marinade in a bag in the fridge and let it sit for about 30 min. After that it's easy. I made my favorite peanut stir fry sauce that has soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, peanut butter, garlic, and brown sugar for the veggies. I threw the frozen vegetables in the pan, let them steam till they were done, added the peanut sauce and tofu and heated in all through. I like to serve it over rice. I was full after eating but again it didn't stay with me for as long as I would have liked. Such is the life of a nursing mother with a greedy baby.

I know that most vegetarians use tofu as a substitute for meat so I looked up its ingredients and how much protein it has. Here is what I found: it is the "Nasoya" brand but be aware that all tofu is not the same. The nutrition facts will vary.

INGREDIENTS: : Water, Organic Whole Sprouted Soybeans, Calcium Sulfate, Nigari (Sea Water Extract).

I am going to try and find some other tofu recipes to try. Some of you might be interested in the fact that I bought 1 14oz package of organic tofu for 2 dollars. 1 pound of organic ground beef costs roughly $7 per pound.



Day 8

Menu Log:
Breakfast: Yogurt and granola
Lunch: left over spinach lasagna
Supper: Vegetable soup



Today I cooked beef. Not for me but for a family from our church that needed a meal. I made them stew. When I cooked the meat I thought I might really want some but it didn't make me drool like I thought it might. I put all the veggies and bulgur wheat together and braised the meat separately for a while. Then I took out enough for our supper tonight and added the meat to their part. It turned out very tasty without the meat. I think the key to enjoying food is not necessarily the fat. I think the flavor really comes from adding the correct amount of salt, herbs, and spices. I had to try the meat stew to make sure it was seasoned properly but I made sure not to get any beef pieces.

One of the veggies I included in the soup was garbanzo beans. Below you can read about their nutritional benefits from an article I read. The web address is at the end if you are interested in further reading.



Nutritional Data

Garbanzo beans are full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. A 100-g serving of cooked garbanzo beans without salt contains 27.42 g carbohydrates, which helps to create energy; 7.6 g dietary fiber for good heart health and a healthy digestive system; 2.59 g fat; and 8.86 g protein. Garbanzo beans also contain vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin K. Minerals contained in garbanzo beans are calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/314874-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-garbanzo-beans/#ixzz2LVjZptSM

Day 7

Menu Log
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, banana
Lunch: Quinoa salad
Supper: veggie burrito

I didn't get a picture of the burrito because I ate it before I remembered. Today I just ate left overs. Lots of snacking too.
We have survived a week. My meat cravings are almost gone. Still trying to find food that will stay with me longer than 30 minutes after eating. Hopefully, Ill remember to take some pictures so my next blog will have a little more to it.

Day 6

Menu Log
Breakfast: Ezekiel cereal with almond milk
Lunch: butternut squash, carrot, and sage soup
Supper: spinach lasagna and garlic bread

 

The food we ate today seemed to fill me up a bit more. The soup was very good. Brad sautéed all the veggies with onions and garlic and then cooked them down with a little bit of liquid till they could be blended. I also ate a bowl of quinoa salad with it. I was pleasantly full from supper. Maybe it was because the lasagna had ricotta cheese. We couldn't find a substitute so had to use the real thing.

We also enjoyed some hot chocolate with almond milk tonight and it was really good.



 

 



Day 5

Menu Log:
Breakfast: orange scone from Panera & an orange per Bethany's choosing.
Lunch: Cod fish fillet with mixed baby potatoes. I cooked it in a foil pouch with plenty of olive oil, salt, cilantro, and lime.
Supper: quinoa salad and bread.
The salad has red and white quinoa. I sautéed some onions and garlic, roasted a couple of red bell peppers, and opened up a can of corn and black beans. I added some salt, cilantro, olive oil and lime juice. Pretty tasty. This would make a great summer salad.
I had to do a little research on the quinoa. I knew it was a complete protein but wasn't aware that it is gluten free. The article I read said one cup of quinoa had 8 grams of protein as opposed to one egg which has 6. It also has lots of calcium, and iron. There are other good things about it but those are the facts that struck me as most important. I think we will be eating more quinoa in the near future.