What are you eating?
I couldn't find any posts in the nutrition forum that gave me what I wanted, so I thought I'd start a new one.
I'd like this to be a place for recipes, meal ideas, snack ideas, shakes, etc.
Now that the holidays have passed without TOO much damage, I have opened up a LoseIt account & am calorie counting, with the hopes of getting from 175 down to 160 by May.
After reading Rich's body comp posts, I looked into LoseIT, and like the idea. Staring what you eat in the face. Accountability, much like the whole point of EN forums. I've taken to heart the BAS (BigAssSalad), am focusing on lots of lean meats & fruits/veggies. Very Paleo-esque it seems, though the book is still on order & has not been read yet.
So far, aside from salads & baby carrots with hummus, I enjoy the following:
Oven-baked TJ's atlantic cod. Touch of olive oil, lemons, capers, old bay. Toss in a foil package and bake for 20 mins or so. Yum. I often serve these with some roasted brussels sprouts.
Sauteed veggie/chicken ragout. Saute some mushrooms, green peppers, onions in a touch of olive oil. Once browned to your desire, add a pound of cubed chicken breasts & cook. Once the chicken is almost done, add some low-sodium chicken stock & a few cans of no-salt stewed tomatoes. Let it reduce quite a bit & serve over pasta or just plain in a bowl. Very good. I like it over brown rice penne if I'm looking for a starch.
Sunday dinner > TJ's soyaki (sesame, soy, teryaki) marinated tri-tip steaks. Served with some Israeli couscous & cilantro. Sauteed onions & mushrooms on top. Side of steamed veggies.
While these might not be the perfectly healthy dishes, I'm only on my first week, so it's a transition process so I don't starve or cheat. You could probably cut out alot of the starches/grains I add. I tend to go big on dinner, since I eat like a herbivore all day.
I'd love to make this a monster thread so I can reference it when I'm going shopping & looking for ideas to cook, but that depends on you all.
-Ed
Comments
@ Ed, I wrote quite a few Posts in my blog over the past 8 weeks as I was wrestling with the end of season calorie/eating/drinking balance.
Until your book arrives, you may find some interesting reading there
...this is a summary of my 'Nutrition' topics:
http://www.irondaughterirondad.com/category/nutrition-2
That is our next month to focus on body comp. Not always the same foods but not many recipes either. We buy pre marinnated steaks and chicken. Fish we do our own seasonings sometimes. Otherwise very plain.
Great idea for a thread.
It's pretty boring too, the way I do/don't cook.
Breakfast: smoothie (banana, 2 cups fruit, 100cals of whey protein, 140cals of flax seed, 2 cups water)
Morning snack: apple
Lunch: lean protein, super salad
Afternoon snack: 15-20 baby carrots
Dinner: lean protein, super salad and/or veggies (asparagus, green beans, etc)
During workouts (less than 3 hours): water with a taste of fruit juice
During workouts (bike rides more than 3 hours, if any): 1/2 servings of my Infinit mix (about 135cals/hour)
Post workout (under 2 hours):8oz chocolate soy
Post workout (more than 2 hours): 12oz chocolate soy
I plan on doing this completely thru the entire month of January (with a planned 'cheat' on Jan 22, for a friend's birthday), starting today.
M/W:
-Hour long bike workouts
-either normal push-up challenge sets or p90x workouts (arms/chest or back/shoulders)
T/Th:
-Hour long run at lunch
-hour long masters swim at night
-p90x ab workout + additional core work
Fri:
-rest day
Sa:
-long bike (indoor thru winter)
Su:
-medium to long run
Starting: 207.6lbs, 12.9% BF
Goad: 195ish, sub-10% BF
I love the idea of sharing recipes and menu ideas. Routine is good for me because it keeps me on track, but it is always nice to find a new favorite to add into the mix.
And on that exact point, I'm going to share one of my Go-To favorites. This is a recipe that Penny shared with us all about a year or so ago. I have this at least once a week. It's called the "Big Breakfast Cookie". It's really easy to whip up quickly and I'll even pre-mix the dry ingredients into single serve zip lock baggies so when I want to make it all I have to do is add the applesauce and cook.
Big Breakfast Cookie
Ingredients:
1/3 cup Oatmeal (ready to eat but dry)
1 Tbs Raisins, seedless
1 Tbs White flour, all-purpose, enriched, unbleached
1/3 cup Skim Milk Powder
1/4 cup Applesauce (canned, unsweetened)
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Baking Powder, double-acting
1 Tbs SPLENDA Granular
Cooking Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray cookie sheet with baking spray or cover area to be used with parchment paper.
3. Mix all ingredients together. (It will be thick. Just keep stirring until all the dry ingredients are mixed in with the applesauce and are moist.)
4. Spoon onto baking sheet and flatten out.
5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.
I usually do my workout, mix this up, put it in the toaster oven, and then take my shower. When I'm done getting ready the cookie is ready to eat! Yummmmmm. The above recipe is 286 calories. But I usually add a TBS of walnuts and semi-sweet chocolate chips too and that adds about 60 calories. Oh- and I don't use the Splenda either. I find it tastes great without the extra sugar additive (the chocolate chips probably help!)
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-303--13287-0,00.html
My stand by breakfest that I make on Sunday night for the entire week:
I make a weeks worth of McMuffins. 1 mini-bagel (100 calories), 1 poached egg (70-90 calories), and 1.5 slices of bacon (70-90 calories)
Use this:
http://www.amazon.com/Fox-Run-Non-Stick-Poacher-Fry-Pan/dp/B000I1YE80
and make eggs for the entire week, and I do 1package of baon in the oven. Assemble every morning before work and enjoy.
I also bring 1/2 cub of cottage cheese to round out my morning.
Lunch tends to be veggies and protein (chicken or turkey) in a salad or stir-fry and dinner is the same but I try to have fish several times a week.
Snacks are fruits and nuts. Favorite dessert is some unsweetened applesauce, walnuts and a splash of cinnamon.
I try to do mostly paleo and feel the best when I stick to it, and I also really limit inflammatory foods (nightshades, pork, red meat)!!
Lunch- celery with fresh ground peanut butter, spaghetti squash with home made meat sauce (Beef/chicken mix), or salad (taco, chef, ceasar- all home made)
Dinner- if I am alone- eggplant breaded and baked with some ricotta cheese and marinara sauce or chicken "breaded" with a ground pistachio and spices mix, baked butternut squash, salad or other green veggie.
8oz water
1 scoop GNC Whey Protien powder
1 frozen banana, sometimes a peach
4 strawberries, or substitute blueberries
1 serving Pom juice
1 tbs macca powder
3 big spoonfulls of Activa Light yogurt
Blend it up and drink. Keeps me fueled till about 10:30 am and I can loose/maintain weight versus eating other breakfast foods.
Breakfast: 1c trader joes organic unsweetened applesauce mixed with 1 scoop muscle milk vanilla protein powder
After dinner snack that satisfies my sweet tooth: frozen banana slices + trader joes raw unsalted almond butter + a drizzle of honey.
Not recipies or a daily menu but this is what my kitchen looks like during the season. None of this is staged...just stocked up after a shopping trip last summer. If this looks familiar, I posted it previously in the old forums.
Top half - lots o' fresh fruit, egg whites, whole grain bread, lowfat yogurt, beef, and some tasty toppings for salads.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/TH3_FRB/Triathlete kitchen/IMG_2106.jpg
Bottom shelf - chicken sausages, more fruit, BEER...Young's Double Chocolate Stout is my current favorite but there is also some Guinness and some wheat beer back there. Top drawer is filled with baby spinach and associated salad fixins.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/TH3_FRB/Triathlete kitchen/IMG_2107.jpg
Pantry - Salmon, tuna, raw oats, COFFEE, Fiber One bars, ANPB, Crystal Light, Archer Farms Salt and Pepper chips
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/TH3_FRB/Triathlete kitchen/IMG_2104.jpg
Counter #1 - Fruit, nuts, whey, Perpetuem, Endurolytes, and my trusty blender.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/TH3_FRB/Triathlete kitchen/IMG_2102.jpg
Counter #2 - MORE fruit, acorn squash, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sports bottles, my hard working Foreman Grill, and some tri/cycling mags up on the counter.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/TH3_FRB/Triathlete kitchen/IMG_2103.jpg
Sink after prepping my food to take to work the next day - remains from at least 5 different varieties of fruit.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/TH3_FRB/Triathlete kitchen/IMG_2109.jpg
My fat cat Daisy - she don't eat no stinkin fruit
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/TH3_FRB/Triathlete kitchen/IMG_2108.jpg
10oz frozen fruit (2/3 Dole mixed, 1/3 blueberry)
10oz plain soy milk
1 large banana
Lunch - BP&J on some kind of multi grain (jelly is apple)
Snacks - hard boiled egg, Chobani yogart, 8-10oz grapes
Post workout - 2% milk with Carnation Instant Breakfast.
Lunch today was so yummy I had to share! It was just a spinach salad, but golly it was tasty!
It included:
Onions
Asparagus
Yellow Bell Pepper
Pine Nuts
Sun Dried Tomatos
Portabello Mushroom
I basically just found every vegi I had, stirred it up in the cast iron, and then tossed the hot vegi's into the spinach and tossed to wilt it a bit. Topped the whole thing off with half an avacado and finished off the meal with an apple for dessert. This might just become a new substitute for omlettes. But I need to add some beans to it next time.
Sounds great Nemo.
Did a similar thing for dinner last night, though was eggs & not salad.
Sauteed some garlic, yellow onion, portabella in a touch of olive oil. Once nice & done, threw in a massive amount of fresh spinach, just enough to wilt down. Let that sit & drain while I toasted up a slice of Ezekial bread and fried 2 eggs. Eggs on top of spinach on top of toast. Yumm yumm.
I'm easing my way into getting rid of carbs
-Ed
Breakfast: 2 handfulls of Cheerios before heading down to the pain cave. After the wo, eggs and a bagel. Lunch: Turkey sand., yogurt, carrots. Fruit and the mini kid's Cliff bars for snacks.Dinner is something premade like turkey/spinach loaf or burritos...
I think I lost two pounds just reading this thread. There are some seriously healthy eaters here.
Quick, easy (and satisfying) post-workout snack or midday protein:
Throw a 6-8" skillet on the burner. Once it's good and hot, throw in 1 Tbsp of EV olive oil. Roll the oil around to coat the surface. Sprinkle in 1 tsp of cajun or blackening seasoning. Kill the heat, then throw in a 5-6 oz can of tuna (any variety). Fluff the tuna to heat and coat evenly, then toss in 3-4 oz of peach or mango salsa (if I can't make my own, then I use Stonewall Kitchen Mango Lime Salsa). If you ignore the can from which your protein (i.e. dolphin) originated, you may as well be eating the finest Ahi Tuna any 5 star restaurant has to offer.
Oh man, I am SOOOOO going to try this! Sounds awesome!
Me too!
I've been looking for a good mango salsa too, now all I have to do is track it down locally.
As with all fruit-based concoctions, fresh is best. It's a pain to make, but if you have the time and patience that's the best route. I've found that the Stonewall Kitchen "salsas" are about as good as you're going to get from the packed end of the spectrum. I think that most organic-type markets carry the brand, but probably not all varieties.
To be perfectly honest, it doesn't take a great condiment to dress up canned tuna
http://stephenson.typepad.com/train_with_nellie/food_and_drink/
Its also useful for those of us just looking for healthy options!!
I was thinking about Penny's Black Bean Brownies the other day, and then stumbled upon this Serious Eats article that was discussing Chocolate Chickpea Cake. I have to say, it sounds very weird, but it does look really good, and she gave it the thumbs up. Think I might have to give it a try this weekend. Here's the recipe:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/01/chocolate-garbanzo-bean-cake-recipe.html
EDIT: This cake is good, however, don't put it into the fridge, when it comes out it doesn't taste the same and becomes an almost chalky texture which is pretty gross. But, fresh out the oven they were quite tasty.
Jennifer- you gotta tell me how that turns out! Looks awesome. I make Penny's black bean brownie all the time for company. Even Joe likes it, and he loves serving it to folks and getting them to guess what it's made from.
Last night I made my "what's in the fridge" dinner and since Joe was grilling a steak for himself, I threw a few shrimp and portabello mushroom on the barbi to add to the plate. Yummmmm