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Thursday's Dinner |
Last week's meal plan was based on what I had on hand. I wanted to see how well I would do with trying to have 30 different plant based foods in the week's meals. But, more than 30 plant based foods, I wanted to see if I could get in my 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
This was my July Week 3 Meal Plan:
Brunches: Hot dogs on buns with condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish), scrambled eggs or omelets (compliments of Chicken Little!), waffles with blueberry compote; salad
Dinners: Rice with leftover beef curry, sauteed cabbage curry, and tomato curry (Monday and Tuesday); rice with sauteed okra, leftover beef curry, cabbage, and tomato curry; ground turkey curry patties; leftovers, Yellow rice, salted dried fish, pappadum
Snacks/desserts: Plums, pomegranate, grapes, apples, ice cream, bread pudding (maybe)
And here is how that turned out:
Monday:
Brunch: Hot dog and bun, with condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish - I don't think they count towards plant based points, although they are plant based!); plums = 1 point; 1 serving of fruit
Dinner: Rice, leftover beef curry (7 points), sauteed cabbage curry (1 point), and tomato curry (1 point)' = 9 points; 2 servings of vegetables
Desserts/Snacks: More plums, pomegranate seeds (1 point); 2 more servings of fruit
Daily Total: 11 points for plant based foods; 3 servings of fruits and 2 servings of vegetables (= 5/5 per day)
Tuesday:
Brunch: Same as Monday (hot dog and bun; plums) = 0 points; 1 serving of fruit
Dinner: Same as Tuesday = 0 points; 2 servings of vegetables
Snacks: More plums, pomegranate seeds, a KIND protein bar (list of ingredients include oats, tapioca syrup, soy protein isolate, semi-sweet chocolate, bananas, canola oil, cane sugar, peanut butter and peanuts, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa obviously in small quantities, but, maybe I can claim 0.25 points each for the bolded items? = 1.75 points; 2 servings of fruit
Daily Total: 1.75 points; 3 servings of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables (= 5/5 per day)
Wednesday:
Brunch: Toast with peanut butter and peach jam = 0 points (Does peanut butter count?)
Dinner: Leftover rice, the last of the beef curry, leftover cabbage, leftover tomato curry, and a pappadum; 0 points, 2 servings of vegetables
Snacks: Plums, the last piece of pecan candy that my daughter brought me from her visit to New Orleans (yes, it had pecan halves in it, but, I don't think I should count it! LOL).
Daily Total: 0 points, 2 servings vegetables, 1 serving fruit (=3/5 per day)
Thursday:
Brunch: Tuna salad sandwich, with shredded lettuce = 1 point; 0.5 servings of vegetables
Dinner: Yellow rice (cooked with spices such as whole cloves, cardamom pods, pepper corns, curry leaves, pieces of cinnamon and pandan leaves, turmeric powder = 1.75 points and coconut milk = 1 point), fried dry fish (a salted and dried fish), freshly cooked okra (1 point), leftover tomato curry, leftover cabbage = 3.75 points; 3 servings vegetable
Snacks: Pomegranates, mixed nuts and seeds (pistachio, almonds, sesame, sunflower) = 1 point
Daily Total: 4.75 points; 3.5 servings vegetables, 1 serving fruit (=4.5/5 per day; I didn't count the mixed nuts)
Friday:
Brunch: tuna salad sandwich; tortilla chips;
Dinner: Leftover yellow rice, leftover cabbage, leftover tomato curry, fried dry fish, pappadum (0 points; 2 servings vegetables).
Snacks/ Desserts: Grapes, pistachio ice cream (1 point, 1 serving fruit)
Daily Total: 1 point, 2 servings vegetables, 1 serving fruit (= 3/5 per day)
Saturday:
Brunch: Salad - lettuce, 1 carrot, 1/2 apple, cashews = 3 points; 2 servings veg; 1 serving fruit
Dinner: Leftover Yellow Rice, fried breaded shrimp, cabbage, tomato chutney = 1 serving veg.
Snacks/Desserts: The last of this year's Plums, cereal = 1 fruit
Daily Total: 3 points, 3 serving vegetables, 2 servings fruit (= 5/5 per day)
Sunday:
Brunch: Hot dogs and buns
Dinner: Peanut butter and crackers (power went off before I could cook dinner)
Snacks/Desserts: Spicy dried mango = 1 point; 1 serving fruit
Daily Total: 1 point; 1/5 per day
Plus, 1 point for a cup of tea, which I drink daily.
23.5 points of plant based food for the week, which was just half a point more than what it was the previous week, which isn't bad, I guess. Not ideal, but, it leaves room for improvement.
As for the 5 a day, on three of the days, I met that goal, on one other day, I almost met the goal with 4.5 servings, on two other days, I had 3/5 servings and one day, I only had 1 serving, which was very sad!
My conclusion is, I repeat a lot of the same plant based items during the week, which can't be counted after the first time.
Onwards and upwards, as they say!
Week 4 Meal Plan:
I probably should go grocery shopping this week, but, assuming I don't, this week's meal plan is also based on what I have on hand:
Brunches: Toasted cheese sandwich (Monday), scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes; waffles/pancakes with blueberry compote; salad; uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat)
Dinners: Sauteed chicken with broccoli and microwave baked potato; Rice with dhal, sauteed okra, and hot dogs sauteed with onions and tomatoes (I have to finish that packet of hot dogs!); leftovers.
Snacks/Desserts: Fruit/fruit salad, tuna salad or peanut butter on crackers, protein breakfast bars, apple juice, lemonade
I will keep track of my plant based food points for this week, too, but, the focus is on getting my 5/day.
What do you think?
Your meals sound very good. I love pappadums! I've been keeping track of fruits and vegetables, and this evening dessert (watermelon) got me to 31. I'll try the 5 a day next. I wish you well with that.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie. Well done with your 31 items! That's great!
DeleteI'm thinking of all the nutrients in all your curry ingredients. I'm sure they must be good for you. We get some great nutrients from maple syrup!
ReplyDeleteYes, curry powder is a blend of spices, and I also put additional spices into my curries. I've read that maple syrup has many antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. :)
DeleteI really did like how you counted your fruit and veggie servings. I try to serve double portions of every vegetable I eat to increase my count without having to prepare more veggies than necessary.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. I like the idea of doubling the servings of vegetables. My problem is I don't really like a lot of vegetables and a lot of the vegetables I do like, such as corn and green peas, are considered as "starch" and I must not eat too much of those.
DeleteYou are giving the plant based food challenge a good go and that is good even if you don't quite achieve the target. I'm cooking chicken portions today enough to last three days, salad one day, sweet 'n sour chicken another and curry another depending how hot the day is and I do like yellow rice, your meal looks very tasty.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen. Yes, I'm giving it a try and I can see that I have quite a bit of variety, so, just need to add a few more plant based things to meet the goal. :) I like the idea of cooking chicken in three different ways for the three days. I think I get into a bit of a rut and cook everything the same way!
DeleteI think you're doing pretty well with your goals. They say that you should change your diet gradually if you can to avoid digestive upset. So you're right on target.
ReplyDeleteThank you, June. So far, I've not experienced any digestive issues, but, I do need to eat only very small quantities of certain vegetables, such as bell peppers, as they do cause some discomfort when I eat them. I do, however, need to eat more vegetables.
DeleteWell done with the meal planning and the plant based challenge. You are doing well!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. :)
DeleteI think you're doing very well. If you can just add one or two extra "plant points" a week you'll soon be there! And remember, if curry powder is a blend of 4 spices you've got yourself a point right there. If it's a blend of more spices then extra bonus!! Love FD xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, FD. Yes, I will continue to add more plant points until I reach my goal. The curry powders I use are a blend of several spices (up to 13 for one of them) so, I've been counting that as being worth 3 points. :)
DeleteI think you are doing very well with plant based challenge. I too tried it a week. I tend to eat leftovers quite a lot, and didn't expect to score over 30, but I did. :)
ReplyDeleteWell done with scoring over 30, Nil! I know that you eat a lot of vegetables and fruit; I really need to increase my intake of vegetables! :)
DeleteLots of variety for you last week. You usually do have a nice assortment of food.
ReplyDeleteYes, increase your vegetables! (Do I sound like your daughter now? lol)
Thank you, Debra. Yes, you do sound a bit like my daughter! LOL. But, I don't mind. :) I need to meal plan with more variety of plant foods in mind. And, I need to shift my thinking from, "I don't like vegetables" to, "These are the vegetables I do like" and focus on them. :)
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