Perfect Meal Plan Followup

Last weekend I whipped up what I'm referring to as the "Perfect Meal Plan", which refers to its lack of cheese (excepting cottage), sugar, butter and egg yolks plus a healthy variety of nutrients and food types.  I mostly followed this meal plan for six days.  (Sometimes you need to eat your child's cheddar bunny crackers.)

The Results

I lost 4 pounds in 5 days.  (I forgot to weigh myself day one.)  I wouldn't say I felt like a million bucks, but I definitely felt more even keel and it was easier to get up in the morning.  Overall I'd call it a success.  I'm definitely going to try it again with a new meal plan next week.  My new goal is to do this 6 days per week for 6 weeks and see where it gets me.  I'm going to spend a little less time focusing on getting every nutrient as high as possible as it just takes too much time.  I'll have to rely on variety from week to week to balance that out.

Meal Plan Review

See original blog post for recipes.  Note that I'm usually a very repetitive eater as meat-eater husband won't eat anything I eat.  I'm used it having the full 4 to 6 serving recipe all to myself, so if I don't mind eating a recipe many days in a row it passes the test for me.


Sunflower-Raisin Oatmeal - The raisins were delicious and I ended up doubling them the last couple days.  I added a lot more sunflower seeds than the original recipe to up the niacin, but it was a bit of an overload.  Overall a tasty meal and very filling.  I did not mind eating it 6 days in a row. 

Janelle's Baked Eggs - I've made this many times before, but never actually measured things so the recipe I posted guessed on ingredients.  It was not nearly as good this week, but I think that is due to two problems.  One, I was using my 9x13 pan for something else so I made this in an 8x8 pan for thicker eggs.  Thinner is definitely better for whatever reason.  Two, I grabbed an Egg Beaters brand egg white carton since I was already at Fred Meyer and they don't carry my normal Lucerine brand.  I new this was a mistake the minute I saw a yellow substance some out instead of the clear egg whites.  Bleh.  I made a second batch halfway through the week following my own instructions and using my normal brand to much better results.


Black Bean and Corn Salad - Yum.  That's all I need to say.

Olive Oil and Herb Biscuits - Good flavor but very dry.  I'd have to find a way to add moisture if I ever made these again.  They did not expand at all and the baked picture below looks almost exactly like the dough.

Zucchini with Quinoa Stuffing - Pretty.  Tasty the first day, but BORING by day 6.  I was so tired of zucchini I kept eating less and less until I wasn't eating any of it at all.  The almonds and sun-dried tomatoes were a great addition, but if your bite didn't have a lot of them it was just...boring.  Not sure I'll make this again.

Roasted Veggies - This was definitely my favorite recipe of the week.  The sweet potatoes were delicious.  I used it as motivation to make it through the boring quinoa. 

Strawberry Peach Popsicle - I couldn't find sugar free coconut in my grocery store so I ended up using light coconut milk instead of regular milk.  They were very tasty, but only the tip of the popsicle was creamy.  The rest was icey.  If I make these again I would probably use full fat coconut milk.  They certainly passed my toddler's taste test as she stole most of them for herself.

Confessions of a Vegetarian Tempeh Hater

Have you looked at vegan websites?  They are full of recipes like "egg-less tofu scramble" and "mock meatloaf."  No wonder people are so turned off by the idea of eating a vegan meal.  If they miss animal products that much, why don't they eat it and stop trying to reproduce it with weird ingredients?  Don't even get me started on tempeh.  What is that creepy looking, disgusting tasting thing?

Wait, aren't you a vegetarian?

Oh, yes, I've been a vegetarian for 17 years now. Lacto-ovo vegetarian with no lard, gelatin or leather if you want to be specific about it.

So you don't eat tofu?

I eat tofu.  I've had my fair share of meatless meat reproductions and some are quite tasty.  I've also had a great deal of disgusting reproductions.  Mostly I'm tired of processed, meatless meat products being the go to protein source.  They seem like food for vegans/vegetarians that don't really want to be vegan/vegetarian.  They are seeking to fill a void caused by lack of meat.  And, frankly, most of them just aren't that appealing.  Just because I'm a vegetarian doesn't mean I want to eat bean curds.

I want more recipes with simple, wholesome ingredients.  Admittedly, there are a lot of vegetarians recipes that don't rely on processed soy products.  I'm trying, however, to cut down on cholesterol and saturated fats in my diet, which means I've been turning more to vegan recipes to cut out cheese, butter, and egg yolks.  The lack of appealing vegan recipes has been very disappointing.  And no, I would like not some soy cheese substitute thank you very much. 

Tag out.  Speaking of substitutes, can I rant for a minute about sugar substitutes?  I want a sugar free recipes, not a recipe with Splenda or Agave or Equal or whatever new thing is on the market.  I don't really trust that fake, chemical, or modified stuff.  Sugar free on a label simply sends up a red flag that they put something weird in my food.  Honey is a nice substitute for processed cane sugar, but it is still sugar.  Ok, tag in.

What is really in those soy substitute products anyway?  Picking a products at random (one that I really enjoy, actually), here are the ingredients for MorningStar Farms "Crumbles."

TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WHEAT GLUTEN, WATER FOR HYDRATION), WATER, CORN OIL, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CHICORY ROOT FIBER (INULIN), YEAST EXTRACT, NATURAL FLAVORS, BLACK MALT POWDER, SALT, SOY SAUCE (WATER, SOYBEANS, SALT, WHEAT), EVAPORATED CANE JUICE CRYSTALS, GARLIC POWDER, ONION POWDER, ONION JUICE CONCENTRATE, SPICES, TOMATO POWDER, CITRIC ACID, NIACINAMIDE, IRON (FERROUS SULFATE), SKIM MILK, EGG WHITES, THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), VITAMIN B12.

Not bad for a processed food, actually.  At least I have heard of most of the ingredients, but alas it contains sugar.

Finding a cheese-free, meat-free, sugar-free recipe is difficult.  I don't have a specific ingredient or recipe in mind and most recipe sites don't give you a "search without" option.  I want a plethora of recipes at my fingertips, which leads me full circle back to my desperate search of vegan websites.  I will deal with my fair share of soy "quoted meats" and tofu.  But if one more website recommends a BBQ seitan or tempeh, I might have to go eat some cheese.

Perfect Meal Plan

I don't want much out of my meal plan.  I just want it to be:

• Vegetarian
• No Sugar Added
• Balanced (50% carbs, 30% fat, 20% protein) 
• Nutritious (variety of vitamins and minerals)
• Quick and Easy to Make
• Low in Saturated Fat (<20g)
• Low in Cholesterol (<300mg)
• Low Calorie (<1600)
• Filling
• Delicious!

You know, perfect.  I can certainly think of a few recipes that I make which fit the bill, but a whole day's meal plan?  That's a tough one.  No added sugar means all sugar and sugar substitutes including agave, honey, splenda, etc.  Low in saturated fat and cholesterol would mean cutting out butter, cheese, and peanut butter for me, but keeping the healthier fats olive oil, coconut, and raw nuts.  I decided cottage cheese is so high in protein that it could get a pass. 

First let me say that finding a recipe that does not include meat, sugar, products with sugar (sneaks into balsamic vinegar for example), butter, or cheese is difficult.  The ones I did find were pretty high in salt and oil.

Second, finding foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol while simultaneously being high in vitamin D and B12 is difficult.  The most common vegetarian sources are egg yolks, cheese, and peanuts.  I eventually gave up on finding the perfect source and concluded that I will need supplements for those items in order to cut down on my cholesterol.

But I eventually did it!  I found a <nearly> perfect meal plan.  I played around with my meal plan using nutritiondata.com.  For fun, here are the statistics. 

4.75 stars for optimum health!  Woohoo!  I'm in optimal range for glycemic index and inflammation factor, and my protein quality is off the charts.  I've never been able to get a nutrient balance score higher than 78, so I'm going to count that as good as it will get for me.  As mentioned before, Vitamin D and B12 were low enough to warrant a supplements.  Niacin was lower than I would like (66% of daily value). The rest were 80% or above, which is right on track considering those percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie diet and I'm aiming for 1,600.

And now that I've bored you with my nerdy numbers, onto the actual recipes!

Breakfast:
Sunflower-Raisin Oatmeal
Follow recipe linked above, but replace cranberries for raisins and use 1 ounce of sunflower seeds.

Janelle's Baked Eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spray 9"x13" baking pan with non-stick spray.  Combine 4 cups shredded mushrooms, 1 large carton of liquid egg whites (~20 egg whites), 1 tablespoon minced garlic (~3 cloves), and 1 tablespoon onion powder.  Pour in pan.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until center is set.  Makes four servings.


Lunch:

Black Bean and Corn Salad 
Follow recipe linked above, but exclude oil.  Add 1 cup cottage cheese as "dressing" and use half the onion.  I'm not a huge raw onion fan.


Olive Oil and Herb Biscuits
Follow recipe linked above, but add 2 cups chopped raw spinach.  Replace white flour with wheat flour.

Dinner:
Zucchini with Quinoa Stuffing
Follow recipe linked above, but replace cannellini beans with soybeans and tomatoes/olive oil with sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil.  Do not use Parmesan.

Roasted Veggies
Toss 1/2 cup chopped broccoli, 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, and 1/2 diced sweet potato with 1 tsp olive oil and 1/4 tsp paprika.  Roast at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until golden on the edge.

Dessert:
Strawberry Peach Popsicle
Follow recipe linked above, but replace coconut milk with 2% milk.

There you have it.  I'm going to make this for next week's meals.  I'll let you know if eating the "perfect" meal plan fulfills the delicious requirement, has me feeling like a million bucks, or has me craving that excluded sugar.