My menu list

[joyfulmomof2]

Ok, here goes. This is rather embarrassing. :blush I came up with 28 days worth of menus and wrote them out. I have not written out the recipes for them or the additions to them yet because I realized how much cheese I am relying on to be our protein. So what I would love is for someone(s) to help me tweak this. I do want to become more of a veggie eater and only have meatless menus here, but I know I cannot do without dairy and eggs just yet. I will make sure that I buy 2% milk cheese and lowfat or non fat dairy items, but this whole menu list just looks so fatty. Can you help me make it more varied, imaginiative, less dairyful, make sure the protein is enough for my growing and young family and less fatty? Please go easy on me. I am really new at this. I love California Rolls very much - can ya tell? ;) But I have no idea what the fat content is in them. I am making meals for myself, my 3 year old and I will have a new baby who I will be bfing and he/she may not be able to handle this much dairy either. Ok, here goes: :blush :eek :nails

1. California Rolls
2. Stirfry veggies, tofu and brown rice
3. Mac and cheese
4. Banana Pancakes
5. Egg Tortillas
6. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
7. Potato Soup
8. Spaghetti w/veggies
9. Yogurt, nuts, granola, cheese, veggies
10. California Rolls
11. Veggie Soup
12. Veggie Lasagne
13. Hummus and tortillas
14. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
15. Corn Chowder
16. Bean and Cheese tortillas
17. Smoothies, Guacamole, tortillas and veggies to dip
18. California Rolls
19. Cheese Pizza
20. Cheese dip w/veggies and fruit to dip
21. Cheese and veggie quesadillas
22. Banana Pancakes
23. Egg Tortillas
24. California Rolls
25. Yogurt, granola, nuts, cheese, veggies
26. Cheese Pizza
27. Mac and cheese
28. Noodles, veggies and alfredo sauce

[RealLifeMama]

I am not a vegan nor a vegetarian, but I did notice that you don't have many bean dishes.
Black beans and rice, red beans and rice, veggie chili, and black bean soup are big hits with my 3yo.
HTH!

[Punkie]

I was going to suggest more bean dishes too. Also, if you are having cheese, my dh and I love to do cheese fondue for dinner. We do it after the kids are in bed, since ds is allergic to casein, but it is an excellent meal. You can buy the cheese fondue at the grocery store or health food store and they are usually in the $5-$8 range :) I make my own sourdough for dipping and add a bunch of fruit and veggies :)

OK, now on to other meal ideas:
Baked beans and cornbread
Tacos w/ beans
Fajitas w/ mushrooms in place of meat
Baked ziti
Pinto bean salad
Pasta salad with beans
Peanut spaghetti
Rice and beans
Quiche
Breakfast for dinner (pancakes, eggs, berry french toast, etc)
Veggie chili
Homemade egg rolls (really easy and look pretty - I use broccoli slaw, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and whatever other veggies look good, and saute them until they are a little soft... then roll about a tbsp of that into premade eggroll wrappers and then fry 'em up)
Mexican bowls (black beans, corn, tomato, and you can top it with cheese and bake it if you wish)
Tortilla soup
Pasta with pine nuts and olive oil

...I'm hungry now, lol.

[MaiMama]

I'm in a carnivirous family, :shifty but those all look really good. Like Punkie, I thought about peanuts. On the heartier side, I can give you a recipe for "ground nut stew" (peanut soup) that I learned growing up in Africa. We always have it w/ meat, but it'd be great w/out it, too.

Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/mb/index.php?topic=42492.msg377433#msg377433

[joyfulmomof2]

This is great everyone! Thanks a bunch. I will work on it some more later tonight. :)

[joyfulmomof2]

Ok, sorry I couldn't post more earlier. I have a few questions. First of all, how do I get past the fact that I have an aversion to black beans and red beans. I have recently gotten past the red bean thing when it was in chili, but I don't really like chili all that much, because I am not really fond of ground beef. But would a chili without ground beef just taste too much like red or Kidney beans? I am also working through the garbanzo beans thing. I like hummus alright as long as it isn't drowned in olive oil. I can't stand the smell of olive oil. I will use it to cook with, but I have to hold my breath. Which kind of filters out the pesto thing for me too. :(

And my dh would always make black beans and rice. It was ok except he put so much garlic in it. I know that for most of you, you are probably saying what is wrong with that. Well, I like garlic for it's health benefits and all, but I really can't stand smelling it mixed in with black beans. I don't really like to smell it or tasted if after I have eaten anything. I like it in things, but I really prefer to use garlic powder or garlic salt to season things instead of fresh garlic or minced garlic that you find in the produce department. Uuugh. Will I make it as a vegetarian?

Punkie, I love the baked beans and corn bread idea! That sounds very yummy. And I am ok with refried beans, but not just pinto beans cooked. It may be a texture thing. I don't like a lot of refried beans though and they really have to be smothered with something else - tortilla, salsa, lettuce, some cheese or something. kwim?

Any thoughts about this problem? Is it going to present a problem for me as a vegetarian getting enough protein?

[Punkie]

For chili, we like this recipe: http://vegweb.com/recipes/soup/chili13.shtml
It uses bulgur (cracked wheat - you can buy it in the bulk section at the health food or grocery store) in place of a fake meat. It gives it a nice texture. TVP or other fake ground beef is fine too, but if you're not a fan of ground beef then that's probably not the best choice...

I'm not a big fan of garbonzo beans, but I am finding ways to trick myself into liking them. Last week I made a fake curry chicken salad, using smooshed garbonzo beans in place of the chicken. It was quite good. It takes some getting used to though.

You may want to use more nuts in your recipes until you find bean recipes that you like. There's a lot of good nut recipes out there :)

[joyfulmomof2]

You may want to use more nuts in your recipes until you find bean recipes that you like. There's a lot of good nut recipes out there.

You know, I didn't really think of that before and we love love love nuts. I will keep trying for beans, but I love cashews and rice and soy sauce for instance instead of beans and rice. Does that work?

I have been reading a lot lately about protein combinations not being as important as nutritionists used to think. What do ya know about that?

[Punkie]

I've heard the same about combinations not being that important anymore.

You may like this recipe... there's a typo in it and it should say cashews instead of peanuts :P~ I've been meaning to try it, but haven't yet :O
http://vegweb.com/recipes/pasta/1505.shtml

[joyfulmomof2]

Ok, that is making me very hungry!! :yum :) I bookmarked it! Thanks!

[Punkie]

I haven't made a bad recipe from there yet :)

The other night we had friends over and I made these kabobs (http://vegweb.com/recipes/events/3240.shtml) and dh threw them on the grill. I just omitted the tofu because I'm not a big fan. They were FANTASTIC. All of the carnivores loved them too! *Beware when you click that there's a kind-of bad word in the title ;)

Edited to fix the link :O

[joyfulmomof2]

Ok, sounds good!! I love tofu and so does ds. So I am sure we will love it. I am glad that I pigged out for dinner so that I don't have to be tempted by your recipes this evening. lol

[ArmsOfLove]

combinations of proteins are irrelevant :) They've been discredited and retracted :grin

I like hummus alright as long as it isn't drowned in olive oil. I can't stand the smell of olive oil I don't use olive oil in my hummus :scratch

garbanzo beans
garlic
lemon juice
sesame tahini

that's it :grin

[joyfulmomof2]

combinations of proteins are irrelevant :) They've been discredited and retracted :grin

I like hummus alright as long as it isn't drowned in olive oil. I can't stand the smell of olive oil I don't use olive oil in my hummus :scratch

garbanzo beans
garlic
lemon juice
sesame tahini

that's it :grin


Cool! That sounds so much better! Thanks. Is it just kind of a 'to taste' amount as far as the garlic, lemon juice and tahini?

You know, speaking of tahini, I have been thinking that ds may be reacting a little to peanut butter. Of course it isn't all natural peanut butter, it is whatever my mom is buying right now. She is not into natural stuff. But anyway, that is all he will eat sometimes. Should I try tahini? He is so picky and so am I about nut butters, though I guess that is a seed butter, but I have tried cashew butter before and didn't like it either. Does it just take a while to get used to these new things?

[thomer]

This thread is making me hungry....


You wouldn't mind posting that recipe for California rolls somewhere, would you? :shifty

[joyfulmomof2]

This thread is making me hungry....


You wouldn't mind posting that recipe for California rolls somewhere, would you? :shifty


Well I wouldn't mind at all if I had one! :laughtears I was going to pick them up in the deli which would probaby be way too expensive. So I will try to find one. lol I am still working on the chart and stuff and then I will post that too. :)

[joyfulmomof2]

Ok, here are some recipes that I found for California Rolls:

http://vegweb.com/recipes/appetizers/1773.shtml

http://www.whatscookingamerica.net/Appetizers/CaliforniaRoll.htm

http://japanesefood.about.com/cs/sushirecipe/a/sushi_caliroll.htm

I am not sure that I saw cucumber in all of these, but I like them with cucumber.

[ShangriLewis]

If you have an asian store available look for your nori there, it's usually way cheaper. We love California rolls. I don't use a recipe now. I just mix warm sticky rice with sugar and vinegar (rice or apple) untill it's stickier. I thinly slice everything I can get my hands on and let my dh go at it! Serve with bragg's, pickled ginger and wasabi! Yummy!

[joyfulmomof2]

That sounds awesome!! :)

[PurpleButterfly]

Thank you so much for this thread - exactly what I needed today! I am burned out on the same meals and need to head to the grocery store...

[PurpleButterfly]

Thank you so much for this thread - exactly what I needed today! I am burned out on the same meals and need to head to the grocery store...

[Calm_Chaos]

Thanks for the suggestions. While I'm married, I usually cook for me. My husband is an omni and with our lives/schedules, it's often just easier to fend for ourselves. My husband isn't supposed to have nuts. They get caught in one of his organs after digestion, I guess it's somewhat common, I've heard of others having it, besides my grandpa. It's intersting though, he misses peanuts, but he doesn't seem interested in my all-natural peanut butter. (The last PB I bought I ground at Whole Foods before I bought it. YUM.) I have thought of a peanut sauce for him/us but haven't gotten that far yet.

As I said, thank you. I like to keep my protein up in part for my own health, but also becasue I donate plasma twice a week. Last summer/fall, I was ejected for two weeks because my protein count was low. Oops. I guess they don't have that problem with the omnis, but then, I don't have a problem with my pulse or blood pressure. I digress.

I'm getting into a rut. I have my version of lentil soup at least twice a week. It's good, especially now that I have discovered onion and red pepper tomatoes from Aldi. (Del Monte makes a similar kind, but Aldi is cheaper and I think have ten less calories a serving.) What I do is simple--I boil the beans, then add the canned tomato sauce and tomatoes. l also steam some frozen veggies while boiling the beans. Depending on my mood, I'll toss the veggies in the soup so I just have one bowl or I'll put them in another bowl. Lately, I've been adding taco spices to it as well, but I ran out and haven't replaced it.

I'm rambling, especialy since I lost my train of thought after getting an IM from a freind.

Again, thank you.

Laura

[joyfulmomof2]

Great ideas, Laura!

Welcome to GCM!! :)

[ShangriLewis]

Wow Laura! That's a lot of plasma. With all that "activity" you might consider a protein shake a couple of times a week.

[joyfulmomof2]

Is there a type of protein that I can put in ds's smoothies? He is 3 and refuses to eat anything lately. He was eating somewhat of a variety, but lately - no beans, won't try anything new and I am having a very frustrating time of it. Also is there a link where there are suggestions of what to feed toddlers here? I thought there used to be but I can't seem to locate it.

[PurpleButterfly]

Is there a type of protein that I can put in ds's smoothies? He is 3 and refuses to eat anything lately. He was eating somewhat of a variety, but lately - no beans, won't try anything new and I am having a very frustrating time of it.

Nemo was the same way, but he's slowly coming around to trying new things and more variety again. I think it's very normal, albeit frustrating. :hugheart

Right now we use NatureAde Bavarain Chocolate flavor Total Soy meal replacement powder...basically soy protein powder with extra vitas added. He helps me make it, which I think adds to the appeal, and we whip it in the blender along with a banana, sometimes a scoop of almond or peanut butter, rice/almond/hazelnut/soy milk (whichever he chooses), and a few ice cubes to give it a milkshake consistancy. :yum :yum It's an all-natural product, but it is not organic, so I'm still looking.

We've also used Spirulina, but it's pretty pricey and not always the most palatable, and Kashi GoLean is decent, too. We did Spirulina Jr. for a long time but then I realized it was just basic soy protein powder packaged in smaller and much more expensive containers. Most hfs have individual packets of Spirulina that you can try out for just a few dollars. We get the NatureAde in the "healthy" section of our grocery store. :)

[joyfulmomof2]

Cool! Thanks, Kym! :) I will look for something.

[ShangriLewis]

http://www.vegsource.com/parent/growing_vegans.htm

I like Nutiva hemp, but it can be too strong for little ones. It does change color, but you could put it in a chocolate peanut butter shake with no problem!