Help! Looking for meal ideas...vegetarian.

Yikes!!!!  I figured out how to get my mid month report, and it's scaryyyyyyyy.  Reaaalllyyyyyy scary.  I had no idea how much fat I was eating.

Really it's just olive oil mainly for my salads, and sunflower seed oil for light pan frying, oh and peanut butter, I'm vegetarian.  and gosh, well it just doesnt look good!

I would like to point out that I started on Jan 3, it took me about a week to get the calories below 1700.  And the past few days I've got my fiber up to 30 g daily and sodium below 1600 mg daily.

I also work out daily and burn about 400 calories there. 

So mainly I am looking for help planning a few days worth of healthy balanced vegetarian meals to get me started on the right track.

Any ideas?

Original Post by jenpower:

Really it's just olive oil mainly for my salads, and sunflower seed oil for light pan frying, oh and peanut butter, I'm vegetarian.  and gosh, well it just doesnt look good!

You may want to find something else to use for salad dressings other than oil.... I like to use Ponzu sauce with some vinegar and spices (Ponzu sauce is basically soy sauce with lemon juice) ... and you could add in a touch of orange juice or other juice for some more flavor. And I am sure that there are some reasonably healthy organic low-calorie dressings out there that are veg*n, too! That might be one way to cut fats.

As for light pan frying, rather than use oil, could you use a non-stick cooking spray, some vegetable broth, low-calorie marinades or dressings, water, or soy sauce? I really don't use oil to cook in any more ... I usually just use one of the things I mentioned, or even tomato juice!

For vegetarian meals, are you including soups, stews/chilis, stir-fry, other bean dishes, whole grain pastas with veggies?  Do you like things like Boca vegan burgers or Morningstar products? (Some are definitely better than others!) And you can make some great wraps with grilled veggies!

(Are you ovo-lacto vegetarian? That would open up more options .... just let people know so they know what sorts of things to suggest!)

=^..^= MOLLY

Original Post by mollymouser:
As for light pan frying, rather than use oil, could you use a non-stick cooking spray, some vegetable broth, low-calorie marinades or dressings, water, or soy sauce? I really don't use oil to cook in any more ... I usually just use one of the things I mentioned, or even tomato juice!

Original Post by mikelane:

Original Post by mollymouser:
As for light pan frying, rather than use oil, could you use a non-stick cooking spray, some vegetable broth, low-calorie marinades or dressings, water, or soy sauce? I really don't use oil to cook in any more ... I usually just use one of the things I mentioned, or even tomato juice!

You do know that non-stick cooking spray is oil right? :)

Yep, but it's LESS oil mixed with water!  (Of course, some taste better than others ... but that's another thread.!)

=^..^= MOLLY  :)

Hiya, thanks for the great advice Molly.  You know I'm a chef by trade, so you'd think this wouldnt be so hard for me....I thought I was doing great, cutting out alot of fats from recipes and replacing them with other things....just not cutting out quite enough apparently.  I 'll take it up another notch by reducing the amount of sauteeing I do and I'm getting a steamer instead.

About dairy, I occasionally eat organic yogurt, cheese and eggs, but I find that my body does much better without them. Ironically, my nails and hair get nicer when I cut them out.  Huh?  Ya I know, strange but true.  I"ve come to believe that some people can remain somewhat healthy even though they eat animals, dairy and eggs, while others do not.  Personally, I get bloated, constipated, occassionally develop skin rashes, dry hair and brittle nails.  It's not something new, it's been this way my whole life. How did I figure out that it was animal products? 

I used to have eczema my whole life, then years ago I did a vegetable juice detox (made in my home with nothing but organic vegetables) for 2 days, with plenty of lemon water inbetween.  Then to break my fast I ate steamed rice with kale and swiss chard.  I ate like that for a few days..  Then I went back to eating normal except that I cut out: wheat, all meat and animal products, and all sugars, other than those from fruits and vegetables.

What happened?  I lost alot of weight, I WAS FREE OF ECZEMA for the first time in my life, my hair, nails and skin where gorgeous and I was so much more peaceful and happy.

Well, fast forward years later, sugar, wheat and some dairy have found there way back into my life, but no meat and STILL ECZEMA FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Oh btw, what and sugar bloat me too, but there's only so much I'm willing to give up ya know!

I love Trader Joes red curry sauce on veggies but it has some fat in it... about 3 grams for 2 tbs...

So I steam or saute veggies  add curry sauce

serve over brown rice...

MMMMMM

i made chili last night and it's delicicious :)  i'm guessing the portion i have in my tupperware for lunch is 400 calories (and maybe some more for the cheese i threw on it) but since it's jammed with protein it should hold me a nice long while to throw off any snacking.  i brought a small salad to go with it too and i use fat free italian dressing.  (the chili is just 2 types of beans, morninstar meat crumbles, diced tomatoes, celery, onions, corn, salsa, chili powder- fairly quick to make, low fat, and you can add more veggies as you see fit).  i had 2 packets of instant oatmeal and o.j. for breakfast.... this should bring me up to dinner where i'm planning on mashed cauliflower, spinach (yup with some cheese), and probably a veggie burger or chicken.  i've been replacing my carb calories with protein calories and i am definately staying full a lot longer so i'm not eating as much. i was struggling to go from 1700 to 1500 calories without starving and i've been eating this way the past few days and not hungry at all.  last night i had a veggie burger with a side of mixed veggies, broccoli, beans, diced tomatoes... and i had a nice snack of pretzel chips and homemade salsa planned but i wasn't even hungry for it. had a bag of popcorn and called it a night.  i've also got planned for the week some brown rice with a ton of mixed veggies and some edamame and tofu for the protein (probably in a pesto sauce), just going to use half the amount of rice i used to and double the veggies and protein.

 at work i keep a tub of hummus or baba ganough (spelling, i know) and a bag of carrots to snack on or an apple with reduced fat super chunk peanut butter.