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Balanced diet

Discussion in 'Indian Diet & Nutrition' started by MaliniHari, Dec 3, 2013.

  1. MaliniHari

    MaliniHari Gold IL'ite

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    Friends, I am planning to bring balanced diet in my food I cook. Please suggest me some good ideas - for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would like to make sure that enough proteins, vitamins are consumed. My DH takes lot of junk and I am worried. I would prefer more of veg.

    At present I cook in this pattern.

    1. Bkfst : cereals /oats
    2. Lunch: Rice - one gravy and one fry (kuzhambu and porial as in tamil)
    3. Dinner: Chapathi and one veg sabzi
    4. I take non veg occasionally as I prefer more of veg. once in a week I take fish or chicken.

    so this bkfst, lunch and dinner pattern would give enough nutrition to the body per day? I take some juice everyday as well.
     
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  2. Rith

    Rith IL Hall of Fame

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    Same pinch. I am following the same..but to add with I take ginger tea in the morning and evening. And dinner before 8 PM
     
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  3. MaliniHari

    MaliniHari Gold IL'ite

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    Great to know that! Lets wait and see what others say.
     
  4. Marun

    Marun Platinum IL'ite

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    Hi Malini,

    You didn't mention the quantity. So can't get clear idea.

    One suggestion from my side is have more quantity in the mornings which is good and no harm.

    Dont drink water before and after 30 mins of meal as it helps in digestion. If you drink water post meal immediately, the acid gets diluted and the digestion may not be proper. One among the reason why fats stay in body!

    Always have mild hot water.

    See to that you sweat at least once in a day through any physical activity that you would love to do. This way body releases good amount of toxins.

    Reduce rice in the afternoon a bit and add fruits as you wish. Carrot salad will help in glowing skin, Apple, dark grapes ( Rich in Anti-Oxidants), Papaya ( Good for eyes), Citrus fruit, water melon and dates/nuts. Have one each day in a week.

    Hope this helps!
     
  5. MaliniHari

    MaliniHari Gold IL'ite

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    Thank you for the valuable info.
     
  6. vibha_81

    vibha_81 Gold IL'ite

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    Hi MaliniHari,

    Its great that you want to move to a balanced diet. My DH also eats lot of junk and skips dinner. I nag a lot to get him off his habit and hide all the junk:)
    If you can manage to do it i would suggest the following:

    breakfast: cereals are processed food and rarely good for us. Choose a very good basic cereal(no added sugar ones) for your busy days but for the rest try indian breakfast items. Idli, poha, sandwich(w/o cheese), dosa(made with 15 beans;add beans:rice = 3:1), upma etc. In most of these you can add veggies(get frozen peas and carrots and add them to idlis also). oats with fruits and dry fruits is also a good option.

    Lunch: There are other grains available here like Quinoa, millet, buckwheat etc. Though the calories are almost same as rice they have more fiber and protein. Have rice once/twice a week if unavoidable. boiled curries are a must, dal, sambhar, rasam are preferable. fried curries are to be done with very little oil (ladies finger). use lots of curry and dal with less grains. Try whole grain pasta with less pasta and lot of vegetables. Make bean based curries. They have a lot of protein and are pretty filling(chickpeas, kidney beans, black eyed beans etc)

    Dinner: sounds fine. Make chapathi with very little or no oil.

    snacks:
    1. Fresh fruits are more preferable to juice. Avoid juice if possible(the sugar in the juice is easier to get into the blood than the sugar in fruits) better option is smoothies. add curd for density. to directly have fruits, add greek curd(greek curd has more protein but less calcium compared to non fat curd; so alternatively use both) to these fruits and a few nuts(10 pista/badam/pecans/walnuts). fat + sugar is a good combination.
    2. no fried items for junk. try baking stuff instead. You can bake almost all indian savoury items(chips, samosas, chakli etc) and store them in a air tight container. Use canola oil spray. use very little oil while making the the items. Do not use maida to make these stuff. two of my fav recipes below:
    Green Kitchen Stories » Herb & Pistachio Falafel
    The Italian Dish - Posts - Homemade Beet*Chips
    3. you can make protein bars/trail mixes at home.instead of oats you can use puffed grains as a base for low calories. these can also e stored for days
    4. make murmura mixture with puffed grains or brown rice flakes.stored for days.
    5. baked chickpeas with fruits
    6. make multi grain crackers
    7. rice cakes are available in organic food section(low calories). see if you get a multi grain one. get some dark chocolate(with high % of cocoa), melt it on the stove and dip the cakes in the mixture or drip the mixture on the cakes(add nuts if you want) and store it in fridge. This is for chocolate fans to be done occasionally.
    8. Make raagi puttu(my fav now-a-days) with 1 tablespoon honey per person. Do not use cashews but use other nuts.
    9. Use canola or olive oil for cooking. Do not use vegetable/corn/peanut oil. Use very less peanuts too.

    My DH eats whatever is available. so make sure you keep out a portion of the snacks out daily readily accessible or pack some of it for his office. Eat every 3 hours if possible. Maximum 2 teas or 1 coffee acceptable. use brown sugar instead of white sugar and honey instead of brown sugar wherever you can(honey is not at all low calorie but since it is much sweeter you would eat less of it).
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2013
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  7. MaliniHari

    MaliniHari Gold IL'ite

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    wow! thanks Vibha.. Thats wonderful! Very very useful info. I'm gonna follow this for sure.

    Eve you can try soups too. I often make veg corn soup and carrot soup. That kinda avoids junk.
     
  8. vibha_81

    vibha_81 Gold IL'ite

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    You are welcome MaliniHari. can you give me the recipe for carrot soup...sounds interesting...how much ever meals I put on the table, my DH has to have snacks as soon as he comes home...better to put it on the table than leave him to explore the kitchen to find goodies:)
     
  9. MaliniHari

    MaliniHari Gold IL'ite

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    Thanks Vibha.

    Here you go.

    Peel carrots, tomatoes, onion- 1, garlic-1.
    Cooke them in a pressure cooker ( you may microwave too).
    Now, once cooked - you may peel the skin of tomatoes or you can leave it as such. (I do not mind, so I leave it).
    Make them into a paste.
    In a pan, add some butter and cumin powder
    Add this puree
    Stir for a minute.
    Usually this is thick, but if you like, you can add corn starch and make it more thick. (I add it because I really love the flavour of corn starch).
    Add a pich of pepper powder and salt.
    Garnish with cilantro.
    You may as well serve with some bread crumbs.


    Note: I have not added the quantity. The number of carrots and tomatoes constitute the puree. I usually add a lengthy carrot and a big tomato. We are just two in the family.

    Hope you like it. I take a lot of soups.
     
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  10. vibha_81

    vibha_81 Gold IL'ite

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    Will try this and see how it goes...my recipe following sometimes is good sometimes bad:)..My BIL has a juicer which cooks also...had an awesome soup at their place:)

    soups are a good option for a light dinner and a good way to get those vegetables in..I take in enough fruits but sometimes less veggies and this would be a good way to get it!!
     

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