Lunch Ideas - Creating Balanced Vegetarian Meals

Dear PT, as othershave mentioned, i switched back to brown rice since last feb. initial days, it was like no good, after eating rice for those many years. But ,i got used to it. I eat waht ever curry made at home along with brown rice, cooked oats, and i love phulkas for my lunch. Some how daliya didnt co operate with my body as i always showed an increase of few gms when ever i had it for lunch. My dinner had never been rice even from my younger age. I can eat rice only for lunch, not for dinner. biological clock is set that way.

I try making patties with couscous and have with my mg bread for BF. its so very full. yes, i occasionally eat rice, when time doesnot permit me to cook separate for me.

 

PT,
What is your current weight and height? From what you have mentioned, you don't seem to be eating enough at all. Also, mostly all you mentioned is carbs. You need to add some protein in there. Do add a yogurt with that lunch. Maybe even a salad(not sure how a soup of 200 cals can be rich in the first place). Btw, try cutting the amount of pasta/roti et al for dinner and add some channa/rajma/sprouts/cheese/dals/yogurt etc to your dinner. Add some salads too if possible.
As long as you eat smart eating out is ok. Try to limit it to once a week. Make it half a dosa if you are even eating a dosa. Try to eat a couple of spoons of chaat from your DHs plate if he orders it and stick to idli if possible. Btw, once every two weeks, as long as you are steadily losing you can eat a good meal outside. I generally track even then because that one meal seems to offset me by a week. These days, I plan my party days ahead of time and workout more on those days. The coming weekend is big for us, starting Friday night until Sunday night we have some party or potluck or get together. Knowing that, I've planned big workout sessions for Friday/sat/mon.
Btw, the ticker has been on since past April. I know it's not much of a loss for that amount of time but it took me a while to figure all the things out. With my first child I lost all the weight without any of this. This second pregnancy weight is definitely making me push my limits.

L

 

Keerthi,
You can increase your dairy consumption and get a good amount of protein that way. Try adding milk to your hot cocoa instead of water. Milk is rich in protein. Can drink a couple of cups a day. You could eat yogurt with lunches/dinner. I buy plain Greek and add fruits to it or I have a bowl of thayir with lunch/dinner. I also eat cottage cheese with fruits along with lunch instead of yogurt. You could try adding cheeses to your lunches/dinner. I eat a salad with my lunch or dinner and I've started adding cheese to it - either crumbled feta or mozarella pearls or shredded cheese mixes. Especially with pasta, I eat a big salad with a bunch of garbanzo beans/cheese etc.
btw, instead of regular idli/dosa you could switch occasionally to high protein ones like adai, kancheepuram idli etc. I recently found an idli recipe with lentils alone.
If you are open to eating beans then channa/rajma/pinto beans/ red chori/ whole masoor/ green moong/ moong/ tur/ channa dal/ masoor are all great as dals or masala curries/gravies. I always eat some chole/rajma or dals with my meals. I even buy the soup mixes (15 beans) and make adai out of it.
I add boiled channa or canned garbanzo to salads too. They taste yummy.
Try quinoa as a carb substitute. Quinoa is a seed that has more protein than the rice and is a complete protein. In the sense that if you eat dals you have to eat rice to ensure you get a complete protein. Dals don't have all the amino acids to make them complete proteins. That's why rice and beans are universal dishes. Quinoa on the other hand, by itself is a complete protein. You don't need to add to it. The amount of protein in quinoa is more than rice but not as much as meats/milk/egg etc. Yet, it is a versatile grain substitute. Along with channa and stir fry it blends into an Indian dish. Along with some salad greens, cheese, garbanzo beans and dressing a versatile and yummy salad. People make pilaf etc out of it. It takes a few days to get used to it but it is worth a try.
Try black beans. They are yummy when made like rajma or the traditional Mexican way! If you are open to eating eggs or egg whites that is a good protein source, right there.

Keep experimenting, you are bound to find things you like and stick to.

 

Laks , we you are discussing abt 15 bean adai, just reminded that i made it yesterday. I soaked the 15 bean mix one cup along with a few tspoons of channa dal and also a cup of brown rice seperately. Morning i ground the brown rice first with soaked chilli , followed by 15 bean and a dash of ginger. Added a lot of onion chopped and salt and made it as adai. yumm yummy... DH said it tasted better than the one we make with white rice.
Also, Kerthi, try including some sprouts in your diet a twice or thrice in your diet. Make sure to have it raw as salad. Because its a thumb of rule that sprouted grams are not to be cooked along with any other vegetable, that i read on a article.