What's today's menu?

MakePeasNotWar
MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
I thought it might be helpful to have a thread where anyone who chooses to can share their daily food intake, so we can get ideas from each other, and new people can get an idea of what ETL looks like in the real world.

I know from the monthly threads that there are different ways of making the program fit individual lifestyles, from simple 1 or 2 ingredient meals to beautiful gourmet style cooking (complete with drool-worthy photos) and everything in between. I know when I started late last year I loved the idea of it, but had no idea how to turn the guidelines into a workable day to day eating plan. Maybe this can help someone who is trying to get started, or just stuck in a rut.

Today's menu for me is:

Breakfast: steel cut oats with ground flaxseeds and 2 pluots

Lunch: leftover "homemade-ish" bean and grain stew (dried bean and whole grain mix + chopped veggie mix + garlic + water)
Leftover cucumber and tomato salad over butter lettuce
Watermelon

Dinner: stir-fried tofu and broccoli with tamari and ground peanuts
Salad with 50/50 mix, carrots, and purple wax beans, with Dr F walnut vinaigrette
Raspberries

Replies

  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    Good idea Peas.

    Breakfast: 1/2 a cantaloupe

    Lunch: BIG salad (romaine, hemp hearts, nooch, pumpkin seeds, a big tomato from the neighbor's garden, grapes, balsamic, fresh ground pepper)

    Dinner: Steamed collard greens tossed with a mix of Bragg's and dijon and a bowl of soup from the freezer stash. It was the Oh She Glows 10 spice veggie soup. Sooooo good.

    I usually use low sodium soy sauce not Bragg's, and I didn't like the Bragg's in the mixture. Waaay too salty.
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    Oops, forgot I also had chickpeas in my lunch salad.
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    Breakfast: chopped mango and plums with walnuts
    Coffee

    Lunch: 50/50 salad with cucumbers, tomato, carrot and walnuts
    Homemade-ish bean and grain soup
    Aprium (apricot plum hybrid -more apricot than a pluot)

    Dinner: Cabbage salad with carrots and mandarin oranges and purple wax beans
    Tofu, carrots and broccoli with curry sauce
    Brown rice
    Raspberries and almonds
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    edited August 2015
    Light day, not a good day at the office.

    B: half a cantaloupe
    L: BIG salad, same as yesterday
    D water sauteed yellow squash, zucchini, carrots and onion, haven't cooked the veggies yet not sure if I will use a little soy sauce or just spices
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    edited August 2015
    The iPhone app is driving me bonkers! Let's try one more time:

    Breakfast: plums and coffee

    Lunch: "southwest" salad with lettuce, spinach, peppers, black beans, corn and avocado
    aprium

    Dinner: scrambled tofu with black beans, quinoa, and enchilada sauce
    baby spinach salad with mangoes and almonds
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    I forgot this yesterday. My days don't change up too much when I'm doing the 6 week plan, but here's yesterday.

    B - lentil soup from the freezer stash
    L - leftover water sauteed veggies, Boston lettuce, lentil soup
    D - the last of the sauteed veggies sprinkled with a tablespoon of flaxseed meal, peach, 1/2 oz. walnuts, 2 slices of sprouted grain toast

    Been avoiding starchy carbs while I'm on the 6 week plan but my calories were really low (under 800) for several days in a row so I ate the toast to bump 'em up a bit

    Today's plan, since I'm here...

    B - half a honeydew melon
    L - BIG salad (spring mix, chickpeas, roasted broccoli and mushrooms, grape tomatoes, nooch, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, balsamic)
    D - split pea soup from the freezer stash, fresh peach and walnuts, might throw in another slice of sprouted grain toast
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    Not 100% ETL, but here is today's plan:

    Breakfast: smoothie with soy protein powder (not ETL), flax seeds, frozen cherries and water

    Lunch: big salad with 50/50 mix, carrots, celery, cucumber, chickpeas, raw sunflower seeds and Dr F walnut vinaigrette
    Bean and whole grain stew
    Steamed broccoli
    Plums

    Dinner:
    Raw carrots, celery, cucumber and red pepper strips with southwest ranch dressing (eat for health recipe)
    Veggie chili with black beans and puréed spinach
    Mango slices
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    Hey Peas, I forgot this yesterday. Here's today:

    B - couple cups of cantaloupe
    L - BIG salad, same as usual but I swapped beans... black beans today
    D - the rest of the leftover roasted broccoli and mushrooms, OSG 10 spice veggie soup from the freezer stash, a peach and some more melon for dessert

  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    B - cantaloupe
    L - same salad as yesterday and some organic kale chips (I don't like kale chips, I really don't, but I keep trying them thinking it will change lol)
    D - lentil soup from the freezer stash, big ol' homegrown tomato sprinkled with some nooch and ground pepper, cantaloupe

    Also had a snack today, first time since I started the 6 week plan, had 2 Lundberg brown rice cakes.
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    Today's menu is:
    Breakfast - Smoothie with soy protein, ground flax, and frozen strawberries
    1/2 whole grain pita with 1 tbsp raw peanut butter
    mango slices

    Lunch - butter lettuce salad with carrots, tomato, cucumber and green beans and Dr F walnut vinaigrette
    Bean and grain stew (hopefully the last of this batch, lol; ready for something different)
    Steamed broccoli

    Dinner - Lentil soup with carrots and celery and onion
    spinach salad with strawberries and sunflower seeds
    Banana "nice" cream (frozen banana plus frozen raspberries and soaked raw cashews processed until smooth.
  • whats_her_name
    whats_her_name Posts: 716 Member
    Breakfast:
    2 bananas and an ounce of raw almonds

    Lunch:
    chopped vegetable salad in a dijon vinaigrette, with green beans
    cooked potato

    Dinner:
    shredded vegetable salad marinated in juice from an orange & a lemon
    sauteed garlic mushrooms and onion - yum!!
  • whats_her_name
    whats_her_name Posts: 716 Member
    Today's menu is:
    Banana "nice" cream (frozen banana plus frozen raspberries and soaked raw cashews processed until smooth.

    mmm! I haven't tried soaked cashews yet - that sounds great! I tried coconut milk last time, and I wasn't really a big fan of that... This is a great idea!!
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    Today's menu is:
    Breakfast - Smoothie with soy protein, ground flax, and frozen strawberries
    1/2 whole grain pita with 1 tbsp raw peanut butter
    mango slices

    Lunch - butter lettuce salad with carrots, tomato, cucumber and green beans and Dr F walnut vinaigrette
    Bean and grain stew (hopefully the last of this batch, lol; ready for something different)
    Steamed broccoli

    Dinner - Lentil soup with carrots and celery and onion
    spinach salad with strawberries and sunflower seeds
    Banana "nice" cream (frozen banana plus frozen raspberries and soaked raw cashews processed until smooth.

    Aaaaand, I burned the stew. I had the lentil soup for lunch (amy's bc I had no time to make from scratch), and I'm going to do pita pockets with black beans and tofu for dinner instead.
    Today's menu is:
    Banana "nice" cream (frozen banana plus frozen raspberries and soaked raw cashews processed until smooth.

    mmm! I haven't tried soaked cashews yet - that sounds great! I tried coconut milk last time, and I wasn't really a big fan of that... This is a great idea!!

    I actually haven't tried it yet either, tonight will be the first time. I saw online that adding some fat from pureed nuts will make it creamier and you can freeze the leftovers without them turning rock hard. I usually don't use anything but bananas and whatever flavours I want to add. I have a ninja blender that has blades all the way up the centre so there is no need to add extra liquid, which is awesome :)
    I'll let you know how it turns out
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    B - cantaloupe
    L - same salad as usual with chickpeas this time
    D - lentil soup, chopped garden fresh tomatoes sprinkled with nooch and ground pepper, the most delightful peach I've had yet this summer and not quite an ounce of walnuts
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    I didn't post yesterday...
    B - cantaloupe
    L - Oh She Glows Red Lentil Kale Soup, couple pieces of cantaloupe
    D - BIG salad (spring mix, chickpeas, garden tomatoes, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, nooch, red onion, made a dressing of balsamic, dijon mustard, onion powder, garlic powder and a tiny bit of water... the dressing was really good. I was getting tired of plain balsamic so I'm going to make a batch of it for the coming week.

    Today:
    B - skipped
    L - southwestern tofu scramble (tofu, red pepper, onion, kale, spices), 2 slices ezekiel bread with less than 1/2 tsp of earth balance, couple bites of cantaloupe
    D - I created my own GBOMBS stew... I'll post the recipe in the monthly thread. Turned out very tasty. Dessert is going to be a bowl of blackberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and a peach.

    Today's menu wasn't quite 100% ETL with the 2nd slice of bread and the earth balance, plus no raw veggies, but I'm okay with it. Back to 100% tomorrow and to finish out my 6 week plan.
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    edited August 2015
    So I skipped the weekend, because it probably would not have set a very good example, lol. Yesterday I had

    B: Strawberry mango smoothie with soy protein and ground flaxseed

    L: low sodium organic lentil vegetable soup with carrot puree and seitan
    watermelon

    D : Oh She Glows Crowd Pleasing Tex Mex Casserole (delicious! I omitted the oil and the vegan cheese but I did add some cashew sauce with nutritional yeast instead)
    raspberries
    cashew milk

    Today's plan:

    B: blackberry mango smoothie with soy protein and ground flaxseed
    banana
    raw almonds

    L: tofu and broccoli stir-fry with tamari and cashew cream
    Butter lettuce salad with carrots, cucumber, celery and Dr F walnut vinaigrette

    D : Leftover Tex-mex casserole
    poached pear with 1 tsp maple syrup and walnuts

    Edited because if you put a colon right after a capital D you get a frowny face emoji, lol. My dinners are actually pretty good.
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    lol Peas, I did the same thing with the D :

    I forgot yesterday. It was the same breakfast and lunch as usual, and dinner was the lentil stew with mushrooms onion and kale that I made. That stuff is soooo good. I am pretty proud of my creation. I had a big bowl of a sliced peach, blackberries and strawberries sprinkled with chia seeds, cinnamon and cardamom with a few walnuts for dessert.

    Today was the same, except dessert was just a peach and a few walnuts. I'm not varying my food a lot, but it's making it easier for me to stick with the 6 week plan to just keep it simple. I don't get tired of salads for lunch so I'm good there.
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    B - cantaloupe

    L - spring mix topped with a big scoop of the lentil stew. This was a mistake. It might have worked with a crisper lettuce but with the spring mix by lunchtime it was just a soggy sad mess. It was edible but not enjoyable.

    D - lentil stew, steamed kale tossed with a little soy sauce and dijon, peach and walnuts
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    B- smoothie with soy protein, flaxseed, and frozen cherries, with 1/4tsp vanilla extract
    Watermelon

    L-cabbage salad with romaine, carrots and radish in chili-lime-hummus dressing
    Grilled tempeh and toasted cashews
    Plums

    D- organic whole wheat pizza with soy cheese, spinach, tomatoes and basil
    Spinach salad with carrots, celery, almonds, cucumber and balsamic vinegar
    Raspberries

  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    Mmmmm... pizza! Nice day Peas.

    B - cantaloupe

    L - big salad (baby romaine, grape tomatoes, hemp hearts, sunflower seeds, nooch, balsamic, 1/2 cup chickpeas)

    D - steamed collard greens, steamed broccoli, sliced garden tomato, 1/4 cup chickpeas, grapefruit, walnuts
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    Today was a repeat of yesterday other than added a fresh peach to lunch. I love leftovers, so easy!
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    B - protein shake with soy, flaxseed, blueberries, mango and cashew milk

    L - Huge spinach salad with pecans and 1/2 POUND of STRAWBERRIES!

    http://lowfatveganchef.com/restaurant-worthy-raw-vegan-strawberry-pecan-spinach-salad/

    D - black bean and sweet potato chill with avocado

    http://minimalistbaker.com/5-ingredient-sweet-potato-black-bean-chili/
    Seeded bread
    raspberries
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    B- smoothie with soy protein, strawberries, cashew milk and flaxseeds

    L- OSG 10 spice vegetable soup
    Hummus, avocado, cucumber and spinach on seeded whole grain bread
    Green grapes

    D- southwestern tofu scramble with black beans and peppers
    OSG strawberry mango guacamole
    Watermelon
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    Back on track day for me...

    B - smoothie with frozen kale, berries, flax and chia seeds and water
    L - BIG salad, my usual of spring mix, grape tomatoes, sunflower seeds, nooch, balsamic
    D - OhSheGlows red lentil kale soup from the freezer stash

    Also had a snack today, big bowl of watermelon, much better than the crackers and such I was indulging in last week.
  • lisabinco
    lisabinco Posts: 1,016 Member
    Breakfast: Coffee and Silk (normally have more than this but am trying to only eat when hungry and I'm just not that hungry this morning)
    Lunch: Vegan stuffed bell peppers cooked in the crockpot (easy-peasy)
    Dinner tonight: Chickpea Avocado Salad from Forks Over Knives cookbook (new recipe to try)

    Maybe a bit of fruit for dessert... peaches are delicious right now.
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    Lisa, I agree about peaches. I can't get enough of them right now!

    B - smoothie with frozen spinach, berries, flax and chia seeds, water
    L - forgot my salad, got a Subway veggie sub (no cheese since I'm vegan, and no dressing, used the balsamic I had in the fridge at work)
    D - the salad I prepared this morning and forgot! Spring mix, grape tomatoes, chickpeas, nooch, sunflower seeds, steamed broccoli, and watermelon for dessert. I like to lightly steam broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and things like that and add to my salads.
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 4,100 Member
    B - smoothie same as yesterday
    L - red lentil and kale soup from OSG cookbook
    D - BIG salad, watermelon for dessert

    Good day!