FOOD DIARY
Household: 2 people
Pets: 1 cat, 1 dog
Average Grocery Spend: $400-600 ($100-150/week, bf and I alternate paying)
Usual grocery store: Whole Foods
Dietary restrictions: 1 pescatarian(me), 1 omnivore
Occupation: Research Associate/Lab Manager
Salary: ~$63,000 between one FT and one PT job
April 20th
7am - I’m going in to work today, so after getting dressed and putting on a minimal amount of makeup, I head downstairs. Breakfast is oatmeal with flax milk, protein powder, and topped with appleswith brown sugar and cinnamon that I sautéed yesterday. Cat gets a scoop, dog gets his scoops. I have some coffee (local beans!) and Health Ade grapefruit kombucha. This is my first time trying the grapefruit flavor and it’s pretty good.
12pm: lunchtime! Meal prepped from this weekend. Baked marinated chili lime tofu (basically TJ chili lime seasoning with some liquid aminos) with black beans, corn, lettuce, and salsa. I buy a Diet Coke to treat myself for having to come in to work today ($1.75). While our lab area is pretty isolated and I’m the only one here, the building is connected to the hospital and it spikes my anxiety having to come in and touch doorknobs, use a public restroom, etc.
3:30pm: I have pre workout (Truth brand - vegan) before I do some yoga and abs outside. I’m starving after my workout!
6:30pm: I make a pre-dinner salad because #health. Romaine, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and Italian dressing. BF makes harissa meatballs with Beyond Meat ground “beef”. This has become one of our weekly staple dinners. (He found the recipe on Instagram and now just wings it so I don’t have it lol)
Btw, BF had a BBQ chicken pizza for lunch (yes, that means a whole pizza) and scrambled eggs with mushroom and onion for breakfast.
After we walk the dog, we settle in to watch a movie. I’m still hungry so I snack on some more baked tofu. Later, BF gets a chocolate craving and decides to make us chocolate protein mug cakes. They are...edible. I appreciate the effort.
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April 21st
7:30am: zucchini scrambled eggs, plus strawberries and blackberries for dessert. BF makes a sweet potato banana mash with some leftover baked sweet potatoes. The dog gets to lick the bowl.
This morning we are grocery shopping. Since COVID-19 we have been trying to grocery shop during the weekdays to avoid crowds. We also started going to a grocery store outside of the city which is a little better stocked. We get a big haul and end up with a bill of $180, which includes a few extras like a bottle of wine, a veggie wash refill, and a giant kombucha growler.
9am - Back from the store. I make coffee, then do some work on my laptop.
10:45am: I stop to have a snack. I’m going in to the hospital today to process some samples and probably won’t have time to stop for lunch. I eat my other prepped tofu burrito bowl, even though it feels weird eating “lunch” this early.
2:30pm : Finally finished in the lab! I eat a Luna bar I packed and chug water.
3:30pm: make a snack of avocado toast with Dave’s Killer bread (seriously, killer).
6:45ish: Banza chickpea penne pasta and Gardein meatballs for me, turkey meatballs for BF. I top with some sautéed mushrooms, onions, and pesto, while BF adds a red sauce and mushrooms. Paired with a glass of Schug chardonnay for me (recommended at the store since we can’t go in to browse) and Bakers whiskey for BF. This is a staple low effort dinner in our house. I love the chickpea pasta because it makes pasta slightly more nutritious and > 30g protein!
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April 22nd
7am: Avocado toast with fried egg and egg whites - my regular weekday breakfast. I break my yolk while folding it, so that’s not a great start to the day. Grapefruit kombucha and coffee come upstairs with me to the office. I am notorious for having 2-3 drinks at a time - in the mornings I will have coffee, kombucha, and water with breakfast.
12pm: Smorgasbord lunch! Leftover baked tofu, green and red bell peppers, and half a bagel with cream cheese. It works.
1pm: BF orders a 5lb bag of coffee beans from a local shop, and they drop it off on our porch an hour later! Amazing! We usually pick up a normal-size bag on the weekends as it’s next to our gym.
Dinner: Smoky tempeh tacos with mango salsa - I cook. Discovered this recipe recently and we love it! We try the chocolate mug cake for dessert again - I add stevia this time and some chocolate chips. Better.
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April 23rd
7am: I eat sweet potato banana mash that BF made earlier this week, then head into work.
1pm: My boss orders us lunch from a local Mexican place as a thank you for coming in! It’s pretty good, but unfortunately my favorite place is closed indefinitely.
7pm: BF cooks dinner tonight: barramundi (on sale) with asparagus and air fried gnocchi in a lemon butter sauce. It’s delicious. We normally get salmon for dinner once a week, but I’ve been sick of it lately so we’ve been trying to branch out.
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April 24th
7:30am: I’m not very hungry, so I just have coffee and a banana. I’m working in the lab again this morning so I bring a Luna bar with me.
1pm: finally finished in the lab! Oddly I did not start feeling hungry until we were done. BF picks me up and we stop to pick up brunch from one of our favorite local places! I have a vegan quesadilla and chai pancakes. BF gets his usual breakfast with eggs, sausage, potatoes, and pancakes and a coffee (he paid). I also chug water because I’ve only had ~500ml today since I was in the lab all morning!
Dinner: Tempeh peanut noodles - found this recipe a while ago and it is a regular in our rotation. We only use one serving of ramen noodles and cut it with zoodles to get some more veggies in. Delicious. This is one of the few Asian-inspired recipes that I really like, whereas BF could eat Asian food for every meal, so it’s a crowd pleaser.
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April 25th
8am: Slept in a little today! I have my leftover pancake from yesterday for breakfast and It’s still pretty good. I also have some raspberries and some scrambled eggs that BF makes. B makes breakfast sandwiches with biscuits, Beyond Meat sausage patties, and scrambled eggs. This is his first time trying the sausage patties and they get a stamp of approval.
12:30pm: Leftover Mexican food from lunch the other day, plus some salad, and leftover tempeh from last night’s dinner! Trying to be better about food waste - we’re usually not too bad, but since we’ve been buying more food to eat at home, whenever we eat out everything gets thrown off track.
2pm: Afternoon snack aka bored in the house: some cheese (Gouda, midnight moon) and crackers (Triscuit thins). Also, an apple for health.
4pm: We go to the park to have a social distancing hang with a couple friends. I have 2 Ramona grapefruit wine spritzers that were in the back of our fridge from Mardi Gras. They are very sweet and low alcohol, but refreshing on this beautiful day.
6:30pm: I honestly have a kale Caesar salad (Whole Foods pre-bagged mix - it’s fantastic) and a protein shake for dinner. I am not very hungry, not craving anything, and am so tired of having to decide what’s for dinner.
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April 26th
Up around 7am. Walk the dog, make coffee. Breakfast: half a bagel with vegan cream cheese and everything bagel seasoning. I also have a protein shake: Vega coconut almond powder and flax milk = >30g protein!
Today I meal prep for the week. Marinate tempeh in two different sauces: citrus ginger and smoky maple (from the thug kitchen cookbook). This helps to keep me from getting bored with the same meals for lunch every day. I let the tempeh marinate for about 2-3 hours then bake at 400 for 25 min. I cook quinoa then add kale to the bowls and some shredded carrots. I’ll use leftover marinade as the dressing.
Lunch: Dr. Praeger California veggie burger (I have been eating this for 10 years and it is still my favorite), cheese and crackers
7pm: BF makes tacos with filling made of Quorn grounds with some minced mushrooms, peppers, and onions added in. We usually use TVP but haven’t been able to find it anywhere (at least not for a reasonable price).
8:30pm - we make chocolate chip cookies (store-bought dough) for a snack and watch the final episode of Little Fires Everywhere.
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Hey y’all - tried to get this one in under the wire! Today was a crazy day for me with work. I’ll try to update tomorrow with recipe links (all the tempeh recipes are 🔥) and some notes/reflections.
SO this is very atypical for us compared a normal week outside of isolation. This week I wasn't as good about prepping lunches as normal. Grocery shopping during the week has thrown me off. I'm also so tired of having to decide what to have for every meal every day! We usually eat out for a few meals on weekends and now we are cooking a lot more. We almost always have dinner at home during the week and both meal prep lunches. BF normally cooks but on the days I work from home I find that I typically have a lot more energy and motivation to cook.
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Recipes: sweet potato banana breakfast bowls: https://www.healthy-liv.com/sweet-potato-breakfast-bowl/
smoky tempeh mango tacos: https://www.emilieeats.com/smoky-tempeh-tostadas-mango-cabbage-slaw/
peanut tempeh noodles: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/peanutty-noodles-with-tempeh-crumbles

3 best healthy dinner recipes for family to make:
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1) Family meals: Chicken & veg casserole

Ingredients

knob of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 medium sticks celery, finely chopped
500g approx chicken thighs
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 chicken stock cube
1 red or orange pepper, diced
1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained (optional)

method

1. Hеаt thе buttеr in a large hеаvу-bаѕеd pan. Add thе оniоn, саrrоt and сеlеrу аnd cook gеntlу until ѕоftеnеd.
2. Add the chicken thighѕ, garlic, spices and thуmе. Cооk ѕtirring until thе chicken is ораԛuе.
3. Pour in the tоmаtоеѕ, рluѕ оnе extra саn оf wаtеr оr enough to cover thе сhiсkеn аnd vegetables. Add thе stock and pepper. Bring tо a simmer аnd cook uncovered for 50 mins.
4. If uѕing, аdd the сhiсkреаѕ аnd cook fоr a furthеr fivе minѕ. Serve with riсе. For уоung children, brеаk the сhiсkеn into smaller pieces and ѕеrvе.

Watch this video

2) Chilli con Carne recipe

A 100g роrtiоn оf chilli hаѕ juѕt 101 саlоriеѕ, ѕо аn аvеrаgе serving will оnlу ѕеt уоu bасk around 200 саlоriеѕ. Pеrhарѕ if уоu'rе сооking this fоr thе fаmilу thоugh, leave оut thе red wine!.
This сhilli con carne rесiре is one of our favourite Mеxiсаn diѕhеѕ. It’ѕ grеаt fоr families аnd ѕtudеntѕ аѕ it’s сhеар, ԛuiсk аnd еаѕу tо mаkе аnd comes with a dеliсiоuѕ, ѕрiсу kiсk!
Thiѕ rесiре tаkеѕ 1hr аnd 40 minѕ to mаkе and iѕ well wоrth the wait. Sеrving 4 реорlе, this diѕh iѕ perfect if you’re сооking a fаmilу mеаl оr сооking for friends and fаmilу because it’ѕ niсе and filling – аnd there аrе also multiрlе ѕеrving орtiоnѕ dереnding оn whаt you fancy!
Sеrvе thiѕ сhilli соn саrnе with riсе, оn tор оf tortilla chips or wrарреd in soft tоrtillа wraps. Add guасаmоlе and ѕаlѕа for еvеn more flavour! Hоwеvеr уоu еnjоу your сhilli, this is сlаѕѕiс Mexican diѕh that еvеrуоnе will lоvе! Wе’vе gоt loads mоrе grеаt idеаѕ fоr minсе rесiреѕ here.

Ingredients

2tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1kg (2 1/4lb) lean minced beef
2 glasses red wine
1 400g can red kidney beans
2 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 green pepper, roughly chopped
3tbsp tomato purée
2 red chillies, thinly sliced, or 3-4 tsp dried chilli flakes
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1 stick cinnamon
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 beef stock cube
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Plain yogurt, sour cream or creme fraiche

watch this video

3) Weight Watchers Quorn sausage bake recipe

his family-sized Wеight Watchers Quorn ѕаuѕаgе bаkе сrеаtеd bу WW – the nеw Wеight Watchers, is the реrfесt орtiоn fоr vegetarians. This rесiре ѕеrvеѕ 4 реорlе аnd will tаkе оnlу 40 mins to cook. It’s a real сrоwd рlеаѕеr uѕing lоwеr fаt Quorn ѕаuѕаgеѕ inѕtеаd оf meat ѕаuѕаgеѕ, tinnеd сhорреd tomatoes fоr a riсh tоmаtо ѕаuсе аnd fаt-rеduсеd mature vеgеtаriаn cheese to mаkе it еvеn mоrе guilt-frее.
This sausage bаkе uses ѕраghеtti but уоu can uѕе all diffеrеnt varieties of pasta inсluding реnnе оr bоwѕ – thе сhоiсе iѕ уоurѕ! A роrtiоn оf thiѕ mоuth-wаtеring bаkе works оut at оnlу 10 SmаrtPоintѕ реr ѕеrving.

Ingredients

2tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1kg (2 1/4lb) lean minced beef
2 glasses red wine
1 400g can red kidney beans
2 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 green pepper, roughly chopped
3tbsp tomato purée
2 red chillies, thinly sliced, or 3-4 tsp dried chilli flakes
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1 stick cinnamon
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 beef stock cube
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Plain yogurt, sour cream or creme fraiche.

Watch this video

Hello fellow veg*ns! My boyfriend and I just moved to our first apartment. Before that, we lived on campus and while I did cook there too, it was mostly low-effort meals (think mac and cheese, pizza and simple stir fries). Last week my boyfriend worked late every day, and I had the apartment to myself all day as my exams have just finished and I'm enjoying two weeks of vacation. I only had two things to do: unpack and have dinner on the table by 9pm. So I took advantage of the extra time and new kitchen equipment to experiment with some recipes I had bookmarked over the past year or so. My sweet boyfriend is quite picky with food and painfully honest about my cooking, if he doesn't like it, he starts suggesting right away how I should add this or substitute that. Tough but loving crowd. As the whole week was quite a success, I thought I'd link you guys to these tried and very much approved recipes. Some might look familiar as I've taken a bunch of them off this very subreddit. So here they are:

• Monday: Lentil burgers [e] with green beans and margherita risotto [d]:

This is actually a recipe I've made several times, though this time I changed it up by adding half a cup of left over cream to the risotto. Made it a bit unhealthier, but also even tastier than the original. Obviously I substituted the chicken broth for veggie broth. I also used soy butter instead of regular. For the lentil burgers I used green instead of red lentils, but only because I couldn't find red lentils anywhere in the local supermarkets. Recently I did find some in a Russian store, and next time I make a batch of burger dough (it freezes very well and I always make enough for about 20 burgers) I will try red lentils. The green beans came from a jar and I simply heated them up with a bit of salt.
This one is very calorie-rich and filling btw, not exactly a light meal.

• Tuesday: Mushroom stroganoff [d] with oven fries [v]

According to my boyfriend, the best dish I ever made. And it only took about 20 minutes plus oven time for the fries. I didn't save the recipe for the fries, but it was very simple: cut the potatoes into fries, cover with canola oil and salt, oven-spray a baking dish, and put it all in the oven for 20-30 minutes on 350F. I do not consider my fries to be a success. I attribute the failure to a lack of cooking spray. I couldn't find any in the store and arrogantly thought "Hey, how important can it be, right?". Very important, apparently. Unless you enjoy scraping the fries off your baking dish, you need the spray.

• Wednesday: Burritos! [d] but can be just as easily [v] with potato salad

I now found myself with some leftover sour cream and parsley and I had a can of tomatoes and kidney beans, so I made yummy burritos. This is another recipe I've made often before. Also made home-made tortillas, since they taste a hundred times better than store-bought.
For the tortillas: Take two cups of flour and add two or three tablespoons of canola oil. Add a pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of baking powder. Also some taco seasoning if you feel like it. Add water until you get a firm but still sticky dough. Form balls (about 10) and let the dough rest for a while, 15 minutes to a half hour. Roll out the balls into a very thin tortilla, using lots of flour on your surface and rolling pin. Then throw them into a pancake pan, medium heat, no oil. Turn after you start to see bubbles, about a minute. Fill them while they're still hot or they won't fold well. Put them upside down on a plate so they'll close better.
For the filling: this is so easy, you can just throw pretty much whatever in there. I used a large onion, a can of tomatoes, a can of kidney beans, a small can of sweet corn, two red bell peppers, one yellow bell pepper and a sweet potato. Added some 'mexican seasoning'. I put a tablespoon of sour cream and a tablespoon of grated cheese on the tortilla too.
For the potato salad that's so lazy it's almost embarrassing: I cut the potatoes into cubes, cooked them, added a bit of salt and pepper, mixed in garlic sauce from a jar and threw copious amounts of parsley on top. Alas, I still wasn't able to use all of it.

• Thursday: Spinach-feta-quinoa stuffed mushroom caps [d]

Found a way to use all that leftover parsley. Or so I thought. It turns out the small bunch I bought is actually infinite. I made two layers of filling: first the quinoa, then on top of that the spinach-feta one that's in the link above. I added loads of parsley. For layer one I simply cooked the quinoa in veggie broth with onions and garlic. I served this dish with mixed salad on the side.

• Friday: Cauliflower pasta gratin [v]

This one was not as well-recieved. Turns out my boyfriend doesn't like gratin, and I had no idea. He did say it was very well-made, just not 'his thing'. If you have some sauce left over, you can add some more garlic and use it as hummus.
Saturday we went out to eat, and Sunday we had a simple store-bought pasta with pesto. But I'll add the recipes for this week's Monday's and Tuesday's dinner too, seeing how I'm definitely on a roll.

• Monday: Moroccan chickpea stew [v]

This recipe looked really great, but it seemed to scream for red lentils so I added like two cups of those. For 'greens' I added the spinach I had left over from the mushrooms caps. I loved this stew, but the boyfriend thought it was too chickpea-y. I personally can't get enough of them; I like to eat them right from the jar. But something about the texture turns him off. Unfortunately I was not able to find coconut oil, but this tasted great with olive oil too. Served with long-grain rice as I had run out of brown rice.

• Tuesday: Quorn vol-au-vent [e] [d] with garlic roasted potatoes [v]

The roasted potatoes were amazing. I cut them into smaller chunks than what the recipe suggests though, and for the last ten minutes in the oven I turned it to 'grill' to get that awesome crust.
I'm not sure how familiar the rest of the world is with vol-au-vent. It's very popular here in Europe, the original is basically a stew of chicken and pork, I simply used quorn instead. This is the kind of thing you could serve a real carnivore. I didn't find this one online, I kind of tried to replicate my dad's recipe. I cooked up some broth and added some milk and flour. Then added about 4 cups of sliced button mushrooms, 3 cups of quorn 'chicken' pieces and a cup of quorn 'mince meat'. Threw in the little bit of parsley that was left, and left it all to stew for about 15 minutes. Served it with the roasted potatoes and some cherry tomatoes on the side.
P.S.: I didn't include any [gf] tags as I'm not quite certain about what has gluten and what doesn't. The recipes with flour or pasta in them are a no-no I guess, but I think the moroccan stew is gluten-free?
P.P.S.: Yes, we are crazy about mushrooms.

I'm taking part in a diet and have been doing exceptionally well aside from now... I've moved up to Step 3 in my diet and am now allowed solid food again. Problem is: I can't cook and I am not creative when it comes to recipes; I'm also on a budget.
I've compiled a list of my allowed foods and am hoping someone out there can provide a list of meals I can make (400 Calorie) over the next few weeks, and probably for the rest of my life.
Allowed Foods
Salads
-asparagus -broccoli -cabbage (even pickled) -cauliflower -celery -celeriac -cucumber -Chinese leafy greens (including pak choi & Chinese cabbage) -courgette -fennel -green peppers -leeks -green salad lettuce, lambs lettuce, little gem, rocket, Romaine, -radicchio -kale -marrow -mushrooms -red radishes -spring onions -watercress -spinach
Allowable Evening Meal Carbohydrate Options

• 40g brown or basmati rice, couscous or wholemeal pasta
• 150g sweet potatoe
• 180g baked potatoe
• 200g new potatoes

Allowable Evening Meal Protein Options
-70g soya beans, dried weight -80g red lentils, dried weight -80g chickpeas, dried weight -80g black eye beans, dried weight -96g aduki beans, dried weight -190 tuna steak, fresh -225g chickpeas, canned, drained -245g chicken or turkey breast without skin/fat -250g pre-cooked prawns -260g cottage cheese, plain (less than 5% fat) -330g cottage cheese, plain (less than 2% fat) -260g tinned tuna (in watebrine) -330g white fish fillett, e.g cod, haddock -275g quorn mince,pieces -2 large eggs