Food choices for vegetarian?

[ginger 0]

Help...I am 5 months post op and am also having problems with the right food choices. I am a vegetarian (no beef, pork, chicken, etc.). I do occasionally eat fish.

With that in mind, I need some healthy food choices. I eat alot of salads, but need a change of pace. I find that I am starting to make unhealthy choices, ie. macaroni & cheese, macaroni salad, etc.

I absolutely cannot eat eggs, grits, oatmeal or bread (makes me PB). Pasta goes down fine...but I am not losing as fast as I would like. Approx. 1lb per week.

Anyone else a vegetarian?? If so, what do you eat?

I also am not much of a cook...I'm a grab n go kinda gal :help:

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[JulieNYC 4]

Ginger,

I'm vegetarian and don't cook much either. We sound a lot alike, actually. I didn't eat fish before being banded, but, on the encouragement of my band surgeon, am trying to eat it once a week now. It's a struggle as, to me, fish is meat.

Anyway, I start my day off almost every day with a 1/2 cup cottage cheese. I get the "Friendship" brand that comes "whipped" and it is SO GOOD. It's blended smooth so that there are no curds and it is light and airy. I like it better than yogurt and it is so high in Protein. If it's cold, I might eat it with a cup of Tomato Soup. Starts my day off with only 80 cals, but 16 grams of Protein.< /p>

I also eat the "Health is Wealth" soy chicken patties. I put them in the toaster and eat them with a side of veggies (usually steamed in the microwave). Sometimes I can't even eat a whole patty. They're fabulous nutrition -- again 16 g protein (I think) with only 1.5 g fat and lower carb and cal (110) than the Morningstar brand (150).

Other lunch staples for me are: (1) NutriSystem vegetarian sloppy joe (you can order them without joining the program if you call). These are so tasty and very portable if you're ever traveling and worried about having something band friendly; (2) Mrs. Paul's "healthy select" fish sticks. They're like 170 cals and great protein for 6 sticks and I usually only cook 3 or 4; (3) crab cakes from the deli (the only fish I truly like and crab is fabulous nutrition); (4) Amy's black bean burritos (I eat 1/2 and put a lot of salsa and plain yogurt on it to boost the protein).

I don't usually eat dinner. lunch is my big meal. If I do eat dinner, it's usually a cup of Soup or a SF Jello pudding (put the "dulce de leche" flavor in the freezer and eat it like ice cream -- yum)!

Hope that helps and please share your ideas with us too!

Take care,

[ginger 0]

Julie...we do sound alot alike. Crab is really the only seafood that I really like too. You say you get crab cakes from the deli. I usually get the frozen ones. Are the ones from your deli less calories/fat than the frozen?

My meals usually consist of:

Breakfast:

lite-n-fit yogurt drink or a few crackers with fat free cream cheese

Lunch:

salad with sunflower kernels, macaroni salad or easy mac

Dinner:

another salad or boca lasagna or a pina colada smoothie

Pretty boring huh?

Sometimes on the weekend, if I feel like cooking, I will make my husbands famous recipe: crouton crusted peach talipia or some type of Soup.< /p>

I have trouble with leftovers, reheated in the microwave, so I can't really cook ahead of time, which is why I'm more of a grab-n-go eater.

Thanks for sharing your ideas with me. You've lost so much weight, so what you are doing must be working.

[Wheetsin 714]

With that in mind, I need some healthy food choices. I eat alot of salads, but need a change of pace. I find that I am starting to make unhealthy choices, ie. macaroni & cheese, macaroni salad, etc.

I absolutely cannot eat eggs, grits, oatmeal or bread (makes me PB). Pasta goes down fine...but I am not losing as fast as I would like. Approx. 1lb per week.

Not a veggie, but I don't eat red meat and have had to find some alternatives.

I love tofu! Stirfry it (fantastic with peanut sauce), pan fry it, grill it, sautee it, mmm. I make a really good tofu "egg salad" (IMO!). Boca product of choice, I'm partial to their black bean burgers in particular. Hummus, with or without some crispy bread. Wasa with toppings of choice - priest cheese goes well, as does a little butter, thin cucumber, and a slice or two of Tomato. Meatless chili. How about a crab salad on parmesan crackers? Or crab fondue (granted that's not grab and go, but it's good!). There's always tuna and tuna creations... I like to mix white albacore with white Beans, mayo (light), vinegar, cilantro, red onion and a tiny bit of black pepper. Make a container of it and grab a scoop or two when I need to pack a meal.

[gonnabethin 10]

Not a veggie, but I don't eat red meat and have had to find some alternatives.

I love tofu! Stirfry it (fantastic with peanut sauce), pan fry it, grill it, sautee it, mmm. Tofu egg salad.

I LOVE tofu egg salad!! It is better than real egg salad! The website hungry-girl.com has some great ideas!!!

I like the fage greek yogurt- very creamy not runny. 60cal, 6carb no fat for 5oz

I also like the tofu noodles Shirataki they come in spaghetti and fettucini noodle shapes- 80cal no carbs.

<TABLE borderColor=#ff0000 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=100></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD align=left>House Tofu Shirataki Noodle Shaped Tofu

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[JulieNYC 4]

I'm with gonnabethin -- Fage yogurt is the perfect food. I put it on Mexican instead of sour cream or eat it plan with a splenda mixed in. YUM.

On the crab cakes, the ones from my deli are pretty high fat. They have 360 cals too, but 24 g Protein, so I eat 1/2 along with some veggies. Yummy and a reasonable choice.

Ginger would you please, please share your tilapia recipe! I'm dying to make it! Tilapia is my fish of choice (if I have such a thing). The Applebees weight watchers tilapia is pretty good if you're ever out and in a pinch....

[kyethra 0]

I am not currently a vegetarian, but I was one for nine years. And I don't eat eggs (I just hate them with a passion- no idea why I do, but I do), and I also do not eat any chicken because I do not like chicken. Its a texture thing and I have sensory issues. I actually substitue fish for chicken in some recipes. Or I use fake chicken.

One thing I recommend is getting an issue or two of vegetarian times magazine. I still get it, even as a meat eater, because it has a lot of good healthy recipes in it.

Do you like fruit smoothies? When I make them I add benefiber and sometimes other stuff too like Protein powder. And splenda to sweeten. My husband can't even tell. Because I am lazy I sometimes buy fruit that is pre chopped. I also buy frozen vegetarian stuff. One brand, Amys I think it is, will also have some vegan stuff.

Our grocery store sells these veggie stirfry kits. Really easy since it is all in the bag already and pretty tasty.

I also tend to be a fan of the south beach diet Protein Bars.

Salads are good I think- not necessarily lettice salads but bean saldas and so forth. I have gotten some great recipes for various ones from my veggie times over the years. They are also good to bring to potlucks or to stick in the fridge.

I love seafood- and this includes tuna for me. Its a pretty versatile canned food.

I also like to make stuffed peppers. Only I don't put sausage in mine. I make my mixture with either Beans and corn or with the fake sausage. I prefer the soy sausage to the real stuff. I also throw in some feta.

We have a food sealer. So when I make a meal I usually put extra servings into individual sealed things and those can go in the freezer and stuff.

Tofu really does rock. You can almost sneak it into everything too and not even notice sometimes.

One snack I've discovered are soy crisps. They are healthier then rice cakes and I think they are pretty yummy. Especially with hummus. Only I forget to buy hummus or whatever. But the soy crisps I can just reseal with the food sealer and they last and last whereas the hummus goes bad.

[ginger 0]

Julie...sure, glad to share. We actually got this idea while in Jamaica. I think we copied it pretty well for not having the actual recipe.

Ingredients:

Tilapia fillets

croutons

canned peaches

olive oil

blackening seasoning (optional...but takes away some of the fishy taste)

I don't have measurements or anything, but here it is:

Take thawed talapia fillets and marinate with one can of sliced cling peaches, juice and all. Marinating overnight has best results, but a few hours will do too

Crush croutons to a medium-fine grain (I put in a large ziplock bag and use the botton of a coffee cup or rolling pin to crush)

Remove tilapia from peach marinade

season with:

salt, pepper and a little blackening seasoning

Lightly dip tilapia in olive oil on both sides

Then immediately coat with croutons, pushing them in the fish a little so they don't fall off

Put on flat cookie sheet

Take sliced peaches out of marinade and put a few slices on each fillet

and bake for approx 40 minutes (I like mine well done). Not necessary to turn or flip

Good luck...these are really good. Tell me what you think.