Food.... Food... and Food
I love food. Mostly I like salty food and vegetables.
So today we talk about eating healthy and lose some weight.
Until I was 10 years old, I liked salami, yoghurt and beetroots the most. I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and for diner. But my mum got this fabulous idea to cut our the meat and add some veggies. Not that I liked it a lot, but with some tasty salad dressing it went down. Those dressings, I learned later on although I still like them, are unfortunately filled with salt, sugar and fat.
At my high school period I worked as a kitchen help at the local Greek restaurant and learned how to make some delicious Greek dishes, such as moussaka, tzaziki and stifado. But my favourite was the Greek salad.
And with my latest visit to Santorini, I enjoyed fully of it.
But today, January the 8th I decided that at least 3 days in a week I apply the vegan food diet and in two days of those only fruits and veggies.
I think that the best time to apply such diet are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
In these days, I use Tuesday and Thursday for fruit and veggies only.
Here are some hints also for you.
This week my plan is:
As my fruit veggie day breakfast I decide to have a smoothie made by fruit and vegetables only. Such as Mean Green Smoothie, made of water, frozen berries, banana, kale and dates. The receipt is easily to find under the name of the smoothie.
For a snack, at least two in one day, any kind of fruit will do.
For lunch I make this salad: cucumber, tomato, paprika, onion, green apple and pickled cucumbers. As much as I feel to eat. The dressing is made by gluten free soy sauce/tamari and if I feel like I add some chopped cilantro.
For a diner I plan to make this veggie soup with home made vegetable stock, made of:
1 large onion chopped
2 large carrots chopped
2 large celery stalks, chopped
8 gloves of garlic peeled and smashed
8 spring parsley
I use only the stock to make veggie soup and I eat the vegetables aside.
This is just for one soup but if I double the ingredients (perhaps not the garlic) I have broth for twice. Once I have this stock I can add any vegetable I want, such as broccoli and cauliflower or pumpkin and zucchini. No potato, rice or pasta, because it wouldn't be a veggie fruit day anymore.
Before going to bed, if I'm hungry, I eat one or two bananas.
In the veggie day, at Wednesday, I have whole grain bread for the breakfast with home made vegan mayo with silken tofu to lower the calorie intake by fat and sliced tomato on the top. I like to add to my mayo some garlic, lemon juice and tomato pasta so that it is tastier.
Some fruit for snacks during the day and for lunch I have this great salad I can do at home the day before and take it to the office:
Any kind of small grain, such as whole grain couscous or millet will do. I add some kidney peas, chopped onions, cucumber, tomato, paprika, avocado and I add this dressing: lime and cilantro.
For my vegan day diner I have this macaroni stew made of whole grain macaroni, cauliflower béchamel (check out the receipt at the web, that suits you the best) and kidney beans out of a can, leaked and rinsed.
I cook the macaroni, and mix it with kidney beans. Then I taste them with spices I like the most. I add onion, garlic, paprika, chili, pepper and salt. I pour the béchamel on the top of it and bake it with 180°C about 30 minutes.
If I'm hungry after diner, I eat an apple.
The other fruit veggie day for lunch I have planned to have steamed cauliflower with some sunflower oil and lemon juice, with a salad as a side dish, using the dressing made of soy sauce and lime.
For the diner I bake sliced aubergine, zucchini, tomato, pumpkin, onion and garlic in tomato sauce in the oven for 20-30 minutes. I use origano in this specific dish to give more flavour.
It's a similar to the french dish called ratatouille.
One thing I must remind me over and over again: drink more water.
For the other four days in a week, I'm free to eat what ever I want, but if I want to lose any weight I try to keep it on vegan. Those two vegetable fruit days in a week might make me lose 1 kilo in each week. It would be a real pitty to spoil the results, by eating potato chips, sushi or hamburger the other days.
One of the thing that I don't like in many vegan receipts is the quantity of different kind of ingredients, because I am too lazy to count teaspoons and grams of each specific ingredient. My motto is: no more than 10 ingredients and if possible only five to each meal. I truly believe that my stomach and intestine works better, the less it has to digest. This might work differently to you.
It is really easy to eat vegan. Even for the laziest ones like me. I can cook some whole grain pasta and make a tomato sauce and then add any veggie I just have in my fridge that day.
But sometimes I want to try new receipts and surprise myself.
My kids eat meat and there is no way to brainwash them to eat healthier, so I am forced to cook different dishes to them. And that annoys me a lot. I wish they'd eat healthier at this age, since it makes a difference. First, my skin appears still like any one at younger age. Yes, I have wrinkles and some grey hair, but my skin is still as soft as it used to be. This must be throughout the hydration veggies and fruit gives.
I downloaded some pictures from the web, so that you may see how simple some of those veggie dishes can be.
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| oven baked sweet potatoes By inhabitat |
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| Vegetable pasta soup by Greatist |
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| Rice and beans by Restaurant Business Magazine |
I am not a nutritionist, or a doctor. Just a simple tourist guide with a great love for food in different cultures.
Feel also free to read my other posts about food and travelling. And if you are not up to try this 3 day in a week vegan diet, use the ideas for side dishes.
Any time travelling around; group bookings for hotels and locals services throughout
info@kairos-travel.eu
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