Meal plans

[Holly78]

Breakfast: cereal with soya milk and fruit or toast with yeast extract/peanut butter.

Lunch: Ryvita/pitta bread with houmous and salad, fruit, cereal bar/soya yoghurt

Dinner: chilli, stir fry, curry etc...basically something wholegrain-like with vegetables and beans/pulses.

Plus chocolate - lots of it!!! Is anyone else addicted to Waitrose's dark chocolate fruit and nut?!

[Snuskhummer]

I usually eat breakfast at 11.30 AM, since school starts at 12.30. It's always the same: A LOT of oatmeal with soymilk and cinnamon, with a few dried apricots. I eat lunch about 3.30, often burgers with bread and vegetables. Then I eat dinner with my family, pasta and beans is a favourite. Sometimes when I'm too tired to cook I eat oatmeal for dinner too. I like oatmeal... Before I go to bed I eat a sandwich and fruit. I'm not sure if this is enough for me, but at least I'm never hungry

[JC]

I have fruit and/or yogurt for breakfast. Then lunch and dinner will be either soya burger and salad, or soup and ryvita, or pasta and salad. Snacks are fruit, soya desserts and miso soup. (Although i agree with you Snuskhummer, Oatmeal IS good. Next time i go to the bio shop, i might get me some)

[HotSquirrel]

Brekkie: Cereal like museli, porridge, barley flakes etc, dried fruit, nuts and seeds

Lunch: Sandwich: has to be thick bread with a mega filling filling like tofu, grilled tempeh, tahini etc with veg

Tea: Fruit

Evening meal: Proper main meal with carbs, protein and veg e.g. banger
& mash with veg, cottage pie, spag bog, curry & rice, jacket spud & mixed beans

Nibbles: usually like chocolate but sometimes yoghurt, Japanese crackers, salted nuts, wine

I vary what I eat as much as poss but basically it's cereal, sandwich, fruit, main meal and nibbles every day.

[xwitchymagicx]

Recently I've tried eating more legumes and more calcium products! This is on a good day though, i.e. about 90% of the time!

Breakfast

Gluten Free Porridge w/ nuts, seeds, linseeds, soya milk
Yoghurt

OR

Gluten Free toast with pure spread and tofu scramble with mushrooms/onion
Yoghurt

OR

Yoghurt
Fruit

Lunch/Dinner

Stir Fry w/ Gluten Free pasta, quinoa, hemp seeds, variety of vegetables, butterbeans

OR

Spag Bol/Chili

OR

Salad w/ added seeds/hemp seeds

OR

Soup w/ added legumes

Snacks

Glass of soya milk
Yoghurt
Fruit
Nuts

Plus my multi-vitamin which has vitam D, B12 etc in...!

[LittleRedApple]

Hey everyone!

I've been vegan a little over a month now. But I still have one big problem...

I find myself eating a lot of bread and pasta because it is the only thing that really satisfies me and makes me feel like I ate a meal.

Which is why I have really big problems planning meals. Breakfast I always have a bowl of cereal with soy milk (not really a big breakfast person) but lunch and dinner is where I hit a bump.

I buy all these veggies from the store....bok choy, leeks, lettuce, celerey, eggplants, ect ect. But I never know what to do with them! I google recipes all the time but then I read it and go "meh..."

Does anyone have some good advice for me? I just really wish I knew how to put together a good meal!

[Spud Addict]

How about using recipes that you're familiar with and just changing them to use the ingredients you have rather than what the traditional ingredients might be?

For example if you were to make a casserole or stew, and add whatever you have in the house at the time?

Or how about trying this site?

[RubyDuby]

Once you prepare the new recipes for the first time they won't seem so much like work, I've noticed.

[emmapresley]

also you knbow..when you've worked out what kind of stuff you like to make and that...cook up loads of it, portion up and freeze it then you already got stuff ready to defrostand eat..decreasing your what-do-i-make stress levels :smile:

[xrodolfox]

I ate pasta about 10 times a week when I first went vegan. Then I discovered Chinese food, Mexican, Indian, and Falafel (Middle Eastern). I went to restaurants, found what I liked, and figured out how to make it at home with experimentation (those were messy times), and a sense of adventure.

If you find what you like, you can figure out how to make it later. First, find out what you like. With all the vegan options now, it is easy to figure out how to make it.

[LittleRedApple]

thanks everyone. And thank you Spud addict for that link!

[harpy]

also you knbow..when you've worked out what kind of stuff you like to make and that...cook up loads of it, portion up and freeze it then you already got stuff ready to defrostand eat..decreasing your what-do-i-make stress levels :smile:

I was thinking that but I seem to recommend it in every thread and it makes me sound a slob Even if you don't freeze it there are some things that you can make that will do you for several meals, such as soups and stews. You can present them differently and add things so it doesn't get too boring.

[RubyDuby]

Big pans of enchiladas, vegan mac and cheese, and "meet" loaves usually last me 2-3 days. I love having leftovers! I don't like freezing, because things go into the freezer and never come back out... but that's probably just me.

[Back-Space]

I was wondering if anyone had a vegan meal plan that would give me all of the essential vitamins and nutrients. I've been looking online for foods high in calcium, iron, and protein. I know I'm still missing a lot of things, and that I'm not getting the recommended calcium intake. Any ideas?

[Kimberlily1983]

I get my calcium from: fortified Silk and other soy milks, tofu, almonds, almond butter, navy beans and other beans, greens (such as bok choy, broccoli, kale, and collards), sesame seeds and tahini, meat substitutes, blackstrap molasses (one tablespoon has 10% of my daily needs!), to name the things I can think of right now. Some people take the appropriate amount of tablespoons of blackstrap molasses to bring their intake to recommended levels. For instance, if you add up your total and you've only gotten 700 mg, you could take 3 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses to bring you to 1000 mg of calcium.

If you can find calcium fortified orange juice that doesn't contain (animal-derived) vitamin D3 in it, that would be an awesome source as well. I've had no luck yet with this... (I think we've already discussed this, haha - unless I'm misremembering and it was someone else.)

[harpy]

Hiya -

The UK Vegan Society has information about how to get nutrients such as calcium and iron e.g. http://www.vegansociety.com/lifestyl...n/calcium.aspx I think they have one on protein too but it's less likely that you're not getting enough of that unless you're eating a very odd diet!

You could also have a look at this meal plan from the UK Vegetarian Society. It isn't 100% vegan but I think it gives vegan alternatives for everything that isn't vegan

http://www.vegsoc.org/vhealthy/mealplan.html

I think the Vegetarian Resource Group site is worth a look too - they have some vegan menus here http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2003iss...ssue1quick.htm

[Back-Space]

I get my calcium from: fortified Silk and other soy milks, tofu, almonds, almond butter, navy beans and other beans, greens (such as bok choy, broccoli, kale, and collards), sesame seeds and tahini, meat substitutes, blackstrap molasses (one tablespoon has 10% of my daily needs!), to name the things I can think of right now. Some people take the appropriate amount of tablespoons of blackstrap molasses to bring their intake to recommended levels. For instance, if you add up your total and you've only gotten 700 mg, you could take 3 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses to bring you to 1000 mg of calcium.

If you can find calcium fortified orange juice that doesn't contain (animal-derived) vitamin D3 in it, that would be an awesome source as well. I've had no luck yet with this... (I think we've already discussed this, haha - unless I'm misremembering and it was someone else.)

Yeah... I was so happy when I found that orange juice. They just had to add that one ingredient... I was drinking soy milk, but I've heard some bad things about that as well, so I almost always just drink water I'll have to hit the grocery store tomorrow and see if I can find some sort of fruit juice enriched with calcium. Some of that almond butter sounds good too if we carry it around here

Hiya -

The UK Vegan Society has information about how to get nutrients such as calcium and iron e.g. http://www.vegansociety.com/lifestyl...n/calcium.aspx I think they have one on protein too but it's less likely that you're not getting enough of that unless you're eating a very odd diet!

You could also have a look at this meal plan from the UK Vegetarian Society. It isn't 100% vegan but I think it gives vegan alternatives for everything that isn't vegan

http://www.vegsoc.org/vhealthy/mealplan.html

I think the Vegetarian Resource Group site is worth a look too - they have some vegan menus here http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2003iss...ssue1quick.htm

The protein was the easiest thing to find The iron was next, but I've got that all figured out. It seems everything I eat is 2% calcium here, 6% there. Bringing me to a total of about 60-80% over the day That Vegan society link is amazing. I've never even been on there before. I like the vegetarian resource one too. Simple meal ideas for people who don't want to spend a lot of time making them

[Mer7cer7]

Hi,

I'm new to being a vegan. I'm wondering if what I'm eating will get all the nutrients I need. This is basically what I eat everyday.

Supplements:
Omega-3 from algae (still waiting for it to come in the mail)
Vitamin D 2,000 IU
Vitamin B12 500mcg (sub-lingual)

Breakfast:
Oatmeal (about 1 cup)
peanut butter
flaxseed
banana
iodized salt
May or may not have the following (but I usually have most of it in there):
Cocoa powder
cinnamon
palm coconut sugar
wheat germ
coconut milk
strawberries, dried cranberries, raisins, raspberries, or blackberries


Snack:
Mixed nuts

Lunch:
Salad a 8 cup container (not compacted of course) with the following more or less:
Mixed greens, kale, or spinach
carrots
celery
beets
red bell pepper
red onion
broccoli
red cabbage
tomatoes
walnuts
sunflower seeds
chia seeds

Snack:
Mixed Nuts

Dinner:
1 cup of black beans, pinto beans, or lentils (usually red)
1 cup of brown rice or quinoa
iodized salt
Sometimes half an avocado with it
Spices (again May or may not have)
garlic
oregano
parsley
pumpkin spice
paprika
cayenne pepper
turmeric
mustard seed
ginger

Snack:
A piece of fruit (usually an apple)
A large glass of hibiscus tea

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Cupid Stunt]

Well, in no way pretending to be a nutritionist, I can't see anything I recognise as missing in there.

Welcome to the forum!

[Blueberries]

Looks grand to me. You're very organised, much more than I am!

[deniselynn]

Looks good, for me I'd increase the fruit.

[Korn]

Vitamin D 2,000 IU
Vitamin B12 500mcg (sub-lingual)

Hi, and welcome!
I can't say anything about your general meal plan, but are you sure you need to take a vit. D supplement where you live - at this time of the year?
And - I'd certainly stay away from such high B12 amounts, unless you are in a process of treating a B12 deficiency. Nobody needs that much B12 every day unless its part of some therapy.