Yesterday I got a bit stuck when looking for a blog post to write. Frustrating because I hate writer’s block. I considered doing a post about what I eat instead of meat but initially decided against it because I am by no means a nutritionist or an overly healthy person, and did not want to provide misleading information. In the space of a couple of hours, three things changed my mind. Firstly, my good friend Helen argued that there is no harm with just putting out there what it is that I eat. Secondly, it is a little irking having to listen to people question what I eat and just presume I munch on leaves all day. Why not put some of my favorite foods in writing for them to read? Thirdly, I love food and really want to incorporate the topic more into my blog. I reckoned it would be a good intro to more regular postings about what I eat, where I eat and the many tried and failed cooking attempts I will battle against along the way.
Right, so what do I eat besides those bland leaves to ensure that I get the protein meat eaters fear us pescetarians/vegetarians/vegans do not get. Well, I still eat fish and that is a really easy way to get required nutrients. A 3-ounce portion of cod, salmon, tuna or trout each provides about 20 grams of protein. I also still consume dairy products because I simply could not live without milk which gives me approximately 8 grams of protein per cup. Eggs have become a staple in my diet and even meat eaters will be aware of how much protein these bad boys offer (up to 6 grams depending on the size of the egg). As they can be prepared in so many different ways and be added to so many meals, it is really quite simple to get much of my protein from eggs. Tofu features often in my diet and is something which I actually liked some time before I choose not to eat meat anymore. It may sound gross to some but don’t laugh at the 48 grams of fat which can be sourced by eating just 100 grams of fat.
So, there is a brief guide to my protein intake in a nutshell. Nuts. Where I also get protein. Get the bad pun there? Now I briefly want to show you what I ate for last night’s dinner. Calamari rings. I have been craving these lately although the thought of eating them actually doesn’t sit very well with me. When this happens, I do what I do best, and mask the not so enticing food item. The last few times I ate the rings they were with chips and were covered in curry sauce. Not healthy at all. I combated my fear though and incorporated them into a relatively healthy dish. The oven baked calamari were placed onto a salad of lettuce, cherry tomato, cucumber, sweet corn and grated carrot. Some plain boiled rice was thrown in as well because it was left over and there is no point in wasting food. I had no dressing though which was a blessing in disguise because I wanted mayonnaise. It’s not very nice to eat a dry salad so I poured some soy sauce and hot chilli sauce over the top and voila, a horrible looking meal which was actually really tasty! Any suggestions on how it could have been better are most welcome!
Joyful Antidotes 