Comment author:pthalo
27 June 2011 12:41:44AM
3 points
[-]
I don't eat enough vegetables or protein.
1) Vegetables and meat are expensive and are generally not in my budget.
2) I don't like the way I feel after eating meat. I find my thoughts are slower and my stomach feels slightly queasy.
3) Beans take forever to cook. Even if I soak them overnight. Canned beans are expensive.
4) When I buy food, I tend to try to eat as little of it as possible to make it last longer. When I do this with vegetables, they go off and have to be thrown away. But it's so hard to make myself eat now when I could eat later. I know that I'll be hungry a few hours after I eat, so longer I go, the longer it'll be till I get hungry again.
5) Some fruits and vegetables give me bad heart burn. Others don't taste very good.
6) I'm probably not saving all that much money on food by not eating. It's just a weird behaviour I can't break myself of.
7) I'm cooking for one and it's very hard to cook the tiny portions I require. Or rather, it's a lot of work and I only get one meal out of it. If I do get two or three meals out of it, I'm get tired of eating it and can't eat it for a while.
8) I have a small fridge, but no freezer. Frozen vegetables aren't an option for me unless I use them all at once (and then the portion is too big and half of it goes bad).
9) I have problems washing dishes (and of course cannot afford a dish washer), and sometimes i have to wash a plate on 4 or more consecutive days before it's clean. (this isn't /just/ OCD. there really is visible grime on it still after so many washes. i just dont have the arm strength due to the chronic pain.) washing dishes can tire me out to such an extent that i am then unable to cook. cooking and eating tires me out to such an extent that i cant wash the dishes. the best plan i can figure out is to alternate days: eat bread one day and wash dishes. cook the next day and dirty dishes. but the current state of affairs is that all dishes are dirty and have to be washed before each use.
10) most ingredients for cooking don't keep for more than a day or two, even in the fridge. milk, bread, veggies, leftovers, they all go bad. i think it's something about the humidity.
Vegetables I like: tomato (heartburn), onion (heartburn), garlic (no problem)
Vegetables I like, but don't really know what to do with: carrots, lettuce (can't buy small enough quantities anyway), corn, potatoes
Vegetables I don't like all that much or at all: peas, string beans, asparagus, brussel sprouts, capsicum, cabbage, eggplant, zucchini
there may exist vegetables that i forgot to mention. i may or may not like them or be able to afford them or know how to prepare them.
Comment author:dyfrgi
27 June 2011 04:44:13PM
3 points
[-]
Specifically regarding protein: You are probably underestimating how much protein is in many foods. Here is a brief list of foods which, if you got all of your calories from them, would give you enough protein:
* Any sort of bean, including fast cooking beans such as lentils, lima beans, and peas.
* Most nuts
* Many dark green vegetables (e.g spinach, kale, broccoli, green cabbage)
* Bread. Yes, really - there's lots of gluten in there.
* Pasta. Again, lots of gluten.
* Potatoes, so long as you eat the skins. Get red ones, they're easier to clean and the skins are more tender.
* Quinoa (a grain).
Brown rice is close, but not quite there. So you should not worry about eating meat, it's unnecessary.
One specific dish you should consider is dal. Cooked lentils with spices. Popular in India. Lots of other things you can throw in, too, including onion, tomato, garlic. carrots, and corn. In small quantities the tomato and onion should be less likely to cause heartburn. To keep the cost of the spices down, buy from the bulk section - it can be as little as 1/10 the price of bottled spices, and you can get only however much you need. Dried lentils and spices keep for quite a long time, and it only takes 45min to prepare, in one pot (or two if you make a tarka).
When you store vegetables in the fridge, do you keep them in plastic bags? I find that helps for many green veggies in particular. I just use the bags I get them in from the store or my farmshare.
Consider shopping more like a European - buy fresh ingredients every day or every other day instead of doing one big shopping trip once a week. This will minimize your food spoilage problems.
I agree with everyone else that you should check that your fridge is functioning properly. Measure the temperature. It should be between 33 and 38 degrees F. Above 38 and I'd expect fairly high rates of spoilage.
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I don't eat enough vegetables or protein.
1) Vegetables and meat are expensive and are generally not in my budget.
2) I don't like the way I feel after eating meat. I find my thoughts are slower and my stomach feels slightly queasy.
3) Beans take forever to cook. Even if I soak them overnight. Canned beans are expensive.
4) When I buy food, I tend to try to eat as little of it as possible to make it last longer. When I do this with vegetables, they go off and have to be thrown away. But it's so hard to make myself eat now when I could eat later. I know that I'll be hungry a few hours after I eat, so longer I go, the longer it'll be till I get hungry again.
5) Some fruits and vegetables give me bad heart burn. Others don't taste very good.
6) I'm probably not saving all that much money on food by not eating. It's just a weird behaviour I can't break myself of.
7) I'm cooking for one and it's very hard to cook the tiny portions I require. Or rather, it's a lot of work and I only get one meal out of it. If I do get two or three meals out of it, I'm get tired of eating it and can't eat it for a while.
8) I have a small fridge, but no freezer. Frozen vegetables aren't an option for me unless I use them all at once (and then the portion is too big and half of it goes bad).
9) I have problems washing dishes (and of course cannot afford a dish washer), and sometimes i have to wash a plate on 4 or more consecutive days before it's clean. (this isn't /just/ OCD. there really is visible grime on it still after so many washes. i just dont have the arm strength due to the chronic pain.) washing dishes can tire me out to such an extent that i am then unable to cook. cooking and eating tires me out to such an extent that i cant wash the dishes. the best plan i can figure out is to alternate days: eat bread one day and wash dishes. cook the next day and dirty dishes. but the current state of affairs is that all dishes are dirty and have to be washed before each use.
10) most ingredients for cooking don't keep for more than a day or two, even in the fridge. milk, bread, veggies, leftovers, they all go bad. i think it's something about the humidity.
Vegetables I like: tomato (heartburn), onion (heartburn), garlic (no problem)
Vegetables I like, but don't really know what to do with: carrots, lettuce (can't buy small enough quantities anyway), corn, potatoes
Vegetables I don't like all that much or at all: peas, string beans, asparagus, brussel sprouts, capsicum, cabbage, eggplant, zucchini
there may exist vegetables that i forgot to mention. i may or may not like them or be able to afford them or know how to prepare them.
Specifically regarding protein: You are probably underestimating how much protein is in many foods. Here is a brief list of foods which, if you got all of your calories from them, would give you enough protein: * Any sort of bean, including fast cooking beans such as lentils, lima beans, and peas. * Most nuts * Many dark green vegetables (e.g spinach, kale, broccoli, green cabbage) * Bread. Yes, really - there's lots of gluten in there. * Pasta. Again, lots of gluten. * Potatoes, so long as you eat the skins. Get red ones, they're easier to clean and the skins are more tender. * Quinoa (a grain).
Brown rice is close, but not quite there. So you should not worry about eating meat, it's unnecessary.
One specific dish you should consider is dal. Cooked lentils with spices. Popular in India. Lots of other things you can throw in, too, including onion, tomato, garlic. carrots, and corn. In small quantities the tomato and onion should be less likely to cause heartburn. To keep the cost of the spices down, buy from the bulk section - it can be as little as 1/10 the price of bottled spices, and you can get only however much you need. Dried lentils and spices keep for quite a long time, and it only takes 45min to prepare, in one pot (or two if you make a tarka).
When you store vegetables in the fridge, do you keep them in plastic bags? I find that helps for many green veggies in particular. I just use the bags I get them in from the store or my farmshare.
Consider shopping more like a European - buy fresh ingredients every day or every other day instead of doing one big shopping trip once a week. This will minimize your food spoilage problems.
I agree with everyone else that you should check that your fridge is functioning properly. Measure the temperature. It should be between 33 and 38 degrees F. Above 38 and I'd expect fairly high rates of spoilage.