Food: recap of first menu planning week

I followed exactly last week’s menu:

Breakfast: steel cuts oat, almond milk, protein powder, blueberries topped with cottage cheese and PB

I’m in LOVE with steel cuts! It’s so rich and nutty. Since I program the rice cooker the night before. I don’t mind how long it takes to cook. This combo keeps me full until lunch. Perfect for a busy mom who finds snacking an hassle. 😉

Another combo: steel cuts, almond milk, protein powder, chia seed, pumpkin, cottage cheese and PB

Lately I’ve been eating breakfast at home while breastfeeding Sofia. Multi-tasking! 🙂

Friday (no work day) instead of pancakes I made a messy bowl of strawberries, greek yogurt, PB2 and rice crisp

messy but yummy

Dinners: Tina’s cheesy garlic brussels sprouts with sausage on a bed of romaine lettuce. I used Tj’s jalapeno pepper sausage (love it!), used only 1 LC because it was salty enough. It was really easy to make and the taste is great!

One pot meal made with millet, chinese sausage, wakame and cabbage. I had it twice. It was convenient to just heat and eat!

Stir-fry brussel sprouts with oyster mushroom, chicken sausage and some shiritake noodles that I have for ages.

Sauteed chard, mushroom in coconut oil and tamari, grilled tofu in coconut oil, red quinoa and a miso-tahini dressing (equal part of miso and tahini, splash of maple syrup).

Really liked this meal. Looks like a macro meal, isn’t it Maggie?

Lunch: salads and one meal at the fancy buffet at my work place (it was a work lunch paid by the department)

I had salad for appetizer, and this as main dish (roasted butternut squash, roasted beets, grilled salmon and german bread). Didn’t take a pic of the dessert but the chocolate mousse cake was delicious.

Menu planning worked really well. I didn’t have to think much every night what to eat and still got a well balanced delicious meal. 🙂 Definitely will keep doing it.

Food: find my way

As I mentioned in my pregnancy update post. I’ve been experiencing extreme bloating and water retention in my belly for the past week. I didn’t know what was going wrong and it occurred to me that I could play with my diet to see if it makes a difference. And this does! 😆

For breakfast, I’ve been having either protein cake or kabocha waffles.

accompanied with silk soy milk (50% of daily calcium per cup!)

spreading waffles with Peloponnese Hummus. A giveaway to come soon.

Or with fresh picked strawberries, LC and soy milk

Lunch last week was kind of random. One time I had subway turkey veggie sandwich on wheat bread

Another time I had bibimbap: white rice, assorted korean pickles, seaweed, teriyaki cod and fried egg.

Now, here let me show you two dinners that seemed “innocent” but caused a major water retention and bloating the next day.

Stir-fry veggies with Trader Joe’s chicken sausage and “noodles”, seasoned with soy sauce and sweet chili sauce

It was really tasty but I think the sausage (processed food) and the heavy seasoning was the problem.

And the second problematic meal: Trader joe’s turkey meatball, frozen veggies and “noodles” cooked in 1 cup of marinara sauce, S+P

The same problem, processed food and too much sodium in the sauce.

I think both of them are healthy meals. In non-pregnancy state, I’d happily eat them often because I enjoy the taste of them and they’re healthy. But in my current state, my body is extra sensitive to seasoning and sodium, so I won’t have them, at least at night.

Switching to more pregnancy-friendly meals. I’ve had some successful combos that did not cause bloating nor water retention.

#1:  stir-fry whole wheat couscous with celery, broccoli and tofu, lightly seasoned with low sodium tamari and pepper.

it was quite tasty as well

#2 salad made with arugula, tomato and beets, dressed with olive oil and balsamic

and grilled chicken breast, simply seasoned with salt (after cooking) and lemon

I had this on Friday for lunch and I liked it so much that I had the same combo for lunch on Saturday again

this time the salad with made with butter lettuce, tomato and cucumber.  It’s so fresh and it provides a good source of protein.

I made a dessert over the weekend: blueberry cheesecake

Blueberry cheesecake

Ingredients (8 servings)

• 3 cups of fage 0% with blueberries preserve
• 2 whole eggs plus 2 egg whites, beaten
• 1/4 cup trader joe’s lightly whipped cream cheese
• 2 tbsp of honey

Blend everything and bake for 60 min at 325F.

A dessert that is high in protein, low in fat and sugar. 🙂

#3: macrobiotic plate made with 1/2 cup of wheat berries, firm tofu, chopped bell pepper, steamed broccoli and shredded nori. The sauce was made with silken tofu, miso and tahini

full of vitamins and minerals, and very low in sodium

#4: Macrobiotic plate made with brown rice, steamed butternut squash (in love with it!) and sautéed veggies

I used 1/2 package of collard greens, some shiitake mushrooms and black fungus. I sautéed them in 1 tbsp of sesame oil, 1 tbsp of low sodium tamari, add 1/4 cup of water, and cover it for 5 min.

topped with shredded nori

#5: macrobiotic plate made with cucumber (marinated in vinegar and pinch of sugar), sautéed collard with celery (same method), butternut squash and boiled wakame.

I didn’t have rice that night because I had half package of this rice cake as snack in the afternoon. It’s soooo good! 🙂

I’m happy to find my way out of the extreme bloating and water retention situation through diet. I’m a true believer of the power of using food to heal our body. Whenever I feel imbalance in my system, the first thing I’d check is my diet, and I’ll play around with it to balance it out. This time the way out seemed to be to eat extremely clean, no processed food, low seasoning, low sodium, specially at dinner time. I’ve decided to have macrobiotic meals for dinner from now on. And during the day I’ll make sure to get enough protein. This way I can ensure that I get all necessary nutrients and feel good at the same time. 🙂

Q: How diet/food affects your body? Do you notice a difference in your body when you switch your diet?

Disclaimer: by diet I don’t know a diet to lose weight, but to refer a way of eating.