THE SUMMER PLAN #2 The menus

LE PLAN ETE

#2: menus

What to make with the allowed ingredients (yesterday's post) to give a little glamour and appeal to the regime, as my friendly followers call it (and they are right).

May I make a first comment right off the start: there is a little measuring to do with this aventure, as quantities do have to be monitored. So, let's start.

Breakfast

 Super simple and satisfying. 

No fuss, no mess, no grande cuisine

-1/2 cup dry oat meal with 1 1/2 cups water cooked in the my microwave for 6 minutes.

-1 cup blueberries and 1 cup chopped strawberries

- 3 mini measures of Stevia extract (the powder form of the South American sweetening plant Stevia)

I have this EVERY Morning and I love it.

Snacks

Mid morning and mid afternoon when possible. 

A tofu smoothie

-1 cup tofu

-1 banana (the only one of the day, so when I would rather keep it for another snack time, I skip it here)

-1 cup raspberries or strawberries or blueberries or blackberries

- sweetener (as I said, I prefer natural Stevia)

  or a 2 cups fruit salad (just no pineapple)

or a stewed apple with Stevia and cinnamon with 2 tablespoons fat free sweetened Greek yogurt.  

Lunch

-egg salad or deviled eggs or canned (in water) tuna-fish salad or chicken salad on a bed of greens like baby arugula or baby spinach or lettuce and tomatoes, or with asparagus or green beans - any kind of green vegetables (no avocados) or tomatoes as long as they are raw, steamed or grilled or in soup form. One of my favorites: lettuce leaves wrapped around sliced ham or smoked salmon with herbs and a small amount of red onion and sliced fennel.

but!

To make all this low cal. the dressing and mayonnaise are very "controlled", i.e. one has to be very clever at keeping the calories down right? 

so!

For the vinaigrette: I mix the one teaspoon oil with 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar + 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard + 1/2 cup tomato juice( V8) and a lot of finely chopped herbs: cilantro, parsley, chives basil etc.

For the mayonnaise: I mix 1 tablespoon store bought low fat mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons fat free Greek yogurt and a pinch of cumin for the tuna salad, and and a million spices like Garam Marsala, and/or curry, cumin, ginger and my BELOVED capers, for the egg salad. (I LOVE them!)

Dinner

Poached salmon or grilled tuna or grilled chicken breast or egg/mushroom flan with green vegetables or, for example zucchini soup (1 zucchini steamed for one cup fat free chicken broth with cumin into a Cuisinart. Done. 

I also make a green sauce for the fish or chicken with all the herbs I like mixed in the Cuisinart with 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt, some lemon juice and cumin.

the rules:

- breakfast ALWAYS with sugar free cereal and fruit
and ONLY per day:

- 1 tsp of oil 

- 2 cups fat free yogurt 

- 2 tbsp. low fat mayonnaise

- 2 servings of meat or fish the size of a deck of cards a day or 2 eggs (3 times a week max)

- 1 cup of tofu a day (silky or soft is best for smoothies)

- 4 cups of berries, and one other fruit + one banana

- only sweetener like Stevia 

- all the green vegetables I want (including artichokes and fennel but not avocados) if steamed, grilled, or raw, or soup, plus tomatoes and carrots

- water-water-water

- all the spices and herbs I like and... capers, mustard and lemon juice

ALSO:

I drink green tea with unsweetened soy milk (but that's just my taste preference)

- I have oat meal because I love it but I could replace it with shredded wheat or cheerios or any unsweetened cereal I wish.

I believe I can survive this regimen* and I am, in fact, loving it.

* editor's note: This program is not intended as advice of any sort as I am not a nutritionist nor a doctor. It is a description of a "diet" that I have created for me. 

à demain.