So, What Do Vegetarians Eat?

  I've often heard friends exclaim that they don't know how to cook vegetarian meals or that they just don't like veggies.  So, I thought that I'd let you peer into a cross section of my life and start a weekly food diary.  Honestly, it is probably more for me than for you, but I think it can help people see that eating vegetarian is not so hard and that if done right, veggies can actually be delicious!  ;D  I'll try to add recipe links to some of the meals that I eat and some basic nutritional information.

  I'm not a certified nutritionist, so I won't have a complete breakdown of every vitamin and mineral.  I thought I'd just stick to the basics for now: protein and calories; to show that you can get your protein needs met w/o meat and provide calorie breakdowns for those who might want to try a vegetarian diet or wish to view it as a meal plan.

Disclaimer: This information is collected using information from packaging and caloriecount.about.com. It is probably not super accurate, just a good guesstimation.

Note:  Not all recipes are recorded.  Some have links, while others just have pertinent calorie information.  If there is any recipe that you want that I haven't written down, post a comment.  :)

Monday, 03/05:

• Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs (12g; 204cal) and a piece of buttered toast (51cal {1/2Tbsp} + 4g; 80cal) w/ cinnamon and sugar (1tsp=16cal); protein: 16g, calories: 351
• Snack: 1/4c yogurt (2g; 20cal) w/ 2Tbsp crunchy buckwheat cereal (1.6g; 50.5cal) and 1tsp maple syrup (18cal); protein: 3.6g, calories: 88.5
• Lunch: 1/4c dry couscous (5g; 148cal) w/ 1/4c chickpeas (3.6g; 67cal), carrots, cilantro, 2Tbsp evoo (238cal), lemon juice, s/p/red pepper flakes and 1Tbsp pumpkin seeds (2.7g; 57cal); protein: 11.3g, calories: 510
• Snack: 1/4c almonds; protein: 7.5g, calories: 204
• Dinner: watercress soup w/ potatoes (2.5g; 118cal per potato); protein: 5g, calories: 236
• Snack: 2 rice crackers (70cal) w/ almond butter (2Tbsp=5g; 190cal) and 1/2 an apple (47.5cal); protein: 5g, calories: 307.5
• Other: hot lemon water, water, thyme tea, multivitamin w/iron

Daily totals: protein: 48.4, calories: 1,697


Tuesday, 03/06:

• Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs (12g; 204cal) and a piece of buttered toast (51cal {1/2 tbsp} + 4g; 80cal); protein: 16g, calories: 335
• Snack: 1/2c yogurt (4g; 40cal) w/ 1/4c crunchy buckwheat cereal (3.25g; 101cal) and 2tsp maple syrup (36cal); protein: 7.25g, calories: 177
• Lunch: leftover couscous (2/3 serving); protein: 7.5, calories: 340
• Snack: 1/4c almonds; protein: 7.5g, calories: 204
• Dinner: coconut (127.5cal) curry w/ 56g tofu (5g; 45cal), eggplant, and 1/4 sweet potato (.5g; 25.75cal), served w/ 1/2c cooked rice (2.2g; 120cal) ; protein: 7.7g, calories: 318.25
• Snack: 1 1/2 slices of applesauce cake (38-43g; 2,622cal; 8 servings total); protein: 7g, calories: 492
• Other: hot lemon water, water, christmas (black) tea, 1Tbsp liquid vitamin
  

Daily totals: protein: 53, calories: 1,866.25
*To cut down a little on calories, be more disciplined than me and only eat 1 slice of cake.  ;)


Wednesday, 03/07:

• Breakfast: slice of applesauce cake (4.75g; 327.75) and 2 scrambled eggs (12g; 204cal); protein: 16.75, calories: 531.75
• Snack: slice of applesauce cake (4.75g; 327.75) and 1/4c yogurt (2g; 20cal) w/ berries (18cal); protein: 6.75, calories: 365.75
• Lunch: 2 rice crackers (70cal) w/ almond butter (2Tbsp=5g; 190cal); protein: 5g, calories: 260
• Dinner: 18 chips (4g; 261cal) w/ eggplant/artichoke (0.2g; 8.25cal / 0.75g; 30cal) hummus {1/2c chickpeas (6g; 146cal), 1Tbsp evoo (119cal), 1/2tsp tahini (0.4g; 15cal)}, a vegan caesar salad {1Tbsp evoo (119cal), 1Tbsp almond powder (1.5g; 40cal), 1/2Tbsp nutritional yeast (0.75g; 5.5cal)}, and a carrot (0.6g; 25cal); protein: 14.2, calories: 768.75
• Other: hot lemon water, water, multivitamin w/ iron
  

Daily totals: protein: 42.7, calories: 1,926.25
*If you want to cut down on calories for the day, you could: 1. not eat cake for breakfast! ;), 2. use less evoo in the hummus, subbing w/ more water for a thinner consistency, 3. use less evoo in the salad, and/or 4. halve the amount of chips and eat another carrot with the hummus.  :)

Thursday, 03/08:

• Breakfast: slice of applesauce cake (4.75g; 327.75) and 2 scrambled eggs (12g; 204cal); protein: 16.75, calories: 531.75
• Snack: 1/2c yogurt (4g; 40cal) w/ berries (18cal); protein: 4, calories: 58
• Lunch: salad w/ 1tsp evoo/balsamic vinegar (40cal) and 1Tbsp sunfl. seeds (1.9g; 52.6cal) and l/o coco. curry w/ 1/2c cooked rice (7.7g; 318.25cal); protein: 9.6, calories: 410.85
• Dinner: 2 med potatoes (5g; 236cal) w/ 1/2c kidney beans (8g; 100cal) and 50g cream cheese filling (2g; 200cal); protein: 15, calories: 536
•  Snack: 1/2c granola (5g; 260cal) w/ 1/2c yogurt (4g; 40cal); protein: 9, calories: 300
• Other: hot lemon water, water, liquid vitamins, pint of cider (239cal)
  

Daily totals: protein: 54.35, calories: 2,075.6
*Either skip the late night snack or the cider to make this fit under 1,800cal.


Friday, 03/09:

• Breakfast: 1/2c granola (5g; 260cal) w/ 1/2c yogurt (4g; 40cal); protein: 9, calories: 300
• Lunch: l/o coco. curry w/ 1/2c cooked rice (7.7g; 318.25cal); protein: 7.7, calories: 318.25
• Snack: 2 coconut bread rolls (3.45g; 338cal each) and 28g goat havarti cheese (5.5g; 110cal); protein: 12.4, calories: 786
• Dinner: coconut (170cal) lentil (13.4g; 172.5cal) soup w/ 1/2c cooked rice  (2.2g; 120cal); protein: 15.6, calories: 462.5
• Other: hot lemon water, water, oolong tea, multivitamin w/ iron
  

Daily totals: protein: 44.7, calories: 1,866.75
*To cut down a little on calories, eat fruit w/ cheese instead of bread.

  If you want to follow my wacky eating habits, here is a link to the grocery list for the items you will need to make it happen.