Exercise and veggie-eating

[asterroc]

Just thought I'd update my continuing summer projects / resolutions. I've been quite good about the exercise.

Since I don't have classes Tues/Thurs, I exercise on those days (provided I'm not at work all day for meetings), and also on at least one weekend day, so at most I do 4 days/week, at least 1, and on average 2-3. Up till recently my routine was an hour-long bike ride down the rail trail. Now that the weather's getting nasty I'm borrowing a stationary bike stand and I instead spend a half hour stationary biking, doing calisthenics, and free weights. It's even more boring than biking outdoors, that I can spice up by listening to audio books, but I also need something to engage my eyes when indoors, so I'm still working on how to sufficiently entertain myself indoors. I've been trying things like watching a movie, reading a comic book, or watching T$ play video games. None quite satisfy me, but I think by alternating I can tolerate it well enough to keep doing it, and that's what matters.

The veggie thing's been slacking off. I'm finding it hard to come up with interesting vegetarian meals that I do not make in excessive quantities. Got any good vegetarian recipies for me?

Comments

[demigoth.livejournal.com]

I had a good veggie chili recipe from a friend but my computer can't read older wordpad files, bleh. I like allrecipes.com because of the rating system, but unfortunately they don't seem to have a category for vegetarian recipes. You can still do a search for "vegetarian" plus whatever ingredient(s) you are looking for.

Here's a really easy one (more like a side dish, but pretty filling) from another friend's journal:

Roasted Acorn Squash

2 acorn squash (looks like a ridged green football with orangey blush)
4 Tbsp. butter
8 Tbsp. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Halve squash at the equator, remove seeds. Place squash cut-side-down in a baking dish filled with ¼ inch of water. Cook for 30-40 minutes.

Turn squash cut-side-up, then add 1 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. brown sugar to center of each squash half. Return to oven for another 30 minutes.

For a nice presentation, let each person have their own squash-half. Scoop out flesh with a spoon, lightly salt to taste if desired.

Served with crusty bread, cheese, and a green salad (optional but yummy!)

[galbinus-caeli.livejournal.com]

See my Live Journal.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

what veggies are in a costco veggie platter? we don't have one near us.

[galbinus-caeli.livejournal.com]

Baby carrots, Broccoli florets, Sugar snap peas, a couple small sweet peppers (mostly for color, I think, plus a couple tubs of dip. About three kilos of stuff for about $14. Basically it is just precut vegetables.

[l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com]

my mom likes to make caprese pasta. better in the summer though when tomatoes are better. it's like caprese salad, but chopped up and put in pasta. freeze the mozzarella for ten minutes before you put it in the pasta so it doesn't melt.

my mom's a good cook. i could ask her to send you some recipes if you like.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I'm looking for ideas more than full-out recipes. Once I've got an idea, I can look up or come up with a recipe, but coming up with the idea is the struggle for me here. If you or your mother just wanted to list a bunch of vegetarian things she makes, that'd be awesome, I wouldn't need a full recipe unless she had them already typed up or whatever.

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

Hmm...ideas:

Meat dishes with frozen tofu as substitute meat (get regular tofu, cut it up into slices that roughly match the other ingredients you might want to add later, and freeze. The process gives the tofu a nice texture that takes up sauce easily, and I find that some of my friends who claim they don't like tofu still like frozen tofu. Treat it like meat -- defrost and stir fry or stew or bake or whatever -- it can take it!)

Japanese curry :) . I tend to make it in excessive quantities, but then I freeze some containers and it's all good :) .

Kimchi-flavored stuff. It can stink up your fridge, but I like to have a little jar of kimchi for those nights when I'm lazy and it's cold. I can use the kimchi cabbage-sauce mixture as a base to taste, and then throw in whatever else I want to -- tofu, other veggies, in my case meat, etc.

Miso-flavored stuff.

Anyway, those are some ideas -- hope they help.

I REALLY admire your exercise stick-to-it-ness! I've got no willpower whatsoever, and I wish I did. You ROCK!

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

It took a bit of a health wake-up to convince me. Seriously, putting on enough weight in a year that some clothing doesn't fit, that's the first time I've ever done that. Increasing my weight by 7% in a year? Yeah, that's a bit of a shocker. That's what jerked me into starting the exercise.

What keeps me doing it is my mother - specifically the fact that she does NOT exercise, really needs to b/c of her Type 2 diabetes, and then LIES to me about it. You can never really control how someone else takes care of themselves, only how you yourself take care of yourself. Plus what right have I to criticize someone else if I can't do it myself? (Or even if I do, for that matter?)

I have to tell you, it's really fucking boring at times. And every time I exercise I feel drained after and ache in my muscles or joints for a day or two. I don't get those people who say they get "runner's high" or that the aching goes away - either they're exaggerating or my body's built entirely differently from most people. But it's something I know I've got to do. There's no way I'll be healthy when I'm 80 if I don't establish the habits now.

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

How does the bike stand compare with a regular stationary bike? Now that I'm not swimming all the time I need to find a new form of exercise and I adored the stationary bikes at the PT place I went to.
I bet a hospital food tray thing would let you use a laptop while biking indoors.
As far as vegetarian/veggie heavy foods (you're an omnivore aren't you?) I have a bunch of ideas depending on what kinds of foods you like. I'm a huge fan of Indian food, although I have to play with the spices because curry and I don't get along, and Indian is very veggie heavy.
If I can find it I have a cool table of grain/veggie mixes of various cultures that avoids essential amino acid deficiencies. Most of them are actually very good basis for meals (funny how staying alive is tasty). I also like doing veggies and dip as a snack food. Do you have a farmers market by you?

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I do not have much experience with regular stationary bikes. I *think* it's a little louder than regular, and I *think* it's a little less comfortable (but that depends upon the adjustments/shape of your own bike and the regular one). It's *very* different from regular biking, the resistance is a function of speed of pedaling in the bike-on-stand, while the resistance is more-or-less constant on a normal moving bike.

I'm a reforming meatatarian - I prefer a meat-heavy diet by choice, T$ insists upon veggies in every meal, and primarily due to my environmentalism I'm trying to do a vegetarian dinner every-other-week. I'm still picky about my veggies, many I don't like due to texture, and I desperately crave umami (savory flavor) so that many vegetarian meals just don't taste satisfying to me. I'd be interested in that table if you can find it. I'm going to have to look up Indian spices - I love Indian, but I can't tolerate hot/spicy, so that always makes it challenging. There's a seasonal farmer's market (and farm shares, but I'm not ready for that yet), and a local co-op grocery store that buys locally. (I use their organic section for Kappa's veggies.)

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

Where do you draw the line with hot/spicy foods? Most dishes can be cut back to taste without becoming too bland, but some spice is still required.
My Rahki sister makes awesome chickpeas and rice, I'll ask her for her recipe. I know that rice and chickpeas or beans is one of the combos that covers all your bases (and acids and neutral zwitterions) amino acid wise. I can't find that table at the moment but I may have a copy in my biochem book, if I don't I'll ask the prof if he can send it to me.
Mexican style chili is really good for a vegetarian or veggie heavy meal. You can also make very flavorful salsas without them being to spicy. I love hummus and veggies as a snack food too. Stuffed peppers (either sweet or spicy depending on taste) are awesome. Roasted peppers are a personal favorite. Vegetable fritters are also a great food, I'll email you my mom's zuchini fritter recipe later. They're really good and you can modify the recipe based on what is on hand. Stir fry is a good way to make veggies as well. Foods that are traditionally peasant foods are usually very good and loaded with veggies (kind of a must when you can't afford meat).
I have a friend who is a clown and part of a group called Clowns Without Borders and performs in Africa a lot. She's a vegetarian when she's in America but eats meat when she's working in Africa because it would be insulting to refuse food unless you're allergic or some other health reason. And they get served some kind of meat almost everywhere they go because the people try to be as hospitable as possible. I just find it ironic that they're trying to be the best hosts they can and she would be happier with the regular food.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

There's a difference between hot and flavorful. I like flavorful foods - this is why I love Indian food. However, I experience hot as pain and I do NOT like pain. I have recently graduated from "very mild" to "mild", or a 1 on a scale of 0-10. I'm pretty sure this is not because I tolerate pain better than I used to, but because as you age the flavor sensing cells in your mouth slowly die.

I used to experience peppers (like even green peppers) as hot (and therefore painful), but that seems to have changed with greater exposure, though I'm not sure why. Too large a quantity of black pepper though I still experience as pain (such as goat's cheese rolled in black pepper, or steaks coated with black pepper).

I also subjectively experience wasabi/horseradish as pain, though more of a shriveling pain than the piercing pain of hot foods. Have I mentioned I'm a pain wimp? I *really* hate pain. This is why I hate hot foods and wasabi.

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

I didn't think that sweet peppers even hit a 1 scoville heat rating. But I do agree there is a big difference between hot and flavorful. I dislike heat for heat's sake dishes. But there are many that I find heat does add to the dish (like most of my favorite Asian foods), but it should never overpower it. I like my mouth feeling a little tingly though. If I want to make something hot I usually add heat to it at the table because my mom has about the same tolerance for heat as you. But if you have spices you like turning down the heat is not a problem with pretty much anything.
Here is my mom's zucchini fritter recipe:
Grate one small to medium sized zucchini, place on a paper towel to dry out for a few hours (you want to get 75-80% of the water out).
Saute some roaster red peppers and onions with a little salt and pepper to taste in olive oil. Allow this to cool.
In a mixing bowl mix 1 egg, bread crumbs (1/3c-1/2c per zucchini) and parmesan cheese (to taste), mix, add in the zucchini, peppers and onions while mixing. After mixing everything thoroughly form patties (like hamburgers or crab cakes), coat lightly with flour, cook on medium heat in olive oil on both sides until golden brown.