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Sup. The name is Rytheric some call me Ry-The Guy. You may know me from classics such as "wow I didn't know I was eating 10,000 MG of sodium I should like cut that in half," "I've been eating nothing but buckets of KFC for months," "I started adding a large order of Mac n Cheese on top of it while stress eating," or "I lock my money away from myself so I don't eat $800-$1200 a month in fast food each month." You may also know me from a diy thread run amuck from carbon monoxide. Well i fixed that, now I'm am here to fix my fast food addiction. So where do we start? I'm am currently at a salad shop named Chopt. Eating a Palm Beach salad.  Pardon the haze. Broke my camera during a boating accident and further ruined it in a tank pull. Anyway this salad contains: avocado of course, grape tomatoes because what salad is complete without it, cucumbers the best vegetable on earth, heart of palm because im going to be a tropical beaver this playthrough apparently, romaine, grilled chicken, and blue cheese instead of balsamic vignette because forget that. It's actually rather tasty. So how did it come to this? Well I'm a creature of habit. With the rustle and bussle of life I find it easy to fixate on the convenient unless it's restoring a boxtruck or building a house. I often find myself not looking at labels and relying on a quick fix for my hunger. And eat the same thing for a month or so at a time. Unfortunately, that tends to be a lot of salted meats in this day and age. I would prefer to be plant-based if possible, and it seems those options are ever growing on the horizon. What is my current relationship with food? Currently, I stress eat to cope with deadlines at work or to have an excuse to step away to wind down, I victory eat to reward good behavior with an ironically malicious behavior, and I eat if I get bored because why not. That's probably more suited for snacks rather than a bucket of chicken and Mac and cheese, but I also need something that takes a while to eat. This avocado heart of palm salad seems to hit that spot interestingly enough. Perhaps I need to learn how to make this for starters, but where do I get the palm trees? So what am I hoping to get out of this thread? Well, I am looking plant based ideas that I can make at work that are rawish because I'm not a fan of cooked vegetables and I need something easy for starters. I have non-insulin requiring diabetes so far and I've found that my body responds well if I keep my carbs below 80g per meal. I'd also like input from people who manage to cook despite working long hours or who are constantly on the road sometimes living out of town. I get a decent discount from whole foods and live within walking distance of it. However my food storage options are limit. No fridge so I typically only get a couple days worth of food at a time. Anyway. That's probably enough for now. Tell me what you think. Rytheric fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Mar 4, 2021 |
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Mar 4, 2021 01:41
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 08:50 |
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Whole Foods has a decent hot bar. While the prices aren't cheap, there are plenty of great veggie and protein options there, with plenty of vegan/vegetarian options. I used to go to my local one for lunch and make two meals out of one to go box from the hot bar. That is a good option if you don't want to cook but want something healthy. Its about 8 dollars per pound IIRC. They are pretty good about having the nutrition facts on display so you can avoid the high sodium options. For making meals yourself, not having a fridge poses a bit of an issue. I would recommend picking up a decent cooler. A good one will hold ice for several days, so if you're doing your shopping for food every few days that should keep it from spoiling on you. You can also get float trays for the stuff you don't want to get waterlogged, like cheese or meat. Doesn't need to be a Yeti that costs 1000000 dollars, but not the cheapest one either. A slow cooker (also known as a crock pot) might be a decent choice for you. You can roast a big piece of pork/beef for several hours in them, along with some tasty veggies. You can even buy liners for them so you don't have to worry about cleaning the thing every time you use it. These are very easy to cook with to make, and since you're cooking it you can avoid the extra salt. You could also pick up a decent little camping stove, there are plenty of form factors they come in so you can find a good one for the RyTruck! Since you're a busy dude, check out the bagged and cleaned veggies you can get in the produce section. They are more expensive sure, but you can steam them or boil them, throw a bit of citrus juice, garlic powder, and fresh ground black pepper for a tasty side with low carbs and low sodium. That same thing roasted in the oven is my go to veggie side! Also this is not health advice, but I would start taking a multivitamin every day. While you may not absorb 100% of it, they can help you get your micro nutrients to a good level while you are working on getting your macro nutrients more balanced out. Is there any particular variety of food you enjoy, like Italian or Mediterranean? We could likely recommend you some quick and easy recipes with that info.
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Mar 4, 2021 03:58
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Buy a fridge.
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Mar 4, 2021 03:58
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Ardemia posted:Whole Foods has a decent hot bar. While the prices aren't cheap, there are plenty of great veggie and protein options there, with plenty of vegan/vegetarian options. I used to go to my local one for lunch and make two meals out of one to go box from the hot bar. That is a good option if you don't want to cook but want something healthy. Its about 8 dollars per pound IIRC. They are pretty good about having the nutrition facts on display so you can avoid the high sodium options. I prefer Chinese food. But rice and noodles pose an issue with my diabetes. Eating at whole foods is an excellent suggestion.
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Mar 4, 2021 04:04
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if you've decided to subsist solely on takeout food because you don't have the means to cook for yourself because you live in an abandoned box truck, there are a lot of healthier options you can look towards - one of the best parts of the growth of fast casual is that "fast food" isn't just fried carbs. qdoba, chipotle, etc. all have very low carb options - you can get a salad bowl from chipotle with a half serving of brown rice, chicken, all the veggies you want (skip the queso and sour cream) and it'll come in around 500ish calories with a pretty good caloric breakdown. whole foods salad and fresh food bar is a good option. most grocery stores also have healthy options via a salad bar and things like grilled chicken. but yes, buy a fridge. do not use a gas camping stove inside. you will kill yourself.
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Mar 4, 2021 04:18
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Aruan posted:if you've decided to subsist solely on takeout food because you don't have the means to cook for yourself because you live in an abandoned box truck, there are a lot of healthier options you can look towards - one of the best parts of the growth of fast casual is that "fast food" isn't just fried carbs. qdoba, chipotle, etc. all have very low carb options - you can get a salad bowl from chipotle with a half serving of brown rice, chicken, all the veggies you want (skip the queso and sour cream) and it'll come in around 500ish calories with a pretty good caloric breakdown. Yeah, I wasn't going to use a gas camping stove. It looks like they have 12v crockpots and sauce pans. Which may be interesting. I may get a small 12v cooler as I'm thinking about maybe adding storage seats in the truck.
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Mar 4, 2021 04:23
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Rytheric posted:Yeah, I wasn't going to use a gas camping stove. It looks like they have 12v crockpots and sauce pans. Which may be interesting. I may get a small 12v cooler as I'm thinking about maybe adding storage seats in the truck. if you don't have consistent power and refrigeration its going to be really difficult to cook for yourself, so you should look towards other options, i.e. salads whose ingredients you store in a good quality cooler, cereals/grains (with shelf stable almond milk), overnight oats, or even simple sandwiches. i would probably do something like pick up a few prepared salad mixes, some veggies and fruits to throw in, and then some grilled chicken from a grocery store. it'll be cheaper than takeout. look at blogs at people who do the RV/van life for better tips, probably, on ways to make cooking and refrigeration work.
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Mar 4, 2021 04:28
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Hmmm. I may look at some raw plant based/vegan recipes or minimal cooking ones maybe. Or if someone gives me a two days shopping list for whole foods I may try things on their list. Grilled chicken does seem the way to go if I'm going to have a meat. I am worried about bugs getting attracted to RyTruck though.
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Mar 4, 2021 04:31
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What I'm worried is the bowel movement I'm about to have over the overwhelming amount of leaves going through my system now.
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Mar 4, 2021 04:45
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Fiber's good for the soul. We've got a few good places to look around here if you're looking for some ideas for plant-based eating. The vegan thread is of course a no-brainer, but also try dino's eating while depressed thread for some low-effort ideas. A lot of them are going to be geared towards a bit more equipment than you've likely got on hand at the moment, though. Things I'd think of myself, if lacking refrigeration: Fruits and veggies that are fine at room temp: Apples, bananas, oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. Apples especially, they'll keep in a cool dark place for months. Like Aruan says, shelf-stable milk's a lot more common now, so something as simple as a bowl of low-sugar cereal or a protein shake is easy enough. I use almond milk this way at work fairly often because I can't do lactose anymore. If you've got any way to heat it at all, low-sodium canned soup is healthy, tasty, and cheap. In any case, given your current diet, there's a ton of room to get better food that'll probably work out cheaper than what you're eating now, even if you're just grabbing a bag of pre-washed salad greens and some diced grilled chicken from the lunchmeat cooler.
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Mar 4, 2021 04:59
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Low-lactose shelf-stable milk is a thing too, and isn't super expensive. I've always got a few cans of canned fruit ready to eat.
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Mar 4, 2021 05:02
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I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Lentils. There's a great future in lentils. Think about it. Will you think about it?
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Mar 4, 2021 08:18
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Rytheric posted:cucumbers the best vegetable on earth,  Cucumbers are a fruitBuy a fridge and an immersion circulator
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Mar 4, 2021 12:28
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Chard posted:I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? My ex actually calls me the lentil man because when I was trying to be vegan-fruitarian one time. My dinner for months was nothing but lentils, flaxseeds and salt. It was the only thing I cooked.. I like lentils. Rytheric fucked around with this message at 14:17 on Mar 4, 2021 |
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Mar 4, 2021 14:05
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Scientastic posted:
A fruity vegetable or a vegetable fruit. When I was trying to be fruitarian at one point in my life I was including cucumbers tomatoes and such and some were like thats not cheating and my response was what animal does peanuts come from since it's classified as a meat? I also included nuts seeds and beans in my "fruitarian" diet as my rational was that I was eating ungerminated offspring of plants not the plant itself. I was actually rather healthy on that diet.
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Mar 4, 2021 14:10
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Chard posted:I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening?  Behold lentil snot. This happened when I attempted to cook lentil soup with flaxseed at the same time rather than adding the flaxseed afterward. I also made a nice flaxseed pea pudding by mixing flaxseed with pea protein powder in a coffee mug. The mug only had enough room to turn the powder into a paste like substance and I'd add flax seeds. A simple lentil recipe would be great.
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Mar 4, 2021 14:17
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Rytheric posted:A simple lentil recipe would be great.
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Mar 4, 2021 14:57
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https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/red-lentil-dal-101019 This is a nice red lentil dal recipe, which is my favorite lentil dish. I add sliced jalapeno or bell pepper as well when I saute the onions and garlic, and I don't puree half of it. This is a good starter recipe though, and yes the spices may be expensive but they pay for themselves over time by making the food more savory/tasty without adding too much salt. If you like lentils, how do you feel about chickpeas/garbanzos?
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Mar 4, 2021 16:50
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Ardemia posted:https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/red-lentil-dal-101019 My boss cooked me a chickpea purre once that was amazing. No clue what a purre is, but it was good. Also I lived most my life believing I was allergic to peppers, and most around me think I still am, so I should probably stick to non peppery stuff, should have included that. Plus I find ginger to be spicy.
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Mar 4, 2021 17:14
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Rytheric posted:My boss cooked me a chickpea purre once that was amazing. No clue what a purre is, but it was good. Puree? Like when you put poo poo in a blender and turn it into a paste? Like Hummus?
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Mar 4, 2021 18:48
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Rytheric posted:
That looks like natto. So, my go to for quick and easy salads is a lettuce mix, carrots, and a cruciferous veggie like broccoli or cauliflower, use that as a base and then add a protein, chicken, tuna (those single serve pouches would be good for your situation) chickpeas, whatever floats your boat, they make pretty tasty plant based renditions of breaded chicken product now (help scratch that particular itch), it's not like the best food safety wise but if you buy it frozen it'll keep for a couple days, long enough to use it. There's a lot of low-fat/low-carb greek yogurt based dressings now that are tasty and healthy. Edamame keeps ok and makes a good snack or addition to a meal. Are there any local farms that sell eggs around you? If you can get unwashed eggs they'll keep at room temperature for a couple weeks, good hard boiled in salads or fried up with a soy protein sausage patty. I recommend getting a Lifetime brand cooler from Walmart, they're good quality and cheap, rotomolded in the US by the same dudes that make the kayaks, even if you don't use it as a cooler per-se you can store veggies and stuff in there to protect them from pests, animals, and the full heat of a summer's day. It looks like a little 12V cooler draws about 60W when running, if you get a couple of those affordable 100W solar panel kits they should be able to keep your battery topped off while running the cooler during the day when you're not on shore power.
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Mar 4, 2021 19:27
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tater_salad posted:Puree? Like when you put poo poo in a blender and turn it into a paste? Like Hummus? Yes that is it. Was like applesauce but chickpea instead. Was great. Elviscat posted:That looks like natto. Lol that looked disgusting lol. Don't know if I could ear natto either. Yeah 60w is definitely going to be within the possibility of my power system once I complete it. I was going to have a 400w solar panel setup with roughly 6kw in batteries once I bought the land, but I might get it once I get my suspension corrected next week.
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Mar 4, 2021 19:56
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Rytheric posted:Yes that is it. Was like applesauce but chickpea instead. Was great. If you like hummus, then some hummus along with some crudite would be a decent meal. Its also vegan which is something you're looking for. Check out Roots Hummus, I used to work for them in the kitchen, and they are sold in a lot of Whole Foods. Great flavors and about as balanced as hummus can get nutritionally. They don't put too much salt in it either. you can also use chickpeans for channa masala, which is a tasty chickpea stew you can get at Indian/Pakistani restaurants to try it out. If you like it, its not tough to make and it can be bought premade as well.
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Mar 4, 2021 20:02
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Chickpea chat made me think of Tasty Bite, who makes a bunch of shelf-stable, pouched meals that are not horrible on sodium, and have a bunch of vegan options. They're still prepared food so they're not going to be totally awesome health wise, but they're great for what they are. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tasty+Bite/page/7B61BC16-F538-40E6-B502-801B33CC170B?ref_=ast_bln I keep a bunch of these on hand for when we don't feel like thinking about dinner. One of these plus some rice will take care of you for a meal. As a bonus, they microwave very quickly, and would probably be fine warmed up in a hot water bath if that's all you've got available.
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Mar 4, 2021 20:18
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Well whole foods hot bar was closed both times I arrived. Ate at McDonald's in the morning cause I'm a failure, but I went to chopt again for Lunner (lunch/dinner) here is a proper photo of the beach salad.
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Mar 4, 2021 21:39
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stealie72 posted:Chickpea chat made me think of Tasty Bite, who makes a bunch of shelf-stable, pouched meals that are not horrible on sodium, and have a bunch of vegan options. They're still prepared food so they're not going to be totally awesome health wise, but they're great for what they are. I will look into that, but is there an alternative for rice? When I was testing things when I first became diabetic, I tested how my body responded to my lentil medley which included brown rice and my blood sugar spiked to 213 after an hour. A large little Caesars pizza for comparison spikes it to 256 and knocks me out to the point I need to take a nap. My normal blood sugar is roughly 135. Drops to 116 after a 24 hours fast.
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Mar 4, 2021 21:46
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I will look into that, but is there an alternative for rice? When I was testing things when I first became diabetic, I tested how my body responded to my lentil medley which included brown rice and my blood sugar spiked to 213 after an hour. A large little Caesars pizza for comparison spikes it to 256 and knocks me out to the point I need to take a nap. My normal blood sugar is roughly 135. Drops to 116 after a 24 hours fast. I also find that the glycemic index works. So if there is a low glycemic rice alternative that would be great. Edit: now that I reflect on it, my tests are the reason I started downing buckets of chicken as the chicken would only spike my blood sugar to 160. The Mac n cheese I added last month probably didn't help my diabetes though. Rytheric fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Mar 4, 2021 |
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Mar 4, 2021 21:47
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It's worth mentioning that going from your all bucket chicken diet to eating a lot of plant based stuff you're going to want to up your water intake. All that fibre is gonna need some help moving through you system.
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Mar 4, 2021 21:47
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Yeah, get yourself a nice refillable water bottle and a filter for whatever your preferred potable water source is. Hydration is good for you.
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Mar 4, 2021 22:01
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Rytheric posted:I will look into that, but is there an alternative for rice? Ah, yeah, I mean, traditionally served with rice but you can eat it with whatever.
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Mar 4, 2021 22:02
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I see. But is there a general alternative to rice people use?
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Mar 4, 2021 22:12
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Rytheric posted:I will look into that, but is there an alternative for rice? Ill give the slightly smartass answer of cauliflower rice. It may not be delicious but that way you're getting more veggies, rather than more starches. Failing that, just have it over steamed veggies. Also I didn't think of the hot bar being closed due to the pandemic. Even up here in the mountains they don't have them open yet, just sealed containers premade where the hot bar was. I'm sure that will be viable once they open back up.
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Mar 4, 2021 22:12
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Ardemia posted:Ill give the slightly smartass answer of cauliflower rice. It may not be delicious but that way you're getting more veggies, rather than more starches. Failing that, just have it over steamed veggies. It seems they are open for lunch and dinner hours at least. I will look into cauliflower rice.
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Mar 4, 2021 22:14
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you could look into getting a spiralizer, and turn all sorts of vegetables into 'noodles' that other stuff can go on. full disclosure i've never used one, but they always seem to come up during carb-replacement discussion
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Mar 4, 2021 22:24
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Cauliflower mash is a good carb alternative too, and easy to make, just boil cauliflower until soggy, heat the mash up to remove some moisture, little butter, little cheese, yum. Chickpea pasta tastes good and is low on the glycemic index, boil some, add veggies, maybe a little salami or faux salami toss in a vinaigrette for a nice, nutritious pasta salad. Parboiled rice (minute rice and such) is interesting, because it's low on the glycemic index, meaning it doesn't spike your blood sugar, non parboiled rice is some of the highest glycemic index food there is (besides, like sugar) In general things that have a low glycemic index will spike your blood sugar less than things with a high GI, so keep that in mind when shopping. Do you have a blood sugar tester still? You need one, figure out how your blood sugar reacts to different food. Also buy a diabetic cookbook, they have ones you can download on your phone, that'll be a good starting point.
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Mar 4, 2021 22:35
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Rytheric posted:I see. But is there a general alternative to rice people use? I like quinoa. It's healthier than rice and tastes better imho. It's also pretty easy to cook. This is the recipe I use whenever I make it. https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-quinoa-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-63344
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Mar 5, 2021 00:35
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Bogus Adventure posted:I like quinoa. It's healthier than rice and tastes better imho. It's also pretty easy to cook. This is the recipe I use whenever I make it. Interesting. It has a similar cook time as lentils.
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Mar 5, 2021 00:39
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Rytheric posted:Interesting. It has a similar cook time as lentils. It also keeps fairly well and is really flexible as a base for salads, casseroles, or pot dishes.
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Mar 5, 2021 00:41
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Rytheric posted:I see. But is there a general alternative to rice people use? maybe over some barley (edit, this is not really quick / easy cooking I dunno if there's quickbarley) Couscous is another option but it's not great. As mentioned maybe try Parboiled Rice (Uncle bens etc). Parboiled has a Glycemic score of 38, couscous is 64, barley is 28. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Mar 5, 2021 |
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Mar 5, 2021 13:12
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These salads are doing a number on me lol. Think I'm having to use the restroom every 3 hours or so.
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Mar 5, 2021 20:54
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