PRUDENT DIET RECIPES FOR GOOD HEALTH
PRUDENT DIET RECIPES FOR GOOD HEALTH
A Prudent Diet is one that is nutritious as well as healthy and if you delicious recipes to go with, you will enjoy eating it more often. In other words, if you are having high cholesterol levels or high blood sugar, this diet is the answer to your daily diet needs.
It’s been quite some time since I wrote my last blog about cholesterol and how to manage it by regular exercise and having a diet with healthy food contents like the type of oils, nuts, proteins, and carbohydrates.
Today, I am about to share with you some recipes which are not only nutritious and tasty and but also which I recommend to my patients who have joined my weight management program.
These recipes form a part of a ‘Prudent’, in other words, a ‘Balanced’ diet.
The Food Pyramid
A look at the picture-a food pyramid– given below will show you how a balanced diet should look like:-
If you see the above pyramid you will notice that the tip of the pyramid is the least one should consume and the base of the pyramid is the one should consume the most.
Vegetarians should ignore the meaty part of the diet but they can add cottage cheese[paneer in India], tofu, soya chunks, etc. Based on the above food pyramid, here are some recipes I recommend to make your diet tasty as well as healthy.
I intend to share the recipes in 2 parts–
A] For breakfast;
B] For lunch and dinner. Read on-
A] BREAKFAST:–
1] Nutritious Quinoa Upma-168 calories;-
Ingredients:-
- ½ bowl Quinoa-35 g-40 cals
- 10 g Soya small chunks-28 pieces-35 cals Or 2 boiled egg whites-34 cals.
- ½ bowl fresh green peas [watana]-33 g-27 cals.
- half carrot-10 cals
- ½ tomato-10 cals
- half onion-38 g-16 cals
- ½ green capsicum[simla mirch]
- half tsf VIVO [rice bran 80%+sesame 20%] oil-2.5 gms.-20 cals.
- For measuring the exact weight of ingredients, I use a kitchen scale as shown below
DIRECTIONS:-
Soak quinoa in 1 glass water in a small bowl and keep for 1 hour. Drain out the water and wash it again and keep it ready.
Soak soya chunks in warm water with salt and ½ tsf turmeric powder for 15 minutes. Squeeze dry and keep it ready. Alternately,egg-whites of 2 eggs without yolk{the yellow part} OR cooked shredded chicken meat{1 bowl} can be added instead of soya chunks.
Heat oil on a slow flame for 5 minutes. Put into it chopped onions and cook it till light brown. Add green peas, chopped carrot, tomato, green capsicum, soaked soya chunks,1/2 tsf salt and let it cook for 2 minutes. Add the soaked quinoa to this mixture plus ½ glass water and let it cook till all water dries up. Your quinoa upma is ready for eating.
For those who are not aware of what is Quinoa- it is a grain which contains:-
- high amount of protein {16 g},
- calcium{148 mg},
- fibre {7.0 g},
- minerals {0.4 g},
- and iron {13.2 mg} per 100 g.
It is available in grocery malls, online on Amazon pantry, Organic India site, etc. Though costly, its benefits are much more than wheat suji. The cost varies from Rs. 200/- to 250/- per 500 g pack in India.
2] Tasty Egg-white omelette{approx. 250cals}:-
Ingredients:-
- 2 eggs with the yolk separated[yolk of 1 egg contains approx. 295 cals.]—34 cals.
- ¾ cup onion -30 cals
- 0.5 tsf of VIVO oil-2.5g–20 cals
- ½ bowl oats-20 g-ground to fine powder—103.5 cals
- ¼ cup milk–22.5 cals
- 1 green chilly-chopped finely–0 cals
- 1/2 tomato-finely chopped-25 cals
- 1 tsp coriander leaves; 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- Salt to taste
Directions:-
1. Grease a frying pan with 2.5 g oil and keep it on low heat on a stove.
2. Whip up the egg whites and add all the above ingredients and stir thoroughly.
3. Pour the mixture into the heated frying pan and cover it with a lid.
4. Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Open the lid, overturn the omelet, put on the lid again and let it cook for another 3 minutes.
5. Remove the omelet from the pan on a plate—your tasty and filling egg-white omelet is ready for eating without any bread.
3] Green gram[moong] Appam/Hoppers with coconut chutney:- approx. 165 cals [6 pieces]
Ingredients:-
a] 125 g green gram -soak overnight{62 cals}.
b] 1 green chilly{15 cals}
c] 1 tsp of chopped ginger{1.5 cals}
d] 5 ml/5g VIVO oil{ 40 cals}
e] 1 tsp/5 g chopped curry leaves{12.5 cals}
f] Mustard 1 tsp 7 g-32 cals.
g] 3-4 green chillies-chopped-0 cals
h] Coriander leaves -chopped-2 cups-50 g-14 cals.
i] grated fresh coconut -1 cup-35 g-110 cals.
Directions:-
1. Grind the soaked green moong in a grinder-mixer to make a coarse batter.
2. Add chopped curry leaves with a little salt and mix it thoroughly.
3.Grease the slots in the appam pan with little oil using an oil brush. Pour the prepared batter in the appam pan slots.
4. Cover it with a lid and cook on a low flame for 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Roll over the appams and let it cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the hoppers/appam and serve with chutney/tomato sauce.
To make a chutney { sauce}, add chopped coriander leaves and chilies and chopped ginger plus grated coconut together in a dry grinder, add 1/2 cup water plus 1/2 teaspoon salt and grind to a fine mixture. Saute mustard seeds and few curry leaves in a little oil and add it to the ground mixture. Your yummy chutney for appam is ready. Dip the hot appam in the chutney and enjoy a tasty yet healthy treat.
4] Healthy high protein-low calorie breakfast[250 cals. approx.]:-
Here is a recipe that I enjoy the most. This dish is very tasty as well as healthy-full of nutrients, both major and micro.
Take a look at this healthy protein- and vegetable-filled dish. It contains first-class proteins in the form of an egg and lots of antioxidants in the form of vegetables.
Ingredients:-
1 medium-sized potato[50 gm], diced [43.5 cals].
1 teaspoon rice bran oil[ 40 cals].
3 whole eggs whites[51 cals]
1/4 cups low-fat milk[20 cals]
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 handful of spinach, chopped
1 cup of chopped, fresh bell peppers-yellow, red and green types[they are the main source of antioxidants and vitamins.
and, if desired 1/2 cup[130 gm] low-fat cottage cheese[82 cals].
A dash of red chilly powder, cumin, and black pepper[grounded] added to the above mixture will make it nice and spicey.
Directions:-
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 5 x 8-inch non-stick pan with rice bran oil.
2. Wash and dice the sweet potato into 1/2-inch cubes.
3. Heat a non-stick saucepan on medium and add the rice bran oil. Once the oil is hot, add the diced sweet potatoes, stirring occasionally until you’ll be able to easily put a fork through the potatoes. Set it aside.
4. Take a big cup, break the eggs and stir slowly by adding milk at the same time. Add cherry tomatoes, spinach, peppers, cheese, and cooked potatoes to the egg mixture.
5. Pour egg mixture into dish and place in the oven for 20 minutes or until the center portion is firm.
6. Let the dish cool down. Once the dish has cooled down a bit, you can consume it.
Tips:-
1]Remove the skin on the potato- they can flare up arthritic inflammation if cooked without removing.
2] If this dish is made in large proportions, a few portions of it can also be preserved in a plastic container and placed in the freezer for future use. Next morning you can remove it, defrost it in warm water, heat it again in a microwave oven and eat.
I have given you 4 healthy and tasty recipes for breakfast. You can now try them out alternately and see the benefits it has for you over a period of one month. The food that you eat is quite filling and also reduces your calorie consumption.
To know more about some of the main ingredients used in the above recipes, click here
The calorie content of each ingredient has been specifically mentioned for this purpose. This will also have a positive effect on weight loss along with regular exercise like walking.
In my next post, I will give similar 4 low-calorie recipes for curries at lunch and dinner.
Having said this, I would like to mention that I lost up to 11 kg weight in 9 months’ time by following the above diet regime and regular walks for 60 to 70 minutes[5 to 6 days a week].
You may express your views and give suggestions in the comments section of this post to help me get better in my future blogs.
Stay tuned in for my next post.
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