Efficient Food Consumption/Preparation

#1
I think this is probably the least wrong section to post this in since it can be helpful for productivity and saving time. I don't much like spending time doing any sort of cooking that takes longer than 8 minutes (almost anything but microwaving frozen food, frying frozen food, and making noodles is out) but I also want to be having healthy food. I've tried both soylent and ambronite which are meal replacements but soylent doesn't sit as great with my stomach sometimes and ambronite is too expensive. I've been trying to look for other meal replacements, anyone have any they have experience with? I also just got my blender and I'm hoping I can blend fruits/veggies to have something healthy + convenient.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#2
I've heard of soylent but not ambronite. I presume they are a competitor.

Each morning, I have a superfood shake using my blender. I have almond milk, chia seeds, cacau nibs, two tablespoons of whey protein, frozen blueberries and frozen strawberries. Crank that baby up and you get a nice ice-cold tasty smoothie with lots of health benefits.

Meal prep is also good. Get some containers from Amazon and cook 4 chicken breasts at once. While that is going, get some rice sorted, perhaps in the microwave. Stir Fry some veg and you are done for your next 4 meals.
 
#3
This is amrbonite. I'll try to find those ingredients and use them in a smoothie but not sure how I'll find chia seeds or cacau nibs (what are those?).

Can't do the chicken breasts because I'm a vegan. Without those the veggies are a bit harder because they're not so fun to eat by themselves.

Forgot to mention, I find granola very convenient and easy and I've been considering trying other ones too because they're great in the morning with soy milk.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#4
Just to add, for meal prep, I got some ideas from these guys:


Their channel is quite entertaining, the recipes are simple and that video alone got over 9M views!
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#5
Hah, our posts just crossed, so you won't be liking the chicken recipe above! They have some vegan ones too, I believe. I hope! Chia seeds are super-healthy. Most seeds and nuts are. Cacau nibs is basically raw dark chocolate, as I understand it. It is good for arteries and cardiovascular disease.
 
#6
Saw this vid on their channel, I don't like spending the time to cook but thinking of cooked tofu is starting to sway me...especially if I could have it all week.

I do have a lot of flaxseed at home which is a start, I should probably be able to order most of that online.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#7
Ah that video looks ideal for you. I quite liked some tofu and soy sauce thing I had once in a restaurant.

Flaxseed is good too, like the Chia seeds. I might be adding that to my shake too.
 
#8
I went with my friend to the grocery store yesterday and I'm amazed at just how cheap you can make food if you buy vegetables and mushrooms (not fruits though, they're expensive usually in Korea). I bought some frozen strawberries yesterday and my friend said I could blend just that with orange juice, I'll try to order the other ingredients online once I get some cash.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#9
Frozen strawberries blend well. They also act as ice cubes so they make your smoothie cold. I personally wouldn't have orange juice and frozen strawberries together. That is a huge insulin spike. These sorts of things lead to diabetes over the long term. I am a hypocrite because I used to drink lots of full-fat coke!
 

Bee

Founding Member
#10
I agree with Jon (this is a rarity, so take note). Orange juice should be limited - or diluted if you simply can't do without it.
 

The_Doc_Man

Founding Member
#11
My wife likes the blueberries as a blend-in additive. She's allergic to strawberries but apparently, blueberries work quite well. Neither of us likes orange juice that much. But then, I remember that once, when I was having a glucose tolerance test, the drink they gave me after they took the first sample? Commercial off-the-shelf orange juice. And they give you that because they WANT your glucose to spike fast.
 
#12
Haha alright, no orange juice then. Are blueberries good to mix with strawberries in the same shake? And is there much difference between using soy milk vs almond milk? How hard is to make a bad tasting blend if I just throw in random fruits, seeds, and powders?
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#13
My shake tastes quite nice. I think the biggest issue is how many strawberries you put in there. Blueberries are much smaller, so one strawb is like putting in 5 blueberries. Add according to how sweet you like your shake. I use almond milk, knowing little about soy milk. I do know almond milk has far fewer calories than cow's milk.

If you stick greens in there, I reckon it would start to taste bad. I even had chocolate flavoured protein powder thrown in mine at first and it still tasted ok. I use vanilla flavour now, and that is a bit nicer.
 
#14
Some greens are bitter when raw, some are not. Spinach is mild when compared to, say, mustard greens or collard greens. I find that the bitter greens, despite being good for you, can be almost unpalatable in salads. I would therefore presume they would be bad in a blended mixture. Protein powder (any flavor) would be very mild-tasting as an additive because most such powders are, by their nature, de-natured. When you remove water from protein, it loses its molecular shape, so all you get is the nutritive value of the raw components.
 

Bee

Founding Member
#15
If you are using soy or almond milk, use the unsweetened version. It's very easy to get too many calories from the sweetened version. I use soy rather than almond milk - I like both though.
 
#16
Some greens are bitter when raw, some are not. Spinach is mild when compared to, say, mustard greens or collard greens. I find that the bitter greens, despite being good for you, can be almost unpalatable in salads. I would therefore presume they would be bad in a blended mixture. Protein powder (any flavor) would be very mild-tasting as an additive because most such powders are, by their nature, de-natured. When you remove water from protein, it loses its molecular shape, so all you get is the nutritive value of the raw components.
The main thing I'm taking away from this is don't add anything that I'd put in a salad which isn't too hard, I don't mind some vegetables like spinach but I strongly dislike salads and whatever greens they put in them (which is inconvenient as a vegan when people tend to assume I like salads). I don't really know where I can get protein powder in Korea but I'm wondering if I could try putting quinoa or tofu in instead for protein (seems an unpalatable mix with fruit but who knows)? Looks like I've got a lot of experimenting to do.

If you are using soy or almond milk, use the unsweetened version. It's very easy to get too many calories from the sweetened version. I use soy rather than almond milk - I like both though.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll do that then. Both are pretty easy to get in Korea and the unsweetened versions taste alright. Back when I lived in the US I never found any almond milk I could call good tasting.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#17
If you don't like salads as a vegan, what on earth do you eat??! I like to put dried fruit in my salads. Makes them much more palatable. I've been getting into avocado too lately, but it is a big calorie hit so pruning it while I am dieting. And, an undressed salad is just plain boring. I use olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

I am surprised that protein powder is hard to get in Korea.
 

Bee

Founding Member
#18
Dried fruits are tasty but can really ramp up the sugar intake, so use with moderation. You are in fact better having your avocado because of the healthy omega fats.
 
#19
My staple diet alternative to salad would be rice + seaweed and generally tofu. Even with something like fruit in it, I usually just force myself through the greens. Sometimes it's not too bad with the right sauce but it's never my first choice. Is salad really that healthy a choice?

Avocado would be nice to have but they're really expensive, even for a fruit, in Korea. Protein powder isn't hard to get, I just don't know where to get it from and it would be sort of a pain to find some that is vegan here.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#20
Do you have lots of kimchi over there? That is supposed to be super-healthy. I tried some and it wasn't quite to my taste, but I can see how many people would like it.
 
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