Specifically regarding protein: You are probably underestimating how much protein is in many foods. Here is a brief list of foods which, if you got all of your calories from them, would give you enough protein:
Any sort of bean, including fast cooking beans such as lentils, lima beans, and peas.
Most nuts
Many dark green vegetables (e.g spinach, kale, broccoli, green cabbage)
Bread. Yes, really—there’s lots of gluten in there.
Pasta. Again, lots of gluten.
Potatoes, so long as you eat the skins. Get red ones, they’re easier to clean and the skins are more tender.
Quinoa (a grain).
Brown rice is close, but not quite there. So you should not worry about eating meat, it’s unnecessary.
One specific dish you should consider is dal. Cooked lentils with spices. Popular in India. Lots of other things you can throw in, too, including onion, tomato, garlic. carrots, and corn. In small quantities the tomato and onion should be less likely to cause heartburn. To keep the cost of the spices down, buy from the bulk section—it can be as little as 1⁄10 the price of bottled spices, and you can get only however much you need. Dried lentils and spices keep for quite a long time, and it only takes 45min to prepare, in one pot (or two if you make a tarka).
When you store vegetables in the fridge, do you keep them in plastic bags? I find that helps for many green veggies in particular. I just use the bags I get them in from the store or my farmshare.
Consider shopping more like a European—buy fresh ingredients every day or every other day instead of doing one big shopping trip once a week. This will minimize your food spoilage problems.
I agree with everyone else that you should check that your fridge is functioning properly. Measure the temperature. It should be between 33 and 38 degrees F. Above 38 and I’d expect fairly high rates of spoilage.
I love indian food amd I like lentils and beans. And lentils are supposed to be quicker to cook (I have some really old lentils. I should get newer ones. They aren’t expensive.) The trick seems to be getting them soft but not mush. I used to cook indian more often, but I always made too much. It’s amazing how much food one carrot, one onion, one tomato, and some lentils turns into.
I have some spices—one year for my birthday, I told my mother to get me spices. And small quantities of spies are available quite cheaply—packets containing only a few grams can last me over a year, since I’m only using a pinch of one, a pinch of another. I have most of the common european spices (salt, black pepper, sweet paprika, rosemary, thyme, oregano, dill, basil, sage, etc.) and also I have some curry and garam masala, ground and whole cardamom (which I never knew what to do with). i have chili powder as well, which i add in small quantities to various things for health reasons—i dont like very spicy, but i dont mind it a little.)
I live in Hungary, and I’ve been trying to shop less European, because if I don’t have emergency supplies on hand and I can’t leave the house, then I’m stuck. I try to keep foods on hand that won’t spoil to use as emergency foods (some days I have a migraine and don’t make it outside), but on the days I can go out, I should be a good European and visit the market across the street in the mornings where there’s fresh seaonal produce from surrounding villages, and the bakery just down the street where I can buy 1⁄2 kg of bread for 115 forints (about $0.57). Lately, though, I haven’t been making it outside very often and so I eat into my supplies until I have to buy more.
I don’t know what kind of lentils you’re using, but green or French lentils become less mushy than red ones. (I happen to like them mushy, but if you don’t...)
My preference is a happy medium between the two. My experience vascillates between “chewing little rocks” or “i’m eating baby food” yet I like lentils, despite these problems.
My lentils are labeled in greek (ПΟΛΕМИΔΙΩТНΕ КΥПИАКХ ΦАКН), and my greek is worse than my russian (i can recognise about half of the letters and only those words which English stole and didn’t change very much) but they look red to me and definitely not green. I got them when a friend was moving home to Cyprus and didnt want to lug her pantry back with her. That must have been five years ago. She gave me several bags, and a little lentils go a long way.
Specifically regarding protein: You are probably underestimating how much protein is in many foods. Here is a brief list of foods which, if you got all of your calories from them, would give you enough protein:
Any sort of bean, including fast cooking beans such as lentils, lima beans, and peas.
Most nuts
Many dark green vegetables (e.g spinach, kale, broccoli, green cabbage)
Bread. Yes, really—there’s lots of gluten in there.
Pasta. Again, lots of gluten.
Potatoes, so long as you eat the skins. Get red ones, they’re easier to clean and the skins are more tender.
Quinoa (a grain).
Brown rice is close, but not quite there. So you should not worry about eating meat, it’s unnecessary.
One specific dish you should consider is dal. Cooked lentils with spices. Popular in India. Lots of other things you can throw in, too, including onion, tomato, garlic. carrots, and corn. In small quantities the tomato and onion should be less likely to cause heartburn. To keep the cost of the spices down, buy from the bulk section—it can be as little as 1⁄10 the price of bottled spices, and you can get only however much you need. Dried lentils and spices keep for quite a long time, and it only takes 45min to prepare, in one pot (or two if you make a tarka).
When you store vegetables in the fridge, do you keep them in plastic bags? I find that helps for many green veggies in particular. I just use the bags I get them in from the store or my farmshare.
Consider shopping more like a European—buy fresh ingredients every day or every other day instead of doing one big shopping trip once a week. This will minimize your food spoilage problems.
I agree with everyone else that you should check that your fridge is functioning properly. Measure the temperature. It should be between 33 and 38 degrees F. Above 38 and I’d expect fairly high rates of spoilage.
I love indian food amd I like lentils and beans. And lentils are supposed to be quicker to cook (I have some really old lentils. I should get newer ones. They aren’t expensive.) The trick seems to be getting them soft but not mush. I used to cook indian more often, but I always made too much. It’s amazing how much food one carrot, one onion, one tomato, and some lentils turns into.
I have some spices—one year for my birthday, I told my mother to get me spices. And small quantities of spies are available quite cheaply—packets containing only a few grams can last me over a year, since I’m only using a pinch of one, a pinch of another. I have most of the common european spices (salt, black pepper, sweet paprika, rosemary, thyme, oregano, dill, basil, sage, etc.) and also I have some curry and garam masala, ground and whole cardamom (which I never knew what to do with). i have chili powder as well, which i add in small quantities to various things for health reasons—i dont like very spicy, but i dont mind it a little.)
I live in Hungary, and I’ve been trying to shop less European, because if I don’t have emergency supplies on hand and I can’t leave the house, then I’m stuck. I try to keep foods on hand that won’t spoil to use as emergency foods (some days I have a migraine and don’t make it outside), but on the days I can go out, I should be a good European and visit the market across the street in the mornings where there’s fresh seaonal produce from surrounding villages, and the bakery just down the street where I can buy 1⁄2 kg of bread for 115 forints (about $0.57). Lately, though, I haven’t been making it outside very often and so I eat into my supplies until I have to buy more.
I don’t know what kind of lentils you’re using, but green or French lentils become less mushy than red ones. (I happen to like them mushy, but if you don’t...)
My preference is a happy medium between the two. My experience vascillates between “chewing little rocks” or “i’m eating baby food” yet I like lentils, despite these problems.
My lentils are labeled in greek (ПΟΛΕМИΔΙΩТНΕ КΥПИАКХ ΦАКН), and my greek is worse than my russian (i can recognise about half of the letters and only those words which English stole and didn’t change very much) but they look red to me and definitely not green. I got them when a friend was moving home to Cyprus and didnt want to lug her pantry back with her. That must have been five years ago. She gave me several bags, and a little lentils go a long way.