What I Ate Wednesday - India Edition

I'm still in India for a couple more days. I haven't been able to run since the fitness center listed online at my second hotel is "under construction"/a figment of the management's imagination. On the plus side, there is a ridiculous amount of floor space and a giant mirror in my room, which makes hotel room workouts/selfies very convenient. 

Unsurprisingly, the lack of gym hasn't stopped me from eating. Besides the amazing breakfast spread at my first hotel, I've been a little disappointed with the food. Definitely has more to do with the specifics of this trip and not my feelings towards Indian food in general, which I LOVE. I also haven't been eating healthy, which isn't surprising considering my lack of willpower when surrounded by rice and fried bread. Anyways, here's a look at what I've been eating in India.

Breakfast

The hotel breakfast during my first week in Mumbai was AMAZING and it was really hard not to eat to the point of feeling sick. I mostly tried to stick with one Indian fried bread thing like a dosa, stuffed paratha, or uttapam along with a bunch of fresh fruit and some yogurt to avoid over indulging, but I wasn't always successful.

My current hotel's breakfast spread is much more limited and much more fried carb heavy. They do have eggs to order though, so I've been getting a veggie omelette and pairing it with whatever vegetables, fruit, and yogurt is on the buffet. Oh and sprouted lentils are really common here so I've also been eating a bunch of those for some extra protein, which is fun.

Lunch

I had excellent salads for lunch a couple times at my first hotel in Mumbai, which were definitely my healthiest meals of the trip. Probably the best lunch I ate was the unassuming idli (small pressed lentil and rice flour cakes) dish on on the top right that I got from a food court. It was coated in tons of super spicy and flavorful green curry sauce, but the fact that I was eating it for lunch at 4:30 pm also probably contributed to it's deliciousness. I've been eating cafeteria food for the past couple days, which I didn't manage to get a picture of, but it wasn't too easy on the eyes or the stomach so you aren't missing much.

Dinner

I did try to eat healthy food for dinner, but besides getting a salad at the hotel in Mumbai I mostly failed. Exhibit A: the goan fish curry top center I was recommended when I wanted a light fish and vegetable dish. The curry was quite good, and the fish in it wasn't bad, but there wasn't a vegetable in sight. Exhibit B on the top right is what happened when I tried to order the Chinese chicken noodle soup and a veggie spring roll for room service. I ended up with fried chicken noodles and a LOT of spring rolls. Not bad, but not exactly the light meal I was imagining. And I did get Pizza Hut once, which I'm not proud of, but because it isn't safe to go out at night it was my only option besides the hotel restaurant. And hey, there are lots of veggies on that pizza. And a stuffed cheese crust...  

Q: What have you been eating lately? Have any funny food ordering mishaps?

Meatless Monday Recipe Roundup

I didn't meal prep this week because I'm in India, but you can check out my previous meal preps here if you're looking for some ideas. 

Luckily, there are a lot of restaurants in India so I've still been able to eat a ton despite the lack of meal prep. Unluckily, it's been hard to eat healthy with all the delicious bread-like things, fried cheese, rice and curries staring at me all the time. Oh well, when in Rome India.

On the plus side, meatless Monday's have been super easy since there are so many vegetarian options. Which I guess isn't surprising since, according to Wikipedia, as many as 40% of Indians are vegetarian and there's even a government mandated vegetarian/non vegetarian labeling system for all packaged food products. 

I love meat (a piece of crispy pork belly is pretty close to heaven in my book), but I've been trying to eat more plant-based meals because it's good for the environment, especially since there's a serious drought in my new home state of California. Monica of Run Eat Repeat summed up why really well so I won't repeat the info here. #AintNobodyGotTimeforThat

Anyways, in honor of Captain Planet, India's vegetarians, and meatless Monday, here's a round up of vegetarian recipes so good you won't miss the meat.

The Lean Green Bean's Sweet Potato Quinoa Black Bean Burgers: This combo of sweet potato, quinoa, and black bean makes for a super hearty burger without the beef.  I made these awhile ago and they were so tasty I have to give it another go soon. 

Skinnytaste's Quinoa and Spinach Patties: It's been ages since I adapted this recipe, but it's still one of the bf's favorite meatless recipes, with lots of satisfying meat-free texture.

The Vegetarian Times' Tempeh Bolognese: The last time I made baked tempeh, I used it in Italian flavored dishes for the first time thanks to this recipe and loved it. This would be even tastier/healthier than my pre-made sauce version and would be amazing over spaghetti squash.

Yup, it's Vegan's Baked Sweet & Sour Pineapple Sriracha Tofu Nuggets: I finally tried pressing tofu before baking and it really does make a huge difference. This recipe calls for freezing and thawing the tofu before pressing and the resulting texture looks awesome.

My Vegan Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili: Chili makes a great vegetarian dish, and the pumpkin adds in extra creaminess and filling power to make up for the lack of ground meat.

Q: Do you do meatless Mondays? Meat-only Mondays? What's your take on meat-eating? 

Hello from India!

I didn't meal prep this week because I was traveling to India all weekend, but you can see my previous meal preps here if you need some ideas. In fact, because of the time changes and some fancy math I can't explain, I managed to time travel and miss Sunday all together!

(Image Source)

I did prep (and by prep I mean buy and then pack) a lot of healthy travel snacks. With a 2 hour bus ride to LAX, 15 hour flight to Dubai, and 3 hour flight to Mumbai, I made sure to take all the snacks I could carry.

I drank that whole coconut water and the green juice before I even got to the airport in an attempt to hydrate myself before the flight, but I still blew through my 1 liter bottle of water in a few hours and was dying between beverage services. I drink like a camel. Except that then I'd be able to store liquid and not drink for days. At least I think that's what they do. Not a camel expert.

But back to food. I got to my hotel around 4 AM, went to sleep around 5:30, and woke up at 10:00 to make it down in time for the awe-inspiring hotel breakfast buffet. I blame the lack of sleep and overwhelming amount of options for what happened next. Note the aspirational egg white omelette I ordered before I decided to eat ALL THE THINGS.

I'll end my food coma/jet lag induced ramblings here and head off to either A) take a nap or B) drink copious amounts of Nescafé before my afternoon meeting. 

Q: Any votes for option A vs option B? Know any better figures of speech for people who need to drink a lot? Or any camel jokes?