5.11.2010

# Cuisine # lifestyle

What The Daily Connoisseur Eats…






I recently got a request from an email subscriber of The Daily Connoisseur asking me what I eat on a typical day. I have a pretty healthy diet and, I believe, have never had a problem with my weight because of this (knock on wood- we’ll see how I do après baby…).

Please keep in mind that because I am pregnant there are a lot of things I’m not having (sushi, sandwiches, coffee, green tea, etc.) that I normally have. Other than the items I’m forbidden to eat while pregnant, I pretty much eat the same things I did before I was pregnant.

Here is my menu for a typical day:

Breakfast:

First thing in the morning I drink a tall glass of warm water with lemon. Then 20 minutes or so later I eat either:

A homemade fruit and yogurt parfait (pictured above). This is my current favorite thing to eat in the morning. It consists of Greek yogurt (Fage is my favorite brand), a sprinkling of flax seeds, a few tablespoons of walnuts, a quarter cup of blueberry muesli and whatever fruit or berries I have on hand.

or

Hot oatmeal with soymilk, chopped bananas, flax seeds, walnuts and honey.

or

One piece of whole grain toast with almond butter and chopped bananas on top and a whole grapefruit on the side.

When I am not pregnant, breakfast is usually accompanied with a cup of green tea. Now, however I just drink a cup of hot water.


Lunch:

Before I was pregnant I usually would eat a sandwich- turkey or chicken with lettuce, tomato, avocado and Swiss or cheddar cheese. (Pregnant women are advised against eating lunch meat, so I have cut this out). Or I would have a California roll or spicy tuna roll from the local sushi restaurant and a cup of miso soup. (Ditto for not being allowed to eat sushi… this has been very hard for me- I love the stuff!)

So now I modify my lunch by usually eating:

A salad. Consisting of greens, chopped broccoli, corn, cheese, dried cranberries, mushrooms and green onions with a small amount of ranch dressing or a vinaigrette.

or

A Mediterranean lunch. Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves- I love these!), hummus and tabbouleh salad.

or

Salmon teriyaki with brown rice



Afternoon snack

Before being pregnant I would usually have a cup of coffee in the afternoon. I have since replaced that with a glass of veggie juice (usually carrot, celery, apple)

For a snack I typically eat:

An apple with peanut or almond butter

or

Whole grain crackers with cheese

or

Hummus with pita bread

or

Baby carrots and celery sticks

or let’s be honest...

A piece of cake or something equally as naughty (today it was a rather large chocolate chip cookie)



Dinner

For dinner I normally eat a protein of some sort with veggies. Typical dinners for me include:

Wild salmon with brown rice and broccoli

or

Roast chicken with potato gratin and sweet corn

or

Steak with roasted potatoes and asparagus

Occasionally I will have whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese.


I also try to drink a lot of water throughout the day and right before I go to bed I drink another tall glass of water.

So there you have it- my typical menu for the day…

I love getting emails from readers and try to answer all requests. Thank you, Julie, for requesting this one!

I would love to know… what does your daily menu consist of?

14 comments:

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Your baby is so lucky that you are eating so mindfully.
I have coffee and eat either fruit and yogurt, or half a bagel and jam or cream cheese ,or a scrambled egg for breakfast..lunch is usually leftovers from dinner the night before...and dinner...protein (meat poultry or fish) a vegetable or 2, maybe salad and sometimes a potato or rice or pasta...rarely sweets...mineral water and wine or bubbly!
Not the best regime possible but I am giving you the honest truth here!

Fiona said...

I eat pretty healthfully with plenty of vegetables and low-fat protein. A poached egg on wholegrain toast keeps me going until lunchtime. It's such a great breakfast. You would have to cook the yolk solid being pregnant though and the runny yolk is the best part! My problem is snacks. A glass of wine and something to nibble on after work. I guess it's just a habit I'll have to get out of. That and a sweet tooth are holding me back from being truly svelte!

Josephine Tale Peddler said...

Hello, I also like a tall glass of lemon water first thing in the morning. I am shocking at breakfast time I might follow your choices as most of the time I eat nothing. I am a fairly healthy eater but tend to graze on almonds/fruit throughout the day and then have a cooked meal and raw veg for dinner. I am not fond of sushi but my daughter loves it. I don't like a lot of sweet things although tonight I am cooking my favourite sweet treat - apple crumble. I love Indian food and could eat Dahl forever. xx

Scent Hive said...

You should enjoy a California roll. The crab is cooked, so no problem!

~Trish

Alan Burnett said...

Fish and chips at least two or three times a week. With all the carbs and fat it is probably the antithesis to a "healthy diet" which somehow makes it all the more palatable.

Paris Pastry said...

Those are some healthy pregnancy cravings! Actually breakfast for me is EXACTLY the same: greek yoghurt with raspberries, hot oatmeal, or a drinkable lime yoghurt. Yum. My favorite meal of the day!

♥ Daniëlle

Uxille said...

it's great you take care of yourself... lucky baby will be very healthy. i heard that moms that work out have healthy babies and those babies usually grow up with less weight issue and they are slimmer. i think that healthy eating moms have healthy babies, too. :D

there are a lot of cooked meat with sushi, i think. or maybe you can order a vegetarian sushi. eel is definitely cooked and back in vancouver, i had B.C. roll once. it's salmon skin sushi. it's cooked, too. or sweet egg sushi.

Lisa@Pickles and Cheese said...

You are such a healthy eater! I expect your baby will be at the peak on the health-o-meter! It would be hard to give up all your old staples like sushi or sandwiches. I only remember giving up coffee and alcohol. I do like my V-8 in the morning with flax seed. Makes me feel like I am starting the day on the right foot.

Crystal said...

Thank you for posting this! You're such a healthy eater! I'm not pregnant but am watching my calories right now and what/when you eat specific things throughout the day definitely help me get an idea of how to eat healthier. Thanks!

The Daily Connoisseur said...

Hostess- I love a good bagel every now and then- so satisfying! Sounds like you eat really well- rarely sweets? I wish I had that self control. I eat at least one sweet a day. But my rule is to enjoy it fully and not beat myself up about it. It's working for me so far :)

Fiona- I love poached eggs and almost forgot that I used to eat them all of the time for breakfast. But like you said, I can't have runny yolks so this has gone by the wayside recently. I do find that when I eat eggs I am completely satisfied until lunchtime...

Josephine- I love that your daughter loves sushi- such adult tastes! I didn't like the stuff until I was 18. Indian food is so delicious. Every now and then my husband and I splurge on a nice chicken korma, saag paneer (sp) and dahl- delightful...

Trish- I could technically eat a California roll but the paranoid first time pregnant lady in me thinks that since it might be prepared on the same board as the raw fish I better not! I just keep telling myself only 2 and a half months till I can have that spicy tuna roll :)

Alan- LOL. Fish and chips can be divine. They don't make them very well over here in America which is just as well- I eat them every time I go to England :)

Danielle- I love that we have the same favorite breakfast! It's so good isn't it? Greek yogurt is so decadent- it tastes like ice cream to me xo

Oshiya- hello! I have gotten a cooked salmon roll but as I mentioned above to Trish I have been paranoid about the preparation (even though I've never gotten ill from sushi after eating it regularly for over 10 years now) but I am just being very careful :)

Lisa- I just found out that flax seeds aren't properly digested unless they are ground. Did you know that? I had no idea! Haha. So tomorrow I will be placing my flax seeds in the food mill...

Crystal- Yay! I'm glad you found this post helpful. I actually love reading what other people eat. Those intimate details really fascinate me. I'd love to hear about how you eat on your blog! xo

Barbara von Enger said...

Though I'm not pregnant your diet resembles mine. I adore nuts.
Life is about eating midfully I was brought up to do so:-)

Anonymous said...

I got hungry reading your post, guess I should have waited til after lunch lol! I too love granola in the morning. I've recently started making my own and it tastes wonderful, so much better than shop bought granola even if I do say so myself :) Have a great weekend!

Parisbreakfasts said...

I am going to go eat an apple with peanut butter on it NOW
Merci
carolg

Anonymous said...

I love your ideas for sensible. I really enjoy Almond milk as an alternative to soy milk. I had a bad experience after drinking soy for several years, my hormones were out of wack. Things went back to normal after a few months of excluding soy and tofu from my diet, I feel much better now. The doctor said my experience is common.

I also love apples with nut butter! My favorite is cashew butter :)