Any interest in daily menu thread?

[essjay]

I'm always interested in what meal ideas people come up and how they plan their menus. Is there any interest in posting your daily menu for each day. It could help people plan and stay honest and share ideas.

You could write what plan, what stage and any personal tweaks you're making to that program.

I'd be willing to start one each day. Anyone willing to post?

[Sharon]

Hi, have you checked out Bootcamp...something very similar happens there daily.

[essjay]

Hi Sharon,

Actually that is where I got the idea. I was looking through journals and wishing there was just a food thread where people posted what they ate and you could just scroll through it. I like the journals but when I'm looking for ideas, I just wanted menus.
Is there a thread over there with just menus? I might have missed it. thanks.

sj

[tamarian]

Hi essjay,

Sounds like you have a great idea, I think I see what you mean.

You mean each day we all post any interesting menus we had, other than boiled eggs. :) And people just jump in and add their creative menus. Next day start a new thread, and this way people can find out interesting ideas for food. If they like something, they can just ask the poster for the recipe.

Sounds good. Why not start the thread and others will hopefully jump in.

Wa'il

[doreen T]

This sounds like a perfect thread to have in the Lowcarb Kitchen!!

That way, folks can easily find recipes too, to stimulate the menu ideas ;)

Doreen

[alto]

I've only been here a week-and-a-half, but I'll second the request, if I may. I cling to other people's meal plans -- they're a lifeline. It fascinates me how creative people are. I started on bacon-and-eggs/chicken salad/steak and salad -- to me, the basic low carb menu -- and I'm extremely grateful for every idea I get that's an alternative to that.

Essjay, if you start it, I'll sign up.

[AngelaR]

The Kitchen forum already handles recipes, and each one is in it's own thread. That makes it really easy to find one. Have you wandered over to that part of the site to check out the great recipies?

http://forum.lowcarber.org/f2/

Maybe I'm just not understanding what you meant essjay.

[alto]

I was still on the board and saw your response, Angela, and thought I'd answer, even though I'm not essjay -- who may have intended something different. But what Tamarian posted was what I had in mind:

Tamarian wrote:
"You mean each day we all post any interesting menus we had, other than boiled eggs. And people just jump in and add their creative menus. Next day start a new thread, and this way people can find out interesting ideas for food. If they like something, they can just ask the poster for the recipe."

We'd have a Menus, Friday, November 9 and each poster would put up their menus, so they'd be there all in a row. I check the journals too, but there are many of them, and often there's a lot of material in them besides menus (and should be). The Recipes forum is great, very helpful, but it's individual dishes, not how someone puts everything together into an eating plan. We Newbies need all the help we can get :)

I like Wa'il's and Doreen's idea, too, of connecting it to the recipes forum. Just my 2 cents :)

[AngelaR]

Originally posted by alto
The Recipes forum is great, very helpful, but it's individual dishes, not how someone puts everything together into an eating plan. We Newbies need all the help we can get

I see what you are getting at...but I'm still worried about recipes getting burried way deep inside threads.

Maybe I should just stop thinking of them as recipes. If it is a whole day's menu, balanced with all the protein and carbs then it would make it easier for those of us who aren't great cooks and have trouble planning things when the protein or carb allotment for a meal isn't just from a single source. (ie going from meat, a veggie and salad at dinner to something more exotic with multiple ingredients)

BTW, I'm a newbie too. Nice to meet you!!

[essjay]

Okay, this is what I mean...I would start a thread in the morning and say this is what I ate yesterday. List my meal plan, any variations I'm making to it and any extra info on meals as well.

EXAMPLE

Daily Thread One:

I am on Atkins, post-Induction.
Variation: I try to eat 5-6 small meals a day every 2-3 hours (to keep insulin more stable)

MY MENU:

Meal One: Carbolite Pancake w/ carbolite syrup and butter
I make the pancake using half zero carb bake mix and half low carb bake mix

Meal Two: Egg salad on a fiber wasa

Meal Three: small chicken breast and green beans

Meal Four: Chicken ceasar salad

Meal Five: Pepperoni and cheese

Meal Six: Egg custard: use regular egg custard recipe, replace milk with cream and water and sugar with splenda.

The idea is to just list menu ideas and then if you have a question about your own menu or someone else has one, you can post it. The daily thread idea is so that it happens every day on the main board. If someone has questions (How do you make this, is this or that too many carbs?) they can respond to the post. People can post their own menus and ask questions about it (am I getting enough food? too many carbs? anyone see potential stallers?) thoughts?

[alto]

essjay, I think it's a great idea. I've already gotten an idea from you -- thinking of them as six small meals rather than as three meals plus snacks. I'm going to try to space "feedings" throughout the day. I was trying to be "disciplined" and eating three meals a day, but I think the other will work better.

Since you have Wa'il and Doreen's blessing, why not start it tomorrow -- I'll bet a lot of people will sign up.

Suggestion: I've seen this on other forums become confused, because people don't know whether, on Saturday, they should be posting Friday menus -- that's one option -- or whether the Saturday thread should be for Saturday's menus. If it was a post-Saturday's-menus-on-the-Saturday-thread, then we could post breakfast and go back in and edit later meals OR wait until the end of the day.

Great idea -- and Angela, great to meet you, too :)

[Karen]

If someone has questions (How do you make this, is this or that too many carbs?) they can respond to the post. People can post their own menus and ask questions about it (am I getting enough food? too many carbs? anyone see potential stallers?) thoughts?

All of the above is why the Journal Forum was opened. If we get into this in a daily menu thread, it will be a duplicate of the Journals.

I think you may be finding the journals lengthy to read because you want to get to the "meat". ;) I too am trying to figure out a way of doing this so we we won't be repeating what already exists.

In ASDLC, a member will frequently start a thread with "What's for Dinner?" and the members will post what they will be having for dinner. The thread becomes very long and lively and only the food is discussed in them. "What's for Lunch" or "Breakfast" can always be asked too.

Karen

[doreen T]

Karen has a good point .. I routinely post my daily menus, with amounts, cooking directions, and nutritional breakdown in my Bootcamp journal (well ok, the last couple days I've been delinquent :rolleyes: ) .. and no desire to post in two different places.

I guess I was just thinking of basic menu "ideas" and not a "what did you eat today", which, as Karen says, duplicates the role and purpose of the journals.

Just my 2¢

Doreen

[Sharon]

Karen, I agree....my first thought was we are already do this, although I understand what people are looking for.

I personally find just by reading through others journals I get meal ideas. If we start with the menus, then we'll have to add the recipes, then with the recipes we have to add the nutritional counts...etc....and pretty soon the "meat" will be hard to find there as well.

But, the bottom line is....if doing this helps someone/people then it's worthwhile.

[Karen]

What about testing the ASDLC model and trying a "What's for Dinner?" thread. WOuld Daily Low Carber be an appropriate place to start it?

Karen

[itsjoyful]

IMHO, i agree w/ karen. if you look at the questions of new members, i would say 90% (including me) asked the question "what do you eat for.... (b,l,d & snacks)" i think if we set up the threads for each, then that is where we could direct members for ideas.
when this thread first came up, i was really interested, because i have a hard time breaking away from the very basics. but maybe someone else's basic will be different enough that i will find new things.
i think this makes perfect sense.
so does the FAQ page someone was going to start ;)
just my 2 cents
brenda

[essjay]

I didn't envision it with elaborate recipes or nutritional breakdowns. I figured if it was so elaborate you could post to the recipe file and just write that in parens

example:
meal two: my fabulous fake pasta (see recipe forum for this)

I usually only visit the daily low carber board but I had gone through the journals but thought it was time consuming and sometimes the discussion would go way out there.

But since those of you who read the journals feel this is overlap, then nevermind.

[tamarian]

Originally posted by essjay
But since those of you who read the journals feel this is
overlap, then nevermind.

Some do and some don't :) Remember we're a couple of thousand members here, and not all will agree on everything.

I say try the idea and see who jumps in.

I personally read the journals to learn about each person and how they are tailoring low-carbing to their own lifestyle. I also like recipes and look for new techniques.

What I got from your idea, is that it isn't a personal journal and it's not about detailed recipes, so it's something different :) I've never seen this before, but I always look forward to new ideas.

Wa'il

[nsmith4366]

The journal forum is fine, but it reads more like diaries than menu postings. People respond in there, get off topic and I wind up scrolling and scrolling just looking for their next days menu - and some people do not post their menus daily.
Another message board (lowcarbeating.com) has a thread called
Post Your Menus Here - people keep to just posting ONLY what they ate each day. Then if someone wants to cook something they ate they can email them or instant message the poster. It is nice to see how a whole day of meals is coordinated and what that looks like in one place. Fun to scroll down and see what everyone ate that one day. The journals are more in a "my life and all my crud and my menus once in a while" format...this is fine, people get alot of support in these...but strictly a days menu thread is needed - each day a new thread. This also helps people stay accountable and keep lowcarbing responsibly, because everyone will check in to see if they did as well as they did previously. :) Good idea. I'm tired of searching through people's journals just looking for a dayful of lowcarb meals I can duplicate if my brain is too tired to think.

[alto]

I agree, for all the reasons nsmith said. Could we try it and see how it works? There are days I have time to read everyone's journal and days I don't.

I think Karen's idea is a good one too, but seeing what everyone's having for dinner isn't the same as seeing how that dinner fits into a program.

This is my vote -- I won't post any more on this one :)

[itsjoyful]

gee, i hope my post did not offend. i was merely trying to help. again, i say, i think this is a great idea. i think it would be very useful and even if it ends up not going great, what's the loss? not that i think it won't do well, but...... well, just read my signature line. you will be supported.
brenda

[doreen T]

Brenda, you are just so NOT offensive :angel:

I got a little confused for a bit here (s'okay, it's been a long week :p) thinking the menus were to be elaborate with preparation details (a.k.a recipe) and carb counts etc

Most of my daily menus are non-recipe, simply prepared meats, salads and vegetables ... different herbs, seasonings etc. I think it would be great to share those ideas for basic everyday meals.

p.s. - I use leftovers a lot, and plan for them when I cook, so that might be helpful ideas too if anyone else does that. For example, Tuesday, I have steamed broccoli with dinner and cook extra to have for a quick frittata with eggs, cheese and green onions for Wednesday's lunch. Is that the kind of thing you're looking for??

Doreen

[essjay]

Yes, I think I was going along the lines of what is everyone eating...menus mostly....you could read down them for ideas but they could also be fodder for discussion if something leaps out at someone else (not necessarily but I'm thinking looser format versus strict).

I thought of this because this question does come up SO often.

okay I'll start the thread tomorrow with today's menu. :)
and we'll see how it goes.

thanks!

[borlisch]

I think this is a great idea. Just list what you ate for the day. There are days when I read something and think why didn't I think of that. I enjoy the journals but sometimes I just don't have enough time to scroll thru the whole thing, and I want meal ideas. Something I can live with, funny its always about mememe. :D

Please start the smiles rollin. :roll: :roll: :roll:

Barb

[nsmith4366]

Where will this POST YOUR MENUS ONLY thread BE?

I've looked this am and found nothing yet.
Some people will post their whole days menu because they plan ahead and other post as they eat each meal, still others will wait til the end of the day to summarize thier meals. Neither way is wrong and it's fun to check in during the day and see how people are doing.

Nancy

[doreen T]

Just a gentle reminder of the Internationalness of our forum, and the many time zones and hours' difference amongst all our members. It may be morning in our own part of the world, but other folks are still sound asleep 'cuz it's the middle of the night where they are. In fact, it may even still be yesterday! :lol:

Doreen