Desperately need vegan or vegetarian Lunch ideas

"I can eat a small amount of avocado"

That has mostly monounsaturated fat, which is healthy. You might want to explore similar foods with monounsaturated fat to find more stuff that you can tolerate in small amounts.

I just wished that there was some way to dehydrate avocado successfully and retain flavor.

I used to have a lot of stomach pain also, but it was a normal heartburn thing caused by too much stomach acid and acidic food, and it is easily treated with the generic form of Prilosec. Fortunately, when I get out on the backpacking trail, the condition eases up even more.

–B.G.–

Have you tried coconut oil? That seems to work for some people that can't tolerate other oils.

Jack

I was in the Navy for 10 years and traveled to over 25 countries in the Middle East and Asia, living in Japan for 5 years. My wife and I learned to love the cuisine and mostly make Southeast Asian dishes and or very healthy vegetarian dishes at home until this stomach problem hit. We cook with everything under the sun, especially with a lot of things one can't find in your average American grocery store. Once I developed this problem most of those foods are now off limits including coconut oil. It's very frustrating but luckily it hasn't inhibited my ability to run/hike/bike/surf/snowboard but it makes all the amazing and spicy Asian dishes we once loved out of reach and with trying to spend more time in the backcountry I am coming up dangerously short on calories and especially on protein.

Heath,
Maybe you could make some sort of backcountry smoothie as part of your lunch, adding only those ingredients you can tolerate, but definitely including protein powder.

Among the ingredients you might include:
Powdered yogurt
Powdered skim milk (usually backpackers use Nido, but that would be too fatty)
Powdered almond or soy milk
Protein powder (there are a dizzying array of different types; one will surely be
ok for you, but it might take some experimenting)
Spirulina (maybe)
Less acidic fruit, freeze-dried and pulverized

And anything else you like (powdered vanilla, chocolate powder, matcha powder, etc.)

If you have stomach/digestive issues, most forms of soy are probably not a very good idea, as these are quite hard to digest fully and completely, even for people with healthier digestion.

Fermented or cultured organic soy, is much better. Things like organic forms of Soy yogurt, Miso, Natto, and even Tempeh (unless you have mold issues) are some forms. Actually, Tempeh has a lot of fat in it, so might cause issues for you.

I'm guessing dried, non sulphured fruit, certain grains, low fat dried goat milk (not sure they make this though) might be some foods to try.

Btw, not all fats are created equal. Some are much harder to break down and digest than others. Coconut oil for example, is one of the easiest to digest fats, and the body breaks it down almost as efficiently as a carb. Granted, with your issues you don't want to eat any amounts of same, but maybe try a very little at a time and see if you get the same reactions. If not, adding a little is a good way to boost calories.

If you don't like the taste of turkey jerky, what about good smoked salmon (like the Costco Wild Alaskan stuff)? Wouldn't be good for any longer periods of time, but a couple of days should last well enough.

Wheat is also another one that commonly causes issues for people with compromised digestive systems.

I have some thoughts on why gluten intolerance/sensitivity and celiac seems to be increasing quite a lot in modern times.

It may be a confluence of different factors such as: Modern forms of wheat are much higher in gluten than more ancient and less hybridized forms.

Up until the the earlier 1900's, most bread was sour dough made. Sour doughing bread and wheat, is somewhat akin to turning cow milk into yogurt or the like. With sour dough cultures, you have a wide mix of bacteria, yeast and sometimes other microbes that help to break down and predigest the wheat, ultimately, making it easier for you to digest. Similar to cow milk and yogurt. Now, most wheat breads are made with a single strain of yeast. This has become the most commonly consumed forms of bread in many countries.

Modern forms of super yeast are more specialized and do not pre digest the various substances in wheat like a sour dough culture does. The yeast concentrates on the starchy/sugary part for it's food source and not so much the proteins (which gluten is).

The increasingly popular and exported "western" type diet has become rather unhealthy in many respects, which in itself compromises people's digestive systems.

Add those 3 factors together, and it makes a lot of sense why gluten intolerance/sensitivity and celiac disease is on the rise. People's bodies are quite frankly rejecting that which it can not fully and properly digest. The exception to this, is course cellulose/fiber, which we've been eating since we've been around and which provides a very necessary cleansing function for us which is why our bodies don't reject it like partially undigested proteins. Proteins also resemble more the various pathogens that cause problems for us.

Anyways, speaking as someone with a compromised digestive system, i feel better when i avoid wheat and gluten. My body seems less sensitive though, to things like well sour doughed spelt bread for an example. However, for a true celiac it will still cause problems because any trace of unbroken down gluten elicits severe reactions. A more true "allergy" has built up in such a case.

Note: i'm not medically trained, but have been researching, studying, and experimenting with diet and holistic health since age 16 out of necessity due to some unusual and at one time, very uncomfortable body imbalances.

Vegan protein powder smoothies are a great option for hiking as I can buy them in individual packets. It is kind of messy but I guess I will have to deal with it.

I am a total food nerd and I have read a lot on the science behind a lot of foods and the history of food so I know a lot of this already and like I said we eat really healthy at home but it is hard to translate those foods into hiking as bringing a bunch of fruits, vegetables, grains and other fresh foods does not work. As I am looking at taking longer trips in the 4-5 day range and maybe even the 14-30 day range I do not have the desire to carry the weight. I ran into some folks in Glacier NP that brought nothing but fresh foods and it was probably 75% of their pack. I ran into another group of College age folks that caught fresh fish, foraged for wild edibles and mushrooms and their dinner looked fantastic as well. I live and hike mostly in Arizona with 3-4 trips elsewhere in the nation during the year so there aren't a lot of wild edibles in this state except in certain locations and for brief periods of the year so that isn't an option either.

Wheat may be a part of the problem. I have read a lot of this info as well. We try and eat ancient grains a lot as they are a lot better for you and tend to have more protein and what not. We don't eat processed foods and try and steer clear of anything that has more than 5 ingredients in it. Lots of fresh fruits, veggies, breads and honeys from farmers markets for sure.

I am making some Larabars in the next few days before my hike this weekend that call for coconut oil in them and will see how it goes.

I can't stomach Natto. Its a favorite food in Japan but it is incredibly foul stuff.

LOL, Heath — about the only foods you can forage here in AZ on a regular basis are jojoba nuts, and they're probably too fatty for you! (OK, berries at high elevations in July/Aug.)

I think a dehydrator would really help you. You can make food at home, dehydrate it, and bring it along. I think you'll also benefit from the "rehydrate while hiking" technique, where you soak food in advance (most people use a Ziploc twist-top plastic jar) in your pack while hiking. The good news about S.AZ is that it's so hot here much of the time, you're also heating it as you walk!

Since you have easy access to Hispanic foods, of course you can make homemade bean burritos to take with you…add just a half ounce of cheese for flavor (not enough to upset the system), some dehydrated pre-grilled veggies. Not too bad!

I grew up in the White Mountains of Easter Arizona and we found lots of wild grapes, berries, celery (of all things), Pine nuts, and a lot of edible flowers, there are tubers and cactus that are edible in the desert but yeah unless you are in the mountains here its slim picking for sure and even whats available as I said is few and far between and only available for a very short time of the year.

I will most likely pick up a dehydrator in the next few months and start experimenting with that. Beans as long as they aren't swimming in oil seem to treat me ok.

Be wary of flax and chia if you have gut issues, work up on them. They DO contain oils but also can irritate the stomach. Otherwise they are great. For me, I can handle ground flaxseed, but not chia – whole or ground. CHia kills my gut painfully.

I already eat Chia seeds, I combine them with coconut and dried dates, I add a bit of cold water and let the Chia seeds hydrate and its a really good breakfast. I have eaten a bit of Flax I always test everything out at home to see what works or doesn't work so I don't end up in a life threatening situation in the backcountry.

You could see how your stomach handles Premier Protein bars. They are sold at Wal-Mart for $1.18.

http://www.premierprotein.com/product/double-chocolate-crunch-bar/

Unless your Doctors have come up with a specific diagnosis and effective treatment plan, have you tried Omeprazole? It's generic over the counter Prilosec and fixes most GERD, stomach irritation, and some ulcer type problems if taken daily.

They've got it narrowed down just waiting on some lab work to come back. No over the counter medicines work at all. I'm on a prescription medicine that has improved things but I still have to be on a very restricted diet. Oh and as I said before I can't eat chocolate it's too acidic.

"Prilosec"

There seems to be an echo around here.

–B.G.–

Bob, that stuff did absolutely nothing for me.

Heath, your condition must be something completely different from the ordinary stomach problems that lots of us deal with.

–B.G.–

Bob,
It is. It causes me much distress but I try and not let it affect what I like to do. It's pretty crazy and definitely not something I thought I'd ever have to deal with and more so that I'm only 33.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/tofu-jerky-ii/

I've been making this tofu jerky recipe for a couple of months now. It's great & so much cheaper than the store-bought versions. I use my dehydrator. Costco has organic tofu blocks. Seems to be very shelf-stable but haven't had much around for long! Tested it out on meat eaters & vegetarians & all love it.

That's great. I'd never even heard of that before. Do you have any other ideas like that?

How about hummus and baba ganoush (eggplant spread)? Is tahini sauce too fatty?
I find that both make a great vegan spread.

I also didn't see anything about beans mentioned here, maybe I missed it.
Any mashed/refried style bean rehydrates well without heat and makes a good spread- burritos or the like. Same goes for mashed potatoes; calorie dense, fast hydrating, easy to make burritos. Vegan "sausage" or "meat" patties crumbled into mashed potatoes and eaten as a burrito might fit the bill…but the patties would require heating.

I would also look into tempeh. I don;t know how well it dehydrates, but it can be found in individually wrapped packages that carry well. Sliced and added to veggies or a spread, it makes for good pita bread wraps or similar.

I'd recommend looking at Brendan Brazier. He writes exclusively on vegan nutrition for endurance athletes and has plenty of recipes that might work for you. PM your address and I'll send you one of his books.

One of the foods i sometimes bring with me, is a marinated (with a mix of soy sauce, dark beer, some herbs, and wee bit of apple cider vinegar) Tempeh, which i then dehydrate, and then cook (to kill the mold).

It becomes vaguely like a jerky.

But, as previously mentioned Tempeh may not work well for the OP, since it is actually quite high in fat, and because it is so protein dense, rather acid forming in nature.

http://www.thewickedgoodvegan.com/2012/10/31/vegan-jerky/

http://vspot16.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/tofu-jerky-using-a-dehydrator/

Here are 2 more that I thought looked interesting. You can buy or make dehydrated hummus & mix with water at lunch.

I eat a ton of hummus and baba ganoush, got hooked on it in the middle east and neither of them hurts my stomach and they have a good amount of protein. Would any of those veggie patties be ok without refrigeration? They make some pretty good tasting ones nowadays. Beans work well too, I would have to rehydrate them though and that means cooking at mid day which I am trying to avoid, unless I rehydrated the beans in the morning and ate them later.

Where can one find dehydrated hummus? I brought along some tiny squeeze packs of hummus that I bought online and they tasted nasty. I know I need to invest in a dehydrator but it'll have to wait a few months.

Thanks for all the help folks I really appreciate it. Please keep the ideas coming.

My first thought was those Dr. Mcdougall soup cups at the supermarket — his whole thing is a low-fat vegan diet for reversing heart disease — but that would involve boiling water.

"Where can one find dehydrated hummus?"

Lots of ordinary grocery stores sell it in the same aisle as rice and couscous. One brand is Casbah.

–B.G.–