Hi Hemera, First let me commend you on deciding to make the effort to adjust a little more in your eating habits. Some folks never get to the point you have so you deserve a round of applause. I was vegetarian for about 15 years and then overnight (well in a week anyhow because I had to do some grocery shopping to complete my change) and found it relatively easy to make that change. Perfection overnight though isn't what you're aiming for, but it's the big picture in the long run that counts. So don't worry, baby steps in the right direction are good.
I've been vegan for 10 years now and last year when I had a complete blood panel done, one of the things the doctor checked for was protein levels and that was perfect so it can be done easily. Every food has a certain amount of 'protein' in it (even blueberries!) so add them all together over the course of a day and it gets done.
Because I have a thyroid problem (autoimmune issues run in my family), I try to stay away from wheat products too. As far as the pasta's are concerned, there are also quinoa pasta's and edamame and black bean pasta's to chose from now too.
To make this easy for you, here's an example of a days meals for me:
1/2 cup oatmeal (with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, tsp chia seeds)
(you could use almond milk or soy milk or even rice milk on that)
protein smoothie (with 1 scoop Vega chocolate protein powder, 1 orange, 1 banana, handful of spinach/kale/romaine lettuce, 1/3 tsp ginger powder, 1/3 tsp pepper, 1/3 tsp turmeric and enough unsweetened soy milk to blend to the thickness you like) By the way, this makes enough smoothie for two, so if there's someone you can share with.....I don't know how they would keep in the fridge, maybe separate a bit, but what the heck, they taste so fabulous you might want to drink the whole darn thing yourself ;-)
and for supper, some kind of lentil curry made with a coconut cream over either noodles (see above) or with potatoes or over rice, steamed vegetables and maybe make a flatbread made of chick pea flour.
Snacking for me usually means a handful of walnuts (get your omega 3's from this) or even a couple of cold latke's which are a kind of potato fritter that I make with onions, quinoa flakes and shredded potatoes, chick pea flour and then seasoned and fried. An evening snack might be a bowl of wild blueberries.
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If you decide to try the walnuts, keep them in the fridge. I used to leave them in the cupboard and then I'd get an awful burning taste/sensation in my mouth but I've since realized that they'd gone rancid in the room temperature. But keeping them in a tub in the fridge makes them last ages. Those are very good for soothing a hungry tummy I find.
This is a great time to be moving in the direction of a plant diet because there is so much information online, recipes, advice, support! One website that I like to recommend is this: Oh She Glows
http://ohsheglows.com I've made a few of them and they're pretty easy and very yummy. I think you might like a few of them anyway while you're starting out.
The one other thing I recommend is that you buy a bottle of B12. As you're moving away from fish, you need to make sure you don't come up short with that one vitamin for sure. I buy the 1000mcg methylcobalamin tablets and you can take one just once a week.
Good luck on your new dietary journey and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I would love to help you get it right.
Debby.