I need to give up bread and pasta...what do I have instead?

[Sonolanona]

Bread and pasta give me horrible stomach pain (I have Diverticulosis) and sometimes cause partial blockages. I'm not a coeliac but it definitely doesn't agree with me.
I need to stop eating both entirely.
But what the hell do I replace them with? I have eaten a boiled egg with a slice of toast every day for breakfast since I was a toddler (in my 50s now!) I'm very repetitive with my food intake (two of my children have autism and I suspect I'd have been diagnosed if I'd been assessed)
Can't face porridge, cannot eat fruit IN anything. Can't eat bananas (I gag) so no idea what to eat for breakfast.

I eat plenty of salad, roast veg, my meals are quite healthy but pasta is a staple in our house and I don't know what to eat on 'pasta day' or 'pizza night' I could try gluten free I guess but I'd rather to find meals that don't use that either.

Can anyone help me meal plan simple vegetarian meals that I can substitute?

I'm partial to Kallo lentil cakes - I break them and dip them in my eggs. https://www.kallo.com/things-we-make/products/protein-packed-lentil/

I'd have the eggs still but on sliced tomatoes.

Then pasta night - rice instead? Is that ok?

Pizza night - something like a cauliflower crumb base?

Can do handle scrambled eggs?

If so, i think scrambled eggs, an avocado,
roast tomatoes and some spinach is nice. I quite often have this for breakfast (tomatoes roasted day before).

Cous cous or quinoa also good.

https://emptynesteats.com/raspberry-chia-pudding-parfaits/

I am trying this out for breakfast this week!

Cous cous is pasta!!

Explore the gf section in the supermarket. It's pretty good these days. Pasta is fine, bread very hit or miss though so try several. Of course these tend to be more processed then the originals.

Otherwise just work out more dishes containing other carbs. Rice, potato etc. paella, rice pudding, jacket potato with cheese and beans. Explore Indian food, Thai/Japanese food (rice noodles only other like soba contain wheat.

Why do you need to give up bread and pasta? Is it because they are wheat-based?
Could you eat gluten-free or non-wheat versions?

Breakfast

• omelette, scrambled egg and bacon/ham/sausage, fried egg with mushrooms/beans, Greek yoghurt with maple syrup and pecans, dippy eggs with asparagus.

Dinner

• Just replace pasta with green veg so bolognaise and asparagus/green beans/broccoli, or have rice/cauliflower rice instead
• you can make a cauliflower base for pizzas but i haven't tried it and have doubts about how good it would be, lots of recipes online though.

I make a LUSH salad with roast chunks of sweet potato, goats cheese (crumbly one not rindy one) leaves, seeds, cherry tomatoes, grated carrot, olive oil and balsamic vinegar! And that's from a keen meat eater.

Couscous is wheat.

There are decent pastas in coeliac ranges. They cook slightly differently to wheat pasta, so check the instructions

You can get rice noodles and beanstarch noodles in oriental ranges. Different textures to wheat pasta, but worth trying a few different varieties and thicknesses to see if you find something that appeals.

Rice is a good substitute for pasta in most dishes.

Are you OK with oats? Egg and oatcakes? I'm partial to corn cakes - nicer texture and more flavour than rice cakes, though rice cakes are also good.

But don't entirely discount coeliac bread if you really crave toast.

For pasta - Holland & Barrett do an edamame bean noodle that’s really tasty & a good sub for all noodles. The lentil pasta in Sainsbury’s is good.

Chickpea flour / Besan is great for flatbreads & pizza base. Socca recipes will help you find the right consistency.
You can make a nice soda bread type loaf with oats & yoghurt which is tasty

I don't know where I got this recipe from, but a very satisfying "bread" substitute which works with a poached egg on top for breakfast. I like to have it with asparagus, tenderstem broccoli or cherry tomatoes on the side for some extra veg.

THE LIFE-CHANGING LOAF OF BREAD

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup / 135g sunflower seeds
• ½ cup / 90g flax seeds
• ½ cup / 65g hazelnuts or almonds
• 1 ½ cups / 145g rolled oats
• 2 Tbsp. chia seeds
• 4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks 3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder
• 1 tsp. fine grain sea salt add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia
• 3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
• 1 ½ cups / 350ml water

INSTRUCTIONS
• In a flexible, silicon loaf pan combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it it.
• Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.
• Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).
• Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

NOTES
Makes 1 loaf

My son who's stomach is like yours put me onto gluten free pasta which works for me. He also put me onto lactose free milk. Also decaffeinated coffee. I can eat bagels and crumpets weirdly.

I was fine until menopause 😭

Sorry just realised you said no fruit..but you can make chocolate versions!

Replace pasta with gnocchi?

I don’t eat bread. DH doesn’t eat pasta and It doesn’t feel worth making it for one.
I sometimes use an egg white omelette as a wrap. I use puy lentils or grains where I would have used pasta. It took some time but I’m gradually getting used to eating things that aren’t traditional breakfast foods for breakfast and other meals.

Buttered Spinach and eggs is for me a match made in heaven. I tend to poach the egg(s) and for special feast days add hollandaise sauce. Truly delicious.

Alternative breakfast of mushroom, spinach and bacon anytime I don't fancy eggs in the morning.

Quinoa, rice, courgette "spaghetti", cauliflower rice, rice noodles.

More dishes based around potatoes or sweet potatoes?

Butter beans, chickpeas and lentils are filling.

You can make wrap/pancakes out of lentils.

Gnocchi contains flour. Try polenta with Bolognese instead of pasta.

Boiled egg with broccoli or asparagus.
Omelette
Frid eggs with bacon.

I dont eat pasta and bread (well so little of it to almost say I dont eat it)

Breakfast is porridge. I know you say no to porridge but what do you mean by prorridge and what is the reason its a no no for you? I use pinhead oatmeal, I toast it in a dry pan until its all golden brown and then slow cook it in full fat milk. It is divine. I do eat that with prunes every day (I make the porridge in 5 day batches and add the prunes when I eat it), I know you said no to fruit in things either, but what about peanut butter in it? Or just on its own, its gorgeous and obviously good for the fibre

I use grains like bulgar wheat and freekeh with things like chillis, curries, stews etc (im not keen on rice) and accompaniaments to main meals are vegetables. I sometimes eat potatoes. You might need to be careful with gnocci due to the flour.

Dhal as a side dish to protein, chickpeas are a big thing in my kitchen, very versatile.

Although I dont really like rice most of the time, I do love a 'cheats kedgeree' that I do, packet cooked rice, stir fried in various indian spices in a fried onion, chuck a tin of tuna in, can add hard boiled egg, or cheese, or both. Lovely. Also peas, throw them in.

So instead of having toast, have the egg on a big mushroom, or have cheese on slices of tomato or cucumber, that sort of thing. You can make a pizza with a big mushroom as the bottom, cheesy topping

Good idea about polenta above, I had polenta chips today, my 4th attempt, improving on every try, these can easily replace pasta, just describe the dinner differently!!

I'm gluten free and also intolerant to porridge.

I have eggs and spinach, or green vegetables - in an omelette sometimes . I eat bacon too so can have that and eggs, tomato and avocado too. I can't eat mushrooms either, but I love them. Maybe a big portobello one?

(I don't often have breakfast though unless it's the weekend).

In fact I have loads of green veg when my family are having pasta. I also have cauliflower rice, but that's a bit of an acquired taste.

Quinoa isn't wheat based.