What do you do for protein?

ellajune2012 · October 2013

Ok, so my doula wants me to keep track of everything I eat.... which I've done, like, never in my life. I eat pretty healthy, but she's insistent that I get at least 60g of protein every day. As a self-proclaimed carbasaurus, I'm sure I don't get that much. I've discovered Naked protein zone smoothies, which taste great and have 32g per bottle, but I can't have that everyday so I'm looking for other ideas - preferably quick and easy. I love scrambled eggs but I feel like that would get boring if I have them every day too.

Where do you all get your protein?

bumpuser9058414 · October 2013

Greek yogurt, chicken breast, tuna (light), hard boiled eggs if you get sick of scrambled. Beef jerky or turkey jerky? There are some good bars that have decent amounts of protein as well. I used MyFitnessPal to track calories, fat, carbs and protein, it's a free online food journal.

Jmom10 · October 2013

Hummus, nuts & seeds, almond butter (so good with apples), cheese, Greek yogurt, Orgain drinks..

Parryt · October 2013

Peanut butter

peachy0709 · October 2013

I'm the same as you, I love carbs all day and night. I have been eating LOTS of greek yogurt, a lot of peanut butter, and black beans to supplement. I'm not a vegetarian, but apparently my baby is, because meat is still a trigger for me.

Missfunball · October 2013

I make a shake nearly every day with frozen fruit (any raw fruit I have out) and apple juice. If its an apples and bananas smoothie I put in peanut butter, if its other fruit, greek yogurt.

I also have (well its empty right now) stash of raw almonds at work and pretty much the best snack ever.

other than that I've been eating seafood (lil sharkie does not want red meat and I can eat chicken but its not particularly appetizing)

ellajune2012 · October 2013

Thank you everyone! There are some great ideas here.

I'm trying to stay away from too much soy but I can't believe I overlooked some of the other stuff everyone mentioned.

Sanibel21 · October 2013

Greek yogurt, almonds, walnuts, peanut butter, milk (in my cereal), cheese, and most recently I can stomach turkey meatballs again.
Also whole wheat wraps actually have some decent protein so put your scrambled in there with different toppings each day, like cheese or salsa.

Sanibel21 · October 2013

While wheat pasta also has more protein than you'd think too

kimberpoo · October 2013

lots of chicken for me, but if you are a pasta-saurus, try mixing ground beef into any red sauces you make or add grilled chicken to any white sauces

htn1763 · October 2013

Greek yogurt! I put that sh*t on everything

Seriously though, I usually have a smoothie in the am with greek yogurt and fruit. I also put greek yogurt on a baked potato instead of sour cream. We just made turkey chili last night and i added cheese, greek yogurt and guac on top.

ellajune2012 · October 2013

htn1763 said:

Greek yogurt! I put that sh*t on everything Seriously though, I usually have a smoothie in the am with greek yogurt and fruit. I also put greek yogurt on a baked potato instead of sour cream. We just made turkey chili last night and i added cheese, greek yogurt and guac on top.

Ooh, I would never have thought to do this with greek yogurt, but it makes total sense. You just buy the plain kind, right?

nicrenn · October 2013

If you like cereal for breakfast, try some on the Kashi brand cereals. They have 9g of protein per serving (as much as an egg). Also instead of rice or pasta, substitute quinoa which is a carb and a good source of protein.

ellajune2012 · October 2013

nicrenn said:

If you like cereal for breakfast, try some on the Kashi brand cereals. They have 9g of protein per serving (as much as an egg). Also instead of rice or pasta, substitute quinoa which is a carb and a good source of protein.

Do you have any good quinoa recipes? I've never been able to get it to taste good, but I also haven't tried all that hard.

ProudMommy030614 · October 2013

Greek yogurt!!! I eat it with all of my snacks and add it to everything! And I hate yogurt lol. This LO must really love it

htn1763 · October 2013

ellajune2012 said:

htn1763 said:

Greek yogurt! I put that sh*t on everything Seriously though, I usually have a smoothie in the am with greek yogurt and fruit. I also put greek yogurt on a baked potato instead of sour cream. We just made turkey chili last night and i added cheese, greek yogurt and guac on top.

Ooh, I would never have thought to do this with greek yogurt, but it makes total sense. You just buy the plain kind, right?

yes, I just use plain. you could also do vanilla for smoothies.

nicrenn · October 2013

Here'e a good one that I just made for dinner last week. It has beans and cheese too, so the whole recipe is a great source of protein. You can make substitutions too according to your tastes. For the beans I used a cup of beans that was a mixture of black beans, kidney beans, and chick peas. It was really good.

https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/quinoa-stuffed-peppers-2/

Oh, I also just thought of a good one do do for breakfast. I do this all the time in the fall and winter instead of oatmeal:

Make a couple servings of plain quinoa to keep in your fridge. Then in the morning, take about a half cup of the cooked quinoa and add bananas, chopped walnuts, agave nectar or honey, and milk or almond milk. Heat it up in the microwave and it's so good for breakfast. It really fills you up too. You can add all kinds of different combinations to it like blueberries, raisins, apples, cinnamon, brown sugar - whatever you like.

peachy0709 · October 2013

ellajune2012 said:

nicrenn said:

If you like cereal for breakfast, try some on the Kashi brand cereals. They have 9g of protein per serving (as much as an egg). Also instead of rice or pasta, substitute quinoa which is a carb and a good source of protein.

Do you have any good quinoa recipes? I've never been able to get it to taste good, but I also haven't tried all that hard.

For quinoa, I've had the most success with this kind: https://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/08/91/25/12/0008912512000_500X500.jpg because it is pre-washed and has tasted the best. I always just cooked mine in chicken or vegetable broth (I prefer chicken) and add avocados. I've also had a lot of luck with recipes on Pinterest, including this: https://aroundthetableri.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-quinoa-mac-cheese.html

ellajune2012 · October 2013

@nicrenn and @kcasset I love both stuffed peppers and mac & cheese so will definitely try those recipes. Thanks!

crystaljoanna · October 2013

I make a killer smoothie with two servings of veggies, two servings of fruit, serving a dairy and a ton of protein - 2 cups of spinach, banana, .5 cup of frozen berries, cup of yogurt, and a scoop of protein powder. The only downside is that there are days where I can easily justify eating garbage due to the insanely healthy breakfast.

mcfife09 · October 2013

This is a great post, I heard for dizziness and nausea that protein works so I just google this question a few days ago. I will mention something that may or may not fly with you.

I drink Body Basix Whey Protein Isolate Powder. It is all natural so no fake sweeteners which I try stay away from. And there is a lot of crappy stuff in MOST protein powders, so I searched long and hard for this one. It is sweetened with Stevia, and there is no soy (I avoid soy as well). There is 1g Carb, 20g Protein, and 0g Fat and only 90cals. Flavors vanilla and chocolate and they are not amazing tasting, but good enough. I'm more then willing to sacrifice flavor for an honest product. I mix it with water, I bet if you made a smoothy it would be better, but I don't have time for all that

. I buy it at the Vitamin Shop. It's not terribly expensive and you don't have to buy a years worth, it's just a 1 pound bag, so if you don't like it, no biggie. I feel like I can only eat so many eggs and so much chicken, this is a helpful boost.

memali26 · October 2013

My suggestions are pretty much the same as every one else, but being on the GD diet I am eating a crap ton of eggs. To keep scrambled eggs from being too boring I toss in some veggies and switch them up. Green or red bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, pretty much any veggies you like that saute well. I also throw in some chicken sausage or ham to boost the protein sometimes. Quiches and egg bakes are a great protein-filled dinner.

I also second quinoa. A carb AND a complete protein. I do quinoa mac'n'cheese, use it in place of rice with stir fry, mix it with cheese and steamed broccoli. There are tons of great quinoa ideas on pinterest.

YankeePeach08 · October 2013

Cottage cheese has 2x the protein of greek yogurt. I think less people probably like it but you get a lot more bang for your buck.

Also, if you put cottage cheese into a smoothie it will pulvarize all of the little chuncks (for those who don't like the texture), thicken it up and evenmakes it taste almost like cheese cake.