I wrote an email to an
acquaintance of mine. She was wondering what are some high protein foods, since
she’s trying to be a vegetarian, and I’ve been a vegetarian pretty much my
entire life so I offered to write her a list of high protein foods. I thought
it would be a bullet point kind of list, but when I sat down to actually write
it down, I started compiling information that I knew just from experience. It
turned out being really long. Upon reviewing it before I sent it, I realized
it’s a really good list, so I thought I’d share it on my blog
Cottage cheese, it has
lots of calories, but it’s great for protein. I know a lot of people hate
cottage cheese, so just in case you're one of them, I have a suggestion: Mix
the cottage cheese with mandarin oranges, or canned (or fresh) mixed fruits.
This creates a fruit salad. You can vary how much cottage cheese you put into
the fruit depending on your taste. I like cottage cheese, so there's always
more cottage cheese than fruit when I make it, but it doesn't have to be like
that. Try it, you might like it!
Eggs. Can't live
without my eggs, okay that sounds wrong, but it's true. That's the main
difference of course between vegans and vegetarians, vegetarians eat animal
products, like milk but vegans don't. A good dinner dish with a lot of eggs is
quiche, it also has a lot of cheese, (another thing I can't live without). Eggs
can be a good snack when they are hard boiled; you can make deviled eggs too,
which has a reputation of being hard to make, but isn't really. If you're going
to a potluck and you need to bring an entree, deviled eggs is a good way to go,
in case there aren't any other protein foods that you can eat there. There are
of course egg salads, or for lunch I sometimes prepare eggs, like I would for breakfast,
but then put it on two pieces of toasted bread with mayo or if I'm feeling
fancy I'll add avocado and tomatoes and lettuce and it makes one great egg
sandwich! A quick note; the yolk is the part of the egg that has most of the
protein, so if you're making stuff that has egg whites, it's best not to think
of it as getting your protein for the day. But you can cheat a little, most
recipes that call for whites won't be harmed if you keep the yolks in there
with 'em, but if you're make a white cake, just know it might not come out so
white!
Now I hear that quinoa
(a grain) is a great source of protein, but honestly...I have no idea where you
can buy it or what to use it for!
Something a bit more
seasonal, since we're approaching Halloween, pumpkin seeds are high in protein.
When spooning out your pumpkin, keep the seeds and bake them until they are
slightly brown, then you can eat them as a snack. Or if you don't carve
pumpkins, you can by a bag of just the seeds at Sprouts or Mothers almost any
time of the year.
Beans; any kind of
bean will do. I hope you like Mexican food! There are a variety of canned chili
in the health food stores and Target that don't have meat in them, just check
the labels. But you can also make your own chili.
An obvious one that
vegetarians are famous for: soy. If you can drink raw soy milk without any
added flavoring, more power to you. It's high in protein, so it's good for you
along with a lot of soy based products like health bars and such.
Peanut butter, love
peanut butter! Any kind of nut is a vegetarian's best friend. If you want a
quick snack a slice of bread toasted with a slather of peanut butter is the way
to go.
Wow, this turned out
longer than I thought! I hope you found this helpful, and hopefully I managed
to tell you things you didn't already know.
