Hi!

I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm pretty close to one. I probably only have meat about once a week. When I do have meat it is usually in something--like a turkey sandwich or spaghetti with meat sauce--a big slab of steak (or any meat, poultry, or fish) has never appealed to me.

I've started tracking my food on Daily Plate and have discovered that I'm not getting enough protein. The protein I do get is from lowfat dairy, refried beans (I eat those a lot!), and the little that's in whole grains products.

I tried adding in some meat substitutes like Morning Star products and then my sodium went through the roof.

So, my question is, does anyone have any ideas for some good vegetarian protein sources (foods or recipes) that aren't extremely high in sodium? Obviously, the easy answer is to eat more meat, but it isn't something that I particularly enjoy or want to do.

Thank you so much!

Samantha Bea

Here is a link that will probably help. http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm

Beans, eggs, cheese, tofu, peanut butter.

I am not a big meat eater either. I make a great wrap with black eyed peas, celery, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, (whatever veggies you like, the key is the black eyed peas or beans of some sort) with a little red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper thrown in a wheat wrap...wonderful!

Oh, and if you like yogurt, greek yogurt is packed with protein. One of my faves when I'm not eating vegan

How much protein do you get? The RDA is 52 grams/day. I'm vegan and get plenty. I eat beans, nuts, lots of veggies, fruit, etc. All whole foods have protein in them.

Nelie - I've averaged about 35 grams/day over the past 4 days, which isn't horrible, but I would like it to be closer to 50 or 20% of my calories.

xanthia - I recently discovered Greek yogurt. It's one of the reasons that my protein has been about 35 grams/day instead of closer to 20! And thank you for the link. I was honestly suprised at some of the protein in those foods. I will start trying to incorporate them.

Get n healthy - I forgot all about tofu ... why did I do that? I used to eat it all the time. And I will look into coming up with my own wrap ideas.

Thank you! :-)

My family uses nuts, quinoa, and beans to get our protein.

We make quinoa as a side, cold as a salad mix, in wraps, etc. I have just played around and found things my kids will eat and ran with it.

Samantha - ahh ok I get you. Often we get people who say their protein is low but it is actually well within range.

I would second quinoa and amaranth too. They are both grain like but they are really seeds with high protein content.

quinoa and kidney beans with curry sauce(just curry powder a little water or veg broth). Chop in some veggies like broccoli, carrots, bell peppers and onions and it is yummy and high protein.

I'm very similar I've never been drawn to steak and always preferred chicken to any other meat but even that is not a gotta have it for me.

Chia Seeds.
I sip them in water/lemon (or tea) all day long. You can also add them to food, dressings etc. Google for more info. They are great and keep you hydrated, lower cholsterol, stableize blood sugar etc. They have no taste and are just plain fun to drink.

Thought I'd add a few...

wheat gluten also packaged as Seiten (and also whole wheat bread and pasta)

nutritional yeast!!! 2 TBS has 60 calories, 5g carbs, 4g fiber and 9g protein plus it's fortefied with a ton of b vitamins

(you can sprinkle this on veggies, salads, popcorn potatoes, pasta and it tastes a bit nutty/cheesey and is loaded with protien). you can also make a sauce with it and some soy milk, mustard powder, salt, etc. google some nutritional yeast recipes.

lentils

wheat germ (put on top of that greek yogurt)

soymilk

I don't do morningstar/boca stuff too often. But I do enjoy tofurky brand smoked deli slices. Lots of protien, low in fat and calories, and much less processed than boca/morningstar. Check them out: www tofurky dot com

one word. Lentils. soups, stews, burgers, dip... i LOVE them, and in small serving amounts (60-80g) they sustain me and satisfy my real food cravings

I use protein bars and like to make protein shakes with soy milk, protein powder and fruit (banana or mixed berries, mmm!!!). And I throw in some ground flax. This is an extremely easy way to get in a lot of protein.

I also have at least one serving of nuts every day. PLUS: There was a study of like 80,000 nurses and those who at at least 5oz of nuts per WEEK (thats like 5 handfuls) had a 35% less chance of heart disease, no matter what their diet was otherwise. I think that is a pretty cool statistic.