Please suggest your lean protein foods

[Susie]

I started doing MFP a few weeks ago, and I've been doing a decent job staying under my calorie goals for the most part.  Despite weekend calorie-holidays (a bachelorette weekend in Miami last weekend and my birthday this past weekend), the weight is slowly starting to come off.  Yay.  I'm struggling, though, with macronutrient proportions, which I know I need to get in check before I'm really training for anything.  Carbs I'm ok with dealing with later, but my fat intake has been too high, and protein too low.

Can you suggest lean protein foods that you incorporate to help with this balance?  Chicken breast, plain greek yogurt, and cottage cheese are obvious picks.  What else should I try to work in?

[shorewife]

Egg whites? Skim milk? Protein powder?

[katietornado]

Egg whites, tofu, whey protein powder, white fish (mahi, hake, flounder, etc. but not tilapia because of the way it's farmed...so gross), beans (roasted chickpeas make an awesome snack), etc.

[runaways]

I eat a ton of beef jerky as a snack food. Sometimes we buy it but a lot of the time we make our own in the dehydrator out of lean ground beef. ETA you can do this in the oven as well on low heat for a while.

[gt7301b]

I make protein pancakes similar to these:

www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-cottage-cheese-pancakes-43072

[mrs.jacinthe]

If you're able to tolerate quinoa, that's a great protein source.
Do you like pork? Pork chops and pork tenderloin are easy to prepare and can be quite lean.
Eggs? Personally, I prefer the whole egg - I feel like the nutrients in the yolk are where it's at and I feel fuller longer with the whole egg than just the whites.

I really thought that when I became vegetarian, I'd struggle with meeting my protein requirements, but it doesn't seem to be that way at all - I'm making it up with eggs and beans and dairy.

[Susie]

Jan 27, 2014 17:14:57 GMT -5 runaways said:

I eat a ton of beef jerky as a snack food. Sometimes we buy it but a lot of the time we make our own in the dehydrator out of lean ground beef. ETA you can do this in the oven as well on low heat for a while.

Calvin just got a dehydrator for Christmas, although our intention for it was to dehydrate food for backpacking.  How do you do it?  Seasonings of any kind?  I have never tried it.

[runaways]

Jan 27, 2014 17:53:10 GMT -5 Susie said:

Jan 27, 2014 17:14:57 GMT -5 runaways said:

I eat a ton of beef jerky as a snack food. Sometimes we buy it but a lot of the time we make our own in the dehydrator out of lean ground beef. ETA you can do this in the oven as well on low heat for a while.

Calvin just got a dehydrator for Christmas, although our intention for it was to dehydrate food for backpacking.  How do you do it?  Seasonings of any kind?  I have never tried it.

I'll post the directions when I get home. I'm still playing with the seasonings a bit.

[lasagnasshole]

Jan 27, 2014 17:32:04 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Eggs? Personally, I prefer the whole egg - I feel like the nutrients in the yolk are where it's at and I feel fuller longer with the whole egg than just the whites.

Agreed. Also, unless you're saving all the yolks for something else, I find the idea of eating a lot of egg whites and dumping the yolks to be supremely wasteful.

We eat eggs for breakfast every day. Lots o' protein, and the fat from the yolks keeps us full. A lot of my friends seem amazed that I cook eggs every single day before work, but I feel all out of sorts if I don't. Last week, I had yogurt and nuts for breakfast one morning. By 10am, I was all WHAT IS THIS FOOLISHNESS?

Team whole eggs.

Susie, a straight up glass of low fat milk is a good option, too.

[jamalynn]

I eat a lot of tofu (including lite silken) , soy cheese, egg whites and start the day with a smoothie with protein powder.

[Susie]

Jan 27, 2014 19:05:38 GMT -5 lasagnasshole said:

Jan 27, 2014 17:32:04 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Eggs? Personally, I prefer the whole egg - I feel like the nutrients in the yolk are where it's at and I feel fuller longer with the whole egg than just the whites.

Agreed. Also, unless you're saving all the yolks for something else, I find the idea of eating a lot of egg whites and dumping the yolks to be supremely wasteful.

We eat eggs for breakfast every day. Lots o' protein, and the fat from the yolks keeps us full. A lot of my friends seem amazed that I cook eggs every single day before work, but I feel all out of sorts if I don't. Last week, I had yogurt and nuts for breakfast one morning. By 10am, I was all WHAT IS THIS FOOLISHNESS?

Team whole eggs.

Susie, a straight up glass of low fat milk is a good option, too.

I agree. 

Right now I'm eating oatmeal + some kind of egg item for breakfast (we make batches of muffin-cup sized quiches or frittatas every couple days); maybe I need to go heavier on the egg item.

Maybe I also need to tell Calvin I want lattes (nonfat milk is good for me!) instead of drip coffee every morning.  He will love that. 

(He is an unapologetic coffee snob and therefore the division of labor in our house dictates that I do not touch the coffee/espresso makers.  I kind of like it that way.)

[lasagnasshole]

My breakfast is admittedly not lean, as we are eating low-carb, but breakfast every morning is usually 3 eggs, some bacon or sausage, and a little bit of cheese. I have also done just 3 fried eggs - 2 over medium topped with an over easy works well.

A really easy way to up your protein would be to ditch the oatmeal (or eat less) and eat a primarily egg-based breakfast. Goat cheese is a pretty high-protein cheese, and it makes for deliciously creamy eggs.

[gt7301b]

Jan 27, 2014 19:26:04 GMT -5 Susie said:

Jan 27, 2014 19:05:38 GMT -5 lasagnasshole said:

Agreed. Also, unless you're saving all the yolks for something else, I find the idea of eating a lot of egg whites and dumping the yolks to be supremely wasteful.

We eat eggs for breakfast every day. Lots o' protein, and the fat from the yolks keeps us full. A lot of my friends seem amazed that I cook eggs every single day before work, but I feel all out of sorts if I don't. Last week, I had yogurt and nuts for breakfast one morning. By 10am, I was all WHAT IS THIS FOOLISHNESS?

Team whole eggs.

Susie, a straight up glass of low fat milk is a good option, too.

I agree. 

Right now I'm eating oatmeal + some kind of egg item for breakfast (we make batches of muffin-cup sized quiches or frittatas every couple days); maybe I need to go heavier on the egg item.

Maybe I also need to tell Calvin I want lattes (nonfat milk is good for me!) instead of drip coffee every morning.  He will love that. 

(He is an unapologetic coffee snob and therefore the division of labor in our house dictates that I do not touch the coffee/espresso makers.  I kind of like it that way.)

I don't know if your pups are allowed to eat people food, but I make scrambled egg yolks for my dog when I make protein pancakes.  I usually make a double batch and he gets eggs for a couple of days.

[runaways]

Hokay - we usually do a pound of ground beef at a time. I like to season it with worcestershire sauce, some soy sauce, garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper, and a little sugar. I feel like it still needs a little something but I'm not sure what that is. I also just kind of toss it all in, so I can't really tell you how much I use. Let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours and then make it into sort of really thin patties and lay it on wax paper on the dehydrator shelves. We do it on the highest setting, usually overnight. You can test it and see if it's done - basically it's dry but not too dry. Sorry this isn't more scientific!

[skwcm80]

Jan 27, 2014 17:21:01 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

I make protein pancakes similar to these:

www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-cottage-cheese-pancakes-43072

Thank you for this. I made them this morning, and they were so good. And filling. 

[gt7301b]

Jan 28, 2014 18:29:09 GMT -5 skwcm80 said:

Jan 27, 2014 17:21:01 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

I make protein pancakes similar to these:

www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-cottage-cheese-pancakes-43072

Thank you for this. I made them this morning, and they were so good. And filling. 

Glad you liked them!!! 

[water*drop]

Jan 27, 2014 17:21:01 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

I make protein pancakes similar to these:

www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-cottage-cheese-pancakes-43072

Oooh, I'm going to try these! Thanks for posting!

[Wines Not Whines]

Jan 28, 2014 18:29:09 GMT -5 skwcm80 said:

Jan 27, 2014 17:21:01 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

I make protein pancakes similar to these:

www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-cottage-cheese-pancakes-43072

Thank you for this. I made them this morning, and they were so good. And filling. 

This may be a dumb question, but what do you use for the oatmeal? Does oatmeal mean dry oats or cooked oatmeal?

[skwcm80]

Jan 28, 2014 21:10:26 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

Jan 28, 2014 18:29:09 GMT -5 skwcm80 said:

Thank you for this. I made them this morning, and they were so good. And filling. 

This may be a dumb question, but what do you use for the oatmeal? Does oatmeal mean dry oats or cooked oatmeal?

I wondered the same thing, I used dry oats. 

[gt7301b]

Jan 28, 2014 21:10:26 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

Jan 28, 2014 18:29:09 GMT -5 skwcm80 said:

Thank you for this. I made them this morning, and they were so good. And filling. 

This may be a dumb question, but what do you use for the oatmeal? Does oatmeal mean dry oats or cooked oatmeal?

I use the food processor and make an oatmeal flour.  I also add a teaspoon of baking powder and little salt, because I like them fluffier.  Sometimes I also throw in whey protein powder or nuts.