Protein Help

[186momx]

DD needs to increase her protein intake via the dietician.  Right now, she is maybe eating maybe 20grams a day and she wants her up to 70+grams.
With a breakdown of breakfast 15g, am snack 10g, lunch 20g, afternoon snack 10g, dinner, 30g, post practice hearty snack at least 10g.  DD can have wheat and dairy at breakfast and post practice, but the rest of the day she has to avoid it due to allergy issues.  

I'm supposed to be getting an email later this week from the dietician with meal ideas, brands, etc.  DD can't do peanut butter/nuts at school.

Any ideas WPs?

[waverly]

We do a lot of protein bars. I do a protein shake. DH uses the Quest protein snacks. They also have protein chips, and I've even seen protein granola (not sure the brand). We also do Nature Valley protein bars. Some of the shakes and bars have wheat and dairy and might be better for breakfast.

Does she eat meat? For some reason, I was thinking she doesn't. Bacon and eggs could be a meal etc.

[mae0111]

Fairlife protein shakes are lactose free and they're delicious. They have 30 grams of protein and 150 calories.

Quest protein bars have around 15-20 grams of protein, but they also have a TON of fiber, so she should be careful eating those. They don't affect me at all, but I think they might affect some people. If that's too much, Luna bars also have a good amount of protein. A lot of them have nuts in them, but I think many don't.

Will she eat Greek yogurt? Many options with 15g of protein.

What about deli meats? A quick sandwich on a high protein wrap might be a good option.

I recently tried Kodiak protein pancakes and they're delicious! I add a handful of mini chocolate chips and top with a little PB2 with water. 15-21G of protein per serving of the pancakes, another 6 for a serving of PB2. But she could skip the PB2 if she wanted to take them to school.

[rere]

If she can have dairy, protein shakes. I use it as my coffee creamer. Cottage cheese in my eggs and yogurt helps. I eat a lot of chicken. Nuts and peanut butter.

[186momx]

She does eat meat just not a ton of it. Last night she had 1/4 of a chicken breast for dinner and has another similar serving for lunch today. I'm making meatballs to go with our spaghetti tonight and she will eat 1 and prefers her spaghetti sauce as just tomatoes and spices.

Kodiak pancakes/waffles might be the way to go as she will eat leftovers pancakes/waffles now for breakfast. I'm going to try making breakfast burritos up ahead of time so we don't have to cook in the morning.

Deli meats are a I'll eat it food but I don't like it. She had a lot more of those on her list for the dietician vs the flat out won't eat it.

I saw Costco carries Fairlife so maybe will grab those from them that way if she absolutely hates them Costco will take them back.

[mae0111]

186momx , I make up a big batch of pancakes and freeze them in a freezer bag with parchment paper in between each one. I've been doing that for years. Then DD2 can grab however many she wants and pop them in the microwave for around a minute to defrost. Works great!

If she likes pasta, has she tried the protein pasta? Or Chickpea pasta? If she likes it, it might be an easy way to get more protein.

ETA Does she like Hummus?  If she will eat any hummus and veggies, making that into a sandwich on a high protein wrap would give her a bit more protein.  Or even making a cheese quesadilla on a protein wrap/tortilla would help.

[librarychica]

My oldest isn’t big into meat and won’t eat eggs. Eggs might be a good one for your daughter. DD1 gets a lot of her protein from beans — chickpeas are a good one and she eats them right out of the can but I also roast them or put them in pasta or you can buy them pre-roasted and dried that she could take to school, shelled edamame comes in small steam-in-bags, black bean soup with rice.

Will she eat tofu? Pressed and stir fried or crumbles mixed into something could be a good way. Or fish? DD1 will cook a single flash frozen filet when I am making a meat that has a texture she dislikes.

[librarychica]

I agree with PPs — Kodiak products are surprisingly good.

[twinmomma]

Kodiak even makes a gluten free version! I make them for myself all the time because II’m a sucker for a sweet breakfast vs eggs.

I also do protein shakes. I buy the Naked brand chocolate powder and blend it with ice and oat milk. Tastes like a milk shake!

She likes to bake right? You could throw a scoop of vanilla or plain protein powder into some of her recipes to beef them up.

For protein snacks, will she do jerky or meat sticks? We like the Vermont Smoke and Cure ones the best. Some flavors are gluten free and some are not so just watch out for that.

[madringal]

My girls love Kodiak double chocolate muffins. We make a bath each week and they make for great grab and go snacks.

Fairlife Chocolate

Hard boiled eggs

Tuna packets (we love the garlic and herb ones)

Chicken sausage. I throw that in with some chopped up sweet potatoes and broccoli for an easy dinner. Or with eggs for breakfast.

[mommyatty]

Holy cow that’s a lot of protein! I struggle to get enough protein too, and I don’t love meat. Does she like cottage cheese? I love it, so I often eat it for breakfast. DD and I both love the Fairlife protein shakes a lot of people have mentioned. DD loves the vanilla crème frappe at Starbucks and we found blending up 2 cups of ice until it’s really crushed then adding the Fairlife vanilla shake and blending a little more is a pretty good dupe. (Note: if you put the shake in right away the consistency is wrong and it almost makes like whipped cream. It’s too foamy.) That might be a nice after practice treat.

I would send her stuff like turkey dogs or chicken sausage for lunch. Beans are good. Maybe bean burritos on GF tortillas? Skinnytaste has a black bean soup that’s really good, high protein and filling. And she can have rice for some carbs and tortilla chips. I love pinto beans cooked with smoked turkey too.

[rere]

I also make what I call energy balls for breakfast or snack. Mix about equal parts (I don't really measure) oatmeal, flax seeds, chia seads, peanut butter, chocolate chips (I use sugar free, but I'm watching sugar). Add real honey. Add protein powder. Mix and scoop into balls, usually I use a heaping tablespoon. Put in the fridge to chill, then I just grap them through the week. Pinterest has a lot of these recipes. Peanut butter and chocolate treats that are somewhat healthy and add protein.

[186momx]

Thanks everyone for the ideas.
We got the Kodiak pancake/waffle mix last night at Costco. We also picked up the Irish Stew in the coupon book that has 20g of protein in 1 serving along with salmon, tilapia, hummus singles and rice.
I'm going to try and get her to bake this weekend with the protein powder for breakfast/morning snack.

She isn't a fan of beans at all and won't eat jerky or any smoked meats.

Last night she ate 5 meatballs with her spaghetti which is huge as she normally only eats 1. She also didn't seem to notice that I adjusted them to be wheat/dairy free.

Does anyone know if almond flour/crackers/pasta/tortilla taste that different from regular? DD says they all taste gross and to stop pushing them on her. I thought the almond crackers at got at Costco tasted like wheat thins but just had a weird after taste and that i would want a dip to go with it.

[mae0111]

186momx, gluten free and chickpea pasta definitely tastes different. I've found that the long thin pasta is closer to regular than the shorter, thicker pasta (spaghetti vs ziti). I don't think it's bad, but it is different. I don't know about the other stuff...

[twinmomma]

I think the Barilla gluten free pasta (in the blue box) is for sure the closest to real pasta in taste and consistency. We don't even mess with real pasta for the girls and DH, everyone just eats the same GF one when we have it. It does not hold up well for leftovers, but it's good fresh.

[rere]

Sept 26, 2024 11:03:06 GMT -5 186momx said:

Thanks everyone for the ideas.
We got the Kodiak pancake/waffle mix last night at Costco. We also picked up the Irish Stew in the coupon book that has 20g of protein in 1 serving along with salmon, tilapia, hummus singles and rice.
I'm going to try and get her to bake this weekend with the protein powder for breakfast/morning snack.

She isn't a fan of beans at all and won't eat jerky or any smoked meats.

Last night she ate 5 meatballs with her spaghetti which is huge as she normally only eats 1. She also didn't seem to notice that I adjusted them to be wheat/dairy free.

Does anyone know if almond flour/crackers/pasta/tortilla taste that different from regular? DD says they all taste gross and to stop pushing them on her. I thought the almond crackers at got at Costco tasted like wheat thins but just had a weird after taste and that i would want a dip to go with it.

Barilla hasa protein plus, in a yellow box. That's all my kids will eat. Very good and more al dente in texture. They call regular pasta too fluffy, usually because it's easier to overcook.

[186momx]

Update with the info from the dietician.
1. Eating 3 meals and 3 snacks.
The suggested schedule as follow:
~ 7am Breakfast - pair Waffle, 2 eggs and almond milk.
~ 10 am snack: Cucumber / Carrots with Hummus or Pretzel with Hummus, Grapes /other fruits & dairy free cheese (Daiya brand, VIolife, CHAO)
~12:20pm - Home Lunch ( Protein, Carb, Veggie/fruit + a healthy fat source)
~ 1:45pm Snack at School - Tortilla chips + guacamole or Apples with peanut butter.
~3:30pm - Home Dinner
~7.30pm Protein shakes + other snacks of choice.
~20grams of protein at meals and 5-10grams with snacks
 
DD looked at it and said I can't eat all of that every day and those snacks won't work well at school. DH looked at it and said she was going to be fat and overweight by the end of October. I was bummed that the dietician didn't give us a list of alternative foods for carbs. DD is getting burnt out on rice and potatoes.

We are keeping a detailed list of what she eats this week to see how close she comes to the protein amount. DD is also talking to her teachers today about being allowed to drink a protein smoothie during the morning (they are only allowed water in the classrooms) instead of a protein snack.

DD and I spent Saturday going to Trader Joes, Natural grocers and the regular grocery stores and found some high protein dairy/wheat free items to try out.

[mommyatty]

That is not a crazy amount of food for an athlete. DD, who is about the same age as your DD, eats more than that in a day, and those snacks are in line with what she eats at school. (She does pretzels with Nutella with fruit for her morning snack or Greek yogurt with fruit which won’t work for your DD,, and a protein bar and fruit for the snack right before practice.) And DD loves apples and peanut butter for her after school or evening snack.

[186momx]

mommyatty, yeah the only big change would be breakfast and her afternoon snack. She is more half a waffle gal as she walks out the door for breakfast and normally doesn't eat an afternoon snack since lunch is late and she eats dinner early. She also only eats about 4 bites of protein for lunch/dinner so she needs to up that. Today she ate a full 9" Kodiak waffle so got her 21g of protein in so I know she can do it.