Eating habit puzzler

[lph]

How about beans, peas, lentils, aren't they pretty high in protein? There a zillion kinds, so you can get quite creative.

I have a similar problem. I'd like to eat more vegetarian food, like once or twice a week, but my dh can't eat dairy, and my son will only eat beans or peas when forced to. Vegetarian recipes seem to be pretty heavy on dairy and beans...

eta: nuts, you can make a whole lot of stuff with chopped nuts. Healthy fat and protein. Someone here is bound to know more.

[goldfinch]

Nuts! I forgot about nuts! Good suggestion.

[Dannielle]

First of all, I'm (happily!) surprised that I'm not the only person who eats primal/paleo and rides a bike lol.

Do you eat dairy at all? You mentioned whey protein powder so I'm wondering if Greek yogurt or cottage cheese would work for you as well. (those 3 things pretty much define the dairy I do consume)

I've been on a huge soup kick and have found that Jarrow unflavored whey protein powder works really well stirred into soups. It's only flavor is kind of milky and it turns a brothy soup into a creamy soup. Greek yogurt stirred in does the same.

I blend cottage cheese until smooth, add a little parmesan and garlic and it makes a nice alfredo sauce to top sauteed cabbage or spiral cut zucchini noodles or broccoli. I've also grated raw cauliflower into "rice" and stir fried it with onion and well chopped mushrooms...then added either Greek yogurt or my cottage cheese alfredo for a risotto-esque dish.

I'm guessing fish would be offensive as well?

[tangentgirl]

I also just remembered, the South Beach Diet folks have a quick guidebook to foods and their fat/carb/sugar value. Even if you aren't doing SBD specifically, something like that might be handy when you are searching for non-meat options.

[goldfinch]

Lunch is satisfying. My spouse's soups he makes are delicious and pretty filing. He is the master of spicing food. I get my dose of beans/rice at lunch, plus lots and lots of vegetables.

But I will miss my eggs and meat. (Fish is out too).

Dairy is fine. I almost feel like I am being dairied to death. I do like Dannielle's cottage cheese suggestion though. I also like the idea of eating out a time or two a week. I confess that I have gone to the local Chinese food buffet and got take out chicken sticks, which I freeze and eat later. But to be true to my agreement I don't think that I should be hiding food in the freezer.

[carolync]

Lunch is satisfying. My spouse's soups he makes are delicious and pretty filing. He is the master of spicing food. I get my dose of beans/rice at lunch, plus lots and lots of vegetables.

But I will miss my eggs and meat. (Fish is out too).

Dairy is fine. I almost feel like I am being dairied to death. I do like Dannielle's cottage cheese suggestion though. I also like the idea of eating out a time or two a week. I confess that I have gone to the local Chinese food buffet and got take out chicken sticks, which I freeze and eat later. But to be true to my agreement I don't think that I should be hiding food in the freezer.

I've found a recipe for scrambled tofu that is a great subsitute for scrambled eggs, doesn't taste like tofu at all, and the texture is spot on. It can be found on the The Post Punk Kitchen website. (http://www.theppk.com/2009/10/tof-u-...ofu-revisited/) You may want to look at some of her other recipes, they are vegan, so no problem with the hubby. I'm eat partially vegetarian (I eat fish and chicken occasionally) and I've found many of her recipes very satisfying.

Good Luck!

[goldfinch]

Thanks Carolyn and everyone else for the ideas!

[Becky]

+1 for the Post Punk Kitchen. Neither DH nor I are vegetarian/vegan, but we've found some amazing recipes on there!

[Blueberry]

A very odd suggestion: Do you have a close neighbor who might allow you to have a small refrigerator if you can't have one in your home? Do you have a garage where a refrigerator could live? Or do you think the issue really bothering him is that you actually eat those foods (not just that they're in the house)?

Would he be willing to compromise on eggs? If you eliminate meat? (and perhaps let him bake once in a while, hard as it is)

This is a tough one - and you have my sympathies!

Another high protein whole grain to look into is quinoa - but that's still a grain.

[goldfinch]

A very odd suggestion: Do you have a close neighbor who might allow you to have a small refrigerator if you can't have one in your home? Do you have a garage where a refrigerator could live? Or do you think the issue really bothering him is that you actually eat those foods (not just that they're in the house)?

Would he be willing to compromise on eggs? If you eliminate meat? (and perhaps let him bake once in a while, hard as it is)

This is a tough one - and you have my sympathies!

Another high protein whole grain to look into is quinoa - but that's still a grain.

I think it does bother him a lot that I eat meat and eggs and he very much would rather I did not. He believes in living a life of non-violence and me eating animals is violence. When the issue is religious it is hard to compromise, so eggs are out even if I could make an argument that eating unfertilized eggs is not any more violent than milking a cow. Tradition. I am disrespecting his tradition.

Even I try to avoid factory farm meat, but do eat it anyway when going out to eat. Cognitive dissonance!

My spouse does use quinoa in some of his cooking.

[indysteel]

Do you/can you eat soy? Tempeh, dry roasted and steamed soybeans, and tofu come to mind.

[goldfinch]

Do you/can you eat soy? Tempeh, dry roasted and steamed soybeans, and tofu come to mind.

Meh. I used to eat quite a bit of tofu but I have drifted away from it over the years. I think it is more an issue of how crappy a cook I am. Making tofu and tempeh tasty is not my strong suite. I'll revist some recipes.