Really struggling to get protein, help please?

[user1465023742]

Really desperate for some help about my food. I'm having a problem getting enough protein. Protein is the only thing that fills me up properly but I have a very limited budget as I'm on disability benefits and I just can't afford to eat meat or fish every day. I can't eat cheese because I have migraines. Quorn is out because I'm allergic to mushrooms, I can't have eggs because I'm allergic to the white so things like omlettes and scrambled eggs are out. That leaves lentils, which I do like, but the only way I know how to make them is in things like bolognese which i can't have because I'm allergic to tomatoes.

I'm really really struggling and surviving on carbs, which are just making me fatter and fatter and I'm constantly hungry because carbs leave me starving after 2 hours. What can I do?

Cottage cheese is a good source of protein if you can tolerate it. Other foods include:
Tinned fish
Couscous
Milk and yogurt
Broccoli
Peanut butter and nuts
Soya beans and other soya products
Pasta
Breakfast cereals just avoid the really sugary options
Wholesale bread
Even potatoes contain some protein combine a jacket spud with baked beans and you have an inexpensive high protein meal.

Great list penfold. What about things like chickpeas, butter beans, kidney beans? Lidil do a lovely curry sauce, fry onions and garlic, add couple of tins of chickpeas, then eat with some Greek yoghurt. V filling and actually tastes nice.

Thanks for the suggestons so far. I forgot to say I can't have nuts so they're out too and soya is also a migraine trigger. I'm really really struggling with it!

Surely things like brocolli and potatoes have miniscule amounts of protein? The kind of protein I need to fill up is at least one chicken breast or something similar but I can't afford to do that every day. All those things with protein in it that are carbs, like potatoes and pasta, leave me ravenous to the point of almost passing out.

Good point Rick. All pulses are useful sources of protein. I often by mine in local Asian grocers as they can be much cheaper also get spices there as well. I often by dried pulses, soak and cook them then freeze in sandwich bags then they are ready to use. That said I bought three tins of chickpeas for £1 last week. Many supermarkets are doing Ramadan promotions and have good offers on pulses, rice etc.

Sorry baked beans have tomatoes in them so I can't have them either, sorry only just noticed that on your list.

Would even a small portion of meat/fish each day be possible. Small tin of tuna could do 2 meals, or divide up whatever you can afford into 2 or 3. Fish like pollack are inexpensive, soup made from left over meat and with beans, veg etc added. Hummus and other East Med/Middle Eastern mezze foods can be filling and nutritious with flatbreads or rice for example? Stir fry with noodles and bean sprouts plus handful of whatever meat you have available, stir in egg yolk or prawns etc.

I cook a lot of canellini beans. Use them in salad, in chicken casserole and blitzed with softened veg to make a lovely soup.

I use red lentils in lentil soup with either a vegetable base or using ham on the bone - no tomatoes.

Yes, that's doable LIZS, but it leaves me absolutely starving hungry. It's not enough protein at each meal. Hence my problem. A handful of meat just isn't enough. I'm so hungry, I can't even express it. So I fill up on carbs, which make me put on even more weight. So many of the proteins that would be cheaper but give me enough to eat, ie, eggs, cheese, etc, I can't have because of my food intolerances. And breakfast is a huge problem because all I can have is cereal or toast, pure carbs, and I'm starving after an hour. I often end up having to have breakfast twice because I can't have eggs or cheese so no protein. I don't know what to do :(

With meat you can get batter value cuts. I buy chicken thighs and lamb

Not baked bean but any other sort of bean or pea, tinned or frozen, chickpeas, lentils, etc, etc.

You can buy them really cheaply, dried or tinned. All you need then is a bit of a Google and some equally cheap herbs and spices.

As others have said, Asian supermarkets can be really cheap.

You could also google the difference between simple and complex carbs. All the pulses etc are complex carbs and high in protein and won't leave you hungry. The carbs you have listed are simple carbs, low in protein, and won't fill you up for long.

Once you are sure about the difference you can confidently try things like oats.

I've kind of tried that in the past Cake but what i've found is that the thighs are smaller so I end up having to eat more which makes it just as expensive as getting chicken breasts. that's why i was looking at things like lentils etc but I just dont know what to do with them.

user I have re-read your posts... got to thinking. What diet/restrictions are you choosing or having to live with?

Maybe, if we know a bit more, we can proffer up recipes rather than ingredients

I used to make a really nice lentil curry which fille dme up quite well but it had tomatoes then the intolerances started so i had to stop making it.

Buckwheat and quinoa are "carb" foods with a good amount of protein too.

You don't have to have "breakfast foods" for breakfast. If we have a bigger cooked breakfast, DD (who is not a full English fan) has baked beans with brown rice instead. I know you can't eat baked beans, but beans in a different sauce maybe?

These are amazing and aren't expensive, really easy to make - cookingonabootstrap.com/2015/01/31/carrot-cumin-kidney-bean-burger-9p/ in fact jack's website has loads of ideas - her Daal (which uses red lentils) is amazing and if you use frozen spinach is really cheap and essy - cookingonabootstrap.com/2013/10/03/lentil-and-spinach-daal-66p/ - uses yoghurt which is more protein - can you have that? Hope that helps a bit!

Thanks Why i'll give that a read. I can have dairy as long as not too much, again, migraine trigger :(

I'm not sure what other beans in a different sauce I could have for breakfast, i've never seen beans in any sauce apart from baked beans. I honestly wouldnt know what else to have for breakfast apart from cereal or toast.

Sainsbury's do packs of 6 (large) chicken thighs for £3 (from their butcher's counter), and two of those should be filling enough - definitely as much meat as one chicken breast and tastier, I think!

Also look at value/basics meat - lots of that is really good value as well as being very tasty.

Re lentils, I make a lentil salad with green lentils:

• soak the lentils in boiling water for around half an hour, and then boil them for around 20 minutes until they're tender.
• while they're soaking/cooking, gently fry an onion, garlic and some diced carrot in plenty of oil. Olive oil is ideal, but as it's expensive, frankly any oil will do. Season well and add any dried herbs you have to hand/like. If you have any bacon this works well too.
• drain the cooked lentils and add them to the veg, cook them for around another 5-10 minutes so that they take on the flavour, and then leave to cool.

That daal is exactly the sort of thing i'm looking for. cheap, quick, no allergens, thats brilliant thank you, looks yummy.

If you can have yoghurt then overnight oats are good for breakfast - just some oats, yoghurt and frozen berries or grated apple left overnight to go soft, can add some seeds (sunflower and pumpkin are nice) as a topper added in the morning, if you can have seeds?

Brill, Jack has lots of vegan stuff on there so lots of ideas without dairy too, enjoy!

Try googling frugal food, food on a budget etc. There are loads of websites with recipes, and recipes are what you need if you are moving out of your comfort zone.

I am rubbish at linking on my phone, but I googled buckwheat bake cranks and the first hit was one such website with my favourite buckwheat recipe.

Quinoa
Buckwheat
Rice and beans together
Hummus
Peanut butter

I'll see if I can think of more

Greek Yoghurt and fruit, plus a teaspoon of seeds/oats for texture and bulk. Omelette made with yolks and splash of milk. Homemade muesli -oats, dried fruit, soak in apple juice overnight, add a spoon of yoghurt to taste.

Sorry pressed post too soon. It depends what shopping is available to you of course. I can get boiling joints for soup at a butcher for a lot less money. Chicken thighs and drumsticks are better value than breast meat if no offers on. Also higher in fat which is satisfying too and stops carb cravings for me.