What protein do you eat, when & how? I need inspiration!

[dancinginthewind]

The food I enjoy eating most are white carbs and dairy products. However, I feel much better when I eat foods high in protein with plenty of veg, some carbs and very little dairy. The veg I'm fine with - I could eat bowls of tenderstem broccoli with chilli for example. Where I get bored is around the protein.
Dinner is easy. Breakfast is often eggs. Lunch is where I struggle. And a mid-afternoon snack to eat at my desk.
I'm sure some will question the need for a mid-afternoon snack but, if I don't have one, by the time I walk into to the house, I am ravenous and just raid the kitchen doing a good impersonation of The Hungry Caterpillar!
Any suggestions? And does anyone supplement their diet with a protein powder? I've been wondering if taking protein powder would mean I don't need to be so fixated on eating protein with all of my meals.
Thank you

I tend to knock up a batch of chilli or bolognese and portion it for lunches. I'll make 4 portions, 2 in the freezer and 2 in the fridge. Have that with green veg for 2 days then on the 3rd day make a batch of something different like Chicken and Veg stir fry, eat 1, 1 for the fridge, 2 for the freezer. That way I build up a selection of different options in the freezer so I can then start defrosting a portion ready for the next days lunch and I only need to cook up a batch once or twice a week.

I think I need to learn to embrace chickpeas, lentils & other beans more.

You really do! I’m quite a lazy cook (for myself, from scratch every day) but if I’m eating in my regular way I almost never feel hungry. I rarely snack on ready made stuff at home - I bake if I’m very bored or need cheering up, and the website I mentioned above has endless varieties of flour, so it’s quite entertaining.

If you can tolerate pulses well then there is so much scope, but aware they are carbs, if you are trying to do low carb.

I love pulses but need to eat them in moderation these days as the gas factor gets out of control.. and sometimes they set off my IBS.

But these are the ways I like to enjoy them:

Chorizo, spinach, butterbean stew (also great with chickpeas instead)
Daal with a crispy fried egg on top (i make huge batches and freeze)
Puy lentil salad with feta, cherry tomatoes, onions etc.
hummus, falafel etc.
Ful medames (an Egyptian breakfast made with fava beans and hard boiled eggs)
Soups... add to broths with lots of veg etc.
or pureed in thick soups

This is all so useful.
I've just had a very nice chicken salad for lunch and have salmon for dinner tonight which I enjoyed as a contrast from all of the Christmas food but last year got into a rut when I seemed to eat chicken five times a week and salmon/cod five times a week.

I use lentils a lot to build up the protein. Even when cooking say a bolognese or chilli , a couple of handfuls of red lentils in there and they cook right down, doubling the dish size as well as the protein. When I make a curry, in go the chickpeas . Beans on toast or a jacket spud - cheap protein meal. I also make the odd dhal

I also use lunch to get my oily fish in, which I actually love but no one else in the family does, Im more then happy with smoked mackerel , sardines, my favourite being kippers ( I buy the tins, no bones ) Of course I use those on days when Im at home cos I get complaints in work about the smell - some people appear to be very sensitive to fish but I find the smell of their pot noodle type meals are gag worthy - go figure :)

Days I work and dont get a break I pop a few baby bels in my pockets

If I take breakfast its my own homemade ff greek yoghurt. Only ingredient in that is skimmed milk and I add frozen berries and oat bran, a bowl of that can keep me going all day till dinner.

Days Im running late, when Im not organised I will take a pouch of microwave lentils and crumble in some half fat feta for a bit of tang. A bit boring but full of protein and very very filling

Have you tried these, @suki1964:

https://www.thetinnedfishmarket.com/collections/fangst-tinned-fish/products/fangst-wood-smoked-herring-with-wild-garlic

I’m obsessed with tinned fish. It makes all the difference to my joints, and whether I can hold a yoga position. Most come with my normal grocery delivery but I try every new (to me) source I discover. The Tinned Fish Market products are incomparable - I could happily live on their tins alone, unless I’m actually by the sea.

The very best supplier of fresh fish must be

Pesky Fish - such a brilliantly simple set up, and fish as I remember it from my 20th century childhood. As I don’t care about ending up on yesterday’s snobbery thread (!) I don’t mind saying that it’s years since I last bought supermarket ‘fresh’ fish. And I’d mostly pick tinned over frozen. (Lazy …)

I rarely remember to buy nuts and seeds on their own (because the quality doesn’t always seem great) but I always buy bread covered in seeds.

Which reminds me of this, which finally made its way to my consciousness over Christmas - definitely my favourite ultra-processed food.

I do try to add ground nuts - almonds or walnuts - to as many cakes as possible. When I’m a proper grown up I hope I’ll have one of these in my kitchen:

https://hodmedods.co.uk/collections/home-milling/products/mockmill-lino-200

Then life will be perfect …

Following with interest.
I've spent most of 2023 in calorie deficit and upping my protein with great results (full disclosure: also on Ozempic/Wegovy). Really trying to change my eating habits and realized I wasn't getting anywhere near enough protein before. Getting at least 40g daily now but should probably aim higher. Turkey, salmon, kvarg and tuna are my new best friends. Snacks are often pepperami bites or babybel.
Also started taking Bovine Collagen Peptides from Will Powders in my coffee, it's around 14g protein and 55 kcal per serving and I can tolerate the mild flavor fine. Also tried one of their protein powders (milk chocolate w sea salt) as a backup "snack" but far too artificial tasting for me.

Thank you for this tip, some very interesting recipes and products. I'm definitely hooked.

I made a chickpea and roasted sweet potato curry the other day. The sauce was a pack of tofu, some cashew nuts , half a roasted squash and some water all blitzed together in a food processor. Made enough for five portions which I’ve frozen. You can add chickpeas to pretty much anything.

Another one for tinned fish. It's a go to lunch or snack for me.
Good quality makes all the difference. I love The Tinned Fish company too.
Sardines/pilchards/mackerel, with a little mayo or hot sauce on sourdough, or flaked into a salad nicoise instead of tuna... so good and SO good for you. Oily fish is so essential.

I also love kippers for breakfast with a couple of hard boiled eggs, and some grilled tomatoes to cut through the richness.
High protein, keeps me satisfied for ages.

Thanks for the link, nope never seen them, would have to go to Belfast for anything as fancy :) I live real rural and our choice of shops are limited. Its great to read there are more tinned fish lovers here :)

You have only just discovered marmite? Where have you been all your life? lol Or is it just the XO you like?

I live beside the sea and yet its still hard to get fresh fish, mainly because the boats dont land here. Usually have to wait for the artisan markets and hope they arent on a weekend Im working. I used to see the harbour master in the local and he would give away loads of mackerel and pollock but hes not been socialising since covid

As a Londoner I grew up on cheap fish, cockles and mussels , winkles , whelks, sprats so will eat any fish other then jellied eels :)

Kippers and poached eggs on a bed of rocket and tomatoes - heaven on a plate :)

Grew up with Marmite! It’s just the XO that’s exciting me. As my fellow Ocado shoppers profess, it tastes the way Marmite used to.

I’m afraid I can’t get my head around the possible complications of ordering tinned food from England to be delivered to Northern Ireland (?). (Post viral brain fog.) But your diet sounds very similar to mine - absent the Baby Bel. I was brought up on a combination of Mediterranean, Caribbean, West African and Scandinavian cuisines, to supplement the bland pre-Common Market English options - so I’ve been eating a lot of fish, beans and olive oil forever. But after a few years of a slightly unsatisfactory non-meat diet, it took lockdown (and the robot grocers falling over temporarily) for me to really reassess where and how to source food. Now I tend to bulk buy the wholefood element every couple of months and eat, much, much more of those. Weekly veg box. Baked beans and Marmite and milk, etc, from the robots. I would love to live somewhere where in person shopping was worthwhile again, though!

Nuts aren't a protein source. They're a source of healthy fats with some protein. Try some fat free greek yoghurt with frozen berries or cook some chicken breast or any other lean meat and slice it up and snack on a handful of that.

I aim for 100g protein daily. A typical days food would be:

Breakfast:porridge made with almond milk, half a scoop protein powder and blueberries. 20g

Mid morning:lidl banana protein shake 35g

Lunch:salad with quinoa base and then cottage cheese and edamame beans or black beans added, plus cucumber, roasted peppers, spinach etc 25g

Pm snack:couple slices chargrill chicken(from a pack) 6g

Dinner: vegetable omelette with third tin no sugar baked beans or
Lean mince bolognese and cauliflower rice or scrambled egg on toast if feeling lazy. 20-25g

Dessert:pot lindhals lemon cheesecake quark 18g

That all comes to over 120g protein for about 1300 calories. I'm only 5ft 1 so my TDEE is quite low

Nuts are a protein source, ground almonds are often used instead of flour to increase protein and peanut butter is on many high protein diet lists

www.healthline.com/nutrition/high-protein-nuts

Mashed up tinned sardines in tomato sauce on toast is much better than it sounds. Ham salad was another one I liked. Hard boiled eggs peeled and ready in the fridge for a snack or with salad. I must go back to eating better.

Sardines on ryvita! They are so quick (stinky) and high in protein

I do buy as local as I can and thankfully Lidl NI use 90% of locally produced produce and NI meat is some of the best in the world

For me its all about upping the protein, fruit and veg, cutting out the UP and the wasteful carbs - its wholemeal all the way - and using more grains and beans as fillers

I shall hunt out the XO. I have tried some of the other flavours, didnt work for me, went back to the yellow cap

@Twopintsprick81 that's a fantastic amount of protein in the TDEE (similar to mine). May I ask for your protein powder recommendation please? And how you do your shakes.

Edit: Sorry, just saw it's Lidl's shake.

I get about 100g -120g protein a day
I use MyProtein whey isolate or any whey protein inc ready made bottles for when I'm at work or going out after the gym)
I whizz up my powders in nutribullet but the isolate is very foamy and takes a while to settle!
I eat my calories mainly in protein and have piles of veg with few carbs
It really suits me this way of eating.

Mixed bean salad is good to keep in the fridge for if peckish. V easy to make. And it uses up random bits from the fridge like peppers, spring onions, cucumber

Yeah, I buy the lidl ones for convenience and because they taste pretty good. They come in chocolate, vanilla, banana and strawberry and are all 35g of protein for roughly 205 calories. I just find them an easy way to get in a good amount of protein so I don't have to be cramming it in at every single meal.

Just to add, I use PBN whey powder in cookies and cream flavour in my porridge, and it's nice but very sweet. I'm not keen on having it as a shake though because it has that artificial aftertaste that most protein powders have. Sorry, I don't know how to do links but they sell it on amazon. Optimum nutrition protein powder is also considered a good choice by most but it's more expensive.

How about making double your dinner and having leftovers for lunch?

Tinned mackerel in tomato sauce is a quick protein basis for a meal. Eg, with salad.

Snacks - slices of turkey or other meat rolled up with a slice of cheese or something like a tomato. Billtong/beef jerky could also work. Hummus & carrot sticks.