Protein, it's an uphill battle

Having been raised in a family that ate meat regularly, the change to eating vegetarian (well, mostly since we still sometimes eat fish) has been fraught with difficulty. This has been mainly because of working out hard, eating every 2- 3 hours, and not knowing how to get the necessary protein without meat. At first I just tried to eat a lot of eggs. But eating eggs for 2 - 3 mini meals every day gets old REALLY fast. I then thought, Beans! Beans have lots of protein! But, honestly, how many AMAZING bean recipes can you think of that don't include any milk, tomato, or corn products? Me neither.

Years ago, when Rob and I were working as personal trainers we used to drink protein powder mixed with milk as a mid-morning, post-workout snack. Since that protein powder was whey based and anything cow's milk is not an option, we went back to the drawing board. The following are examples of what we tried in our quest to find a palatable, mixable, on-the-go protein shake.

Rice Protein -  No amount of mixing this with any combination of fruit could cover up its unmistakable chalky texture. It coats sticks in your throat just enough to give you a constant cough for part of the morning afterward. Though a small spoonful worked well in oatmeal, it did not as a drink.

Hemp Protein - though it was palatable in soy milk, it did not mix well at all. The first two thirds of the drink didn't taste amazing, but was good enough. By the time you get to the last third, the hemp protein dregs are concentrated in every sip you take making swallowing (due to the graininess and taste) difficult.

The Ultimate Meal - Though it says "tastes great" on the side of the can, it tastes anything but. It smells like pond water and tastes about the same. Like the rice protein, NOTHING can make this shake taste good. If you've ever gone swimming in slow-moving or standing water, that algae-ish smell? That's what this tastes like. Try as I might, I couldn't distract myself enough to keep from dry heaving after every swallow, and I'm not exaggerating at all. Even after mixing it with two bananas, mixed berries, and a peach I still had to follow each swallow with a chaser or water and some bread in order to keep it down.

Feeling REALLY discouraged and bad for having spent so much money on all of these protein powders, we found one!!!!  It's a wheat protein, so obviously not a solution for anyone who has a level of gluten intolerance, but it is the ONLY thing that we have been able to find. It is palatable in water, tastes fine in milk and delivers the needed additional protein we both need. HOORAY!

Because we have friends and family that can't have gluten, we're going to try an egg protein powder we found. I'll let you know how that works as the protein powder saga continues....