Veggie Protein!

When I first became Vegetarian, almost 5 years ago, I started by weaning out red meats, then white meats, and finally fish/seafood. I did it little by little because its good to let your body adjust and also not to just eliminate proteins without replacing them. There are SO many options for vegetable based proteins, which are so much healthier because they contain far less fat, zero cholesterol and less calories. Here are a few options that I use as protein in my meals: Tofu: Tofu is just a mashed up bean (edamame). (just like mashed potatos, but instead of a potato, it’s a bean!) You can buy it in firm form, or silken form. The firm form is in a block that you can easy cube, or cut into strips. It ‘s great for stir fry recipes. You can grill it, marinade it, and spice it up- just like chicken. If you freeze it overnight and thaw it out, it makes it even more firm and chewy too! It contains about 10 grams of protein, zero fat and zero cholesterol. Tempeh: Tempeh is fermented grains. It’s very nutty and has a great texture to it. You can bake it, grill it, marinade it, sauté it- really anything you want. There are ways to give it that smoky bacon like flavor so you can replace that in your favorite breakfast meals, or even on a BLT like sandwich! About 16 grams protein! TVP: Textured Vegetable Protein is a dried grain in small pellets. When you pour hot water and mix it, it soaks up the water and becomes much like a ground meat ( more like ground chicken than ground beef). I love using this as taco meat- all you have to do is add the seasoning like you would normally do and it has the exact same flavor, 13 grams of protein, but NO fat or cholesterol! Seitan: Seitan is made from Wheat Gluten, a flour mixture. It is kneaded into a dough ( like pizza dough) and boiled until it becomes firm. It can then be soaked in a vegetable broth and baked or you can use it just like chicken in any other way. It has a wonderful chewy texture and can take on any flavor. This one is my favorite  Oh, and lets not forget about Beans! Black beans, Kidney Beans, Lentils, Pinto, Green Beans, White beans, Navy beans, Lima Beans, Chick Peas, Mung beans... Quinoa, Cous-Cous, Nuts, Seeds, Oatmeal, and Peanut butter are all great Protein options :) There are also tons of Vegetarian and Vegan manufacturers that make Veggie Burgers, Veggie Hot Dogs, Veggie Corn Dogs, Veggie Chicken Patties, Grilled Chicken, Chicken Nuggets, Turkey burgers, Italian sausages, breakfast sausage links or patties, veggie bacon, veggie turkey, veggie beef chucks (great for beef stew)….really, just about anything! And they are all Low to No Fat and No Cholesterol! Some of my favorite brands are: Gardein Quorn Morningstar Farms Boca Amy’s SmartLite Tofurkey **If you're going Vegan, double check your ingredients, because some Morningstar and Quorn products contain milk or egg products.