Help with other protein ideas?

[Politicalpilot]

I've posted over in the Women's Wellness section, but that doesn't seem to get as much activity as this area. :) So please bear with me...
I am 5 mos. pregnant and am still fighting morning sickness at times. I really wanted to stick with PP while pregnant, but pregnancy has given me an aversion to protein like I've never had...I gag on chicken, most beef, and eggs. I'd prefer not to live on protein powder if possible. :p Are there any other options? I am craving vegetables and fruit like crazy, and could just about live on those if it weren't for the face that it doesn't really give me any energy. I am also really tired most of the time so I don't have a lot of energy to cook things other than a good dinner for my family.
I have been eating nuts and some cheese when I can get it down.
Does any one have some ideas for what I could eat to get lots of protein? I've searched through the menus/recipes section here too but am still struggling. I would like to increase my carbs some so I don't lose a ton of weight while pregnant, but I also don't want to get my body use to lots of carbs again either. :eek:
Any thoughts or tips would be great. Thank you!!

[amdawson]

tofu .

[Politicalpilot]

tofu .

Thanks!! I had thought of that, but am trying to stay away from soy products...I have been allergic to them ever since I was a baby. It is a good idea though!

[amdawson]

I got a lot of good ideas from this thread (http://proteinpower.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7226). may or may not help. also, the ever-popular worldwide sport protein shakes...just a pre-mixed ready to drink protein powder.

also, there is a protein power for vegetarians (http://proteinpower.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14) section, can probably get some good ideas there.

[laughingW]

No tofu while pregnant!!! The effect on hormones is too strong. Tempeh would be okay though.

Have you looked into the protein quality in dark leafy greens? Calorie for calorie, they have as good quality protein as steak. The problem is you have to eat so much greens to get enough protein (and have all that fiber, maybe you don't mind).

I can't imagine hating meat and eggs but I do remember the taste and gag and nausea consequences of being pregnant. Could you do lots of spinach-lentil soup with tiny ham chunks? Or masses of kale in stir fry; or collards? Spinach casseroles with egg and cheese?

Interesting factoid for the day! The chlorophyll molecule, the green in plants, is strikingly like the hemoglobin molecule, the red in our blood.

http://purlife.com/Molecule.htm

[Politicalpilot]

There is protein in dark leafy greens?? I had no idea! :jawDrop: I will look into that. I might try a quiche with spinach and ham...I was able to get small pieces of quiche down recently and that seems to have lots of protein.
I know! Not being able to stomach most proteins is completely foreign to me (other than during pregnancy)...I normally love bacon, deviled eggs, good hamburgers and steaks...
I have decided to try small chunks of roast beef in salads, and fish. Fish for some reason sounds really good.
Just typing these posts out, and reading through the suggested links has given me some ideas, and hope that maybe all is not lost.

[laughingW]

Yes, check out Nutritiondata . com. They have a little cool graphic about the completeness of amino acids in protein, and the dark leafy greens are right up there. Who knew, me too!

fish sounding good? heck if it sounds good I'd go for it. My local HFS makes really great salmon cakes - I buy them once in a while even though their recipe uses breadcrumbs (a lot!) sigh.

[Spruce Goose]

Just be careful with the fish in regards to mercury.

I think the stuff lowest on the food chain has the least mercury (because all the other fish eat smaller fish who also have mercury).

Or something like that.

[Frank Hagan]

Yeah, check with your OB about eating fish. She or he may recommend it no more than once a week because of the pregnancy and risk of mercury. At least that was the recommendation for my daughter when she was pregnant two years ago.

[Sharvo]

That's a challenge. Having just seen Julie & Julia (and bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking - how suggestible am I??) , I would say, what about saucing up some of the usual protein options with LC/HF options? Not having done the child birth thing, I don't really know if you have the extra calorie lattitude or if that's "wives tale"; if you do, something like a hollandaise might disguise it enough you'd like it. I've made homemade mayo and hollandaise long ago and my recollection is that they're really incomparable to storebought.

Plus what about salmon salad, crab salad, chicken salad, etc, stuff that you can season to overcome the underlying protein?

I was a vegetarian for 20 yrs and I know it's perfectly possible to carry healthy babies to term as a veggie, but it would be nothing like LC, especially if you're not eating soy. Remember you'll need 20g PLUS of protein per day.

You can maximize vegetable protein by judicious combining complementary amino acids (there's probably stuff on the web on that - Frances Moore Lappe first popularized combining complementary amino acids in Diet for a Small Planet and that book has many excellent tables & charts; and many cultural dishes have already been doing that for ages: beans & rice; grain & cheese; seeds & beans eg hummus), but it's nearly impossible to calculate with a great deal of certainty how much additional complete protein you're getting when you complement.

Have you considered soups or stews - you could get the veggies you're craving and as much protein as you can tolerate.

I hope this is a quickly passing difficulty,

Good health,
Sharvo

[maxlharris]

Crazy idea:
Farm Raised Salmon

People generally do not like Farm Salmon because they are not as concentrated in the Omega-3 fats as wild salmon. Happens because they are fed corn meal or something, rather than predating on smaller fish.

On the upside, no one adds mercury (or other heavy metals) to the corn meal of farm raised salmon, so the salmon have much lower levels of heavy metals.

A second idea is as AM suggests: smaller fish. Cold water small fish, like anchovies. The Spanish do some wonderful things with tiny fishes. Small fish, less mercury. Cold water, high omega-3s.

[laughingW]

Farmed salmon also have petroleum-derived color and higher PCBs than wild salmon.

New York Times article: http://www.edwardtufte.com/files/salmofan.html

And cute salmo-fan for farmers to pick the color:

http://www.edwardtufte.com/files/salmofan.jpg

[Politicalpilot]

Oh boy. Ok. Maybe I'll just skip the fish for now until I have my next drs. appointment. Anchovies, huh? hmm. I think I'd rather have eggs and chicken. :-)
I am going to try a few things, and hopefully come back with some things that have worked! I will also go back to low-carb tortillas for lunches because I can get quite a bit of protein down if I'm not eating it "straight". Soups and stews might be good too, especially once it cools down here a bit.
Thank you to everyone for their helpful advice!!

[maxlharris]

I don't eat fish (save crustaceans who aren't really fish) in general (lox and other cold smoked salmon are an exception) so please not to take my advice on the health benefits or hazards. I don't really pay attention.

[Spruce Goose]

I don't eat a lot of fish myself either. I just recall from when my wife was pregnant that there was some general concern about mercury. I think they changed it recently (maybe from 1 serving of fish to 2 per week?).

Your doc may have their own opinion as well. It's probably the one that counts ;)