Craving protein, need snack ideas

[slsurface]

I'm craving protein in a big way! I'm not really a vegetarian, but we chose not to eat a lot of meat (especially prepared meats), so I don't have the typical lunch meat type items around my house. I need some ideas for quick and protein rich and whole-foods snack items I can make ahead and have on hand. I'm a super busy college professor and I also have a 3 year old to chase around. I'd prefer warm foods, since the weather has gotten quite cold (highs in the 40s F) and we keep our household heat set at 60 degrees F. Also, I no longer have a gallbladder, so I have to stay away from foods with excessive amounts fat (such as avocados ) otherwise I get terrible abdominal cramps.

A few things that come to mind:
-boiled eggs
-scrambled eggs with toast
-cheese/black bean quesadilla
-yogurt

I'm sure I'm missing some obvious foods...just can't think of them right now.

[Burnindinner]

I don't know how lentils would impact you, but that's the first thing that came to mind. Bean soup! Mmmm. Oh great, I hope suggestion that leads automatically to craving hasn't started yet...

I am really looking forward to others' suggestions too. I eat constantly and am already bored with my own food!

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by Burnindinner

I don't know how lentils would impact you, but that's the first thing that came to mind. Bean soup! Mmmm. Oh great, I hope suggestion that leads automatically to craving hasn't started yet...

I am really looking forward to others' suggestions too. I eat constantly and am already bored with my own food!

Funny you should mention that! I have the crockpot out and ready to make red-lentil soup for Wednesday. I LOOOOVE lentil soup ! But there really is a limit to how often you can eat it, yk. Maybe I'll make some split pea soup for lunch.

[Traceround]

Egg salad sandwiches.

Do you eat chicken? Chicken salad sandwiches are good too or just a scoop on a salad. However, those are cold so they probably wouldn't be as appealing.

Soups are good. I just made a pot of potato cauliflower cheese soup that turned out absolutely delicious. I intended on portioning it out for lunches for this week but when I woke up this morning I found that DH had snarfed it all down.

[Sonnet]

Miso soup. High in protein, easy on the tummy. Been sucking it down like a maniac.

[Traceround]

Oh. I hadn't thought about miso soup. I have some instant miso from Trader Joes. I'll have to remember that.

[prone_to_wander]

hummus. It is so easy to whip up and you can eat it with veggies

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by Sonnet

Miso soup. High in protein, easy on the tummy. Been sucking it down like a maniac.

Originally Posted by prone_to_wander

hummus. It is so easy to whip up and you can eat it with veggies

Both excellent ideas! I don't know why I didn't think of them, since we eat both of a fairly regular basis. I've gotta go buy some fresh miso paste!

[Jen H.]

Tuna salad, either as a sandwich, a wrap, stuffed into a pita, or just on its own?

Peanut butter!!

[crbyard]

Oh my gosh, if you love lentil soup, you need to make the indian-spiced lentil soup recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It is one of my all-time favorite meals and so easy to make.

Here is the recipe http://www.foodreference.com/html/lentil-hs.html

Scan down to the bottom to see the variation for fragrant spices. I usually make this and then freeze it in pint jars. The pint jars are perfect individual portions.

[SeattleRain]

I make a veggie tortilla soup with black beans, canned tomatos, corn and red onions and its so delicious. I crumble a little bit of tortilla chips in there and I was super into it this last weekend. The only problem was that (sorry if this is TMI) I was SUPER gassy this weekend. However, I was also pretty "regular" so if you're having trouble with constipation, this might help.

[kbcain]

these are things people have mentioned, but i love:

refried beans.
any beans, really. i love butter beans a lot!

peanut butter

egg whites

[Cellist]

I eat cheese snack sticks, but that's cold...

Handful of peanuts or other nuts.

Handful of trail mix if you have a sweet tooth and like getting the occasional M&M and/or raisin in there, too.

Ugh, can't think of anything warm that would be easy to carry around and eat whenever... best to you!