protein rich foods (other than meat, bean, eggs)

[Evelynmia'smom]

I have the hardest time getting protein into my 17 month old...she won't eat meat, beans...sometimes eggs...
She does eat cottage cheese cheese, yogurt, sometimes hummus
are these foods enough to fulfill her protein needs?

[*bejeweled*]

[buckeye_bebe]

ground seeds and nuts. This sack of crushed hemp right here said 11g protein per tb. Some people swear by chia seed, but no idea what that tastes like.

[MegBoz]

My DS, 18 mos, has also started increasingly turning away meat.

Quinoa! not just protein, but complete protein! (All the essential amino acids).

Another thing you can do is BAKE EGGS into things - like pancakes with whole wheat flour & ground oats.
Have you tried black bean or lentil burgers? My DS loves these! Gets some veggies into him too (diced onion in both, also diced garlic & green pepper in the black bean ones.) They freeze well too, so you can make a big batch.

But generally, if she's eating dairy, she probably is getting enough protein. www.fitday.com is a great site to use - you can enter what she eats & it'll easily & automatically tally it up foryou.

[Sayward]

Whole grains have a good amount of protein. Quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat, barley, etc.

Lentils are great and pretty dang versatile.

Chickpeas are awesome, hummus like you said but also in things like soups or stirfrys or curries.

Seeds and nuts are great as well. Sunflower seed butter on whole wheat toast is a good one, for example.

Just keep in mind that EVERYTHING (literally, everything) has protein in it. Most Americans (not sure where you are) get way more than enough protein (which is dangerous). The RDA for the 'rest of the world' is much, much lower. Basically, if you're eating a wide variety of foods and consuming enough calories, it's quite difficult NOT to get enough protein. =)

Luck!

[Evelynmia'smom]

thanks all...I had heard that we (americans) get more protein than we think. I have recently discovered quinoa, so I will give that a shot with her....she won't eat cous cous, or rice....so I don't know what that will be like. I've tried bean burgers...no dice...it's funny because she would gorge on black beans from months 8-11 and then just stopped liking them.

[dharmama]

looks like you have a lot of great responses already but i'll just throw in a few things that work for us...

~ greek yogurt (much more protein than regular - not sure why?)

~ almond meal (ground almonds) + egg yolk mixed into oatmeal

~ barilla plus pasta (made with bean flour and has like 18 g of protein per serving)

~ hummus (oh i see you already mentioned that)

~ kefir

~ lentil soup -- my kids just gobble it up (and they are not big soup eaters in general)

[emmaegbert]

I worried about this too b/c we are vegetarian and while many people may get too much protein, growing people do need it.

when my son was 1 he liked mini veggie quiches (well, crustless, in a custard cup, but savory), mini whole wheat pita bread with cheese or nut butter spread inside, and I used to make high protein mini-muffins with all sorts of good stuff (grated carrot, minced nuts and seeds, etc) and freeze big batches to dole out as snacks. Also at that time a big hit was smoothies (can blend in some peanut butter). Extra home-made pancakes and waffles, plain and cold from the fridge (and I make high egg versions, replace some flour with almond meal, add minced nuts or seeds). (a very nice high-protein pancake simply mix 1 c cottage cheese, 1/2 c oats and 4 eggs in a blender/food processor until smooth, and fry that up). He liked cheese quesadillas w/ refried beans in there.

Are you still BFing? that also gives a nice nutritional boost.

[napless]

Here's an easy recipe for white bean dip

1 can (19 oz/540 mL) white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 Tbsp/15 mL lemon juice

1 Tbsp/15 mL olive oil

1 clove garlic, pressed

1/2 tsp/2 mL dried oregano, crumbled

1/2 tsp/2 mL salt

1/4 tsp/1 mL pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor fitted with a blade.
Blend until very smooth.

[425lisamarie]

I make banana almond pancakes. I use one banana, one egg, 1/4 cup almonds and put in the blender with a pinch of cinnamon. Fry them up like tiny pancakes and they are SO fabulous!

What about meatballs? I grind my own meat and it makes a much more tender meatball and then I make them very small and put on toothpicks.

We don't eat beans but maybe some simple baked beans or soup would be appealing

[sahmmie]

I noticed in the pasta aisle the other day that there are high protein pastas now. Does she like noodles?

Have you tried any of the Morning Star Farms products? My kids love, love, love the veggies sausages. Each serving (2 tiny links) contains 9 grams of protein. My kids prefer these over any kind of "real" meat. Whenever I babysit any of my friends' kids they all eat them up too.

You probably know this, but keep offering the foods she refuses because it can take many exposures of a new food (or a food no longer liked) before a child will accept it. Familiarity is the biggest factor in a child's acceptance of a food. My son was picky, picky, picky; basically ate nothing but crackers, bread, noodles and cheese as a toddler, but I kept offering in a low key manner and gradually he began eating more variety. Now he eats just about everything his sisters eat.

[splunky]

One thing we do for protein is smoothies with lots of greens. My daughter loves them! We put hemp seeds and other seeds as well. Have fun with it. :-)

[ledzepplon]

My toddler loves smoked salmon!