Okay, I have to blog on this because, well because being veg*n you hear this question over and over through the years. I am always amazed when I hear it because I'm in a sweet little bubble (so Rob likes to think and lately I've realized he is right) of "alternative" thinking people and forget that some people really don't know where they would get their protein if they didn't eat meat.
Well, this is what we ate for lunch:
brown rice with pinto beans and baked tofu (with nutritional yeast in the marinade sauce)
whole wheat pita with chickpea hummus
refried black beans (it was left over filling for the tamales)
gigantes (gigantes beans in a tomato based sauce)
Dema also had a pear and Parker had an apple.
The other issue that comes up is that protein sources for vegans are so expensive (you know the meat analogs like the veggie burgers, etc. you find in the store). Since all the beans in the lunch mentioned above were organic, but dried and bought in bulk the entire lunch probably cost the amount one veggie burger in the store.
We're covered on the protein front...how about you?
7 comments:
Anything purchased as a 'convenience' or 'pre-packaged' food is going to be expensive. But, you know, so are doritos and chicken wings, right? A tray of pizza around here is $15-20!
Our generation has forgotten what cooking is. If they can't yank it out of a box and heat it up in a microwave (or peel off the film and bake it) then it is too much work.
I have had someone ask me if I am going use dried beans I was buying for craft projects. What?? When I said that I was going to eat them, she asked me, "How? They are hard as rocks."
Really, people are out of touch with how our parents/grandparents cooked and ate.
You are lucky to have a bubble! I wish I did! Enjoy it. Stay in it. It is crazy out here!! LOL
We do use a lot of the convenience meat substitutes. My husband and daughter are addicted to the Morning Star Veggie Strips. And we use the Quorn Chicken Tenders almost weekly.
If I had more time, I would cook fabulous, made from scratch, meals. But a girl's gotta work and a family's gotta eat. And I do what I can.
I don't like that meat substitutes are so over-processed and I often wonder if there are actually any benefits to using them. I made something with crumbles the other day and it was so salty-yuck!
We aren't vegan, so we get some protein from eggs, milk, yogurt, etc.
Most people eat TOO much protein from what I've read. Plus - animal protein is "second hand" - cows, pigs, chickens all chow grains or plants for the most part and get their protein that way (unless they're fed ground meat as some factory farm cattle are).
The point is, between beans, legumes, tofu, rice, veggies and so forth, one should get more than enough protein as far as I can tell.
I've been a vegetarian for over 10 years and can beat most meat eaters I know in arm wrestling! :)
Meat-free Mike,
Exactly! :-) It is amazing people still ask this question. My husband is an athlete and has been vegan for two decades and people still ask him where he gets his protein.
People just aren't aware of how many different foods have protein.
Just stumbled across Veggie Terrian and liked her post on protein with the info at the end.
http://veggie-terrain.blogspot.com/
2007/09/800-lb-gorilla-in-room.html
The Veggie Terrian blog sums things up nicely at the end with the various links. Answers a lot of questions about protein intake in general. Thanks for posting-very helpful!
I agree, the protein issue can be sooo annoying! Sometimes I just want to ask non-veggies "And where are you getting your iron, vitamin C, and folate from?" UGH!
Obviously that won't work, so I try to take a deep breath before answering their questions. (It also helps to at least pretend that they're asking out of genuine concern, as opposed to plain old sassy-ness.)
Anyway, the better informed we are as vegetarians/vegans, the better we're able to answer these perplexing questions. Then, hopefully we can eat our previously dried beans in peace. LOL!
PS Thanks for linking to my Veggie Terrain post on protein, I hope that it was helpful :)
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