FINE I will ask here.

I have asked this on the main board and got nothin... (Well I got lots of answers, but not what i wanted) I asked on the Lapband board and I got a few answers but most were not what I wanted either. SO read this... Then answer me. I havent been getting enough protien in, Hence my weight being stuck for over a month. I need ideas (snacks/meals) on how I can get in my protien. I CANNOT... Repeat, CANNOT have protien shakes, or any form of liquid protien.  So any ideas?

drink a shake... ;-) haha just kidding

Tuna fish is a great high protein packed food... I buy it in the pouch and mix it with some light miracle whip and pickle relish... I eat it plain, on whole wheat melba toast or stuffed into TJs pita pockets.

Deli turkey... you can eat plain or use a piece of lettuce as 'bread' - I use green leaf... I get turkey sliced VERY thin, almost shaved... seems to go down better that way. Chicken - I each chicken like it is going out of style.. my fav is to put 2 chicken breasts in the crock pot, cover with some salsa and 1/2 a packet of old el paso taco seasoning cook on high for 2 hours then shred the chicken. I put it in low carb tortillas with some tomatillo sauce and a little sour cream... I sometimes add rice/refried beans to make it more filling. If you check out lowfatcooking.com you can find a lot of good chicken recipes. My suggestion is to work on getting the majority of your protein in before dinner time... not sure if you do 3 meals or 3 meals 2 snacks etc. If you are only doing meals no snacks add in 1-2 snacks to get that protein up - make the snack protein packed - light cheese stick, SMALL palmfull of nuts, soy crisps, soy crackers, a little pnut butter etc. Make sure you are getting a decent amount of protein in the morning - I use to eat a 1/2cu cottage cheese and 1/2-whole a South Beach hi-protein pnut butter cereal bar... I think (if I remember correctly) that puts you at around 10-20g protein right there.  I also really like veggie products - veggie corn dogs, boca burgers, black bean burgers.. all are great protein sources. I like to make turkey meatballs and chicken burgers... Ive had buffalo before and really liked it so I am going pick some frozen ones this weekend.  If you need more ideas/suggestions/recipes I have a bunch.

Amount of Protein in Foods
Item	Serving Size	Amount
Cottage Cheese	1 cup	31 g
Chicken	3 oz	26 g
Tuna, Canned	3 oz	25 g
Hamburger Patty	3 oz	21 g
Beans (pinto, black, kidney)	1 cup	14 g
Lentils	1 cup	9 g
Milk	1 cup	8 g
Bagel	1 large	7 g
Pasta	1 cup	7 g
Peanuts	1 oz	7 g
Egg	1 large	6 g
Yogurt	6 oz	5 g

Wow Jennifer thank you so much! You gave me a ton of ideas, I love the chicken in the crockpot recipe, sounds great! Thank you again! Your awesoem!

I hate protien shakes - don't know if that's why you're not drinking them, but either way, I feel ya and here are the ways I get around it and still get plenty of protien.

Pepperoni slices, provalone cheese slices (or other cheese of choice) on wheat crackers

Nuts (personally I like peanuts, almonds and macadamias) Cottage cheese and saltine crackers

Beef jerky and cheese sticks

Here are my favorite meals, they are relatively low-carb and have different ways of getting protien...

Chicken fajita salad (cook boneless/skinless chicken breast or thigh cut into strips in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon Italian dressing, add sliced onions and peppers when the chicken is mostly done- coo****il onions and pepper slices are starting to carmalize - serve over lettuce with shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, diced tomatoes and taco chips - do the same thing with a thin cut steaks if you prefer) Sukiyaki (probably not spelt right - but anyway  - in a skillet heat 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup soy sauce - add 1/2 a head of cabbage cut into strips, 1 bag of fresh baby spinnach, 1 large sliced onion, 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms, 1 small can bamboo shoots - cover and let that simmer for a few minutes - and finally add 1-2 pounds thin cut steak cut into thin strips, recover and let simmer until meat is cooked all the way through - stirring occasionally - you can serve this over rice if you like and if you are able - but I like to eat it as is) Italian roll-ups (Okay, there is a cream cheese mixture you need to spread on the roll-up - to make that carmalize a small diced onion over low heat, add 1 pkg cream cheese and 1 tablespoon spaghetti sauce or a few strips of roasted red peppers diced (you can get this in a jar) - stir until mixture is spread-able - add more pepepers/onion/cream cheese to taste.  On a low-carb wrap spread the cream cheese mixture, top with a layer of ham, a layer of deli salami, a layer of pepperoni, another layer of ham, and a layer of provalone cheese - then sprinkle lettuce and diced tomatoes on top and roll-up.  I make a few of these at a time and save them in the fridge for easy meals later in the week - generally I don't add lettuce and tomatoes to the ones going in the fridge so the veggies don't get mushy) I hope some of these things appeal to you.  It is really hard at first to get the protien we need, so good luck finding some stuff that works!

Some Bandsters are VERY Anti-Protein Shake.  So much so that the wprds PROTEIN SHAKE are almost taboo over at the LAP BAND Board.  More power to them, I say.

And as far as nuts.  I could eat Peanuts for the rest of my life and not get sick of them.

oh you guys are making me hungry

Awesome recipes.. Mmm Thank you so much!

Miss SheShe,
I wish I had something to offer! I'm not a huge fan of the shakes either, I can barely choke them down. I got my hardware (Band) on the 19th of October, and I'm still on mush right now.

I won't lie, I've cheated here and there. I love me some baked chicken!! But if you hear of any other ideas, let me know cause like I said...I hates me some Shakes!! LOL

Unless it's Masta Shake from Aqua Teen...He's the coolest!! LOL

Hey Once you get through the mushie stage its smooth sailing!

Gosh Amy and jenn-always so great and thorough! Disclaimer!!!! I am not much of a cook--so these are easy already prepared ideas lol... Heres some of my faves: Crabcakes(Publix and Sweetbay sell them fresh in the fish section-without breading) Just bake in the oven and one has like 8-15 g of protein. Crabmeat stuffed into mushrooms, salmon, herb crusted tilapia...publix has alot of this stuff prepared already you just pop into the oven. Ground beef with cheese...add mexican seasoning or seasoning salt...I cant do breads but u can bake a low carb tortilla shell to rest it all on. Its crispy and higher in protein. Marinara/meat Sauce. I take a pound of lean ground beef and put it in a can of marinara sauce -cook over low heat for a while-Then add shredded cheese...so yummy! (read labels many sauces have less than 8 g of carbs per serving) This gives me about 10-17 gr of  net proteins per 1/2 cup (u can always put it on a melba toast for some crunch but i eat it as is ) Hope these help at least a little.