Natural Protein “Powder”

Oh what a summer it has been! I graduated with my masters degree a few weeks ago, and i couldn’t be any happier. It’s amazing to see how much free time you actually have when you don’t have projects and assignments due every other week!  I will say though that this past two semesters my eating habits have been  horrible since my transition due to the lack of time I had. So I’m giving myself the next couple month to get back on track to my healthy eating. But enough about my life,lets talk about food!

Protein is something that is very important in any diet , whether you’re a meat eater or a plant based eater. The problem that comes with being a plant-based eater is that most people believe that you don’t get enough protein. With a little bit of research you can be well on your way to a protein filled diet, without the meat. I still prefer fish as my main source of protein but when I’m not , I like to fill up on plant based protein.

I’ve tried the protein powder thing but I never enjoyed the chalky taste, so I create my own natural plant based protein “powder”  made out of seeds and grains. My favorite combo is organic hemp seeds, organic chia seeds, organic raw flax seeds and organic raw rolled oats. I tend to take spoonfuls of  these and put them in a small tuber-ware or zip-lock and carry it in my lunch-bag or purse and sprinkle it on my food through out the day. When I do have time, I grind this mixture in my Nutri-Bullet to a powder consistency and add it to my smoothies, cookies and pancakes .  My favorite way to eat my protein mix (minus the oatmeal)  is on top of Greek yogurt topped with nuts, this combo make s a great satisfying breakfast high in protein.

Like usual I eyeball the spoonfuls , but  four tablespoons each of the Hemp seeds , Chia seeds and Flax-seeds combine offers 30 grams of protein .While a cup of oats provide 6 grams of protein, I only use 4 table spoons which can come out to be about 2-3 grams of protein. With the average  daily amount for women being 46 grams of protein and men 56 grams, getting to that daily amount is very easy. A great trail mix snack that I like to make in addition to this mix  that is high in protein is 4 tablespoons of raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds and my favorite granola. Pumpkin seeds offer 8 grams of protein and Sunflower seeds offers 7 , depending on your favorite granola you have about 20 grams  of protein all in a simple trail mix.

What’s your favorite way to incorporate protein into your diet?

 

Half Day Cleanse -Blueberry Oats and Green Pineapple smoothie

The summer is made to have fun, unfortunately this summer my face has been stuck in the books. I’m realizing more and more each day that the life of a grad student is not so fun.  With the added stress of school along with work i really haven’t been eating the way I’ve like to. Fries, Pizzas, Cake, Lasagna  and anything fried has been on the menu for the past few weeks. So i decided i need to change things up and do a half day cleanse, where the first half of the day its smoothies and a light snack if need be with a  late lunch and dinner as usual. With plans in mind of doing this cleanse, i went to whole foods looking to find a new source of protein , and found hemp seeds. I usually buy hemp protein powder but i hate the chalky texture protein powder in general leaves so i was hoping that this would work.

So in replace of ordinary protein powder,I milled handfuls of  Raw Rolled Oats, Flax-seeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds in my Nutri-Bullet and use it as protein powder.  I used it in my Blueberries Oats smoothies and Green Pineapple smoothie that’s picture below. I also  tried a new addition to my smoothies for a sweeter taste this time: 2 medjool  dates and one dried fig in each batch. They didn’t blend thoroughly but i didn’t mind the the sweet bits that they brought. Down below are the recipe for both smoothies.

Blueberry Oats

• Blueberries (Frozen)
• Protein Mixture
• Coconut water
• Water
• 2 medjool dates
• 1 dried fig
• extra cup of oatmeal (for heartiness)

Green Pineapple

• Spinach(Frozen)
• Pineapple (Frozen)
• Protein mixture
• Coconut water
• water
• 2 medjool dates
• 1 dried fig

I made three for the day, underestimating the power of my protein mixture and only drank one and a half  that morning. If you’re looking to do a full day cleanse, you can do six jars a day with water in between each. I for one prefer smoothies than juicing cleanse for the mere fact that they are more filling  to me. But what’s great about these recipes is that they are so  tasty that they can be made for cleanses or anytime of the day.