Cheap, Delicious High Protein Meals

[WitnessTheFitness]

Eating on a budget doesn't mean having to sacrifice nutrition or taste. Let's share workout meals that are good for the body, and the wallet.

 

After reading Josh's posts about buckwheat here, I've been eating tons of it, usually as a stir fry. Complete protein, tons of fiber, extremely high amino acid score, and it's cheap and tasty. 

 

http://www.happivore.com/recipe/buckwheat-stir-fry/

 

Been making a lot of Indian dishes too, with lentils, chickpeas and split peas. Super flavorful, and can make a large meal with 100g of protein for only a few bucks.

 

[Merunas Astrauskas]

I love buckwheat! very filling. I just wanted to ask if you could drop a link to Josh's post?

[Joshua Slocum]

For breakfast, I eat greek yogurt, peanut butter, and fruit. ~45g of protein. Comes out to $3-5 a bowl, mostly depending on what kind of fruit you use. 

[Matteo.Za]

Sometimes in the morning i toast some slices of bread, put on some cottage cheese and on that some cherry tomatoes.

[James Rohal]

i put beans in my shakes. can't even taste them, as long as they're not too salty. i sprout my own dry beans instead of buying canned beans to avoid this and save money.

[WitnessTheFitness]

I love buckwheat! very filling. I just wanted to ask if you could drop a link to Josh's post?

I haven't been on the forum in over two years, so don't have any links, but Josh mentioned buckwheat often enough that one day I finally went out and bought some. Instantly fell in love, and haven't gotten tired of it yet. If I'm too lazy to cook a full meal, I'll just flavor it with soy sauce or teriyaki sauce, easy and tastes great.

[David Creekmore]

These are all 30 gram protein meals I eat frequently

 

 

• Two eggs and a cup of black beans with cumin, hot sauce and cilantro for breakfast.
• Cup Greek Yogurt, berries and 2 oz granola   (At night a lot if my dinner was light or early)
• Half-block tofu stir fry with assorted veggies
• Spinach salad with hard boiled egg, red onion, and almonds  in honey dijon dressing
• 1.5 cups cooked steel cut oatmeal, pat butter, cup milk, 2 hard boiled eggs
• 2 cups Chickpeas and mixed vegetable curry
• 2 oz goat cheese, 2 oz crumbled tempeh, beets, tomatoes, salad - vinegar and oil.
• Black bean burger with a thin bun, mistard and salad greens and 2cups of cold milk.

[Frankincensed]

I wonder about these miracle "grains" like buckwheat and quinoa. They taste fine of course, and buckwheat shows a 99% AA completeness score (nutrition self data). But oats for, example has  even more protein per same size serving. Although it has an 80% completeness score it provides greater net  BCAA and EAA per serving, as well as other AA except glycine which is a non-EAA.  What does this mean? Though it fits into dinner plans better than oats, there's nothing special about buckwheat protein-wise.

 

Also, beans and chickpeas are certainly as good if not better than both in terms of protein and other nutrients on a calorie based comparision.

 

Oats vs Buckweat - 28g serving

Protein (OATS) 4.7g vs (BUCKWHEAT) 3.7g

 

Leucine
360 vs 233
mg

 

Isoleucine
194 vs 139
mg 

 

Valine
262  vs 260
mg

 

Methionine
87.4 vs 48
mg
 

Phenylalanine
251 vs 146
mg
 

Lysine
196 vs 188
mg

 

Histidine
113 vs 86
mg 

 

Tryptophan
65.5  vs 53
mg
 
Threonine
161 vs 142
mg
 
Cystine
114 vs 64
mg
 
Tyrosine
160 vs 67
mg
 
Arginine
334  vs 275
mg
 
 
Alanine
247 vs 209
mg
 
Aspartic acid
405 vs 317
mg
 
Glutamic acid
1039 vs 573
mg
 
Glycine
236 vs 289
mg
 
Proline
262 vs 142
mg
 
Serine
210 vs 192
mg
 
 

[David Creekmore]

Yeah - I think it's because quinoa and buckwheat are easier to put in salads, stir-frys and pilafs.  They also store cooked better - oatmeal turns to glue.   They are also lower GI - more in the 30 range than the 50 range for steel cut oats.  

 

But I love oatmeal.  I use an automatic rice cooker to have it ready in the morning almost every day.

 

Buckwheat/Quinoa are actually seeds not grains at all which lets you sprout them.  Iirc, Josh's superfood was actually 'sprouted buckwheat' in which one carefully sprouts then kills the buckwheat.  it greatly improves the nutritional value.

[WitnessTheFitness]

Oats, beans, chickpeas, and other grains and legumes are great as well. But buckwheat definitely deserves more love in the US; most people I know have never even heard of it, and I have to go to a natural food store or Whole Foods to buy it since it's not popular enough for the regular chain stores.

 

Quinoa and beans make a killer combo in chili. I made this a few nights ago, topped with extra avocado and chips for more calories.

 

http://www.happivore.com/recipe/quinoa-chili

[Frankincensed]

Can sprout oats too Have soybean sprouts in the fridge too, which have a nice nutty taste. It's all good....

(from mobile browser)

[Frankincensed]

Can sprout oats too Have soybean sprouts in the fridge, which have a nice nutty taste. It's all good....

(from mobile browser)

[WitnessTheFitness]

Have never tried sprouting my own foods, sounds fun. What meals do you make with sprouted oats and soybeans?

[James Rohal]

oats are great. i dump them right in my shakes.

[WitnessTheFitness]

Anyone tried making buckwheat burgers? I attempted to yesterday, but when mixed up it was too soft to form into patties.

[Biren Patel]

You need cheap protein, you eat sardine. Sardine in dinner. Sardine in workout shake. Sardine in gatorade. Sardine in chocolate cake. Sardine in everything. Sardine is life. You want burger of buckwheat? No. You want burger of sardine. Follow my rule and you get strong, like antelope.

[Sean Whitley]

Not a cheap meal, but get to know your local butcher and start eating the less popular cuts of meat. Beef heart here is £1.60 a kilo, also the bacon offcuts ready diced for omelettes are only about £1.50 a kilo. Tongue and cheek are also pretty tasty

[Josh Schmitter]

You need cheap protein, you eat sardine. Sardine in dinner. Sardine in workout shake. Sardine in gatorade. Sardine in chocolate cake. Sardine in everything. Sardine is life. You want burger of buckwheat? No. You want burger of sardine. Follow my rule and you get strong, like antelope.

Whenever I have sardines, which is pretty often, I always think of B.I.G.

 

"Born sinner, the opposite of a winner

Remember when I used to eat sardines for dinner"

 

I just shake my head and say, "That's one of the few things you had on point man..."

[Matthew Proulx]

Not a cheap meal, but get to know your local butcher and start eating the less popular cuts of meat. Beef heart here is £1.60 a kilo, also the bacon offcuts ready diced for omelettes are only about £1.50 a kilo. Tongue and cheek are also pretty tasty

I go to a local butcher and get fresh chicken/turkey sausages, very high in protein, 3 sausages = 78g protein and cost about 4$

[James Rohal]

Anyone tried making buckwheat burgers? I attempted to yesterday, but when mixed up it was too soft to form into patties.

yeah, i've done this and it's super good. you need some sort of binder... try arrowroot or some starch/flour.

[Jennifer Rodriguez]

 anticuchos

 Beef heart

[WitnessTheFitness]

Follow my rule and you get strong, like antelope.

 

But antelopes eat grass. Anyone up for a grasswheat burger?

[Matthew Proulx]

Antelopes are ruminants(4 stomachs), as are cattle sheep goats and deer, this allows them to digest grass and grains. Humans on the other hand... not so well. That's why we wait for them to do it and then eat them.

[WitnessTheFitness]

I was kidding. My tastebuds are still scarred from my first wheatgrass experience as a kid. People complain about protein isolate's taste, but it's a five star meal by comparison.

[Alan Tseng]

For me, even though I dont have the self-dscipline to follow paleo, i think anything that isn't paleo isn't healthy