Wednesday, November 27, 2013

High Protein Ingredients

Just as some ideas and brainstorming to go along with yesterday's post, here are some high-protein ingredients, especially some that are appropriate for bar recipes.

GRAINS: oats, quinoa, flax, hemp, chia.
MEAT ALTERNATIVES: seeds, beans, lentils, nuts and nut butters (if possible) or nut-substitute butters (soy butter and seed butters), coconut, tofu.
OTHERS: eggs, Greek yogurt, protein powder, skim milk powder, nutritional yeast, textured vegetable protein. 

Surprisingly, all of these ingredients are possibilities for use in protein bars. Tofu, Greek yogurt, and eggs may be less common, but still great, although eggs and yogurt are not suitable for vegan protein bars. Beans are surprisingly easy and sneaky to use, and certainly add a lot of fiber and protein. I am also going to avoid protein powders, as they can be pricey and I prefer to obtain nutrients from natural food sources, however skim milk powder, TVP, and flax are all great substitutes if you come across a recipe calling for a powder.

Other common ingredients in protein bar recipes include whole grains (wheat, spelt, bran, wheat germ), natural sweeteners (honey, agave, molasses, maple syrup), fruit purées (applesauce, banana, pumpkin), dried fruit (dates, raisins, cherries, apricots), and chocolate options (cocoa, dark chocolate chips, chocolate protein powder). 

Mix and match and create a custom made protein bar!

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