snack ideas (protein and carbs)

[gizmo77]

okay guys ive been wracking my brain trying to think of foods to eat. im trying to put together a menu that encompasses alkaline and potassium foods that are low in magnesium/calcium and that also go with increasing testosterone. the good thing is that foods on the T diet and alkaline go hand and in hand. its just hard finding foods better in potassium and lower in magnesium, (a variety of foods i guess). anyway for me, by the time i get up, get the girls ready and myself including get their breakfast ready and feed the little one, its been about an hour to an hour and a half before i end up eating. so i thought id eat something quick (a snack) before i start getting the girls ready in the morning to keep the blood sugar high. i thought of keeping a bag of dried apricots upstairs with me, but then thats just carbs. any ideas for snacks i can keep in the bedroom that has protein AND carbs??

[begonia]

If you're concerned about ca/mg intake then most nuts likely won't work for you, but if you're not, I think nuts and dried fruit are a great protein/carb combo for TTC boy - peanuts are great for T levels + protein, and the dried fruit has tons of potassium.

Beef/Turkey jerky is another good source of quick protein that you could keep in your room to eat with the dried fruit.

I also like to keep boiled eggs on hand for quick protein snacks.

And look at Larabars, since they are made of only dried fruit and nuts - usually 300+ potassium and about 5-7 g protein.

[gizmo77]

i know ive been debating about nuts for me and DH and MAY concede to going for the nuts that are MOST alkaline and least amt of magnesium, i think almonds tho not sure. i thoughtof beef jerkies too. i was looking for a bar that would do it all so thanks for all that!!!

[LolaInLove]

Hmmm, high protein....I do nuts a lot, and I like the hardboiled egg thing. I also have been into salami (wth, I know!) so I will just roll it up and eat some, sometimes with cheese. That's not so boy diet, though, with the cheese.

I hear you about the morning routine, gizmo. I have the same problem. I usually get up and drink a big glass of carrot or green juice and take vitamins and stuff, maybe eat a banana or a quick morning bar. I HATE eating breakfast, hence my having 2 daughters and naturally more girly diet/eating habits. I would say a hardboiled egg and a piece of toast if you have time, or just a bar (like nutrigrain or whatever). Also, one of my fave breakfasts for on the go is my peanut butter taco, as my DH calls it...which is a wheat waffle with peanut butter on it, and I fold it in half and take off. That is a protein combo with the wheat grains and the peanut butter.

[atomic sagebrush]

Honestly gizmo, I hate to sound negative but it's almost next to impossible to incorporate all this stuff. Something ALWAYS seems to be against somebody's rules.

If I were you, I would cook up some minimeatballs and chicken breasts, get some good, nitrate free deli meat and hot dogs on hand, and have a banana or dried apricots or dates or V8 juice or avocado or wholegrain bread or baked potato, with 3 oz. of meat. Toss in a coconut water for 600 mg of potassium. :agree:

The prob. with most energy bars is that their protein comes from highly processed soy and whey proteins, which may not be the most boy-friendly sources of protein - too much chemistry and your body doesn't really "know" how to digest some of these things.

[atomic sagebrush]

Hmmm, high protein....I do nuts a lot, and I like the hardboiled egg thing. I also have been into salami (wth, I know!) so I will just roll it up and eat some, sometimes with cheese. That's not so boy diet, though, with the cheese.

I hear you about the morning routine, gizmo. I have the same problem. I usually get up and drink a big glass of carrot or green juice and take vitamins and stuff, maybe eat a banana or a quick morning bar. I HATE eating breakfast, hence my having 2 daughters and naturally more girly diet/eating habits. I would say a hardboiled egg and a piece of toast if you have time, or just a bar (like nutrigrain or whatever). Also, one of my fave breakfasts for on the go is my peanut butter taco, as my DH calls it...which is a wheat waffle with peanut butter on it, and I fold it in half and take off. That is a protein combo with the wheat grains and the peanut butter.

I love the PB taco! You know, real maple syrup is supposed to be blue-friendly if you wanted to put just a drizzle on to treat yourself!! Or marshmallow fluff - a fluffernutter taco!!

You can also spread 2 T of peanut butter onto a banana, apple, or even a Larabar!!

[gizmo77]

Honestly gizmo, I hate to sound negative but it's almost next to impossible to incorporate all this stuff. Something ALWAYS seems to be against somebody's rules.

If I were you, I would cook up some minimeatballs and chicken breasts, get some good, nitrate free deli meat and hot dogs on hand, and have a banana or dried apricots or dates or V8 juice or avocado or wholegrain bread or baked potato, with 3 oz. of meat. Toss in a coconut water for 600 mg of potassium. :agree:

The prob. with most energy bars is that their protein comes from highly processed soy and whey proteins, which may not be the most boy-friendly sources of protein - too much chemistry and your body doesn't really "know" how to digest some of these things.

so what youre saying is the more natural the food the better (less processed, including processed deli meats, hot dogs, beef jerkies, turkey bacon)? anything without a nutritional facts label.
but are larabars the best (or ONLY boy friendly) protein bars out there or are you even iffy on those??

where can i get wholegrain breads? like what are some example brands in the US? do bakeries have wholegrain breads? and when you go to the bakery or deli for that matter there's usually no nutrition facts.

[gizmo77]

I love the PB taco! You know, real maple syrup is supposed to be blue-friendly if you wanted to put just a drizzle on to treat yourself!! Or marshmallow fluff - a fluffernutter taco!!

You can also spread 2 T of peanut butter onto a banana, apple, or even a Larabar!!

the only thing about peanut butter that i was hesitant about (and i LOOOVE PB) is all the sugar in there. is that amount (serving size is 2 T) okay for boy diet?

[atomic sagebrush]

so what youre saying is the more natural the food the better (less processed, including processed deli meats, hot dogs, beef jerkies, turkey bacon)? anything without a nutritional facts label.
but are larabars the best (or ONLY boy friendly) protein bars out there or are you even iffy on those??

where can i get wholegrain breads? like what are some example brands in the US? do bakeries have wholegrain breads? and when you go to the bakery or deli for that matter there's usually no nutrition facts.

Yes, that is what I believe. The less chemistry, the better for blue. You don't have to stick to this rule like one of the 10 Commandments or anything, it's just a goal to aim for and if you just reduce the amount of processed foods, that's fine.

I LOVE Larabars (all the flavors are great, they really literally have only 3 or 4 ingredients and they are all natural) but some of the Odwalla bars are also good. (NOT the "original super protein" ones, but Blueberry, Chocowalla, Strawberry/pomegranate, ChocChip Peanut Butter, and Superfood are all ok.) The ones you have to watch for are the ones that are superhigh in protein, because they usually get their protein from whey proteins or soy proteins (avoid anything that lists "Isolated soy protein" as an ingredient - other sources of soy like soy lecithin, soy nuts, and soy butter are ok because they are less processed and only present in small amounts.) Soy and whey proteins are highly processed and artificial, and your body doesn't quite know what to do with them. Better to have 6 g real protein in a Larabar than 14 g phony protein in an "Original Super Protein" bar.

You can also spread an energy bar with nut butter to increase the protein content but that adds calories too, of course.

Most delimeat companies have their nutrition info online. (I wouldn't bother asking at the deli because I used to work at a deli and we didn't know anything about ingredients.) If you have Safeway stores, the Open Nature brand is nitrate-free and the Oscar Meyer selects hot dogs and bacon are also nitrate-free.

Sausage and jerky is actually quite easy to make yourself so you can avoid the nastiness.

Whole grain breads are very common. Some brands include Orowheat, Snyders, Franz, Ezekiel, Earthgrains...all those brown colored breads that are kind of funny shaped... NOT the "wheat" sandwich breads because those are mostly white bread with caramel color. The package should say whole grains or whole wheat, and the more grains, the better. You can find them just in the regular bread section.

[gizmo77]

thanks atomic. ive just picked a local made whole grain/.wheat bread with very little ingredients listed. its also very fragile (so i know its more "real"). it probably tastes nasty, but ill find out from dh tonite (i made the first sandwich for him from that loaf. im still off of carbs till mid july then start boy diet). so we ll see what he says!! i dont eat pork so its hard to find beef jerkies and turkey bacons without all the chemicals unless i go very high end. but youre right i will try harder to make meat products ahead of time and save some for leftovers for snacking on later. i can make "sausages" without casing at home...its called kebobs in our house!
this was helpful tahnks!

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh, I forgot you were going off of carbs. I was wondering why you were concerned about the sugar in peanut butter (which is fine as a part of the boy diet BTW.)

Did you guys like the bread or was it gross??

I also stumbled across these - http://www.protos-inc.com/buy_ostrim/10ostrimNaturalAll.html

They are jerky but are supposed to be all natural with very little nitrates in them. They are made of ostrich meat, believe it or not. Might be good for a meal on the go, with a banana for carbs. Be careful to stick with the "natural" ones because some of this company's products have the iso soy protein in them.

[gizmo77]

Oh, I forgot you were going off of carbs. I was wondering why you were concerned about the sugar in peanut butter (which is fine as a part of the boy diet BTW.)

Did you guys like the bread or was it gross??

I also stumbled across these - http://www.protos-inc.com/buy_ostrim/10ostrimNaturalAll.html

They are jerky but are supposed to be all natural with very little nitrates in them. They are made of ostrich meat, believe it or not. Might be good for a meal on the go, with a banana for carbs. Be careful to stick with the "natural" ones because some of this company's products have the iso soy protein in them.

so the amount of sugar in 2TBSPN of PB is okay for boy diet? i was going to avoid sugar (esply white sugars) for boy diet as much as possible (and except in dark choc of course! and the sugar i put in homemade tomato sauce, etc).

the bread was fine. no cplaints from dh and non from me! ill go with that brand during boy diet
its called earth friendly wheat bread. ingred (crushed 100% whole wheat, water, unbleached wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour), honey, yeast, liquid soybean oil, wheat gluten, salt, vinegar)

a lot less ingred than other packages. it has 2% calcium, but once in a while im ok with that. i personally think i was OVER the daily requirement for calcium for DD1 and DD2. but to be on the safe side i want it limited since this may be our last chance.
ill have to look into that product you sent. looks good!
thx!

[atomic sagebrush]

As long as you're eating protein at the same time, sugar is fine for blue and will actually help your sway by keeping your blood sugar up. Just protein alone by itself doesn't raise your blood sugar as much as protein and sugar/carbs together do. I ate sugar all. the. time. with my first three boys and with my last boy I was actually swaying pink and eating sugar then too!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh and thanks for the info on the bread, that looks great!!!