more PRO- around here

Niall has always been a hard kid into which to get protein! He's pretty "vegetarian" in his tendencies (although he doesn't love vegetables), eating a varied "white" diet (with main protein sources of tofu, including raw tofu, cooked [hard-boiled or "cheesy scrambled" eggs, and variations of dairy including full-fat milk and yogurt).  He doesn't love commercial shakes, even though I've tried various chocolaty brands (Orgain, Premier, and Fairlife), but I recently found these high-protein fruit yogurt drinks at Safeway and I think we have a winner!   

We really have been watching his growth as he's very little including in weight/height (but growing, slowly), and I'm sure nutrition has a big role. While the rest of us eat meat (mostly chicken and beef, but sometimes pork, turkey and fish [except Iver, who boycotts seafood]), we always have to have a "non-meat" meal option for this kiddo.  I'm hoping the addition of these drinks in the morning will help fuel him during the day.  

I also found some higher-protein pancake/waffle mix which was a hit last week for "breakfast for dinner."

I have also been focusing a lot on protein intake during my midlife stage (goal around 1g/kg/day), both for maintaining muscle mass/bone (which are dwindling since my twenties it seems by the literature), and also managing my satiety and weight, the latter of which has been increasing despite my high amount of weekly exercise (10- 20 miles a week running!), which is kind of disheartening (but frustratingly apparently normal in my forties. I've also never been someone who regularly "lifts weights" but am trying to add this, too). I really do feel better on a diet high in protein and low in carbs (although I love me some morning carbs with coffee!), and have been doing a lot of morning smoothies (including almond milk, cashew butter, protein powder, collagen, and creatine), as well as overnight oats (similar to this recipe, with protein-rich yogurt, added protein powder, chia seeds, flaxseed, and fruit). I have a pretty good recipe for air-fried garbanzo beans for a savory snack, and I'm trying to eat a lot of seafood, tofu, and eggs as my dinner protein, allowing for some variety for the other family members' taste preferences, along with my usual high-fiber fruit and vegetables which are never hard for me to get.

My counter looks like this!

 If you have any other tasty high-protein meal ideas to share, send them my way!