Low Calorie, High Protein, Vegetarian Foods.

Natural peanut butter should help your protein intake. It is very high in protein and has healthy amino acids

I love Kashi Golean - one cup has 140 calories and 13 grams of protein. Delicious with some almond milk.

As far as high protein vegetarian foods- I would recommend greek yogurt, particularly Chobani (not to brand hoc but I've tried like 100 kinds and this is sooo thick and yummy)

CHOBANI is amazing!!! i love the strawberry and the pomegrante.. the plain is super good with apples or berries.

I personally love Morning Star veggie products. They are so delicious! I also drink a lot of Muscle Milk. You can never go wrong with some protein bars or some low calorie dairy products.

Some of my faves have already been mentioned, like cottage cheese (although I'm not sure if it's made with animal rennet or not), and Silk or 8th Continent light vanilla or light chocolate soymilk (not a fan of the original myself, unless baking with it). Some people don't like mock meats because of the processing, which is understandable, but they are great protein sources. Make some Sloppy Joes or tacos with Boca or Morningstar grounds, and one serving is only about 100 calories, plus your bun or shell.

Protein bars and powders are also good, but beware some of them. I was hooked on the Muscle Milk Light vanilla toffee crunch, until I read the wrapper: gelatin. They're not vegetarian. But a lot of brands are, just read your ingredients.

Might you also be anemic? My iron started dropping when I went back to being vegetarian. I work at a blood bank, and when it's slow, sometimes we'll test hematocrit on each other, and mine went from 42 to 37 in a matter of a couple weeks. So, I take a supplement a few times a week, and try to eat iron rich foods and haven't had a problem with it since.

Brussel sprouts, peas, have a lot of protein! One of my favorite staple meals (especially when I'm home a lot and tend to pick) is jasmine rice, peas, and winter squash (or butternut squash). I mash em all together and chow.

I was shocked at the 10g of protein in vegetarian split pea soup, too, btw. Low calorie, low fat, vegetarian, and delicious!

Finally, I made this ridiculously tasty slow cooker vegetarian chili:

1/2 cup olive oil
4 onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
4 (15.5 ounce) cans black beans, drained
2 (15 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
6 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon liquid hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco™

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions; cook and stir until they start to become soft. Add the green peppers, red peppers, garlic and tofu; cook and stir until vegetables are lightly browned and tender, the whole process should take about 10 minutes.

Pour the black beans into the slow cooker and set to Low. Stir in the vegetables and tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, oregano, vinegar and hot pepper sauce. Stir gently and cover. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.

DETAILED NUTRITION

Serving Size 1/8 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories 455
Calories from Fat 164
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 18.2g 28 %
Saturated Fat 2.7g 13 %
Cholesterol 0mg 0 %
Sodium 1645mg 66 %
** Potassium 1395mg 39 %
Total Carbohydrates 58.2g 19 %
Dietary Fiber 22g 88 %
Protein 21.2g 42 %
** Sugars 4.9g
Vitamin A 74 %
Vitamin C 145 %
Calcium 43 %
Iron 104 %
** Thiamin 52 %
** Niacin 61 %
** Vitamin B6 49 %
** Magnesium 50 %
** Folate 106 %

I only eat a cup at a time, and when I put this recipe into MFP, I got 255 cals, 9 g fat, 12g protein for this recipe.

Legumes (beans and peas) are a great source of protein and they are also very high in iron. If you are feeling very tired there is a chance that you have iron-deficiency anemia. It might be worth it to get that tested. I had that problem during my three pregnancies and I felt so much more energetic once I got on iron supplements. It also helps to eat iron-rich foods with vitamin C to help your body to absorb the iron. Like, have a bowl of lentil soup and an orange in the same meal.

If you eat dairy, cottage cheese and greek yogurt have tons of protein. I also like mozarella cheese sticks because they are pre-portioned snacks with protein.

Nuts are good but are more fat than protein, so I eat them for the healthy fats.

Someone mentioned B vitamins - this is only an issue if you are vegan, you will need to supplement your diet with vitamin B-12. Vitamin B-12 is found naturally in eggs and dairy products so you don't need to worry about it if you are a lacto-ovo vegetarian.

Do you ever eat Quinoa? It is very high in protein. Also beans are pretty low cal and a good source of protein. Another good idea is to make scrambled eggs or omelettes with only one whole egg and 1 or 2 egg whites.

mmmmm saving this for the chilli recipe

Tofurkey, Mushroom Veggie Burgers, Hummus, PB2, Almonds! Yum, yum, yum, yum, YUM!