Upping protein without shakes...Help a girl out, will ya? :)

My 2 go-to snacks packed with protein:

Greek Yogurt, some kind of fruit, granola and 1/2 scoop protein powder = approx 40-50 grams of protein (look at my diary for the other macros)

Cottage cheese, fruit = 11 grams of protein

Yummy in my tummy!

I didn't want to resort to protein shakes, either. I really would prefer to eat real food. However, even to get my protein up over 100, I found I had to eat protein every time I put something in my mouth and I was not enjoying it and eating way too much dairy. I found a vegan protein powder that I don't hate and it gives me the push over the line I need. Yup, I gave in....

My goals are 100+ protein and 45+ fat and I usually have chicken with lunch and dinner. I just don't really like beef much :P
Chicken meatballs, chicken breasts, chicken thighs. In soup, with peppers and onions, in quesadillas, with green beans and carrots, etc. I'm not a fan of egg white omelets but I do love omelets, quiche, and egg sammies

(But I also use myofusion banana perfection a few times per week, sometimes baked into mini peanut butter banana muffins )

I am not big on protein shakes, but once in a while (maybe 1x a week) I will have a Vega shake to up my protein levels. I also like Quest bars. Other than that, I keep high protein deli meats in the fridge at work and just snack on those - roast beef, ham, salami. I snack sized can of tuna also packs a lot of protein,

For me I use fage plain Greek yogurt 0% fat. it has 23g protein in a cup. I add nuts to it, sometimes honey to sweeten it. Light string cheese low cals and fat. Regular cheese, turkey jerky, tuna on crackers, hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese (you can do so much with cottage cheese when blended) nut butters, and a new favorite if mine is Quest bars. They come in all natural flavors. Personally I have shakes too. I find it gets to be really expensive when buying all that food. So I do both, somedays a shake, somedays not. I am not the type to eat the same thing everyday. I do mostly hit 160g of protein a day. Also fish like Maui, or haddock has a mild flavor and goes good on salads. Everyone has really good suggestions. You'll get there it does take some getting used to and for my hubby it makes him gasy but not me. good luck op!

I'm in the same situation as you in that I'm trying to up my protein but would prefer to get it from eating food than drinking a food replacement.

One thing I'm doing right now is making an Indian lentil / chicken stew that per giant (dinner-sized) bowl has 60 g of protein (!) with 528 calories and 11 g of fat. I eat a half-sized (normal) bowl for lunch to get a monster protein boost for pretty few calories and little fat.

I'm also including a 12 oz glass of nonfat milk in my plan every day (more if my calories allow it) as well as a serving of nonfat yogurt.

Higher in fat (but healthy fat!) is sardines. They all say you should get two servings of fatty fish per week ideally, and sardines fit the bill. They're cheap, eco-friendly, and compared to other fatty fish low in toxins like mercury.

If you eat grains at all, consider looking at some of the fortified high-fiber pastas that are on the market now. The house brand from my local supermarket has 10 g of protein (and 7 g of fiber -- bonus!) per 190 calorie 2-oz serving. You can pair that with beans and pasta sauce for a pretty respectable protein and fiber boost for lunch.

I also like to make a batch of brown rice with black beans (or pinto beans) which you can mix with salsa and mexican-style veggies or a bit of seasoned chicken or pork and/or low-fat cheese for a nice lunch.

Last thought -- meat is meat, and it can be expensive, I know. But I've also found I can dry-grill (no oil) a few flattened skinless boneless chicken breasts on the weekend, cool them and slice them up and put them in the fridge, and they're THERE, ready to go, to add to salads or whatever during the week.

Is EAS sold at Wal-Mart? I was just about to post on the board for help with picking the right kind of protein powder and stumbled across this topic. Serendipity I think!

If you don't like protein shakes make your own. My personal favorite is spinach, Greek yogurt, frozen berries, and milk. I once put protein powder in that for something like 50 grams of protein, but it came out grainy.

Another option is PB2 mixed with, again, Greek yogurt. I think I eat too much of the stuff.

For breakfast, I like Biggest Loser Pancakes ( made from 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 cup of oatmeal and some vanilla blended up in my magic bullet blender, then fried in a pan like regular pancakes). It delivers 24g protein, 33g of carbohydrates, 4 sugars, and 10g protein. I top them with fruit.

If you would consider a natural protein powder, check out About Time protein. Tryabouttime.com 25 grams of protein in 100 calories. No artificial sweeteners or anything.

I didn't read all the replies so sorry if this is redundant - little things to keep on hand for quick proteiny snacks: hard boiled eggs, string cheese. I know you said you like meat but if you're okay with meat substitutes, Morningstar makes really yummy "sausages" that are only 80 cal and 10 g of protein! They are great if you pop them in the skillet for a few minutes and eat with an egg and avocado or something. I'm having trouble with my protein too and have resorted to making PB protein shakes, but these are the other ideas I've gathered.

I want to read this later, always looking for ways to increase protein.