Where do you get your protein?

"You're a vegetarian? Where do you get your protein?"

This is the question I am asked, more often than not, when people discover we're vegetarian. As if meat, poultry and fish are the only sources of these wonderful amino acids.

There are many other sources of protein that you may not even realize are already in your diet. In addition to all the great vitamins and protein in organic yogurt, eggs and cheeses, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and watercress all contain more than 3 grams of protein per 100 grams. In comparison beans have about 9 grams of protein per 100 grams.

Chickpeas, used in making hummus, contain 16 grams of protein per serving. Baked beans, available in vegetarian form, contain 11.5 grams of protein per serving. Nuts and legumes are also wonderful for you. A peanut butter sandwich for lunch or spreading a little almond butter on your toast in the morning can go a long way to fulfilling your protein needs in a day.

There are also a bevy of meat supplements to choose from. Instead of chicken or beef you can use these meatless substitutes and still enjoy some of your favorite recipes from before you became a vegetarian.

Boca and Morningstar Farms have a variety of soy based meat substitutes ranging from crumbles, that can replace ground beef in your favorite taco or bolognese pasta recipe, to buffalo style 'chicken nuggets,' which were my husband's most missed food when we chose to be vegetarians.

Soy is very good for you, containing omega-3 fatty acids and thought by some to help prevent cancer. But too much of a good thing can be dangerous, and I don't just mean chocolate ice cream!

Many vegetarians eat soy on a daily basis, even multiple times each day. This can be dangerous as there have been studies linking an increase in the risk of cancer when too much soy exists in your diet.

Lucky for all you vegetarians out there, there are plenty of ways to get your protein without eating soy at every meal. Non-soy products such as Quorn, a mushroom-based meat substitute, are high in protein, very low in cholesterol and more healthy for you than a lean chicken breast.

Quorn comes in many forms that work with your favorite recipes. The 'cutlets' are perfect to bake in the oven and dice up into your favorite chicken recipe. If you miss chicken Caesar salad you can bake up a Quorn cutlet, dice it up and throw it in the fridge the night before. Pull it out at lunchtime, toss it on your salad and enjoy!

My husband loves to bake the 'cutlet' in the oven, wrapped in foil, with salsa and shredded cheese on top. It is so moist and flavorful you almost forget you aren't eating chicken. Even my carnivorous father loves them!

My toddler asks for the Quorn nuggets by name. My husband also bakes the nuggets and dices them up in pasta dishes. My favorite is the Quorn crumbles in a 'meat' sauce or tacos, and it's perfect in Shepherd's Pie.

Tofu and other soy products are certainly good for you and much healthier than meat, but be sure to eat in a balanced way. For example, help yourself to a nice veggie omelet with wheat toast for breakfast, then have a tofu and veggie stir fry for lunch, and finish your day off with a bean chili with Quorn crumbles for dinner.

Women only need about 46 grams of protein a day whereas men need 56 grams. Since most of what you're eating already contains protein, chances are you are getting more than enough without even trying.

And when the answer to "What's for dinner?" becomes something other than 'beef, chicken or fish' it can open up a world of yummy possibilities.

Allergic to carrots?!?

My daughter was wonderful surprise and from the moment of conception I realized I was pregnant even if I wasn't quite ready to admit it, I made sure to get enough folic acid each day, ate good healthy veggies and patted myself on the back for already being vegetarian and giving my child a healthy start.

Over the next nine months I continued to eat wonderful food, exercise and read to my baby every day. I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl and continued to take my prenatals, eat healthy food and read to my baby as I breastfed her every day for fifteen months.

Then she made that great leap! She was ready to eat good healthy food all on her own! She dove right into her rice cereal mixed with fresh pumped Mama Milk! She conquered the cereal and was ready for the 'real' food!

Bring on the baby food! Right??

My husband and I don't have allergies. We can eat anything we want without fear of a rash or the need to carry an epi pen. We are very fortunate and we know it!

We did not anticipate any issues with our daughter, but continued to introduce foods one at a time just to be sure. Green beans went over with a great face that we got on camera. That first bite was a doozy! But my toddler now eats greenie beanies like candy. Yeah baby!

Then on to the peas, the prunes, the winter and summer squash. We were on a roll! Our little girl was eating so healthy, we were such good parents! We even made sure to feed her all the veggies that weren't sweet tasting so she would eat them as well as the sweet stuff.

And then came the carrots...those darn carrots.

We gave our little girl carrots and, being the wonderful child she is, she ate them up and asked for more! Then we noticed at bath time that she seemed to have a bit of a rash on her back and chest. Just to be safe we put away the carrots for another time.

A few weeks later we were ready to try the baby food blends that Earth's Best Organics was nice enough to make and jar for us. After a nice veggie mix I noticed at bath time a slight rash on her chest and back. She didn't seem to notice, but again I was concerned. After tucking my Little Miss into bed I found the jar in question and read the label. Sure enough right in the ingredient list was...carrots.

Now I was convinced my daughter was sensitive, if not allergic, to carrots. At that point I started reading labels very carefully. She was starting to eat what we ate and I wanted to make sure she could do so without breaking out in a rash! Or worse. I was amazed at the places I found carrots! Almost any baby food that wasn't 'just peas' or 'just green beans' or 'just squash', any kind of blend, included carrots! There was carrots in the vegetarian lasagna my husband and I loved to eat for dinner on occasion. None of that anymore.

Apparently carrots are a good filler! I was very frustrated to discover that the yogurt she had been eating contained carrot juice for color! Which explained why I had noticed a very slight collection of those same small red bumps on her back lately, even though I had decided she simply had sensitive skin. Apparently it wasn't that simple.

I started doing my research and although it isn't as common as milk or nut allergies, carrots is not something that only affects my daughter. There are plenty of parents out there with the same dilemma! I thought it was terrible at first! But I have to say that being allergic to carrots has done for my daughter's palate what being vegetarian has done for mine! My daughter doesn't just dip baby carrots in ranch dressing for a healthy snack, she dips slices of zuccini and cucumber, slices of orange pepper and yellow pepper too! Just think of the possibilities when you don't automatically reach for those baby carrots!

The benefits of carrots are widely advertised. They are great for you eyes, carrot juice is in most 'healthy' juice blends and thanks to 'Yes to Carrots' you can even wash your face with them! But the same beta-carotene in carrots can be found in many other places and my daughter eats from many of them! Broccoli, mango, grapes, blueberries, bananas, apricots and avacado are all good sources of beta-carotene too!

So where I originally looked at 'no carrots!' as a curse, a frustrating stumbling block in feeding my child healthy food, I now see it for what it is! A wonderful opportunity to broaden her food horizons and expand her growing palate!

Happy veggies!