By Guest Blogger, Sarena Shasteen from The Non-Dairy Queen
Yes, I’m one of those crazy people who have food allergy restrictions, yet I choose to take even more things away from my diet. I chose vegetarianism for my health and my environment. The added bonus is that it’s also good for my budget. I have a family history of colon cancer and heart disease, so going meat free is important to me for many reasons. Knowing that I’m removing important nutrients from my diet by choosing vegetarianism has led me to focus on where I can get good quality nutrients from in the foods I do choose to eat.
The first question I get from people when they find out I don’t eat meat and I can’t have cheese, soy or drink milk is, “Where do you get your protein from?”. I definitely do not deprive myself. In fact, I think I appreciate what I eat and what it does for my body since I do have such a restrictive diet. I eat a wide range of foods including eggs, beans, nuts, quinoa, oatmeal and vegetables. Yes, some vegetables have protein in them too (peas, spinach and broccoli just to name a few)! I’ve learned the hard way that forgetting about nutrient rich foods can cause problems for you. This goes for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. For this reason, eggs are an important part of my diet as a source of protein, vital nutrients and vitamins. I’m an avid exerciser and protein is the building block for repairing and building muscles. One large Eggland’s Best egg supplies you with about 10% of your daily protein needs. That’s an easy high quality protein source all in an economical package!
I believe a common misconception that people have when it comes to food is quantity over quality. While researching food and nutrient sources for a vegetarian diet, I came to discover Eggland’s Best eggs. I’m a huge fan of the quality product they produce. Eggland’s Best hen feed contains no animal fat, no animal by-products, and no recycled or processed food. They also never use hormones, steroids, or antibiotics of any kind. All of this adds up to their eggs having the quality complete protein I’m looking for in my vegetarian diet. On top of the clean protein they provide, they are also 10 times higher in vitamin E, 2 times higher in vitamin D, have 75% more vitamin B12 than regular eggs and are loaded with healthy Omega 3! You can’t beat nutritious and delicious!
There are so many incredible ways to incorporate eggs into your menus. Eggs aren’t just for breakfast anymore. My favorite way to eat eggs is prepared over easy on top of a mix of salad greens. Forget the salad dressing when you can have a velvety smooth rich natural dressing loaded with important nutrients and no processed ingredients. This is clean eating at it’s finest! Another favorite in our family is egg-fried rice. Adding scrambled eggs to your fried rice makes getting your proteins easy and delicious! I use a mixture of brown rice, vegetables, sesame oil and scrambled eggs. My kids go crazy for this meal too!
Knowing that I’m eating high quality eggs from Eggland’s Best as part of my vegetarian diet gives me comfort that I’m getting the fuel I need to live a healthy life!