Cooking with Protein Additives

One of the things I knew I would miss in post-op eating was some of my favorite soup recipes. Even if they have some meat in them, the protein levels for a meal are pretty small. I'd been looking for some sort of neutral protein powder I might be able to add to them, and the product Any Whey from Optimum Nutrition was suggested. It claims to be formulated for cooking - use in baked goods or in soups, sauces, etc.

Tonight I gave it a try - I made a chicken soup, which on it's own had 18g of protein, but with a scoop of Any Whey added to my serving, it gave me an additional 17g. Had this been my potato leek soup or some other veggie based soup, that would be the bulk of the protein not derived from chicken or beef stock.

My first mistake was trying to stir it into the soup after I'd put it in my bowl - it clumped horribly. So next I took about 1/4 cup of water and dissolved it that way, then poured it into a fresh bowl of the soup. It made the broth a bit more opaque, but did seem to mix in well.

The product itself has a slight vanilla scent to it, and I could taste a slight vanilla/milky flavor, but that became less pronounced as I ate.

Verdict? It's OK. I won't be adding it to everything I make - but to fortify a veggie-based soup? Probably.

The rest of my day was a little screwy - I woke up about 2 am with a pinched nerve or something in my shoulder - terrible pain, couldn't raise it up much. Took some pain killers and ended up sleeping until about 9:45 am. Getting up late always tends to screw up my eating plan.  I had a bit of left overs - but super solid food tends to be hard on my stomach first thing in the morning.

My Meals: 

Breakfast

• 1/2 serving meatballs in red wine gravy
• 1/2 serving mini cauliflower cheese gratin

Lunch

• Dannon Light & Fit caramel delight

Dinner

• 1 serving chicken, noodle, and veggie soup 
• 1 scoop Any Whey protein powder
• 4 small slices toasted asiago filone with butter

Planned Snack

• Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt Bar  - raspberry

Water - 40 oz

Daily Totals: 868 calories, 28.7g fat, 88.4g carbohydrates, 30g sugars, 63.9g protein