Veggie Might: Vegetarian Meal Planning for Meat Eaters

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.

Meal planning is a hot topic ‘round these parts; you’d think we’d covered it all. But what if you’re a mostly vegetarian, or a family of omnis trying to work in a few vegetarian meals a week? A reader wrote in asking specifically how to plan for vegetarian meals that don’t involve tapas.

This Veg is here to help. Here are some tips and tricks to help you plan weekly meals that will improve your health, reduce your budget, and satisfy everyone at the table.

Decide How Many Vegetarian Meals/Week
Decide how many times a week you want to eat vegetarian meals and to what degree. Will you eschew all animal products (like dairy and eggs) or just meat?

Mark Bittman endorses a “vegan before dinnertime” lifestyle, only eating meat for his evening meals. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heath suggests giving Meatless Mondays a try. Take a poll of your household (or rule like the theistic monarch you were born to be) and decide what works best for you and yours.


Take a Look at Your Pantry
All those staple items are about to come in very handy. Grains, beans, and pastas are your friends when you go veg. If you’re not already stocked, don’t worry: dried beans and rice are about as inexpensive as foodstuffs come.

Compare what you have to the recipes you want to make, and then supplement with fresh or frozen vegetables. You’ll be amazed at how far your food budget goes.

• Lentil, Spinach, and Bulgur Stew
• Quinoa with Mustard Greens and Mushrooms
• Kasha with Root Veg and Dill

Tweak Your Favorite Recipes
There are probably dozens of meals you love that are already vegetarian or can easily become so: spaghetti with marinara sauce, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…and those are just the beginning.

With minimal effort, you can convert your and your family’s favorite meals into vegetarian delights. Swap meat with spinach or zucchini, and you’ll have a killer veggie lasagna. Chili sin carne is just as delicious as con; and don’t forget, every kid’s favorite: pizza. Just load up the pie with cheese and veggies, like mushrooms, peppers, and spinach.

• Camp Stove Veggie Chili
• Meatless Shepherd’s Pie
• Fresh Tomato Lasagna

Try Something New
A common myth about vegetarians is that our diets are very limited. “What can you eat?” I’m often asked. “EVERYTHING!” I say, “except four things: beef, poultry, pork, and seafood. All the other food in the word is available to me.”

Eliminating one type of food forces creativity in other areas. I’ve tried things I never would have otherwise, just to keep things interesting. Explore foods of other cultures or experiment with spices. Vegetable curries, beans and rice, and stir fries are among the most versatile and delicious dishes in my repertoire. Try adding them to yours.

• Pindi Chana
• Smokin’ Summer Stir Fry
• Summertime Gazpacho

Forget the Food Myths
Worried about carbs? Fear not: complex carbohydrates are energy. Stick with whole grains and you’re golden. “But what about protein?” you ask. “What about it?” I answer. Allow me to put to rest another myth: that of the anemic, peaked vegetarian/vegan. Protein is available in variety of plant-based sources, the key being variety. Ingest a combination of grains, legumes, and nuts throughout the day, and you’ll be mighty and strong.

• Vegetable Lo Mein
• Nuyorican Beans and Rice
• Collard Greens and Black-eyed Peas

Know Your Audience
Some meat eaters want a meat replacement with their veggie meals. Some don’t. If you decide to go the meat analog route, please head this warning: Fake meat does not taste like real meat. If you can appreciate the fake meat on its own, you’ll be a much happier omni on the vege path.

That said, don’t fear the bean curd. It’s a beautiful, misunderstood food, and, in the right hands, can make your vegetarian day. Other meat subs, like tempeh or seitan, can add protein and B vitamins, not to mention texture and pizzazz, to your playlist.

• Mighty Good Veggie Burgers
• Seitan O’Greatness
• Falafel in Love

Save Money, Eat Well, and Be Healthy
Planning ahead saves time in the long run and money at the market. It curbs impulse buying and keeps you on budget. Decide what you’ll make before you head to the store. Armed with your shopping list and empowered with a plan, you’ll be ready to make healthy, delicious vegetarian meals as often as you like...and hopefully more and more.

Did I leave any unanswered questions? Would you do anything differently? Do you need a recipe for something amazingly veg you’d like to see here? Let us know in the comments.

Happy Earth Day!

~~~

If you like this piece, you might also enjoy:

• 20 Cheap, Healthy Dishes Made From 10 Pantry Staples
• Cheap, Healthy Zucchini and Eggplant: 134 Recipes
• Reaching Into the Mailbag - Mom Seeks Help with Teen Veg

(Photos courtesy of Flickr members Steeena [peanut butter],  DodogoeSLR [pasta], Ze Eduardo [veggies].)

Removing Indoor Toxins from your Home.

bamboo palm

When we moved into our house a few years ago, I didn't realize how toxic the combination of new materials would be to my family's health. My allergies went crazy and I started suffering from chronic migraines and fatigue. Our baby, Jack, then 8 months old suffered from chronic allergies and bronchial infections. I didn't realize it was from the new carpet and glue in the recently installed cabinets until a pediatrician asked if we'd moved into a new home recently and informed me of the toxins.

Of course I wanted to rip out the carpets, but that wasn't budget friendly. I felt so guilty and desperate I went out and bought expensive air purifiers and threw myself into research on the subject. I want to share the harm of indoor toxins, not so you too will panic, but be aware of the dangers and do what ever you can to clean out your home. Plants are a wonderful fix. They are pretty and clean your air. Check here for a list of the top ten plants to clean your indoor air.

I never considered that E. Coli could be tracked into my home after using a public restroom hours earlier. I also never thought that ordinary dirt was harmful, but I came to discover that dirt can contain alarming levels of lead. The Door Mat Study concludes that using a door mat cuts down the toxic lead dust levels in a home virtually in half and taking off your shoes before entering your home cuts the toxic dust down by 60%. So by implementing both rules, you can cut down the toxic dust being tracked into your home by 98.5%, and considering that 2% of the dust in our homes is from inside sources while the remaining 98% is the result of wearing shoes indoors, we can almost eliminate the indoor dust completely.

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency has shown that indoor air may be even more polluted than the air outside. You may be asking yourself, "How can this be?" Many of us envision our homes as our private, safe sanctuaries. This is due, in large part, to the high amount of toxic chemicals in the products we use, as well as our bad habits

Dracaena

Smoke from cooking, using insecticides, plugging in a room freshener, or getting your carpets cleaned -- all these release chemicals that stay in your home LONG after you stop using them!

Household products, furnishings and cosmetics release vapors and particles that people can inhale or absorb through the skin. Then there are the pollutants that are tracked into the house from outside that add to the hazard.

The nation's best researchers on indoor air pollution are cautioning consumers that levels in houses are many times higher than those from the outdoors, even when compared to city air where trucks and factories belch pollution.

pothos

Common indoor plants may provide a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution. NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside homes, indoor public spaces and office buildings.

The indoor pollutants that affect health are formaldehyde, Volatile Organic Compounds (benzene and trichloroethylene or TCE), airborne biological pollutants, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, pesticides and disinfectants (phenols), and radon. These pollutants contribute to ’sick building syndrome’, which causes symptoms ranging from allergies, headaches and fatigue through to nervous-system disorders, cancer and death.

Click here for the Top Ten indoor plants that help remove toxins.

information found at Earth easy . Global Healing Center. Women's health Green Daily

You might also like:

"Greener Cleaners"

On Progress

I’m nearly finished with Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I’d suggest it to anybody. It’s a fantastic book, full of humor, wisdom, gorgeous prose, and excellent recipes. (Seriously, try the Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp.) Still, I can’t help but feel a little guilty reading the thing.

The author is an ardent gardener and regular buyer of all foods organic, local, and humanely raised. She argues that it costs more up front, but the prices – to the environment, to her family’s health, to the local economy – even out in the long run. She is undoubtedly right on, and I agree completely.

But I also write a blog about inexpensive, nutritious cooking. And sometimes it’s difficult to reconcile ethical choices with workable choices.

Is a cheap banana better for us when it exploits workers in a different hemisphere? If we didn’t buy that banana, would they have jobs at all? Can you realistically expect someone to buy a $17 chicken twenty miles away, when a $3 one exists right around the corner?

Honestly, I don’t know.

I do know I would like that $17 chicken someday. Personally speaking, eating cheaply isn’t my ultimate goal. Eating smart, ethically, healthy, and heartily is my ultimate goal. Eating cheaply is a means of getting there. It's saving us money and instilling respect for what we consume.

As for progress, in the last few years, my household (apartmenthold?) has:

• Cut our meat consumption by about 60%
• Increased our vegetable and grain consumption drastically
• Started eating seasonal produce
• Started using canvas bags instead of plastic shopping bags
• Made a conscious attempt to buy foods with less packaging
• Started washing Ziploc bags
• Started buying Certified Humanely Raised eggs (instead of those mass-produced thingies)
• Started buying greenmarket meat when we can (which, I wish was more often)
• Become hardcore menu planners and list makers

It’s been reflected at Cheap Healthy Good, too. When the site began, it was largely meant for budget dieters. The recipes included only calorie, fat, and price calculations. The articles centered more on the ties between financial solvency and weight. As many blogs tend to be, it was a reflection of where I was at the time: a burgeoning cook, newly fascinated with personal finance, attempting to maintain a recent drop in poundage.

Since then, the focus has changed somewhat. Fiber and protein are included in our recipe numbers now. “Dieting” turned more towards “healthy living.” The spending discussions have begun to include mentions of ethical eating, and maybe coughing up a little bit more cash for quality ingredients.

Are we ethically bulletproof? Nope. It’s a work in progress, and we get occasional flack for using cheap chickens. I am okay with this, though. Because ideally, I like to think our mission statement has evolved.

These days, we’re about more than inexpensive, nutritious cooking; we’re about saving a buck now so we can afford something better later. It's kind of like Dave Ramsey's motto: “Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else.”

And ultimately, the most you can ask of anyone is to do the best he can with what he has, and realize the value in aspiration.

So, what about you, sweet readers? Do you sometimes feel a disconnect between what you're eating, and what you'd like to be eating? What kind of changes have y’all made to your eating habits? What are you just starting? What will you do in the future? I’d love to hear how you’re progressing, as well.

P.S. Read the Kingsolver book. I’m serious.

~~~

If you like this post, you might also give a thumbs up to:

• Fear Itself
• Mission Statement … OF DELIGHT
• Observations from a Novice Cook

Chicken and Quinoa Salad

This dish is so amazing! Not only is it simple to make and very colorful and pretty, it is very healthy and my kids love it! What more could you ask for? I promise you will love quinoa. It is, in my humble opinion, a million times better than rice! So light and fluffy and yummy!

Quinoa facts found here.

Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain; an average of 16.2 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for brown rice, 9.9 percent for millet, and 14 percent for wheat. Some varieties of quinoa are more than 20 percent protein. Quinoa's protein is of an unusually high quality. It is a complete protein (click for info on complete proteins!), with an essential amino acid balance close to the ideal ... similar to milk!
Easy on the Stomach Quinoa is light, tasty, and easy to digest. It is not sticky or heavy like most other grains, and it has a delicious flavor all its own.

Quick and Simple to PrepareA whole-grain dish of quinoa takes just 15 minutes

Perfect for SummertimeMany people eat grains only during the colder months, but quinoa's lightness combined with its versatility in cold dishes like salads and desserts makes it an ideal source of good summertime nutrition.

Kids love it!

PREP 15 minutes COOK 15 minutes SERVES 4-6You will need: 

1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cups ( about 6 oz) cooked, cubed chicken (boil or bake, I use my handy dandy pressure cooker)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup diced radishes ( about 4)
1/2 cup chopped seeded, peeled cucumber
1/4 cup chopped, fresh flat leaf parsley
3 TBSP toasted pine nuts

Rinse quinoa under running water to remove natural "soapy" film! Bring broth to a boil in a
medium saucepan. Stir in quinoa. Turn down heat to low, cover and cook 15 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl to cool slightly.
In a cast iron skillet, over medium heat, add pine nuts (No Oil) shaking constantly till golden brown, about 3 minutes.
In a large bowl combine chicken, radishes, onions, cucumber, parsley, quinoa and pine nuts. Toss gently to combine. 

Dressing:1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 TBSP grapeseed oil (or evoo)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove minced
Combine all ingredients in a large measuring cup.
Whisk to combine. Pour over salad, toss gently.

NUTRITION FACTS

amount per serving

Calories 347

Calories from Fat 131 (37%)

Amount Per Serving %DV

Total Fat 14.6g 22%

Saturated Fat 2.3g 11%

Monounsaturated Fat 6.8g

Polyunsaturated Fat 3.9g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 39mg 13%

Sodium 377mg 15%

Potassium 659mg 18%

Total Carbohydrate 33.6g 11%

Dietary Fiber 3.5g 14%

Sugars 1.1g

Protein 21.8g 43%

Green Kitchen: Why Eat Local?

Green Kitchen is a bi-weekly column about nutritious, inexpensive, and ethical food and cooking. It's penned by the lovely Jaime Green.

Do you feel like all you hear these days is "eat local"? Wondering what all the hype is about? What's the point? Isn't that just a fad for hipsters and yuppies who don't get enough snooty karma from their NPR totes?

Though it won’t cure the common cold or reverse the mortgage meltdown, local food is pretty darn great, and not just because it’s traveled a shorter distance in a gas-guzzling truck or plane. Food from nearby is healthier and tastier, not to mention good for the planet, good for your community, and good for your spirit.

Here’s why.

LOCAL FOOD IS GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Local food has a smaller carbon footprint. Flying bananas in from South America uses fuel for the plane ride AND power for cooling and storing mechanisms. Food from your ‘hood (or nearby) puts much less CO2 into the air with its transport.

Keep in mind, not all local food is carbon-light. Wintertime greenhouse tomatoes may come from the farm down the street, but the power to heat their environments is not negligible. Still, if you stick to local and seasonal food, you’re golden.

Patronizing nearby farms also supports green, open spaces in your area. Farms are susceptible to commercial development and exurb spread. If you help keep them solvent, you ensure your region hangs on to those lovely spreads of farmland and pasture.

Local farms tend to be smaller farms, as well. Big, national suppliers will farm massive tracts of monoculture: acres of soybeans or corn, which isn’t particularly good for the environment or the national waistline. They often use heavy pesticides and genetically-modified seeds. Smaller farms, on the other hand, tend to be much more diverse, and the best ones integrate their production in a symbiosis of fertilization and need, keeping the soil super-healthy and producing awesomer produce and animals. When animals are involved, it means a better life for them before they become dinner, too.

LOCAL FOOD IS GOOD FOR YOUR COMMUNITY

Buying your food from local producers also supports your local economy. Greenmarket farmers take home about 90 cents of each dollar. With supermarket produce, after the marketing, transport, and distributors, the farmer’s getting more like 21 cents. Part of the reason: government farm subsidies are heavily weighted towards grain and meat production.

Buying local also gives you a personal connection to your food. I know that my eggs come from near Ithaca, and my apples a few towns over upstate, and I get to hand my money right to the farmers that raised them. I guess at the supermarket I’m shopping alongside my neighbors, too, but it feels more personal, and features more smiles, when we’re doing it outside, in the sun.

LOCAL FOOD IS GOOD FOR YOU!

Local food is better for you. It's way fresher than what’s transported across the globe to your mega mart. Supermarket produce is often picked a week before it’s ripe, and has to do its final ripening in transport. Local produce is often picked the day you take it home. Nutrients are preserved, and the flavor is often more prominent. Like, amazingly so.

Local food is often, hothouse tomatoes aside, seasonal. Anyone who’s sampled a strawberry in January knows that food in its prime season just tastes better. And, bonus: seasonal food is super-cheap! Right now my supermarket’s red peppers are $4.99 a pound. In August the greenmarket has that down to $1.99. The seasonal price drop happens in grocery stores, too, but it’s way more dramatic at the farmers market. Plus, the apples taste more like apples, and the greens are bright and still have a little dirt on them from when they were picked that morning.

Eating local and seasonal also supports variety in your diet and the food that farmers grow. This happens in two ways: first, when you commit to eating local, you get pushed, deliciously, outside your veggie comfort zone. If you’re used to string beans and zucchini year-round, a local meal in October can broaden your tastes to Brussels sprouts, kale, and cauliflower. (I think this connection with the seasons is good for your soul, too. Especially in the city, it's good to keep in touch with how nature goes.)

The second kind of variety: Local farms, because they’re not beholden to corporate supermarket beauty standards, are also able to sustain uglier, weirder breeds of plants. My supermarket usually has three or four varieties of apples; the greenmarket has at least twelve. Those heirloom tomatoes may be super-unattractive, but they’re also super delicious.

The farmer’s presence at the greenmarket bolsters your sense of community, but also gives you a valuable resource that’s absent from all but the awesomest supermarkets. You can ask, “Hey, what’s the best way to store these carrots so they keep as long as possible?” and also, “What do the eggs who laid these eggs eat? “How much to they get to frolick outside?” Sure, I could share my enthusiasm with the supermarket stock clerk, but I’d rather gush to the person who grew it himself.

* * *

There are ways beyond the farmers market to eat well and cheaply while being good to the planet, and I’ll get into some of those next time. But what do you think, readers? Do you shop at a farmers market or subscribe to a CSA? Do you get local food another way? Why or why not?

Resources:
“If buying locally isn’t the answer, what is?” Grist.org
“10 Reasons to Eat Local” Eat Local Challenge
“Why Eat Locally?” Treahugger
Foodroutes.org
Local Harvest

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If you like this post, you may also like:

• The Argument for Spending More on Food
• Dr. Veg-love, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Seasonal Produce
• When to Splurge on Organic

Ask the Internet: I Can’t Believe This Food Product Exists

Today, our Ask the Internet question is inspired by sheer astonishment.

Q: Yesterday on Twitter, Mark Bittman linked to an article about, “a novel tobacco product that some critics say too closely resembles Tic Tac breath mints,” made (natch) by Camel. He was justifiably concerned they would addict children.

Tweeter retroklahoma then discovered that CANDY CIGARETTES ARE STILL AROUND. Which … what? How? In America? IN 2010?!?! Ack.

So, I was wondering: what food’s very existence shocks you the most? Why? Is it too old-fashioned? Is it obviously bad for everyone who would consume it? Is it inexplicable using the rules of physics and/or nature?

A: Yeah. Candy cigarettes. Can you believe it? Even in the '80s, we knew that was some damaging badness. Is there a food product that elicits the same reaction from you? The comment section is open, folks.

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

Crustless Spinach Mushroom Quiche: Une Recipe Pour le Peuple

Today on Serious Eats: a one-two punch of Stir-Fried Lettuce (fuh real) and Sauteed Cabbage. Both much tastier than you might think.

Also: you asked, we’re answering. Starting today on Cheap Healthy Good, we’re including protein in our calculations. Enjoy!

When you imagine a prototypical quiche eater, what does the person look like? Is it:

1. A beret-donning, baguette-loving Frenchman, alternating sips of expensive Sauvignon Blanc with nibbles of the delicate egg creation.
2. A slim, sleek, Parisian fashion editor, who chews diminutive forkfuls between her morning cigarettes and coffee.
3. A mustache-twirling, toque-fluffing, world-class chef, bent on achieving the perfect egg-to-cheese ratio.
4. A mime.
5. None of these above, though this obsession with French stereotypes is simultaneously mystifying and sexy.

I always imagined quiche to be the provenance of the upper class. Though consisting mainly of eggs, cheese and crust, it seemed an impossibly complicated dish, served by socialites whose champagne tastes were rivaled only by the fussiness of their breakfasts. And also the French.

The truth, however, is this: Quiche is for the people.

It is not, as I believed, exclusive to Donald Trump types. No indeed. Quiche is a blue-collar, working person’s kind of meal. Hardy and chock full of frommage, it’s a simple breakfast (Or lunch! Or dinner!) that’ll carry you clear through the morning. When you leave the crust part out, it’s even pretty healthy. (The first person that asks, “Isn’t it technically a frittata?” gets a punch in la tete.)

This quiche is adapted from All Recipes, and it combines the sheer health quotient of spinach with the delightful indulgence of sharp cheddar cheese. It’s fairly easy to whip up, and super satisfying to serve: “Honey, we’re having quiche today! Yes, quiche. No, no one is coming over. No, we didn’t win the lottery. Ack. I don’t know. Stop asking questions.”

A few notes, should you decide to take this on yourself:

1) Hand-grated cheese is almost always cheaper and better tasting than pre-grated. There are no annoying de-caking additives, is why. Try to shred your own block o’ cheddar here if you can.

2) If I did this again, I’d change the mushroom/spinach ratio slightly to include more of the former and a little less of the latter. But hey: whatever floats your boat. Ham would be smashing in here, if you’re up for giving it a try.

3) Thanks to Food, Inc. and a combination of other exciting neurosis, Husband-Elect and I permanently switched to Certified Humanely Raised eggs. (Note: It’s one of the only labels that really matters.) They are WAY BETTER than regular supermarket eggs, but also pricier. Whatever. It’s worth it, yo. The yolks are like, neon orange, and much more substantial. Cross over if you can. (Yes … that’s it … come to our side … use the Force, Luke.)

4) This isn’t a standalone dish, and should be served with some kind of side. Mayhaps une salade? Ou un croissant? This might give you some ideas:



In the meantime, enjoy, mes amis. Rappelez-vous: quiche est pour le peuple. (Literally: Rappel your quiche and pour it purple. I think.)

~~~
If you like this recipe, you may also delight in:

• Poached and Hardboiled Eggs
• Mushroom Bhaji
• Spinach Rice Casserole

~~~

Crustless Spinach Quiche
Serves 6.
Adapted from All Recipes.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach, cooked
2 extra large eggs
5 extra large egg whites
1-1/2 cups 2% cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or more if desired)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or more if desired)
A few shakes cayenne pepper (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.

2) In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and mushrooms. Saute 5 or 6 minutes, until onions start to soften and ‘shrooms are a little browned.

3) Add spinach. Spread around and cook until most of the moisture is evaporated, stirring occasionally. This took me about 6 minutes, but your mileage may vary.

4) When finished, pour spinach mixture on to a plate. Spread out and let cool for a few minutes. (You’re doing this so it won’t cook the eggs prematurely when they're combined.)

5) Meanwhile, combine eggs and egg whites in a large bowl. Beat lightly. Add cheese, salt, pepper, and cayenne if using. Stir. Add spinach mixture and stir quickly to blend. Quickly pour into pie pan and shake a little to spread out.

6) Bake about 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool 10 minutes. Serve.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price Per Serving
184 calories, 10.3 g fat, 1 g fiber, 15 g protein, $0.91

Calculations
1 tablespoon olive oil: 119 calories, 13.5 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, $0.15
1 medium onion: 46 calories, 0.1 g fat, 1.5 g fiber, 1 g protein, $0.25
4 ounces mushrooms: 25 calories, 0.3 g fat, 1.1 g fiber, 3.5 g protein, $0.90
1 10-oz pkg frozen spinach: 103 calories, 0 g fat, 3.4 g fiber, 6.8 g protein, $0.50
2 extra large eggs: 171 calories, 11.5 g fat, 0 g fiber, 14.6 g protein, $0.62
5 extra large egg whites: 100 calories, 0.4 g fat, 0 g fiber, 21 g protein, $1.54
1-1/2 cups 2% cheddar cheese: 540 calories, 36 g fat, 0 g fiber, 42 g protein, $1.50
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $0.01
1/4 teaspoon black pepper: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $0.01
TOTAL: 1104 calories, 61.8 g fat, 6 g fiber, 88.9 g protein, $5.48
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 184 calories, 10.3 g fat, 1 g fiber, 15 g protein, $0.91