Dear 14-year-old boy's football coach,
Now Coach, let me preface this letter by saying that I have the utmost respect for you, as does the 14-year-old boy. You volunteer untold hours of your time to support these young people and enable them to develop important values such as teamwork, perseverance, sacrifice and responsibility. You take them on 6-hour road trips (each way) and somehow are able to control dozens of energetic, testosterone-driven young men every football weekend. I thank you for that.
Now, on to the nitty-gritty. As all coaches do, you want to encourage the players to be aggressive, which is an important skill in football. When a boy is about to make a tackle in practice, you may even sometimes say things to them that would encourage aggressive behavior, something inflammatory, like "Hey 14-year-old boy, you gonna have tofu for dinner tonight?" Perhaps comments like these do indeed initiate a more aggressive hit, which I'm all for, believe me. I want the team to win just as much as the next mom. These comments don't bother the 14-year-old boy, but he does come home and tell me what you say as humorous anecdotes.
Now, Coach, let's evaluate the health benefits of some of the vegetarian foods the 14-year-old boy eats for dinner, just to make sure he is ingesting enough protein to be an excellent football player for your team.
Did you know that teenage boys only need about 52 grams of protein per day? (HERE'S one of my references.) And adult men only 56? There's only one group of people that need more than that, and that's me, a lactating and/or pregnant mother.
Also, Coach, did you know that recent studies have shown that vegetable protein is easier to digest than animal protein? (One reference HERE.) That means that my 14-year-old boy will process that hummus or bean soup or wheat sprout protein faster than you'll process that 16-ounce porterhouse your beautiful wife puts on the grill for you on Saturday night. (I don't really know that you get a porterhouse every Saturday night, but I know you'd like to, and I also know that your wife is beautiful.) However, the 14-year-old boy will be skipping the saturated fat, but adding untold vitamins and minerals to his diet, vitamins and minerals that are largely deplete in steak. So, in essence, Coach, my 14-year-old boy, after eating his bean soup, will be stronger quicker than you will be after eating your steak.
So, Coach, just so you don't worry about the 14-year-old boy and his tofu, let me share with you an example of where he gets his daily protein requirements...
He starts off the morning with his favorite meal of all time, two PB and J sandwiches and a huge glass of milk. This meal alone contains 38 grams of protein! Yes, he could use more fruit and we're working on that.
Next, he comes home for lunch and may eat something like a bowl of 15-bean soup with some corn chips and a salad. This meal contains about 31 grams of protein, and depending on whether it fills him up or not, he'll make more PB and J sandwiches, which adds even MORE protein to the meal.
At dinner time, we might have quesadillas and refried beans and another salad, which adds another 25 to 30 grams of protein. Or maybe, on a special night, we might make breakfast for dinner, such as the following Quinoa Bean Pumpkin Pancakes, which pack 11 grams of protein per serving, and that's not counting the extra 10 or so grams he'll get from the milk he'll use to wash 'em down.
So, Coach, if you do the math, that's between 80 to 100 grams of protein on an average day, much more than he actually needs.
Yes, Coach, the 14-year-old boy may very well have tofu for dinner, but you can count on him to be strong enough to get some sacks in, thanks to your excellent coaching and his mother's inspired meal preparations. Love ya!
Oh, and P.S., if you want to ask your beautiful wife to make some high-protein vegetarian pancakes for you and your youngsters, have her try this recipe!
Ingredients
4 tsp cider vinegar
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup pinto bean flour
2 1/4 cup quinoa flour
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
Directions
Step 1. Combine vinegar and milk and let sit for ten minutes, until milk is curdled.
Step 2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
Step 3. Mix all the wet ingredients in a large bowl, including the milk mixture.
Step 4. Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Step 5. Butter a skillet and pour on 1/4 cup portions. Cook until browned on each side. Pancakes will be moist in the center.
For Complete nutrition data go HERE.
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24 comments:
First off... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Seconl, those pancakes look and sound DELISH!!
Does the coach read your blog? LOL!
Ale, he may well read this one since I posted a link to it on his Facebook. I also told him that it was in good fun, so hopefully he agrees!
Hahaha, you rock for sure, how does he know that you eat 'tofu-ish' stuff ?
Ale, we live in the same small town, go to the same church, our kids go to school together, we go to the same parties and plays and functions, his kids play at my house, mine at his, and he is my second cousin!
Hahahaha, you!
I am dying Jen! You are too funny!!! Did I mention...I really like you!!?
I am dying Jen! You are too funny!!! Did I mention...I really like you!!?
I like you, too, FW! No, I love you! I'm glad you all could see the humor. I'm just trying to share information about vegetarianism, but trying not to be boring! Hopefully Coach has the same sense of humor you all do!
That pretty much "sums" it up! I'm with him on the PBJ sandwich, one of my favorites as well!
LOL!!! LOVE it! Sure inspired me to write a few letters of my own to some school staff. Yee Haw! I am off to write them now. ; D
14 year old boys coach says that 52 grams of protein is MINIMUM for a growing boy and not nearly enough to add muscle nor to replenish the system of a very ACTIVE boy. and for an adult male to add muscle 1 gram of protien per day PER LB of bodyweight minimum is recomended. And last but not least, the tofu steak just doesnt taste the same as the porterhouse coming off the grill. Not to mention the lack of zinc and iron both of which are essential to muscle growth in the tofu. So if you wanna hash this out some more Jen, come on over to the house and we'll chew the fat while we enjoy a big hefty portion of pot roast.that was from the coach
This is from his wife, I dont even own a grill nor have I ever cooked a proterhouse steak, we just go to Texas Roadhouse for the prime rib everyonce in a while!! :)
Haha, Jeni! Thanks for responding for Coach! Tell him that even IF 52 grams of protein a day is not enough, the 14-year-old boy gets 80 to 100 per day, so he is good. Also tell him that since he eats so much salad and other varieties of food, get gets all of the other vitamins he needs, hopefully, such as zinc and iron.
And yes, I would LOVE to hash this out some more. You guys make the roast and I'll bring the tofu and Boca burgers! I'll bring the vegan chocolate cake, too! :)
As I was reading this to coach and his sister who majored in nutrition she says he need at least a gram of protein per pound that he weighs and more if he is active, I'm just relaying what they say.
Thanks for the info, Jeni! I appreciate all kinds of different sources!
Okay Jeni and Coach, if you google "protein requirements", the first ten sites say that the average recommendation is .8 grams per body weight in kilograms. This is between 50 to 80 grams of protein a day, depending on age, gender, and weight. There is so much information out there, some of it conflicting, so just sharing what I've learned over the past two years of research.
However, if one is training for a triathlon, the olympics, or the like, the protein requirements are slightly higher, between 100 and 135.
J says that all you need to add is a reference to Daniel in the courts of Nebuchadnezzer when he ate grains and the other boys ate meat
Wow, Daughter, great point! There is certainly a lot of debate about this subject out there. Your Aunt Robyn also believes that the body needs tons of protein, but if you look in the Doctrine and Covenants, it states that you should eat meat sparingly and only in times of famine or cold or winter or excess of hunger. Some people think that doctrine in antiquated and doesn't apply to our day, but some don't, as you know.
I thoroughly enjoyed the letter to the coach. Can't say our family will ever become vegetarians, as we have a freezer full of pork, but I would love to have a bite of those fabulous pancakes!
I have commented to a post of yours once before, about your son's mission. I told you about my brother's mission to Belgium. I finally started a blog of my own, partly thanks to you. It's only day 2, but I'm enjoying to process of learning all about this blogger world. I'm now going to try and figure out this "follow" business.
That is so funny! Very Cute! I think those pancakes look delicious!
One question about the pancakes: Do I need to rinse the Quinoa before I grind it? I normally do before I use it in other dishes to eliminate the bitterness - is it necessary for this one?
Telley, very good question. I didn't rinse the quinoa before grinding it and it turned out great.
You tell 'em, mom! Maybe we can send this letter to ALL coaches? (Anonymously of course, since I'm not nearly as brave as you ;)
If you toast the quinoa in a dry pan before you use it, that is supposed to help with the bitterness thing too. I thought I hated quinoa before I learned that trick.
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