Teen new Veggie = Stress for mum...

daska

As above, get him to learn to cook the food he likes and do the shopping, these are skills that he will need in life anyway!

Other than that... from personal experience (family and friends): it isn't as easy to obtain protein from a vegetarian diet so he might take a little while to adjust. It also isn't as easy to obtain the iron you need so if he's a heavy tea drinker you might like to suggest that he cuts down. And, finally, if he suffers from any problems as a result of the change in diet keep a food diary so he can work out what foods might be causing it - e.g. my dad can't take soya, belladonna family (potato, tomato, pepper etc) or raw legumes (alfalfa sprouts etc) etc so these foods are something the whole family 'experiences in retrospect'!

Doom_and_Gloom

daska this part that you wrote 'also isn't as easy to obtain the iron you need' is not correct. Vegetarians and indeed vegans are no more likely to have problems with iron than anyone else. I have written before that grains, nuts and seeds are very good sources of iron and that if you eat a wide range of fruit and vegetables you will be absolutly fine. Just 100g of dried figs = 2.03mg of iron and you need 15mg a day so that is about 13.5% of your daily intake just from the figs! 50g of dried oats, so enough for your breakfast, contains 2.5mg so that's around 16.6% of your daily intake. There is nothing to say that eating a balanced vegetarian or vegan diet that would mean the DIET is to blame for lack of iron as it is in so many foods we eat sometimes without realising it.

As always if you consume something with vitamin C at the same time the body will be able to absorb the iron better but that goes for everyone.

kafkathecat

I have been veggie or vegan for most of my life and have never been anaemic, and I'm a blood donor so I would know. But cows milk not only contains little iron but, as I understand it, it stops you absorbing some iron as well. A meat eating anaemic friend was told by her doctor to stop drinking the litre of milk a day that she drank and start eating 5 servings of vegetables. It worked.
K

mrcow

I turned veggie at 16.

My mother refused to make extra meals so I learned how to cook for myself. Being able to cook for yourself is a life skill - if he wants to be veggie - let him get on with it. You don't have to do everything for him and I'm sure he can manage to come along to the supermarket to help get the ingredients he needs/wants.

Patchwork_Quilt

It might be easier if you invested in some large ramekins/small casserole dishes so that he can cook a 'Serves 4' batch of something and divide it up to freeze.

Sometimes, veggie stuff is quicker to cook at the end of the day than meat. I would recommend

The Quick After Work Vegetarian Cookbook by Judy Ridgway ISBN 9 780749 913908
and
Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Louise Steele ISBN 9 781858 136295
and my absolute favourite for family recipes
The Wharf Street Vegetarian Cafe Cookbook by Jill Gibbon ISBN 0 7225 1224 4

all oldies but goodies.

Good luck

painted_lady

Very interesting thread, to add to what i have already contributed, I second the suggestion of eating together veggie food every now and then, it shows you respect his decision. As he gets more confident, it might be him cooking veggie meals for you!
As for the iron, I too have never been anaemic, I used to give blood too (cant now for medical reasons) I add a handful of spinahc to loads of stuff, line veggie wraps with it, use it as salad leaf, handful in a lot of meals. I also dont have much milk in my diet, just the occasional bowl of cereal, although cereal like bran flakes etc I have with apple juice (I am nearly vegan btw, but dont like soya milk etc). i also find vegetarians do eat more fruit and veg than meat eaters so can have more variety of nutrients etc in their diet.

chopperharris

I was a vegatarian until i cooked for myself , learned late that I only like meat if I cook it.It wasnt for the anti cruelty that i did it , me mum simply cant cook and wonders how I can.

I crave meat , or should that be my body does.I live mostly on soya and lentils but every now and again I devour a bucket of kfc , usually about once a month.Good enough for saint paul macca , good enough for me.

I rate the asda soya savoury mince ala brand name beanfeast.

Buying a bag of dried soya mince and "learning" how to cook it so that it works for anything is really good , adding say curry powder or italian herbs and tom puree etc makes many meals from one base.If its done right then all the family will eat it as telling the difference becomes quite hard...and soya mince is cheaper than meat in bulk....and healthier.IF the veggie cooks it for everyone then your on a day off.

Asda do great non meat stuff , much better than tesco stuff imo...the hot dogs I defy anyone to be able to tell the difference other than on the price v a tin of cheapos.

Linda macartney sausages are great , much better than qourn one , I am well off quorn chunks and mince as I feel it has a funny aftertaste but the flaky bake pies and the family roast thats a good apporximation of chicken/turkey though.LM sausgae rolls are great also.

The wife is one of those eats fish , eggs and cheese typical hypocrit that calls herself a veggie.

Its beans and toast for him/her until they learn to cook for themselves , never have crisps or pot noodles in the house again to make sure of it.....IMO your done weaning when they can decide to eat ala carte easier than cook what they want.Crisps can be products of cruelty too , many feilds that produce veggies have beef cows or sheep on them before planting season.

Another idea if you have the space get them a chicken or two , they keep it , they deem the cruelty level and can still have eggs.Chicken Poo can be used as fetriliser for growing veggies right next to them...if they are that serious about being a veggie then its a win-win for you both.

Edit I have also done home made burgers from dried soya mince , using sage and onion stuffing as the binder.

clutterydrawer

Would he be willing to do this by degrees to make it easier on you?

I also agree with the other whove mentioned eating veggie meals together as a family.

none of my family are vegetarian but quite often eat veggie meals without really thinking or noticing it. my mum made a vegan dinner the other day without even realising - I was so proud of her!

THIRZAH

Another good book is "Vegetarian Grub on a Grant" by Cas Clarke

My eldest DD was vegetarian from age 14 to 25.I used to cook things like veggie lasagne or chilli for all of us and then freeze a couple of extra portions so I always had something in the freezer for her.Fortunately she wasn't a fussy eater and would eat a baked potato with cheese or chilli beans if nothing else was avaliable.
Tesco do a small tin of chilli flavoured beans for about 27p and I kept a couple of tins in. They are good in pancakes topped with cheese.She also liked pancakes filled with sauted mushrooms . I would also buy the veggie ravioli-they do a few flavours- and serve it with home made tomato sauce (again from the freezer).You can buy big bags of frozen spinach which is good in pasta dishes or in eggs florentine.

Once you get a few supplies in the freezer it gets easier. I did find it harder when DD left home to go to uni as I got out of the habit of preparing veggie meals and would have a mad panic about two days before she came home.

I did send her to uni with a large bottle of multi-vitamins but she used them as poker chips!

Dr_DiNg_DoNg

It must be very hard to cater veggie to one family member. Try and stay away from the processed veggie stuff like sausage and stuff, its often very high in fat and salt.

The only thing I can add to the thread is get a vegetarian Indian food cook book, they really know how to cook great tasty food without meat, and I reckon many of the meals taste better than meat based dishes and there is huge variety. Good luck.