Daughter wants to become a vegetarian.

aliasojo

I need to mull things over with you lot please.

Daughter has always been 'iffy' about meat. She's mentioned becoming a vegetarian before but only really in the passing. That said, she has refused to eat 'pig' and true to her word, has avoided anything put on her plate that comes from a pig, for a long time now. She's recently turned 11 and has told us outright that she wants to become a vegetarian.

I'm on the fence because...(please note these may not be the best of reasons but they are my genuine thoughts and feelings at this precise moment so please take them on board if you choose to answer).....

We're still living in a building site. We ran out of money ages ago and I'm doing bit here and there when I can. I used to enjoy DIY but it's been going on far too long and I get stressed just thinking about it now. I often still have days where I'm stripping wallpaper or taping and filling or varnishing etc. Because I hate doing it, I only do a bit now and then, then stop and start. Some days I'm still doing stuff at tea time and we end up eating something quick and easy out the fridge or a takeaway. Having to cater for a vegetarian who wont eat salad is a hassle I could do without right now quite frankly.

I just don't have the time nor inclination to worry about what I'm going to feed daughter.

I'm on a low carb diet which means I eat a lot of meat and the rest of the family have a variation of the same.

Daughter is very thin, I'd be genuinely worried about her nutritional intake.

Potential increase costs.

Lack of choice in what to buy, we live in a small Highland town with a Somerfield and a Farmfoods. I do sometimes travel to Tesco or Morrisons but it's not a 5 minute jaunt.

She wont eat salad, or baked potatoes.

I talked over those things with her and she understood my points but she just keeps coming back to wanting to be a veggy. She seems to think she can live off pasta but it's not as simple as that.

Talk to me please, I need other people's input.

Threadhead

Can she make up a weekly meal plan to show you what she would plan to eat? Then you can have a look and make sure she would be getting enough variety. Get her involved in making what she is going to eat?

artybear

Hello I became veggie when I was 11, my mum was absolutely fine with it and never questioned my choices however we weren't in the difficult situation you are at the moment.

However you are choosing to live on a low carb diet so I think it would be slightly hypocritical to say you can have a special diet but she cant. Also meat tends to be the most expensive thing rather than veggies so that shouldn't really up your budget.

When I became veggie I was very thin, very pale and tended to faint alot, however this was nothing to do with my diet and actually I was eating much much healthier than my meat eating family so I wouldnt worry about her nutrition if she eats well.

What I would do is get her to research a good diet for a vegetarian, and with your help create a meal plan which has good food at a reasonable price, this then puts the onus on her to find out exactly what being a vegetarian is about and proves to you that it is more than a fad.

HTHxxx

Dave_liverpool

I'm not a parent so I may be out of order but this is what a friend did when her daughter wanted to give up (or refused to eat) meat.

She asked her to come up with a weeks meals. She said she supported her decision but as she was not a veggie then she had no idea of what to cook for her. The daughter was about 12/13 I think and 3 years on is still a veggie as her decision was mainly against eating food (textures) she didn't like buut has gone more 'animal rights' as she is older.

She does eat a lot of pasta, with tom sauce/pesto and cheese. She will eat baked pots. She was always leaving most of her meat anyway as she disliked the chewyness.

When I was a lot younger I had a friend at school waho went veggie and mainly ate cau;iflower cheese and crisps.

Is she good at eating a lot of veg and is she prepared to cook?

floatylight

I agreed for my daughter to become a vegetarian about 4 years ago, when she was 10. She had tried a few times before but found she couldn't stick to it.

Since then I thinnk she eats better than she ever did before, quorn is fantastic and even makes great family meals, granted its not that cheap but there are quite often offers on and I tend to stock up, the fake ham range is great as well and solves all the packed lunch concerns I had.

My daughter is a great salad lover which makes things easy but doesn't really eat pasta very often. Maybe you can offer a compramise that she tries lots of different salad bits to see if there is some she likes and you will let her try being a vegi.

After 4 years as a vegi, she is still healthy, almost never ill and happier knowing that she is not eating the poor animals as she calls them. I should also say that the rest of the family are meat lovers although we have now also developed a love of quorn, and they do a great roast.

do remind her though that gelatine is in most jelly sweet so if she wants to take it seriously they are out of the question as well.

good luck

aliasojo

artybear wrote: »

However you are choosing to live on a low carb diet so I think it would be slightly hypocritical to say you can have a special diet but she cant.

I've very overweight and have found a low carb diet works best in helping me lose the fat. So whilst I see your point, there is a need for me to eat this way, it's only a choice for her iyswim.

I think it's a good idea to get her to take some responsibility and to consider herself what she might actually eat throughout the week though.

:beer:

aliasojo

Dave_liverpool wrote: »

Is she good at eating a lot of veg and is she prepared to cook?

Actually she does eat quite a lot of veg so that should be a positive. As for the cooking, I'm not sure, she's lacks concentration so we'd have to consider that point.

adouglasmhor

I was veggie for 20 year my GF is still veggie and has been for 30 years. I very rarely ate salad, it is really not up to providing the nutrients anyone far less a growing child needs. There are quite a few veggie things in both somerfield and farmfoods and even more in tesco. quorn stuff, Linda McCartney stuff etc. Pulses and whole grains make up the protein levels a bit.

Maybe get her to read this?
http://www.youngveggie.org/being_veggie/talking.html

justmel

Hi,
i was 11 when i decided to become vegetarian,that was 22 years ago so back then choices of alternative foods were very limited and so were available shops for my mum so it must have been a bit of a headache for her,i used to have whatever everyone else had minus the meat part until choices got wider.

Obviously that isn't ideal but most shops sell convenient veggie foods like veggie fingers and burgers and if you have some freezer space you could stock up from one of the bigger supermarkets as Tesco often have their own range at 2 for £3 which will get you 8 burgers and 10 veggie fingers for example,that should last a while for just the one person.

Also if you don't want the hassles of cooking from complete scratch have a look for beanfeast products,they come in a pack and all you need to do is add water and cook on the hob,you can make a nice spag bol or shepherds pie very quickly and easily from them and they are pretty cheap,around £1 per pack which would do 2 meals easily for one person.

You can serve vegetables with those things,shame about the jacket potatoes but if she eats mash then one on my favourites is mixing it with cheese and some grated onion,sprinkle some cheese on top,grill it and it tastes lovely.

As far as nutrition goes don't be too worried,a vegetarian diet can be equally as healthy as a meat eating one so long as it's balanced

Make-it-3

If she's already refused pig, then she may simply stop eating any other kind of meat you put on the table. So better to be involved and help her make healthy decisions about her diet.

It would be a bit hypocritical for you to have a special diet, but she can't. Low-carb and vegetarian aren't mutually exclusive. Could the family have veggie meals some days and then she helps make her own meal on nights you have meat. Being vegetarian is usually cheaper than meat.

I agree she needs to look at what she would have as an alternative for each meal over say the course of a week and you both agree that it is a balanced, varied diet. So she doesn't like salad, but does she eat a wide variety of other fruit and veg? Does she like lentils, pulses etc. Vegetarians are often much healthier eaters that meat-eaters. Maybe get some vegetarian cookbooks from the library and flick through them for meal ideas.

If you have any concerns that she is already a fussy eater or she may lose weight then perhaps ask your GP if she can be referred to a nutritionist who can talk to her before you agree to try it out.

ellas9602

My SDD turned veggie at 11 too. She's 19 now and is still veggie. I tend to just serve her what we are having with a vegetarian option. Tonight is roast chicken and all the trimmings, she will have the same with a vegetarian sausage roll instead of chicken (the LindaMc sausage rolls are lovely and good value as I can just serve her one rather than 2 two sausages iyswim). If I'm making a spag or curry, its a bit of a faff as I'll cook the sauce first, split it into two, add quorn chicken or soya mince to her half. I try to do this in large quantities to save the hassle next time. On sundays I'll sometimes add soya to the leftover gravy and make little pasties to freeze then just pop in the oven. she also like omlettes, pizza's, a full english without the meat. Often shes happy to just have whatever we have without the meat and will often just have lots of veg, stuffing, yorkshires on a sunday. she loves toad in the hole too. sometimes with quorn, sometimes with red onion and musrooms thrown in. Do you usually have a meal plan?