Daughter wants to become a vegetarian.

melancholly

i'm not veggie but i do sometimes buy quorn bits like chicken bits - they can go in the pan straight from frozen and can be very handy for a meal when i haven't planned!! i think it tastes fine (in a sauce anyway). a lot of people have a few meat free days a week but i guess they are less picky.... but then again, someone i know was a veggie and refused to eat tomatoes in any form and they managed (but cooking for them required some thinking!).

is it worth having a GP appointment? if there is a radical change in diet, it makes sense to check if she's ok. she may well need some supplements, even if only in the short term, but she's also at an age when things like anemia would show up too, even if entirely unrelated to the diet change.

what is it that she doesn't like? taste, texture? with one set of vegetables you can have ratatouille (sp?) with rice, pasta or potatoes, some kind of vegetarian risotto, roasted veg with any carbohydrate, soup, pizza toppings, veggie lasagna.... even with only a few actual vegetables that she'll eat, you can cook them lots of ways. throw in beans and lentils and a few other things and there's a huge variety. granted it takes cooking, but one big batch for the next few days might help with that?

LisaLou1982

I rarely ate meat as a child and decided to become veggie when i was about 12 i think. Before that, i picked at fish (couldnt stand the bones) and would leave as much meat on the plate as i could get away with!!

From the age of 12 to about 17 i probably existed on a diet of pasta, spaghetti on toast, chips, pizza and sandwiches.

Dont worry about your DD too much - as long as shes getting some fruit and veg down her she'll be fine. Vitamin substitutes will help to some extent and a check to make sure shes not aneamic as lots of young girls are when they turn veggie.

Im now 28 and still dont eat any red meat. I do eat chicken now and i also eat fish, but it took me months to be able to eat chicken. I still mainly live on a vegetarian diet and so does OH (poor man only really gets to eat meat if we go out or if im feeling particularly generous and buy him a steak!)

jack7

At the age of 6 my daughter, who had always been funny about meat, announced she didn't want to eat meat meat anymore. I supported her in this decision as I was never keen on eating meat as a child but when I announced I wanted to be veggie when a teenager my lovely mum made me a nut roast but said she'd put some chicken stock in it to give it some flavour! :eek:

My daughter is now 19 and still veggie. She is healthy, slim and full of energy. She enjoys pasta, quorn etc and to be honest as a family we eat pretty much the same only DD and I will have quorn etc where DH and DS have meat. She now happily cooks basic meals for herself if she is eating at different times to the rest of the family and it has never really been an issue - although I still have to watch my mum, her gran, who is an excellent but old fashioned cook and a great believer in meat stock! I'm not convinced the quorn meal she served us boxing day hadn't been cooked in something "meaty".

stumpycat

It may be a good idea to make a GPs appointment to get her checked out - just to put your mind at rest.
While some veggies with poor diets may lack in iron, B12 or calcium, it is not common.
Actually I think I'd be more concerned about a child that age with a picky diet who only ate chicken & potatoes...

juno

Make sure you check that the vitamin supplement is vegetarian - a lot are, but you don't want a fight if you accidentally get it wrong

stumpycat

juno wrote: »

Make sure you check that the vitamin supplement is vegetarian - a lot are, but you don't want a fight if you accidentally get it wrong

Good point! Holland and Barrett vitamins are usually NOT veggie, but people tend to think of them as a 'veggie shop'

Frogletina

Does she like eggs and/or nuts?

I've always been vegetarian. It was quite a novelty at the time I was at school and all I was given to replace the meat was a fried egg every day.

But eggs can be utilised in various ways - scrambled eggs for breakfast will contribute to her protein needs

Also nuts, cashews can be added to stir fries or (as my mum used to) put some in the bottom of yorkshire puddings to give the protein for a meal, not many would be needed. Or any kind of nuts can be eaten as they are to supplement her diet

As an 'old style' vegetarian I tend not use much quorn or soya, but often make nut roasts, cutlets and nut sausage rolls, all out of the same mixture. Cutlets can be shaped and frozen - then a couple baked or fried - and serve with a cheese sauce or gravy as the protein part of a meal.

I often just use a cheese sauce as the protein - it doesn't have to be made into a macaroni cheese, just make and pour over new potatoes and vegetables and eat straight away or put into the oven to crisp the top

flimsier

I did it when I was 10, and my Mum made me research it first; I had to agree to eat all other food groups (planned), and it was the first time I agreed to eat salad. My Mum made me learn to cook my own dishes (not all, but a significant number).

I was determined, and when I was 15, I became a vegan. Mum gave me a monthly allowance and I cooked all my own dinners. I'm still a vegetarian at 33 (I stopped being a vegan after three years).

Being vegetarian can be more economical and certainly has the potential to be more healthy. I would discuss the concerns with your daughter and get a commitment (including her 5 a day [ie salad or equivalent]). It's sometimes even worth writing it down so that if it isn't stuck to, you have something to refer to.

On vitamin supplements; you don't need them if you ensure you eat a proper diet - but that's down to you.

Sagz_2

You mentioned that there were 'family' things going on OP, I'm just wondering if the wanting to be veggie and then being picky with veggie food could be a sympton of worries she has?

pollypenny

Haven't time to read whole thread, jo, but some ideas.

I became a vegetarian at 11, when my mother stopped trying to force me to eat meat. I have never formally compensated, but eat lots of vegetables. I have dinner with the family, but the vegetables only.

I used to be faddy, but mother insisted I stayed with school dinners, so I learned to eat everything that was on offer apart from the meat. That was in the days before choice, though.

So I have not eaten meat for 50 years and, without wanting to sound smug, I'm never ill.