Meals help please

Prudent

My dd has anaemia and needs a diet with a lot of iron. She is also vegetarian. Over the school holidays, I have been able to do lots of OS cooking and make some healthy and tasty meals. E.g today she had branflakes and two tangerines for breakfast, homemade split pea soup and scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast for lunch and an apple, cheese, corgette and potato bake with dark green cabbage for tea followed by strawberries and sorbet. She is having a bar of dark chocolate just now. There is a good amount of iron in this food.

During term time I work in a school. I work with damaged youngsters and its very demanding. I come home drained. I want to carry on cooking healthy meals and need lots of iron in her diet.

I know this is quite a specific kind of request, but can anyone help by suggesting some easy meals I can plan at the weekend and cook reasonably quickly in the evenings?

Her anaemia is having such a profound effect on her health that she is mssing out on doing lots of normal teenage things. I want to give her the best diet I can.

Prudent

Are you able to give me any hints as to what you usually put in? I don't have a slow cooker, but would be happy to buy one. I just want to give her what she needs.

amyandoli

have a look at pregnancy books in the library, full of iron rich recipies!

thriftlady_2

Is she old enough for Guinness ? Sorry I've had too much wine- not a sensible suggestion. I do remember when I was anaemic after baby number one I was told to drink Guinness and eat dark choc- advice I followed willingly

Aren't dried apricots supposed to be high in iron. You can dip them in melted chocolate to make a posh after dinner sweet, but they woulsd also make an iron rich snack

Is she taking iron tablets ?

seroxat_chick

Prudent wrote:

My dd has anaemia and needs a diet with a lot of iron. She is also vegetarian. Over the school holidays, I have been able to do lots of OS cooking and make some healthy and tasty meals. E.g today she had branflakes and two tangerines for breakfast, homemade split pea soup and scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast for lunch and an apple, cheese, corgette and potato bake with dark green cabbage for tea followed by strawberries and sorbet. She is having a bar of dark chocolate just now. There is a good amount of iron in this food.

During term time I work in a school. I work with damaged youngsters and its very demanding. I come home drained. I want to carry on cooking healthy meals and need lots of iron in her diet.

I know this is quite a specific kind of request, but can anyone help by suggesting some easy meals I can plan at the weekend and cook reasonably quickly in the evenings?

Her anaemia is having such a profound effect on her health that she is missing out on doing lots of normal teenage things. I want to give her the best diet I can.

Prudent, I know you want advice on meals, but the sentence I have highlighted above really struck a chord with me. Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with anaemia too, and found that I couldn't really live a 'normal' life. I was out of breath performing the simplest of tasks and always tired. I was prescribed iron tablets - 60mg daily and these really helped, but because I wasn't living life to the full, my GP referred me for further tests to determine the exact cause of the anaemia. These tests went on for quite a few weeks and eventually we got to the bottom of it and I'm now receiving appropriate treatment.
I don't doubt that eating a diet rich in iron will be beneficial to your daughter, but if the anaemia is having that much of an effect on her life, maybe another trip to the doctors may be required.
I really hope you don't mind me saying this - I don't want to speak out of turn - I was just a bit concerned.

mrsmortenharket

drinking orange juice with her meals will help absorb iron from the food.

can she take iron suppliments?

Lisa

Pandora123_2

Here is some good information on iron in the vegetarian diet:

http://www.ivu.org/faq/vitamins-minerals.html

Kidney beans and lentils are both good sources of iron. Here is my favourite lentil soup recipe, which can be done in the slow cooker or on the stovetop:

Lentil Soup with Garlic and Tomatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil
5 large cloves garlic, finely chopped (18g)
450g fresh tomatoes, finely chopped (tasty organic ones are best)
185g dried French lentils, rinsed
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy pot over a medium flame. When hot put in the garlic. Stir and fry till the garlic browns lightly. Add the tomatoes. Stir and cook for 5-15 minutes or until most of the tomato liquid is evaporated and tomatoes have softened and can be mashed into a paste. Add the lentils and 1 litre of water. Bring to the boil then cover, lower heat and simmer gently for one hour. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Can also be made in a slow cooker (but still saute garlic & tomatoes).

My favourite veggie chilli is an adaptation of a Jamie Oliver one which uses kidney beans and mince. (I sub veggie mince for beef mince.)

Jamie Oliver's Chilli

I substitute about 2/3 the amount of veggie mince for beef mince in any recipe (the veggie mince doesn't shrink like beef mince), so for this recipe I use 300g of veggie mince. The sundried tomatoes really add a lovely flavour, and they are high in iron as well I believe.

How about bean burritos? I usually use black or pinto beans, but you could use kidney beans, which are higher in iron.

Bean Burritos

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 medium red pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
tin of kidney or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons roasted cumin seeds (dry roast in a heavy skillet until fragrant, then crush in a mortar and pestle)
1 teaspoon paprika
a couple tablespoons passata
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
salt and freshly ground pepper

Tortillas
Fresh salsa or chopped fresh tomatoes
Guacamole (recipe follows)
Chopped spring onions
Finely sliced lettuce
Cheese or Cheezly (being vegan, I use the latter)

Saute onion for 10 minutes in olive oil. Add red pepper and saute another five minutes. Add garlic and continue to saute for an addition two minutes.

Add roasted ground cumin seeds, paprika and salt and pepper to taste.

Then add beans, passata and coriander. Heat over low heat until hot.

Heat tortillas according to package instructions. Put a few tablespoons of the bean mixture across the middle of the tortilla, then top with salsa or tomatoes, guacamole, lettuce, spring onions and cheese or Cheezly. Fold up the bottom of the tortilla over the beans, then fold in the sides and roll up. Enjoy!

(Let me know if you want the recipes for guacamole and fresh salsa.)

Dried figs and apricots are high in iron and make a nice snack.

:A

bluemoon_3

It looks like you're doing fantastically already, and I would suggest that you keep making the things you have been making, but try to employ time-saving techniques, such as batch cooking on weekends and doubling quantities and freezing the leftovers for a quick meal another day.

I'm sure you already know this, but consuming vitamin C at the same time will greatly increase iron absorption. Tannins (in tea mainly, but also in smaller amounts in coffee, cocoa, and some curry spices) will reduce iron absorption if consumed at the same time. Foods high in oxalates are not iron sources because the iron is "bound" and unavailable - this includes spinach, beet greens, swiss chard and rhubarb. High dairy consumption can inhibit iron absorption too. (This is all according to the book I've linked to below - I'm not a nutritionist).

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Vegan-Complete-Adopting-Plant-Based/dp/1570671036/sr=8-1/qid=1168127194/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2622600-1628963?ie=UTF8&s=books

Click on the cover of the book, search for "109". Click on link 2 "on Page 109". (You may have to sign in to your amazon account). This is a quite comprehensive chart of vegetarian sources of iron.

The chart continues if you click once to the right.

sammy_kaye18

Hi hun

I really feel for your daughter - ive been suffering from anaemia since i was 16. (im 22 now) and it is a nightmare - i had it under control in my teens but when i got pregnant it all went to pot and i was really bad. Ive got the dizziness, the tiredness, the paleness, the bleeding gums, the hair loss.......all great fun at my age. i look liek the living dead on occassion

Besides including alot of iron rich food in my diet i started taking vitamin B12 - have you tried your daughter on these?? you can get them form any chemist.My doctor told me that vegetarians or vegans have vitamin B12 deficiencies because vitamin B12 is only found in foods of animal origin, such as meat, liver, fish, eggs and milk and for her body to reproduce mor ered blood cells she needs iron, B12 and folic acid. Form what you've said though she eats alot iron rich foods so i wonder if this would help her. Also she seems ot be getting enough vitamin C from her vegetables but was just going to suggest if she has alot of caffeine (whether in tea, coffee, chocloate, coke) that that wont help her iron absorption, (ima total tea aholic and its been murder trying to cut it down and out)

as for the meals that are quick and easy, ive honestly no idea - am a lousy cook. but does she eat soya products and tofu?? Becasue alot fo soya products are iron fortified liek soya burgers etc

hoep that helped in some way!!

love
Sam
x x x x

lynzpower

I had anaemia too as a teenage veggie, it really was bad, I used to literally fall asleep everywhere.

dont forget many breakfast cereals are fortified with iron, as are some shopbought bread.