Meat alternatives for fussy child

Karena_3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxfam-Vegetarian-Cooking-Children-Elliot/dp/0091808162/ref=sr_1_79?ie=UTF8&qid=1352227456&sr=8-79


Some child friendly vege ideas if you can get hold of a second hand copy.

Karen.

*Robin*

If it's a matter of replacing a lump of meat with a lump of something else so that all plates/portions look similar, what about quorn, soya mince or tofu - slices of smoked tofu, lightly fried with a splash of tamari/soy sauce is yummy, I'd rather have that than beef. There are plenty of quorn 'ready meals' available these days if you want something you can just bung in the oven with your meat.

If she's a natural vegetarian, please don't force this girl to eat meat. Beans, pulses, nuts, eggs and cheese can also be used as 'main' protein ingredients - have a browse here for ideas including other ingredients you're already planning to use:

http://www.recipes.vegsoc.org/

Marmite is a good source of vitamin B (hope she loves rather than hates it!).

ps. I used to take great pleasure in cooking spag boll with soya mince - not one single carnivore I fed it to ever noticed! Also very MSE when compared to price of beef.

meames_2

As a child, i disliked eating meat because i didn't like the gristle that no hard you try, cannot be gotten rid of completely. The suggestion to have the smallest piece of meat to compensate makes me smile (sorry) as that led to years of resentment, as people would even take the meat off my plate!!!. I think I would have preferred to have been asked rather than presumed i should have the least. perhaps you could introduce quorn fillets or other alternatives. They take no time to grill and it might not do any harm for the whole family to try them rather than your girl to feel different. If she is eating veg then thats a really good start!

By the way I went veggie at 18, I probably eat more "meat" now than I did as a meat eater!

GreenFairy

Quorn chicken fillets and dippers are really nice, but if it's a texture thing for her then there's no guarantee that she'll like them at all. My dad is in his 60s and has never eaten red meat as he can't stand the texture.
Just make sure she has a varied, processed-food free diet and she'll be fine. Don't worry about protein or getting her to eat meat. Most of us overeat protein to begin with and it's not just in meat, eggs and dairy either - even broccoli has protein!

CRANKY40

My son isn't keen on the texture of meat. He doesn't mind chicken if it's chopped up really small, so I can get away with a roast dinner or curry using chicken. For spag bol, lasgane etc I used quorn mince. He likes that and I eat it too so no separate meals required.

[Deleted User]

My yougest DD has five children and the youngest isn't keen on meat yet will happily eat sausage rolls.So on Sundays she will always make a few and they go on the big plate in the middle of the table with the rest of the meat and roast potato's Mikey will have several on his plate alomg with some veg and gravy,he says he gets bored chewing meat :) he's 8 by the way.DD's not fussed as her strapping 6ft almost 17 year old spent the first 6 years of his life refusing to eat anything but yorkshire puds and potatoes Now he eats virtually anything she puts in front of him
In her house because there are so many of them the rule is at least one veg plus potato's and anything they find they like She never forces the kids to eat and decided years ago that they would pick what they liked and leave what they didn't There is always a choice of 2 or 3 veg plus spuds and meat for dinner at night Mikey will eat meat balls or spag bol but doesn't like sliced meat at all.One of the other boys likes any meat but only certain veg and no spuds if he can help it So its a case of several large platters on the table and help yourself.Tonight I made a sheps pie for them and they will all eat that with no probs so I think its texture more than taste at times.

bossymoo

I was the same as a child, and went veggie for a number of years. I still can't eat lamb.

If she's savvy, get her to research alternatives and come up with a sensible plan together. There are lots of veggie alternatives, but combining is a good idea as they are rarely complete proteins.

Eggs are great, too.