A veggie 7yr old!

ebaybaby

Can anyone recommend any "child tasty" recipes for my 7yr old who is a vegetarian?
She has never been a huge meat fan, the only "meat" (and I use the term loosely"!!) she would eat was McD burgers or any type of chicken nugget. For a while now though she has totally gone off even those. I thought it was a fad at first but she genuinley doesnt like it anymore and is also concerned about the animals!

The problem for me is, she is extremely fussy about the things she will eat.
The list is not long and Im finding it so hard to make meals for her. She will eat: Cheese, baked/potatoes, beans, pasta on its own no kind of sauce, rice, corn on the cob, some veg though not much, plain noodles, soup, pizza. She doesnt like curry, fish, salad, spag bol, chilli etc
can any of you help?!

mrcow

Macaroni cheese
Cauliflower cheese
Omelette with: mushroom, sweetcorn, asparagus, peas, onion *
How about veggie hot dogs with onions?
Sheperds pie (veggie)
Veggie kebabs (bit late in the year for a BBQ but you can cook in the oven)
Make your own (veggie) burger night
Loaded jacket potatoes (scoop out the potato, stuff with veggies and then pile the mash back in)
Veggie spring rolls and rice
Veggies with chopsticks and noodles

etc
etc
I could go on making it up but its really hit and miss depending on what she likes.

All my kids are veggie and they are all happy and very healthy. Just go with what she wants to do. One thing I learned a long time ago is that you'll never win the food battle!





* choose as desired

odds-n-sods

She i sold enough for you to show her some nutrition site for veggoes and explain that if she wants to be a veggie that's fine but to be healthy vegggies eat lots of different things, and show her a list of things like different beans and pulses, lentils, rice, cous cous, and all the veggies. Also try her on tofu, if you mix it into the veggie burgers, she won't taste it!

Just as well she isn't eating macD's anymore, they aren't food, just junk.

frogga

Sounds to this veggie like she eats quite alot of good stuff already:T

Of course she wont eat fish though as vegetarians eat no flesh,fish or fowl. I have been veggie since I was about 5 and both my tadpoles who are 10 and 11 have always been veggie, it is by far the best way to eat imo and with a little bit of reasearch to make sure she's getting everything she needs , she'll be v healthy. The main "bug bare" is iron. Mine get this from any green vegtables,nuts,apricots , cereals et.c.
If you want to pm me I have LOADS of advice for someone doing this having been there and done that !! ~ listen to ODDs n sods though as she's a food expert and I'm not!!! (Hi odds xxxx)

odds-n-sods

but frogga, picky eaters and vegetarianism dont' mix well; if she doesn't eat a lot of different veg, and be willing to try different foods, then she will struggle to be healthy.

frogga

You're right Odds it will definitly be tricky and it's more important for a veggie to have variety , but like you say she is old enough to have a look into it all herself and learn the importance of a balanced veggie diet. There are LOADS of veggie kids books out there , try your library ebaybaby xx

Hapless_2

Where is she getting her Iron, Omega oils and B12 from? She is growing and needs her vitamins and minerals. Be aware of some of the veggie "meals" around a lot of them are really high in salt and MSG (monosodium glutamate).

stefejb

My dd has been veggie for over a year now - she is 11 and this is a moral and ethical issue for her. I did explain that she would have to eat more of the things that she doesn't usually and she now loves pulses and most vegetables. she doesn't like spice so if I'm making dahl i divide into two pots and put spices in mine - her version to me tastes horribly bland but she loves it. Lentils are great and i use them where i would normally use mince - shepherds pie, burgers, bolognaise etc. You could try some of the meat substitutes but dd doesn't like them at all - says it's not worth giving up meat and then eating stuff that reminds her of it. As she has made a serious decision about what she puts into her body you may find that as time goes on she becomes more open to new flavours and textures - that was certainly our experience. We have always steered clear of quorn - it looks highly processed to me.

i don't know your situation but there is only me and dd so I don't eat meat when she's home which is brilliant for me healthwise. i can imagine that it owuld be more difficult if you are also feeding other carnivore family members. Her vegetarianism has made her more aware of other food issues and she scans all my shopping for hydrogonated veg oil and what she calls "unpronouncables" - if we can't pronounce it she ain't eating it

good luck

frogga

I've explained about the iron and b12 is easily obtained in a veggie diet by eating fortified foods esp Marmite!. omega 3 can be obtained by eating wild fruit,berries,leafy veggies,flaxsead,rapeseed and walnuts, omega 6 from sunflower and sesame seeds, soya beens and again walnuts. IMHO most veggies pay far more attention to eating a proprer balanced diet than meat eaters and therefore have much more chance of being healthy. My tadpoles have never eaten meat and though they are now 11 and 10 neither of them have EVER had a day of school sick! They both have fantastic skin and hair and I don't get any "hormonal mood swings" from Daughter tadpole. A brilliant book to look at is Plant based Nutrition and health by stephen walsh phd.