My daughter is prettty much a vegetarian...

[alotofgooddeals]

Any good recipes that we can try..
She is 8 years old and has been a vegetarian pretty much since the age of 3. This is nothing that i have put on her and pretty much just let her eat what she wants to when we have potato veggie and meat...ocassionally she will eat the meat but most times opts to not...i don't push her either way.... however i would love to have some receipes to try for her....so she can have something different...

[druthb00]

Not because I'm vegetarian but because it's just cheaper to do without the meat some nights....

One of my new fav's is from allrecipes.com, type "stringy macaroni" in the search field. I use low fat cottage cheese (but ricotta would do just as well) and add chopped up green peppers and chopped up fresh tomatos to the sauce to "bulk" it up a bit and give it some texture.

Kabobs can be made to everyone's liking, just don't use meat on hers. Fresh pineapple, button mushrooms, grape tomatos, all kinds of bell peppers, white or red onions, even zuccini. We've been eating them with homemade hummus, there's a great easy recipe for that on the same site as above, search "jalapeno hummus" and simply omit the peppers if you don't want it spicy. You can dip everything on the kabob in this stuff and it tastes great. I also use store bought pita bread and toast in in the oven (350 degrees, shaken first in a bag with a little olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper) until crispy. The nice part about the hummus is that she's getting protein.

[NewLeaf]

My 7yr old son is mostly vegetarian. I have to make sure he gets protein every day. I give him peanut butter, yogurt and cheese alot. He won't eat eggs anymoe either. I am going to try him on homemade french toast. At least it is dipped in egg. I also make him carnation instant breakfast either hot or cold.
Hope that gives you a couple of ideas.

[alotofgooddeals]

she loves every veggie you can imagine. She is not a peanut butter or an egg person... so i need to find a way to get protein into her...
She loves brussels sprouts, asparagus basically any veggie out there...

Thanks for the ideas...

[druthb00]

Ministrone soup is a good one for protein if she'll eat kidney beans and garbonzo beans.

[alotofgooddeals]

If someone has a good recipe and has the time to post it i would be extremely grateful...

[druthb00]

Just thought I should say that since it was my idea and unfortunately I've never actually made Minestrone...Didn't want you thinking I was holding out on you lol...sorry!

[shortstack]

Will she eat edamame? My kids love it and it's full of protien.
What about beans? Does she like them? Another great way to add protien. How about cheese?

For about about a year I had to cook vegan for my husband and vegetarian for my son (3 years old). My daughter and I ate everything

[KeithBC]

First of all, don't worry about protein. Yes, growing kids need it, but it is extremely easy to get. There is protein in all whole foods, even broccoli and spinach. So, unless your daughter is starving, she is getting protein, and if she is eating a variety of vegetarian foods, she is getting a good balance of proteins.

Here are a couple of links:
VegWeb.com has been around forever and has a database of zillions of vegetarian recipes.
My friend and neighbour Bryanna Grogan is a vegan cookbook author who is very generous with sharing her recipes online. In addition to her own website, she hosts a forum on VegSource.com where she will personally answer specific questions.

[akolb]

I'm a vegetarian. Have you tried to get her to eat any Morningstar Farms products? Their Chicken Patties, Sausage Patties, Garden Burgers and "Ground Beef" Meal Starters are GREAT for protein and are freakin delicious.
See if she likes any of these!

[Rebookie]

Veggie Stir Fry with brown rice

Baked Pasta

Legumes, Legumes, Legumes!

If you have Taco night, make a can of Vegetarian Refried beans for her.

[2ndGenGranola]

No matter what she is eating, try to make sure they are "real" foods and not "fake" foods. I see way to many who claim to be vegetarians who are really "processedetarians". Keep it as close to the way it grows as possible.

[Grainlady]

I've been a vegetarian in the past and we still have one day per week that is vegetarian (Friday - to save food dollars) and many meals during the week that are vegetarian.

Here is a Vegetarian Food Pyramid that might be helpful:
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/adapyramid.htm

I'd like to turn the discussion to information about the Biological Value of foods that contain protein. You can find vegetarian recipes in nearly any cookbook you pick up; and a trip to the library will provide lots of them to check out for recipe ideas.

The BV (Biological Value) is the measure of a protein's ability to be used by the body. So if you are looking for non-meat protein and you want to get the most value from the source, choose foods higher on the scale.

-Whey protein powder - 100-159
-Eggs - 100
-Milk - 91
-Cheese - 84
-Rice - 83
-Beef - 80
-Chicken - 79
-Wheat gluten - 64
-Whole wheat - 64
-Beans - 49
-White flour - 41

So personally, I'd choose a simple Whey Protein Powder (look for the least amount of other ingredients on the label) and milk or milk substitutes (primarily nut milk) instead of Carnation Instant Breakfast or Liquid Meal Supplements (glorified baby formula). I tend to avoid foods that are fortified with inorganic minerals and chemical vitamins. These are very difficult to digest.

Whey protein powder can also be added to baked goods as a substitute for a portion of the flour. I also mill beans and add bean flour to baked goods (use small white beans for bean flour because it has the least amount of bean flavor) as a way to increase protein.

I'd also make sure to incorporate foods high in iron in the diet, including using molasses in milk (like you would make chocolate milk), as an easy way to supplement iron. Mix molasses with syrup for pancakes and French Toast. Include foods high in vitamin C when you serve foods high in iron so the iron is absorbed better. Getting enough iron in the diet concerns me along with finding good high-protein sources.

Homemade gluten (aka seitan) as a meat substitute is another good high-protein choice. You can make ground gluten into a granola-like cereal that is easy to use in baking. It makes a great crispy topping on pudding or fruit, or make it into a crispy crust (similar to a graham cracker crust).

We love homemade bean burgers and serve them on homemade whole wheat burger buns. So there is a good amount of protein in that meal. I make large batches of them and keep them stacked in the freezer for a quick meal option.

Bean Burgers
(source: Eat More and Weigh Less - by Dr. Dean Ornish)
(serves 6 - I usually get 8-10)

1/2 c. minced green onions (I also use chives.)
1-1/2 T. minced garlic
2 T. white wine or vegetable stock (I use water.)
1 29-oz. can cooked drained pinto beans (or make your own)
3/4 c. cracker meal
2 egg whites (I use one whole egg.)
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
2 T. seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 t. SPIKE seasoning powder (found in health food stores)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a small nonstick saute pan, braise the onions and garlic in the white wine (or veg. stock or water) until soft.

In a med. bowl, combine the sauteed onions and garlic, beans, cracker meal, egg, parsley, vinegar, and seasoning powder. Mash well with a fork or potato masher until blended but not entirely smooth.

On a parchment-lined baking sheet, drop the mixture by 1/2-cup (I use 1/3-cup) amounts and flatten gently with a spoon to form six 5-inch "burgers." Bake for 25 minutes, or until set and beginning to brown lightly. Serve hot.

[Grainlady note: I reheat them in a pan and crisp the outside of the "burgers."]

[shortstack]

I was thinking about this post again this morning. If she doesn't have an issue with eating meat but rather just doesn't like the taste or texture of it could you cut the meat up smaller or shred it to put it in your meals. You could shred it up fine and put it in chicken pot pie, soups, quesadillas,etc... So that she is ingesting it but doesn't have to deal with the texture. The texture is what the problem was with my little boy.


Andrea

[Grainlady]

No matter what she is eating, try to make sure they are "real" foods and not "fake" foods. I see way to many who claim to be vegetarians who are really "processedetarians". Keep it as close to the way it grows as possible.

AMEN!

When our son was a teen, he had a friend who was what I call a "TWINKIE" vegetarian. He avoided animal-based foods, but subsisted on junk-food and pop from convenience stores. He had to be hospitalized because of such a poor diet and had to be taught how to prepare REAL food. Only REAL food has REAL nutrition. Our bodies need nutrition to work properly at the cellular level. Twinkies and pop just don't cut it, along with all the other poor choices in "dead" foods.