Vegetarian

**Rhiamon** · 02-01-2011, 10:14 PM

So DD has decided to become a vegetarian. I told her that was fine that I would support her and join her as well. So I need links or your best vegetarian recipes that would be super kid friendly as she is only 7 almost 8. Oh and very budget friendly!!!! She said she is still going to eat eggs, cheese and milk because you don't have to kill the animals to get it.

**Palooka** · 02-01-2011, 10:30 PM

You can find many yummy recipes on this site.

VegWeb.com - Vegan Recipes and Cooking Tips

**Jamauk** · 02-01-2011, 11:06 PM

check with AnnK ~ she is a vegan and has young children as well. Kudos to your daughter. Such a loving heart!!

**tervsforme** · 02-02-2011, 09:32 AM

I second VegWeb. I go there a lot for recipes. I also search on Vegetarian/Vegan Blogs. There are some great ones out there with cool recipes and lots of great information.

**Ceashels** · 02-02-2011, 11:30 AM

I'm not a fan of Oprah but I did watch her show yesterday. There was a challenge for her staff to be vegan for 1 week. It was very interesting to watch as the emphasis was on how to improve the "American diet" and by just changing a few habits and being more aware of what and where your food comes from that a huge difference can be made in terms of the health of land and people.

It really got me thinking more about reducing the amount of meat in my diet. I'm not willing to give up the dairy or eggs yet though.

So thank you for the link.

**alotofgooddeals** · 02-02-2011, 12:14 PM

my daughter to from the age of 4-8 was a vegetarian...she is no 9 and decided that she likes the taste of steak and turkey to much to give it up...however you are being a great mom for supporting her....and one thing my daughter loved was vegetable soup with noodles.....simply cut up all the veggies, put in the crockpot and i would cook the egg noodles on the stove and add them in the very end... she absolutely loved this....egg salad sandwiches... and my daughter absolutely loved beets, brocoli, brussel sprouts asparagus and all that good stuff...she now only likes the beets and spinach...not sure why...but if your daughter likes beets and potatoes, you could make beet hash...we love this....i will try and think of more...

**Dancing Lotus** · 02-02-2011, 12:50 PM

I think getting a kid to eat veggie meals is much easier then getting them to eat Vegan meals. The meat doesn't seam to be the hard part it's the cheese and since that won't be an issue for you I think you will be able to find a lot of great frugal meals.

We use a lot of TVP in place of ground beef.
It's a dry flake that you rehydrate so you can store it easily. It's also very cheap. This is a great link to find out everything you need to know about TVP. https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/all_about_textured_vegetable_protein.htm

For lunch today my 5 yr old ate spud tacos: easy and super cheap.

You will need some left over mashed potatoes
corn tortilla
Lawry's seasoned salt
and spray oil for the fry pan.

Just spread about 1/4 cup mashed potato onto one tortilla and sprinkle to taste with seasoning, fold in half like a taco. Grill in skillet until crispy! At only 100 calories each and 15 carbs it's not an unhealthy meal.

Another one of her favorites is Beans and macaroni.
You need one can of Bush's vegetarian baked beans and one pound of macaroni.
Cook macaroni according to directions on box.
Mix the beans and cooked macaroni together and put in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

What ever you do , don't worry yourself about her PROTEIN. Their is plenty of protein in so much that we eat particularly if she is still eating eggs and dairy. Many reputable studies show that for optimal heath a maximum of 10% of our protein should come from animal sources. That's about one serving a week.

**Daisygirl** · 02-02-2011, 07:54 PM

We eat a lot of ethnic foods - very flavorful and easy to convert to vegetarian recipes.

~ Bean burritoes
(refried beans, salsa, shredded cheese wrapped in a soft tortilla)
~ mini quiches
~ Broccoli pizza (major fave at our house)
(Pita bread, tomato sauce, shredded cheese and steamed broccoli - bake at 400*F for 10 minutes)
~ Grilled cheese and tomato soup
~ Potato soup topped with cheese, yogurt and steamed broccoli and chives
~ taco salad
(salad mix, drained black beans seasoned with chili powder, shredded cheese and a dressing from ranch, catalina and salsa - break up a small handful of doritoes and mix it in)
~ tostadas
(Crispy corn tortilla, spread w/ refried beans, topped with cheese, lettuce tomato, salsa and sour cream or plain yogurt
~ yogurt with berries and granola

Just a few ideas to get you started!

**Palooka** · 02-02-2011, 07:56 PM

Cea, I so wanted to see that show yesterday and had the DVR set up, but with the bad weather, they broke in and talked about that the whole time so I didn't get to see any of it. I read about some of it on veggieboards though. I'm glad she did that show.

Here is a good site of the health benefits of a Vegetarian diet. Recipes too.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) - Neal Barnard, M.D., president