Vegetarian kids

[chinosruca]

My 9 year old is starting to hate meat because it makes her sad that the animals lost their lives. I told her to think about it and gave her the pros (healthy, no animals killed) and the cons (no McDonalds, hamburgers, etc). She will be letting me know by shopping day (Friday). I have commited to her that if she goes vegetarian, I will too (which means her sister will too, as she eats what I eat). My husband thinks we are CRAZY and wants no part of it. He is convinced he will starve to death if he does not have meat. I made a few very filling, delicious, protien and fiber packed vegetarian meals a few weeks ago to prove he won't starve. Of course he acted like he was going to die in his sleep from hunger pains. Ok, I am dramatizing a little :-) but he is being silly and really believes (or claims to believe) he absolutely did not get full from our meatless dishes, even though the rest of us got full.

I used to be vegetarian....far from a healthy vegetarian (potato chips don't have meat). So, we will be looking into good, healty meat substitutes. I know my girls like Boca burgers, but have not tried much else. Any kid friendly meat substitutes that you know of? Beans are not going to work. We eat them very little as I have severe gastrointentinal distress when I even smell a bean (Bean-O and other similar products do not help). We do like tofu though. I'm going to try a few homemade veggie
burgers this weekend.

[lalasmama2007]

Bump!

[htreveth]

Gardein has awesome faux meats. Their mandarin chicken is amazing. Tofu can be marinated to taste like teriyaki, etc. Whole wheat pizza dough and whole wheat pastas are good. Mixed salads. I don't eat beans either.

[htreveth]

Quorn is another great product but does contain egg. Chicken patties, nuggets, etc.

[BuckeyezRule]

Hubby's sister felt this way around age 10, and is 42 now, and not had any meat since. Her DH was vegetarian, but is eating meat now. Their DS was vegetarian, but I think he eats some meat now.

[htreveth]

Get some yakisoba noodles mix with edamame and carrots,etc. with teriyaki sauce. So good.
Taco night or enchiladas.
Lasagna. Use tofu instead of ricotta.
If you want a cheesy taste I highly recommend nutritional yeast flakes. Sprinkle it on popcorn
so good! And has all the essential amino acids and b12.

[doulala]

You might try a more gentle approach--   Maybe just plan the menu the night/week ahead and if meat is available she can have some, but other alternatives are there, too.      Feeling some underlying pressure to choose one way or another because of the rest of the family might add a little stress underneath, too.
Beans are a great option (you don't have to eat them) though!

;-)

[htreveth]

take tofu. Press. Cut into cubes. Coat in corn starch. Fry in small amount of oil until golden. Serve with soy sauce and rice.

[JasonsMom2007]

quorn makes good fake meat.  Mushrooms are a great replacement as well :)  And don't forget about nuts!

[annelauer]

What about legumes other than beans: peas, edamame, lentils, etc.?  And as far as being filling, it would hard not to be if you were to use brown rice, whole grain pastas and the likes.  I would recommend checking out a kid's vegetarian cookbook from your local library.  Once you have read through a few you will get some good ideas and then know if there are some you may want to purchase.  Nuts and seeds make good protein-filled snacks.  Quinoa can go into any meal.  Good luck.  Hope you all enjoy it!