OT - So my kid wants to be a vegetarian...
I can respect her reasoning. She really just doesn't like the thought of an animal dying to be her dinner. And she won't eat meat that looks like meat, so that leaves highly processed stuff like chicken tenders and nuggets. To me, switching to a vegetarian diet will offer more nutritious choices.
So...I have been doing some online research (as she seems serious about this), but I want to get ideas from everywhere.
Any suggestions! I don't want to be relegated to plying my child with soy, especially since she's not yet a teenager (read some stuff about soy and hormones and whatnotj...not sure I understand it all but I know that her protein sources should be varied). Any tips for keeping her diet balanced and filling are much appreciated!
So...I have been doing some online research (as she seems serious about this), but I want to get ideas from everywhere.
Any suggestions! I don't want to be relegated to plying my child with soy, especially since she's not yet a teenager (read some stuff about soy and hormones and whatnotj...not sure I understand it all but I know that her protein sources should be varied). Any tips for keeping her diet balanced and filling are much appreciated!
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
I switched over to veg a year ago and I feel so much better. I get most of my protein from beans and there are a few grains that have protein too. I do tofu 2-3 times a week and I was pretty happy. I'm not a vegan so I do use milk, eggs and cheese. I do admit that since the switch, it has forced me to eat healthier and much more veggies. I wish my son would switch just so he would eat his veggies. Good luck and I think it's great that she wants to changed her diet, but that's just my opinion.
I think her lunch is going to be the hardest to figure out. I have a smoothie she likes for breakfast. Lunch I'm wary to send beans. She is reactive to them (gas) and in the 4th grade, being the farting kid is not exactly something to aspire to! But then I suppose if I packed veggies in general that would create more gas (at least until her body adjusts). Maybe I'll pack her a Beano as well. I don't know!!!
But she's pretty open minded culinarily and likes chickpeas, lentils, red beans, black beans. She likes TVP and Tofurkey. She likes the Morningstar stuff. And she's embracing more veggies. She loves peas, cucumbers, sugar-snap peas, zucchini, squash, cauliflower. And she seems to like quinoa. So I guess I'm not so bad off after all! I can think of a few different things to make her using just those things. How to pack them for lunch? That's a whole different matter.
I may try my hand at making falafel as well. Those are easy to stuff in a pita pocket.
But she's pretty open minded culinarily and likes chickpeas, lentils, red beans, black beans. She likes TVP and Tofurkey. She likes the Morningstar stuff. And she's embracing more veggies. She loves peas, cucumbers, sugar-snap peas, zucchini, squash, cauliflower. And she seems to like quinoa. So I guess I'm not so bad off after all! I can think of a few different things to make her using just those things. How to pack them for lunch? That's a whole different matter.
I may try my hand at making falafel as well. Those are easy to stuff in a pita pocket.
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
I used to have extremely bad reactions to beans until I learned to de-gas them. Canned beans equals lots of gas. I soak my beans overnight with a tiny bit of baking soda in the water. Actually, I'll soak them for 4 hours, and then wake up, drain ALL of tha****er out, add fresh water without baking soda, and soak them until I'm ready to cook them. I have absolutely no negative response to my de-gased home cooked beans.
Beans, beans and more beans. You can do SO many wonderful things with beans - and I'm sure you'll come up with way more yummy bean things than I've come up with.
You can often substitute beans for mean in dishes - for instance, if you were serving spaghetti with meat sauce, heat some of the sauce (without meat) in a separate pan and toss in some beans. That way you and your other daughter can have meat if you want and you're not making two totally separate dinners. Of if you make tacos, cook up some taco meat and cook up some beans separately and let everyone assemble their own.
Is she still planning to eat eggs? Dairy? That gives you a lot more options.
I'm not sure how old she is, but maybe you can also ask her to do some research. Tell her you respect her decision and that it's a grown up kind of decision to make (deciding that one wants to eat meat is a grown up kind of decision too, I'm not saying being a vegetarian is the only mature thing to do) and that you know people can eat very healthy without eating meat, but you don't know a whole lot about it and would like to learn more. Ask her to research it and teach you.
You can often substitute beans for mean in dishes - for instance, if you were serving spaghetti with meat sauce, heat some of the sauce (without meat) in a separate pan and toss in some beans. That way you and your other daughter can have meat if you want and you're not making two totally separate dinners. Of if you make tacos, cook up some taco meat and cook up some beans separately and let everyone assemble their own.
Is she still planning to eat eggs? Dairy? That gives you a lot more options.
I'm not sure how old she is, but maybe you can also ask her to do some research. Tell her you respect her decision and that it's a grown up kind of decision to make (deciding that one wants to eat meat is a grown up kind of decision too, I'm not saying being a vegetarian is the only mature thing to do) and that you know people can eat very healthy without eating meat, but you don't know a whole lot about it and would like to learn more. Ask her to research it and teach you.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Oh she's been researching. I have a "no-cook" night where I let each girl make dinner and hers are always no-meat dishes.
See my response above about beans. I'm cool with them except in the case of school lunches.
She never has liked eggs by themselves but will eat things made with eggs. She mentioned tacos today and was thinking about it and said, "Mom, can you make tacos with TVP?" I told her we could indeed and she seemed happy. She still loves dairy so she isn't planning on doing a vegan diet.
But I think I'll take your advice. Maybe ask her to research some dishes she likes and we'll make a shopping list together. I know we hit the farmer's market every week so she can also ask questions and look at things there too. There is one Ethiopian vendor there that makes these dips she really likes (out of lentis and other beans) and all his stuff is vegan. So I may hit him up for recipes as well.
See my response above about beans. I'm cool with them except in the case of school lunches.
She never has liked eggs by themselves but will eat things made with eggs. She mentioned tacos today and was thinking about it and said, "Mom, can you make tacos with TVP?" I told her we could indeed and she seemed happy. She still loves dairy so she isn't planning on doing a vegan diet.
But I think I'll take your advice. Maybe ask her to research some dishes she likes and we'll make a shopping list together. I know we hit the farmer's market every week so she can also ask questions and look at things there too. There is one Ethiopian vendor there that makes these dips she really likes (out of lentis and other beans) and all his stuff is vegan. So I may hit him up for recipes as well.
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
Well, she could do cheese or yogurt with school lunches. If she's eating a lot of protein at other meals, lunch could also be a lower protein meal and that would be OK. But ask her what she wants to try for lunch.
I think getting kids involved in their meals is a great idea anyway, and this is a great opportunity for her to learn about nutrition and get excited about it. I would encourage her to join you in the kitchen and play with her food.
I think getting kids involved in their meals is a great idea anyway, and this is a great opportunity for her to learn about nutrition and get excited about it. I would encourage her to join you in the kitchen and play with her food.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Oh she's already my sous chef! Bariatric Foodie is such a part of their lives. It's so funny because their grandma helped with the holiday event and marveled at how the kids helped me block out my food demos (demonstrating cooking takes some figuring out) and what ingredients needed to be where, when. They help me prep food and every single "BF Kid Zone" recipe has been their idea.
My oldest is darn near kitchen independent. The younger one (who wants to be vegetarian) is my assistant mostly. But that's ok because of my two, she's the most adventurous. My oldest is a "meat and potatoes" type of kid. The younger one will travel around the world with me culinarily!
So yep..we'll be exploring. I think she's a bit wary about this but feels like it's the right thing for her. I was very proud listening to her talk about her reasoning. She's a very thoughtful kid. :)
I'll keep you posted on how this goes.
My oldest is darn near kitchen independent. The younger one (who wants to be vegetarian) is my assistant mostly. But that's ok because of my two, she's the most adventurous. My oldest is a "meat and potatoes" type of kid. The younger one will travel around the world with me culinarily!
So yep..we'll be exploring. I think she's a bit wary about this but feels like it's the right thing for her. I was very proud listening to her talk about her reasoning. She's a very thoughtful kid. :)
I'll keep you posted on how this goes.
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
I'd love to hear how it goes.
I became a vegetarian when I was 14. At first my parents didn't think I would stick with it (I have, ever since then) and they did not make any effort to make sure I got enough protein. I ate whatever the family ate, minus the meat. So I got very little protein. I was 14 and I don't think they should have necessarily cooked separate meals for me but they did the grocery shopping and could have made sure to get items that would give me enough protein and made sure I was eating a healthy diet. Of course, they didn't care how much junk food my sister and I ate, either. They were not very into nutrition.
I became a vegetarian when I was 14. At first my parents didn't think I would stick with it (I have, ever since then) and they did not make any effort to make sure I got enough protein. I ate whatever the family ate, minus the meat. So I got very little protein. I was 14 and I don't think they should have necessarily cooked separate meals for me but they did the grocery shopping and could have made sure to get items that would give me enough protein and made sure I was eating a healthy diet. Of course, they didn't care how much junk food my sister and I ate, either. They were not very into nutrition.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
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