DD1 wants to try being vegetarian

[foodiepep]

Try and get her to eat Quinoa.  it is the only pant source that contains all the branch chain amino acids.

Also eat iron rich foods with those rich in vitamin C.  It's important to note that calcium rich foods stop the absorption of iron so avoid combining them in the same meal.

[CarolineW]

This is all great advice and ideas, guys - thanks.  I'm making Quirky's lentil bolognese tonight.  I think I'll make her green chocolate smoothie for pud.  And I've earmarked the chickpea stew for the weekend.  Now if I can get away with that I'll be delighted.  We love chickpeas, but the same can NOT be said of DD1.

I knew that Quinoa was very healthy, but didn't realise it was a complete protein.  That's excellent news as I grew some this year - I'm planning to thresh it today.  I like the idea of mixing it with rice.

jkmt - I got a shock from your DD7 - until I realised she is 7 years old, rather than your 7th daughter    I was starting to wonder just how many children you had, and how on earth you coped    It was a good chuckle to start my day with.

[jkmt]

jkmt - I got a shock from your DD7 - until I realised she is 7 years old, rather than your 7th daughter    I was starting to wonder just how many children you had, and how on earth you coped    It was a good chuckle to start my day with.

  Only two! Would love to have had more, but started too late, and DH wasn't as keen. Don't think we would have got anywhere near 7  though...

[CarolineW]

Just reporting in to say that the lentil bolognaise went down well, and the tofu version of Quirky`s chicken and cashews went down a storm.  Thanks for the ideas!

We watched a bit of River Cottage vegetarian last night (not what it`s really called, but can`t think of the proper title) to choose something to cook from it.  She did chose an Asian noodle salad, and has also said she wants to try some of the Indian food - so I`ll get my TMX Indian book out for some inspiration.  I`ve been a bit disappointed by the recipes I`ve tried in there, as they were a bit bland for my taste.  But that should be good for DD1.

[Vivaroo]

It's nice to see lovely supportive parents.   My mum bought me steak knives last Christmas and keeps telling me how wonderful the Dukan diet is      I know some parents whose children naturally don't like eating meat and the parents are anxious about this and try to force the meat eating rather than educating themselves on the benefits of being vegetarian.  When I went vegetarian only a couple of years ago it opened up such an array of different recipes and made me more creative and a better cook.  I had to learn about cooking beans and finding nice tofu but apart from that I still use meat recipes for the delicious sauces and substitute chicken/tofu, ground beef/lentils.  You are a great mum being so supportive.  Mexican recipes using pinto, black turtle or kidney beans are yummy and the kids usually love this kind of thing.

Focus on variety of unprocessed plant based foods; green leafy vegetables and other vegetables, beans, nuts & seeds and there will be no question of not getting enough protein as these contain protein with the benefit of fibre, all those nutrients and no saturated fat.  Also good idea to ground up seeds (linseeds, sunflower, pumpkin etc) and add to smoothies and anything you can hide it in for the added good fats.  I never bother with those meat replacement products, if I go to a barbecue I take a few different salads and grill some big fat mushrooms which is so easy and tasty and the only problem is the meat eaters always want to eat what I'm eating and I have to be selfish and serve myself first.

[CarolineW]

Thanks so much, Vivaroo, and thanks also for the tips, very useful.