Non meat protein sources for fussy 3yo

[OneFlewOverTheMumsNest]

DD2 is deep into the fussy eating phase of toddlerhood but it centres around protein sources really. Any carbs, fruit, veg etc are all fine but I’m struggling with the protein element of her meals. In terms of meat she will eat mince and sausages (we get good quality but don’t want her to have too many) and chicken sometimes depending upon the day of the week and how you cut it! 🙄 She won’t eat fish, eggs, nut butters - all the things I could rely on with DD1 at this age. She does like pulses and loves falafel but dislikes hummus. She loves milk and yogurt and I always buy plain Greek yogurt so that’s something. Can any of you wise mumsnetters please recommend some easy recipes to help me get some protein into this child’s meals?

Preschoolers need about 16-18g protein a day. That's about 100g Greek yoghurt and 2 slices of toast. So try not to stress. I know MN has a total protein obsession but it isn't warranted. I have a protein refuser too :)

Yes, don't worry too much as it sounds like she gets plenty, but you could try small cubes of tofu tossed in cornflour and lightly fried until crispy, then add teriyaki sauce or other sauce she likes. Mine love it.

WhatAmISupposedToBeDoing thank you! It’s good to hear that other people are in the same boat and it might not be as bad as I thought. I think it’s feels worse as I never went through this with DD1 so was unprepared. DD1 will eat anything I present to her apart from from pulses annoyingly given what I said about DD2! Kids eh!?

Thanks MoMandaS I’ll give tofu a try. I’ve never eaten actually so it’ll be good for me to try something new as well.

My DD is an extremely fussy eater (she's almost 8) I make her pancakes at least twice a week so that I know she's getting eggs and milk. I substitute some of the flour for ground almonds, as this is high in protein too. Could you try that?

Maybe replace things like rice with quinoa?

Tbh what she is eating sounds fine especially if she's still drinking plenty of milk.

I think it can be the chewiness that puts them off meat. Making a casserole if the adults like it and just serving the gravy with veg is one way to give protein, though in my way of thinking it was for iron primarily. The casseroled (soft) meat shredded might just pass muster too.

I found that if the food is available but in an unpressured way because you carry on cooking it for yourself, then they will come back to it in time. (That time can be years though!)

As for non meat there is protein in peas and even brocolli.

Would an omelette be accepted? A poached egg. French toast.

Fish was/ is tricky for one of mine and it ended up a matter of coated white fish and mussels!

Thick lentil soups and bean casseroles have become popular as time has gone on.

Baked beans? We used to do a baked bean bake- beans mixed with sweet corn, topped with breadcrumbs and cheese and shoved under the grill for a few minutes.

All my kids, even the fussiest, will eat tofu. You can get so many different flavours and do so much with it, and it is a complete protein as in it has all the amino acids.

I made a bosh creamy pasta bake where the sauce was made of tinned toms, peppers and cashews (soaked and blitzed to a cream) with veggie sausages. Everyone ate that one too.

Tofu, soft, little texture and virtually flavourless so you can mix it in with all sorts of sauces.You can hide egg in other foods, my mum used to put it in mashed potatoes with a little turmeric to make it golden.

dangermouse that pasta sauce sounds good, I might try that. Mine would eat pasta for every meal.

She sounds like she's eating a much more varied diet than my 3 ever did ! My sons (22 and 20) are now 6ft 4 and 6ft 7 and my daughter at 18 is 5ft 6 and doing squats with 100kg on the bar! I'm sure they never met their 'required' protein intake but they all had a proper breakfast of weetabix or porridge (no coco pop type cereals), packed lunch then an evening meal of meat, potato and veg or home made pasta bolognaise/lasagne, or chicken stir fry type food. Snacks were home made cakes and biscuits (I only worked part time in those days!)

Don't stress about it too much- you already sound like you are giving her as much as she needs.

Shameless placemarking for my increasingly fussy eater

Lots of excellent suggestions here, thank you everyone. Sadly eggs and fish in any form will be rejected but I’m keen to follow up on the tofu suggestions so if anyone has any recipes I’d be hugely appreciative as I’ve never cooked it before. She also loves baked beans, would probably live off them but I’m worried about her having too much salt if she eats them too frequently. Again if anyone has any recipes for home made baked beans that they’d like to share, that’d be great.

Homemade baked beans require hours and hours of cooking, must cost far more than tinned ones.
You can buy reduced salt and sugar baked beans, Heinz I think. My Dd grew to 5ft 10 on baked beans, she ate no other source of protein during her teens.

www.healthylittlefoodies.com/healthy-baked-beans/

I make these baked beans, my one year old loves them

At one point in her preschool existence, DD lived on plain pasta, lump Parmesan and satsumas. It was the pasta that provided the protein, as it's around 10% of the flour.

Thanks @TheWeatherGirl1 I’ll give that recipe a try.