Ideas for protein for vegetarian DS(12)?

[cheeseismydownfall]

DS has been vegetarian for around six months and seems fairly commited. I want to support him, but it's making family meals tricky. I would happily cook and eat all manner of delicious veggie fare, and DH and I would probably eat very little meat if we were only cooking for ourselves. But DS has two younger siblings who are fairly unadventurous, and our midweek meals tend to consist of simple protein (grilled chicken, grilled fish etc) served with rice or potatoes etc and vegetables. They both have tiny appetites and will simply not eat if they don't like what is served, and as they eat healthily (albeit in a limited way) I really don't want to fight that battle right now.

Up to now we've been relying quite a bit on quorn, Linda McCartney sausages etc, but although these are fine occasionally I don't really like him eating so much processed food. Also I don't think he's getting eboigh protein to fill him up because he's getting hungry quickly and then filling up on pasta, bread etc, which isn't great.

So what I'm after is some ideas for homemade alternatives that I can maybe freeze and then reheat alongside our meals. Veggie burgers, that type of thing. If anyone could share their best receipes with me I would be hugely grateful! Or any other approaches that perhaps I haven't thought of. Thank you!

Many vegetarian teenagers eat mostly junk food. There are few if any vegetables consumed.

I don’t know how many vegetarian teenagers you know personally but my two (vegetarian from birth) have always eaten masses of vegetables. It’s fruit they tend to eat less of.

I know a few adult vegetarians who hate vegetables.

DD been veggie for 3 years. Protein is easy to find, most meat eaters eat much more than needed. You’ll get it in beans, nuts and seeds, eggs, cheese, yougurts etc. I’m more concerned about b12 as that’s harder, so I give my DD a supplement.

Green lentil bolognaise is a winner with us all btw.

You can add peanut butter to veggie curry sauces to up the protein.

I have 3 vegetarian dc and I am vegetarian. Sometimes we do have main courses with lower protein, but balance it out by giving the older dcs a bowl of nuts afterwards, or some skyr or Greek yoghurt with honey.

We get ours from chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, nuts and nut butter, chia seeds, oats, veggies have protein too.

A lot of people over estimate the amount the of protein we need. About 0.75g per 1kg of body weight is a rough guide. If you weighted 10 stone then that about 48g of protein a day.

potatoes are a complete protein. So is milk. Don't really have to go beyond spuds & cheese.

You can make a quick and easy satay sauce with peanut butter, which goes well with veg or rice or noodles. If you use a good quality brand (Whole Earth or similar) the peanut butter doesn't have extra sugar etc added

Posting in sympathy. I have one newly veggie tween who is fairly adventurous, and one child who cant cope with food touching and loves beige freezer food. Its often tempting to do a veggie family meal and just do chicken nuggets or sausages as an extra for the fussy one.