DD wants to go vegetarian

[TeenagersDontWearCoats]

DS most definitely does not.

I do not want to be cooking (or planning for) multiple meals as I find it hard enough as it is making sure everyone has the right meal at the right time.

DD is 13 and announced at lunch today she wanted to go veggie. Fine (although she's have saved me a bit if she'd said that before I'd bought the bbq for the weekend!). Except for special occasions. And except for lasagne!

So, for now I won't be e.g. separating pans or whatever, just a gradual increasing of veggie main meals.

Any favourite recipes that are easy to cook parallel to meat dishes? Or is the easy option to do vegetarian main meals and throw DS a meat sandwich every now and again?

Honestly, it's the planning rather than the concept that worries me. Although making sure DD gets enough protein is my initial thought.

This is bullshit to be honest.

😂😂😂 You're mad. I've been vegetarian for over 20 years and I am definitely not anorexic.

Nope I would not be cooking special meals for someone who is a vegetarian except for special occasions or lasagne. You are either one or you are not.

my daughter is pescatarian (she is 11). She definitely is not part time. It’s been 6 months now.

i tandem cook like others have said, or she cooks herself thinks like grilled salmon or prawns. I also keep frozen servings of lentil dahl in the freezer, so if we are having something with rice, she can defrost that.

it’s definitely more work and more expense and not a chance would I be entertaining it if she turned round and sometimes ate beef in her favourite dish. That just shows that it is actually meaningless.

@LottieLovehandle @Mademetoxic sadly it's true and well documented.
here's a quick google
Vegan Diets and Eating Disorders: What's the Link?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666323025989

My 9 year old has recently gone veggie, well pescatarian. I have told her that she’s either doing it or she’s not though, I wouldn’t be tolerating a part time veggie.

ive bought quorn chicken for fajitas which she really liked and quorn mince which she hasn’t tried yet. She seems to be eating a lot of cheese. Because I recommended her being pescatarian, she will also eat tuna which is good so tuna pasta, tuna sandwich etc.

im going to try incorporating more beans although im not sure how she’ll find it. I’m not making separate meals though, just modifying hers. The rest of us aren’t veggie and to be honest we could all do with eating more veggies so it’ll probably do us good

I think any type of obsessive diets can be linked to eating disorders or developing them. However, I think you can find the same link with young people obsessively eating protein to build muscles, protein powders etc
It’s not the vegetarian or vegan diet as such as it can be just as healthy as stuffing your face with chicken all day.

You don’t necessarily lose weight eating a vegetarian diet either.

As someone who isn't anorexic that's bullshit. I am perfectly fine with my diet thank you.

as an adult you understand better the need for nutrition to fuel your body and mind. sadly teen's influenced by friends and social media along with an immature brain don't have the same level of understanding.

But you don’t need to eat meat. You are probably much better not eating meat….

Most humans are part time vegetarians. Omnivores, to be precise.

Vegetarianism & the Risks of Anorexia Nervosa | Dr. James Greenblatt

that's not the point and is questionable in growing bodies.
you might not like the results the fact that there is a link or the results which are online and well published.
a teen who wants to be veggie should raise red flags especially if friends and social media involved.

I cook a lot of vegetarian meals as although we eat meat we do like to keep it to a minimum, and anyway I enjoy adding extra vegetarian side dishes. Marry Me Chickpeas is delicious! M

Checking in for ideas.
DD has said she wants to do a month of vegetarian diet this summer for ethical reasons. I said fine, but only after her exams.
We’re 80% plant based all year anyway and summer means watermelon, grilled veg and a variety of salads so she won’t starve. She isn’t a fan of beans and I’m not a fan of tofu so we’ll need to find an alternative source of protein.

I went vegetarian as a teen. The amount of condescending comments from adult were ridiculous. If my teen went vegetarian I would respect their choice.

I have been vegetarian for 36 years, and I'm sure it was quite hard at the time for my mum due to more limited options. Thankfully she respected that decision and never tried to make me eat meat or do something whilst cooking that I would have upset me. My children are not vegetarian through choice, although I generally cooked veggie meals when they were young. It's very easy to cook a base meal and then add whatever protein you want to it. Curries, pasta sauces, katsu curry (chicken or tofu) risotto, tortillas, anything really. I sometimes have to have two separate pans on the go. I often prepare the main dish and my teenage son will cook the meat alongside as he likes doing that anyway.
I don't believe in eating or exploiting animals and it has never been about trying to lose weight or anything like that. Making someone eat meat who doesn't want to is cruel, in my opinion.

This. It's really easy.

Fish pasta. Just take our her portion of pasta and grate some cheese over it. +Salad & Garlic bread.

Mum was veggie Dad and me not

curry - make the curry, separate the veggie portion, add meat and quorn or veg mix or chickpeas respectively

anything and veg - cook veggie sausages, veggie nuggets, veggie burgers, etc

Pasta - tomato bottles, chuck in veg, pre-cook Quorn mince in one pan, meat mince in the other and split the sauce for the last part of cooking (or just do a veg sauce for one)

Not really that hard

You are one person. Not the same as a study.

You need to do protein combining if doing vegetarian. Cheese is not a complete protein, so will need to be paired with another protein.

@TeenagersDontWearCoats , I was 5 when I realised what meat was and decided I didn’t want to eat it. It was an entirely different age altogether then (1968) and my parents could so easily have forced me to eat meat. They didn’t. To this day, I’m 62 now and I lost them both years ago, I am so grateful to them for the respect they showed to my feelings and principles.
I went on to marry a meat eater, we’re still together after 49 years. ☺️
I’ve spent years catering to our different diets and now my vegetarian son has a vegan wife and daughter.
My formula is to have a core that is common to all, so maybe I’ll do a tray bake with veggies and black beans and then meat eaters might have salmon fillets/ chicken thighs/ pork chops with it and veggies might have Halloumi/ veggie sausages or other veggie alternatives. Tomorrow my husband will have his roast and I’ve made a tofu and cannellini bean cassoulet which I make in a batch, portion and freeze. I’m so used to this it seems effortless but you should probably involve your daughter in preparing her element. Don’t fret this is all very doable. Xx

Correcting myself, I think cheese is a complete protein, but not all proteins are, so something to keep in mind when meal planning.

Care to back this up with some evidence?

She's made a decision. She has to help sort it.
Meal plan dinners for a week. Give it to her. She could suggest what she can have - your meal without meat or something else. She can go look in a supermarket or cook herself.
We don't do everything our children ask for. This is no different.
No authority without responsibility.

@ObliviousCoalmine i posted at least 4 links just go to google scholar it's not a challenging topic to research. or go to mn threads on children with anorexia; yes it's often the first step, which is seen as an acceptable way of restricting food.