I don't want my kids to be vegetarian

[HowToTrainYourTeen]

DC (15 & 13) have decided they want to go vegetarian. I don't want to go vegetarian and neither does DH, so they'd have to have different meals. I/DH don't want to be wasting time making 2 different meals whenever we want meat or fish, and we don't really have space for 2 people to be cooking at once. WIBU to say no?

You dont have to make 2 meals. Some are easy - we are having burgers and chips tonight so a mix of veggie and meat burgers (same with sausages etc).

For some I just cook the meat on the side and either add extra veg to the sauce to go with it or use quorn nuggets.

Quorn mince and chunks are very useful and healthier (even DH finds it fine) and often make a veggie pasta sauce serve and then add in fish either to the sauce or on top.Gnocchi served alongside salmon is another one

I am with you op and cannot understand the poster suggesting you’re lazy. I work full time and plan and cook all the family meals. I don’t suddenly want to plan extra or adapted meals and going veggie isn’t for everyone. I have low iron levels and need meat alongside iron tablets. I eat loads of green veg but bodies get iron easier from meat. If dc changed their diet then I would look at ways we could work together and they can make their own food to a degree. I wouldn’t say no but I wouldn’t be taking the whole burden.

@katy1213

They can make all the moral choices they like when they're shopping/cooking for themselves. Offer extra mashed potatoes and cabbage - and see how long it lasts!

Lovely 🙄 are you really saying that dc should not be able to make ' moral choices' until they are adults? What an odd view to have. Hope you don't have kids!

www.racheleagleton.com.au/blog/strategies-for-coping-with-a-vegetarian-in-a-meat-eating-house
Here's a link

As an example, we’re having sausage and mash tonight. We will both have potato mash, swede mash, mini sweetcorn, carrots, tender stem broccoli. DP will then have pork sausages, I’ll have veggie sausages.

It’s not cooking a separate meal.

Unfortunately they're still not old enough to know what's good for them. Vegetarian diets do not offer all the essential amino acids that children need. Fish oils are particularly healthy.
Humans are omnivores - whilst they're still growing they need to eat a range of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, seeds etc....
They can do what they like when they leave home.

@underneaththeash

Unfortunately they're still not old enough to know what's good for them. Vegetarian diets do not offer all the essential amino acids that children need. Fish oils are particularly healthy. Humans are omnivores - whilst they're still growing they need to eat a range of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, seeds etc.... They can do what they like when they leave home.

What a load of nonsense. A vegetarian diet can be as healthy (or unhealthy) as one including meat.

@AnnnaBananna

vegetarians cannot eat meat-based food They CAN though. They just don’t want to. Vegetarianism is not like an allergy - it’s a choice. I’d cater for an allergy but I wouldn’t put myself out for a choice.

Would you make someone eat a food you knew they hated? If so, why?

Of course vegetarians can eat meat; they don't want to. Usually for moral or ethical reasons. Would you make a Muslim eat pork? They can... 🙄

You won't have to make fully separate meals each time. It depends what your normal repetoire is like.

For meals where the meat/fish is independent from the veg dishes, then they just need a different protein option. You can get some great plant-based meat substitutes for that. Or get them to make something for the pair of them to go with the veg you are already cooking.

For meals where everything is mixed in - pasta dishes, curries etc. Maybe you could compromise and do veg versions of this once a week for the whole family and ask the kids to also take responsibility for a veg meal once a week. For those dishes as other posters suggested make enough to freeze leftovers and then they'll always have an option for later in the week too.

I went veggie at about 14. I used to batch cook on the weekends and make my own food (and freeze a load). One of my sisters bought me a good cookbook and I worked my way through it. If I didn’t cool on the night, I’d have the veggies that everyone else was having and throw on an omelette or something from the freezer.

My family were old school meat eaters so all dinners would have meat/poultry/fish but nowadays it’s not unusual for people to eat veggie meals a few times a week is it?

@underneaththeash

Unfortunately they're still not old enough to know what's good for them. Vegetarian diets do not offer all the essential amino acids that children need. Fish oils are particularly healthy. Humans are omnivores - whilst they're still growing they need to eat a range of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, seeds etc.... They can do what they like when they leave home.

Old-fashioned, outdated nonsense. Of course a veggie diet can have all the nutrients you need!!

Your children are old enough to make their own choices. Would it really be too much for you to adapt? Go on, broaden your horizons, you might even enjoy it.

Tell them , the vegetarian menu is up to them. At weekends they can cook up and freeze vegetarian meals. Otherwise, they can just eat whatever you cook and leave out the meaty bits. So if you make chili con carne, they just get rice. If you make fish and chips and peas, they get chips and peas. Buy them a supply of multivitamins and iron.

 Stick to it . Either, they will become fabulous vegetarian  cooks and start cooking delicious  family  meals for all of you. Or, they will soon get tired of  cooking  for themselves and give up being vegetarians.

Yes, it would be unreasonable. At 15 and 13 they should be capable of cooking and feeding themselves, and this would be an excellent opportunity for them to start taking responsibility for their own nutrition. By which I mean, don't let them live on chips!

I'd suggest to them that they work out a menu that meets their needs, you look over it to confirm it'll do the job, and agree between you all when they will cook for themselves and when you/DH will cook for all 4 of you. Or maybe they cook vegetarian for all four of you one or two nights a week? Not being vegetarian doesn't mean ALWAYS eating meat, does it? I'm not vegetarian, but probably have meatless meals 2-3 times a week. Sometimes (gasps!) what I want to eat is vegan!

Don't dismiss their stated desire to be vegetarian. But treat them as adolescents not little children, and involve them in the selection and preparation of their own food. It's an important life skill!

@underneaththeash

Unfortunately they're still not old enough to know what's good for them. Vegetarian diets do not offer all the essential amino acids that children need. Fish oils are particularly healthy. Humans are omnivores - whilst they're still growing they need to eat a range of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, seeds etc.... They can do what they like when they leave home.

That’s nonsense. Sensible meal plans can give vegetarian children everything they need for a healthy diet.

You do realise OP that eating meat is a massive contributor to climate change?

Your DC are making a very responsible choice in wishing to become vegetarian. You should support them.

If you make fish and chips and peas, they get chips and peas.

Or put a vegetarian non-fish alternative in the oven. No extra effort at all. They’re available in all the supermarkets now.

Get them a decent cookbook with nutritional info on it. I was doing home Ed/cooking at school and found nutrition interesting. It sure if kids learn this these days.

You can have a perfectly healthy diet as a veggie (pushing 40 years now and I’m still alive, cough, cough). I’d even suggest that some meaty diets aren’t particularly healthy - sausage and chips anyone?

@underneaththeash

Unfortunately they're still not old enough to know what's good for them. Vegetarian diets do not offer all the essential amino acids that children need. Fish oils are particularly healthy. Humans are omnivores - whilst they're still growing they need to eat a range of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, seeds etc.... They can do what they like when they leave home.

I have never eaten meat or dairy. My mother and father are the same.

Its damaged my health so much that I was a prop in the rfu championship.

I just want to add our family situation the the many others here. One of my DC decided they wanted to go veggie when they were 8. It was fully supported by both me and my DH. A few years later and 2 of us are veggie and 2 are meat eaters. Some days we all eat vegetarian meals and others we have meals that work for the meat eaters to add something meaty to their plate.
If I had forced my child to eat meat he would have been distressed and refused to eat it. Supporting his moral stance and encouraging a healthy, balanced diet and attitude to food was very important to us as a family. Far more important that the ‘inconvenience’ of adapting our food plans.

@PurpleDaisies

If you make fish and chips and peas, they get chips and peas.

Or put a vegetarian non-fish alternative in the oven. No extra effort at all. They’re available in all the supermarkets now.

Exactly this! And you could even make a 5 bean chilli rather than a beef chilli, so you could all eat the same. It really CAN be simple OP

Is the prop the person at the bottom of the pile?

One of my DC became vegan at 16. She made her own lunches for school and we adapted family meals at home. Four years later we are all vegan.

DS is an omnivore - he really likes tofu though and won’t tough a ‘real’ sausage if you paid him. Some veggie food is really good.

I’m making some veggie chilli tonight, with a black bean and onion stew, and a tomato salad. And loads of cheese and guacamole... mmmmmmm.

Well I'm vegetarian but my kids chose to eat meat. Can you imagine the uproar if I forced them to be veggie!!