Calling all healthy vegetarians - please share your expertise

[balia]

I would love some info on providing a healthy, non-fattening, varied veggie diet for children. Healthy snacks, plus the lowdown on how healthy veggie packaged food is, and any great recipes to widen the diet of kids who eat veggie diets. I am worried about balancing a veggie diet - getting enough protein and not filling up with stodge and carbs. All help greatly appeciated!

We're not a veggie family but I have a die hard meat refusnik 4 yr old. I don't find giving her a healthy diet too much of a challenge, but she likes dairy and pulses.
Snacks such as carrot sticks, cucumber, roast peanuts, rice cakes, oat cakes (most carbs really!) go down well, soft cheese, hummous.
Suma do some good on line recipes, my DD loves something called 'Red Dragon Pie' which is basically a bean based alternative to shepherds pie.

I don't use much pre-packed food, but have some veggie sausages in the freezer which are a handy stand by. My DD won't eat quorn, but for those that will this can make a quick meal - like bolognaise or chilli - it needs much less cooking than meat.

There are lots and lots of interesting sauces to go with pasta/rice, etc, tomato, pesto and so on. DD likes dhal too which is good for protein.
DD is a happy, healthy child who is a good weight and height for her age and rarely ill.

www.suma.coop/tag/recipes/

if you're DCs are eating plenty of fresh greens and fruit (eat it on an empty stomach though) then they're going to be healthy 'cos there's huge amounts of protein in greens (think elephants!)

The only supplement needed if vegan is B12. I follow my blood type and have never been healthier (no probs at all and I'm 60!) Dr. peter D'Adamou is the author if you're interested.

Many thanks! Have checked out that site, Beamur - lots of good ideas and combos I hadn't previously thought about. Plus upping the amount of green veg in dishes seems like a really good idea. I am a bit concerned that lots and lots of recipes are pasta based - should I vary that with potatoes, rice, salad dishes as much as I can? I guess I haven't got my head round the idea that other foods have protein in. Are meat substitutes a good idea or are they like processed food?

I'm afraid I have no idea what following a blood type means?

I am struggling a bit because although vegetarian, the DC in question is an unadventurous eater, pretty reluctant to eat greens/fruit and 'doesn't like' some basic staples like tomatoes, mushrooms etc. Eating out is a nightmare as he tends to be very wary of the veggie options and usually ends up just eating the chips/mash or getting very plain pasta dishes.

Well you know we all have diff. blood types e.g. type O, A, etc. Dr. Peter D,Adamo has scientifically tested all foods against the types and found that O types are good with high protein and low carbs while A types should be demi vegan.

i like tofu as does my GD she likes it lightly fried in a drop of soya sauce and olive oil with quinoa which is a high protein grain (not stodgy) . It is processed but not much and japanese babies are weaned on it.

I also find that DCs LOVE fruit if you give it to then before a meal (when they are really hungry) and make it pretty e.g. a fruit 'face' or flower when they're old enough they can do it. You could do it with veg. too.

Will he eat pizza?? -

I know it has a reputation as junk food, but proper homemade pizza is easy & can be very healthy -

if you blitz carrots, red peppers & greens of some sort (we do broccolli or spinach) into the passata sauce base with a bit of basil - do that & kids just don't know they are eating veg, done it with many of DDs fussier eating veg hating friends & they've come back asking for more if you use a wholemeal flour for the base - or mix wholemeal & white - lots of vitamins & protein in there too - you can then top with whatever he WILL eat & as much cheese as you like

its fun to get them topping there own too, & can get them more interested in trying things they don't normally like - I put out little pots with chopped up veg, sauce(with hidden veg) & cheeses - 1 of DDs friends is very fussy & hates veg in general, but she even ended up trying peppers & spinach & found she liked them & put them on her pizza - her Mum was amazed, as she's refused point blank in the past

Same principle goes for pies, tarts & pasties - they don't have to be unhealthy if you make your own wholemeal/mix pastry & again getting him to help make them might get him to be more adventurous??

You can switch stuff round to suit - i make batches of a tomato sauce (with carrots, celery, onion and sometimes peppers in it) but will serve it with pasta/rice/couscous etc or add a blob of it to the plate with veggie sausages or similar instead of tomato ketchup which DD doesn't like.
My DD is pretty unadventurous too, but we a good core of things she likes that can be mixed up for variety, but when we go out I usually order her very plain dishes, like pasta with parmesan or a deconstructed cheese sandwich - she prefers to eat bread and filling separately.

Both of my DSs are vegetarians - one loves veggies and fruit but dislikes products like Quorn, the other loves the veggie 'meats' but hates anything fresh and green!

I make them lots of smoothies which helps with the fruit and veg (whizzing some broccoli/spinach/etc in doesn't alter the taste enough for them to notice). I also sometimes put nut butters or some flaxseed in to help with protein and omega 3s.

For snacks I give them nuts, dried fruit and healthier cereal bars (like 9Bars which are yummy and also have omega3+6 in). Also Ryvita crackers with marmite for B12 are good.

For main meals I've started substituting red lentils or various beans instead of mince, etc and even DH is enjoying it. Depending on the dish I sometimes blitz the beans so they thicken the sauce. Lentils, beans or chickpeas are also good in veggie soups made in the blender.

Eating out is more of a challenge for us - they always seem to end up having a basic margharita pizza (as long as there are no 'bits' of tomato on!). Like your homemade pizza sauce tip rockinhippy!

Ooh, thanks ever so much! A wealth of advice. Sounds stupid, but I simply hadn't thought of 'hiding' veg in with other stuff, and some of these ideas are a work of evil genius!

We do homemade pizza pick 'n' mix, so will definitely be using the tomato trick (he'll eat tomato sauce, just not bits of tomato (a fellow sufferer here, thecoo) and I dare say it'll be healthier for all of us. Also the wholemeal thing is brilliant, too - I had no idea wholemeal stuff had protein in it - and I prefer brown bread whilst everyone else likes white so that gives me a great reason to change.

My 3 dcs and 5 of my nephews and nieces are veggies, all glowing with health and energy.

Some of them are fussier than I/their parents would like. Many of them are not keen on the sort of veggie food I like - spicy, lots of tofu, lentils, pulses, veg, lots of foreign influences, especially Indian veggie food. My dc and their cousins don't go for this much at all.

What we do with my fussiest dd is look at sources of protein and make sure she has a mix of dairy/non dairy. also that it's not all quorn (all my dc love quorn and will happily eat quorn spag bog, quorn sausages etc a lot).

Top tips include giving them the food separately, in contrast to a lot of adult veggie food. So, 2 of mine will happily eat chickpeas straight from the tin, or fried with spices. all 3 like hummous with raw veg to dip in. All 3 like eggs so we have a lot of those. Boiled eggs and toast, omelettes, scrambled egg, all popular and easy.

Nuts are also great for veggie kids, again mine have these as snacks rather than in mixed cooked meals, though they will all eat nut roast they don't rave about it, but they like little pots of cashews, or pecans, etc.

Eating out - mine often ask for egg and chips instead of the options on the children's menu. Or they have plainish pasta dishes, or pizza, or baked potatoes with cheese and beans. Or toasties.

My dc are not adventurous about hot spicy food but they all love Wagamamas and will eat the veggie children's noodle options there. I think it's fairly bland but seems exciting to them. They also like Greek food - the veggie mezze dishes are quite good, lots of bits of dips, not too scary for fussy kids. And Chinese restaurants go down well with egg-fried rice, noodles with simple veg, etc.
Indian restaurants aren't so successful, they only like rice and naan. but one day...

Feeling very positive with this ATM - this weekend have done stir fry with tofu and loads more veg than usual, and some lentil dahl with broad beans which he wasn't as keen on but didn't object to the beans, just said it was a bit too spicy so can alter that next time. Also tried having 'starters' of fruit or veg which he really seemed to like, and got some low-fat yoghurts for puddings. Great start!