Oh God, DD wants to be a vegetarian...

[Tryingtobehealthy]

DD is 5 and has decided she wants to be a vegetarian. We do eat some veggie meals but we eat a lot of fish/meat as well and it will be a pain to cook separate meals for her (as I'm not prepared to switch us all to veggie). My first question - and I know I'm going to get shot down in flames for even asking - would it be really unethical to give her some meat now and again and tell her it's Quorn? I want to respect her wishes and I certainly won't force her to eat meat but so much of my stock repertoire has meat in and I can't bear the thought of having to cook separate meals all the time. If she thought she was being a vegetarian would that be enough? SHe's only 5, FFS, can she even understand the concept poroeprly? Is there any way in which lying would be acceptable? There really isn't, is there?

Secondly, I have no idea how to do this healthily. WTF can I give her to eat in the way of protein? Short of Quorn, egg and cheese, I'm stuck. I'm fairly sure she wouldn't like the texture of tofu. She hates nuts and that would be a pain anyway as some of the rest of the family have to steer clear of nuts. Do you actually need to eat protein at every meal? If you cut out meat do you have to eat more of anything else or can you just eat a normal healthy diet but with veggie protein instead of meat? eg. have I imagined that veggie diets can lack in iron unless you replace with specific vegetables? If I just swap the proteins, will she be healthy enough with her fairly limted repertoire of vegetables?
I'm nervous of doing this wrong!

I'm hoping it's just a phase and that once she realises there is meat in sausages/ham/fishfingers she'll relent, but I'm a bit stumped in the meantime. The rest of her diet is somewhat limited, she's a fairly picky eater.

Sorry, lots of questions there! Very grateful for any advice on how to do this healthily.

dd went veggie for a week when she was 5. Until there was burgers on the menu at school

just to add - we ALL eat a lot more veggie options now (I am too lazy to cook various meal combinations!!) - lots healthier and cheaper!

I never met a single vegetarian in Indonesia (except for foreign tourists). Seems people that are exposed to meat from field to plate don't do it.

For some reason the super-clean packaged meat we get in this country makes people more squeamish, not less.

An unhealthy meat eaters diet is FAR more likely to be the cause of anaemia than a heathy vegetaian diet. That is a very archaic argument.

While pregnant with both my ds's I had an iron count that was very high. In fact when I was tested routinely at 8 months it had not dropped (and it is exppected to drop for meat eaters and veggies alike).

Both my ds's have been vegetarian since birth and at 7 and 9 years old they are extremely energetic, bright, strong, and healthy.

If you are relying solely on meat to make your childs diet healthy, then you are not eating a healthy diet i'm afraid.

Hmmm...

SOmeguy - I lived on Bali for 18 months and think it is more to do with the fact that meat is not farmed in the same way as in the western countries. That is to say, many vegetarians are against the explotation of the animals and the intensive farming practices that go on that cause many to give up meat.

I'm not a veggie by any stretch of the imagination but if I had to cook family meals with a veggie around I'd be doing a lot of stews and curries type stuff, doing loads of veggies in the sauce then splitting it before adding meat to the bit for the non veggies.

That wouldn't be too bad if your DD is up for eating that type of food

Oh and have a chat with her about why she wants to do it, is fish included etc. It may be she just wants to cut out red meat.

Don't lie to her, definitely.

Re the health thing, my 2 cousins were raised vegan from birth, they always looked a touch pale to me but have grown into two very healthy young women. They also both have degrees from Cambridge but I can't guarantee that that is linked to their diet

I dunno if people are that bothered about the way animals are treated over there TBH. Visited a horrific crocodile farm over there, and seen people selling bats (for food) in 35 degree heat in the middle of the city.

We are infamous in this country for caring more about animals than children.

My 7 yr old dd had the same idea. fair enough, so I bought her some veggie sausages from Morrisons. She hated them, so that idea is on the back burner for now.

I have no problem with dd being veggie, but she eats such a limited range of foods that I'd prefer her repertoire to be wider before she cuts back what she will eat.

Thanks everybody, lot of useful advice there. I forgot to add that she doesn't do pulses or beans, except baked beans. Sometimes she will eat lentils but fairly rarely. She isn't good with green veggies which is why I was concerned about iron but I'd forgotten about dried apricots containing iron, great tip, Laquitar!

To those who said it is easy to make separate meals, it really isn't!! I am SO busy and I just don't have time to cook 2 meals. Yes, some meals are easy to substitute veggie versions but if you're making something like a fish pie you can't...

By the way, in case it wasn't clear, I know that vegetarian diets don't lack iron and are perfectly healthy when done the right way - I just wasn't sure what the right way was

Just seen this: "If you are relying solely on meat to make your childs diet healthy, then you are not eating a healthy diet i'm afraid. ". [hmmm] Er, yes, cupcakes, that goes withotu saying, surely?

So do vegetarians not eat protein at ever meal then? I can think of loads of veggie recipes in general, and as I said before, we do cook quite a few, it's just the protein side of things that I struggle with.

It has never been an issue with mine, but if they wanted to I would make it quite clear that it was OK but they would have to eat what I cooked -which would be all vegetables, pulses, nut roasts etc. -I wouldn't prepared to do it if they were going to be fussy eaters.

If she doesn't like pulses in sauces and casseroles would she eat pulses in the form of pate/puree, hummus etc? Just a spoon of it gives enough protein and iron and not much cooking. Serve with raw veg or spread it on bread.

Well I've had a long chat to DD about it. When I said that she had to eat vegetables without any fuss she rethought the whole thing BUt we agreed that we would eat a lot more vegetarian meals and that I would try to always give her the option of a vegetarian meal. She's going to try to be less fussy with lentils, veg etc. but thinks she might eat some meat now and again (when I pointed out that smoked salmon and roast chicken was meat she was a bit less keen!) I am proud of her for sticking to her guns though and she didn't even have her favourite sausages when we went out for lunch yesterday! Thanks for your advice, everyone.

Good luck trying to be healthy, if she is happy to eat some fish and so on it will make life that much easier

go to the vegetarian section of the frozen section of the supermarket. plenty things there to serve alongside meals you're makeing with meat.

fwiw, when i was a child my parents would make me a veg version if they were doing fish pie. so i had my own dish with the same sauce and mash on top but with broccoli and cauli inside. if they were having meat and 2 veg i'd have a bean burger plus the veg. i never liked fake meat such as quorn or tofu stuff. also they'd make a veggie dish but serve up some meatballs on the side for meat eaters.

DD (8) and I have just become pescatarian. I'd always bought free-range/organic meat in an attempt to salve my conscience but then forced myself to watch PETA videos showing the slaughter of animals and bit the bullet and decided no more meat.

DD isn't too bad an eater, but can be fussy, so we've decided to continue to eat fish just to try and ensure she has sufficient protein.

Overall, the transition has been fine. She enjoys the veggie options at school and we're trying to branch out and make more nice veggie food. Linda McCartney sausages are delicious and I've used Quorn in dishes for a while.

I'd respect your DD's wishes - it may be a brief phase but I'd try to facilitate her wishes as far as possible.