Vegetarian child - always hungry

[PageZero]

Hi all,

My youngest is 8 and I'm having difficulty with his food.

He refuses to eat any meat or fish, which is fine, but at dinner he eats some veg and the carbs (rice, pasta, potato etc) but becomes hungry quickly afterwards and wants to snack.

He will eat quorn nuggets but after trying many other vegetarian substitutes won't eat anything else to replace the lack of meat/protein.

He won't eat eggs, cheese, anything in a sauce or food that is mixed up. No beans either anymore... gone are the days when he would eat spag bol or fish pie :(

How do I fill this boy up?

He wants to snack constantly, apple slices, crisps, peanut butter sandwiches, crackers. I doubt he is actually hungry everytime he snacks but just eats this stuff for the enjoyment of eating.

So my question is two part; how to I feed a vegetarian child who eats a few veg and hardly any veg substitutes?

And how do I get him back intouch with his hunger feelings. So he only eats when he is physically hungry.

And how do I do all of that without fat shaming the poor lad who is just a young boy simply living his best little life!

Black bean burgers

if he eats yogurt, then full fat Greek yogurt with granola/ oats/ seeds/nuts or whatever he will eat, with drizzle of nut butter or homey will be pretty filling.

healthy peanut butter on toast with a banana is also filling for breakfast and far healthier than many cereals or other breakfast options

My DD (18) was similar from a very early age and now fully veggie borderline vegan.

Best thing you can do is to look at fo
different types of food, talk about the importance of eating something from all food groups- and start cooking with him!
Use the holidays and let him choose. He might not like all the dishes he cooks but it gives him some control of what he eats. And some understanding of nutrition, an invaluable skill in a society with an obesity crisis.

Chop the sausages into small pieces and put it into pasta, stir fried vegetable rice, Noodles or a veg/bean casserole.

Buy a vegan cook book, go through it together. Get him to choose a recipe and help you make it. It might give you both more ideas.

Use quinoa rather than rice as it's a protein as well as carb.

Also I'd strongly suggest (if you haven't already - don't want to insult you!) that you read up on what else he needs from a plant-based diet. It can be extremely healthy but he needs to get enough iron and B12.

I have also had a picky eater - now in his 20s - and this worked with him.

Maybe he just prefers to eat smaller amounts more often.

There is plenty of protein in plants - peas for eg - so try not to worry too much.

Well done to your son for choosing the diet of many sporting champions!

plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/wp-content/uploads/Pediatric-Plantrician-Guide.pdf

There is protein in rice, will he eat that? You can mix it with another pulse that others have mentioned like chickpeas or lentils. Two plant proteins equal one meat protein, so this would fulfill his nutritional needs.

Middle Eastern mezze platter style food is your best bet as it's mainly dry. I used to do a deconstructed lasagne for my ASD dc. Cooked lasagne sheet, ragu sauce and cheese all served separately. I reduced the sauce so it wasn't as wet and now he eats it all together. But it was tough in the early days.

This! Disguise the meat. He's hungry because he needs protein.

Would he eat a chickpea salad? Can of chickpeas, chop up any raw veg he likes like red onion, peppers, put in peas/sweetcorn and crumble some feta on the top or another kind of cheese? Swish a bit of lemon juice on the top and it's lovely.

As a short term solution, would he drink a protein shake? You can get vegan ones as well as whey based ones.

He will feel a hunger if he hasn't got enough protein, a body hunger / craving rather than an empty stomach type hunger.

Could you crumble the veggie sausages into other foods?
My go to used to be to blend veg and beans and add to pasta sauce but it doesn't help if he doesn't like wet foods.

Then he doesn't get snacks as he wasted his dinner.

get yourself a cookbook for vegetarian teens and plan the food groups.

My ds loves a salad, and will also eat a portion of couscous with it, but only on a separate plate. Hummus was always a hit. Tofu can be hit-and-miss. Always worth paying for a good tofu and cooking it correctly!

You want to fill him up but peanuts are too fatty ?
Anyway, I'd worry about iron. What are the iron sources in his diet?

Would he eat pancakes with egg in them? Savoury with peanut butter spread.

Raw nuts rather than salted ones, beat an egg through his mashed potatoes, try seitan!

This. I'd have a chat with him about food groups, explain the importance of protein in his diet and ask him to pick 5-6 protein-rich foods that he will agree to at least try to eat.

With vegetarian/vegan diets, it’s all about trying to add protein at every single meal. Lots of small changes can add up throughout the day.

• Will he eat falafels, hummus?
• Switch to brown rice and pasta over white. He might also eat a pasta made from chickpeas or lentils - these are available in health stores and they’re higher in protein.
• Sprinkle hemp seeds on his porridge or yoghurt.
• Have you seen nutritional yeast powder? It’s got 2.6g of protein per serving, my kids and I are addicted to it. Sprinkle it on pasta, popcorn, vegetables, etc etc. it’s got a cheesy, nutty flavour.
• Would he have a smoothie? There are lots of protein powders / nut butters / seeds you can add to these.
• With pasta sauce, I blend cooked red lentils into the sauce (either pre-made or homemade).
• Similarly, I blend white beans into a cheesy pasta sauce.
• You can also make mashed potatoes with a few butter beans / white beans blended in (sadly my kids hate potatoes!).
• I make a pizza base with puréed white beans (it’s really, really nice!). I can’t seem to link it here but Google “cooking with kids: white bean pizza dough.
• The “Anna Banana tofu pancakes” are lovely too.
• I think you said he won’t eat wet foods, but you can also find high protein gravy recipes if he would eat gravy.

If I think of more ideas, I’ll post them.

My dd went through a long fussy stage (not veggie, but had a tiny appetite). I would say you absolutely have to allow healthy snacking if the main meals are not sustaining - think of a cow, it eats grass all day to extract enough energy and nutrition, whereas a lion might only feed very irregularly.

Quorn works well where it can sucks up flavour. I love it in a garlicky stir fry with a spoonful of sweet chilli sauce.

Some ideas:

• crepes made with large eggs and slightly less milk than the average recipe dictates. Can be pudding or breakfast.
• flavoured milk with added protein
• egg fried rice with stir fry quorn/ edamame beans (my dd wouldn't eat that but worth a try)
• quinoa with Richmond veggie sausage casserole (you can make it with a packet sauce, and load it up with red peppers and thinly sliced carrots)
• baked beans on toast; with jacket potato; or with "cheese pie" (so much tastier than it sounds - finely chopped onion, cheddar and mashed potato, sprinkle cheese on top and baked until bubbling and golden - perfect paired with baked beans)
• fried eggy bread with baked beans or veggie sausages
• chilli sin carne - load up the kidney beans, serve with brown rice if you can get away with it
• fajitas with quorn and look for higher protein wraps
• vegetarian pad thai - add whatever veg you like, sprinkle with chopped peanuts
• egg noodles with teriyaki stir fry

For snacks:

• hummus and carrot sticks or breadsticks
• banana

Protein protein protein

And some fat

So yes to peanut butter, nuts, lentils, dhal, tofu etc

Milkshakes? (Healthy ones eg milk mixed with banana and a spoon of oats)?

Have you tried quinoa? It's high in protein but eats like rice / cous cous.

Sweet corn, if he doesn't like it on the cob then put it in a flour and water batter and fry. Yo can do the same with peas.

You said he didn't eat eggs but what about pancakes? You can make them savory or sweet and they freeze well.

You said he doesn't eat beans but how many have you tried? Green beans are very different to baked beans.

Thank you for your reply, lots of good suggestions.

He does like pancakes. Never thought about freezing them though. Thanks for the suggestion!

Also stopping the snacks might make him less fussy and more likely to eat at meal times.

Thanks for the suggestions, lots of good tips. Really appreciate it!

I'm not willing to take away snacks in order to try and force him to eat dinner. Im willing to reduce and change what he snacks on and try to offer alternatives at dinner to encourage him to eat more then. Which hopefully will reduce his need to snack anyway.

He is full of energy and not underweight, so maybe I'm worrying too much.

I just want him to enjoy dinner time with us not cry over a slice of ham 🥲

He won't eat the veg sausages because they look like sausages 🤪

Ds16 has been vegetarian for years and won't eat "fake meat". He'll eat a burger that is obviously made of beans but not one that's made to look like meat.

He does eat loads of beans and lentils and whatnot.

He likes the protein milkshake drinks for a snack, or when he's running late for school. Some of them have a good amount of protein in them. I think they're generally quite sugary though.

Beans
Nuts
Full fat yogurt
Fromage frais