Non meat protein ideas please!

[jaffa19]

Ds is 10mo and has started sleeping through the night more often than not (thank god) and i'm sure it has been since I started making sure he has protein at both lunch and dinner (not to mention huge quantities of yoghurt)

Am a bit worried he's getting too much meat and not enough variety. Protein rich faves are spagBol, shepherds pie, cheesy scrambled egg/omlette, fish fingers, chicken casserole. He likes lentils but they give him tummy ache :(

I'm looking for inspiration!

(just been reading that French babies don't eat the same meal twice per month, as well as not throwing their food) ;)

"(just been reading that French babies don't eat the same meal twice per month, as well as not throwing their food) ;)" sounds interesting, where've you read that jaffa? .

We did similar with DD as she seemed to prefer a lot of veggie stuff at that age. Think I might have a link somewhere.

May be back later....

Quorn sausages. Humous. Try different types of lentils maybe?

The only ones you're missing off the top of my head are the various types of "meat substitute" quorn or tofu etc., so "mushroom" or soya based, nuts and beans.

My DS likes tofu blended with apples and dried apricots that I've cooked in a little water for five mins or so. Full of protein and tastes really nice!

Cheese and avocado also good (not necessarily together!)

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'm looking more for recipe ideas as I'm not great at thinking veggie and we'd live off the 5 meals I've listed if I wasn't thinking about varying DS's menu!

Hummus is a good one, thanks I'll make some tommorrow. Not keen on the idea of meat substitutes, not sure why! Although the apple/apricot/tofu sounds pretty good...

JiltedJohnsJulie - French children don't throw food - new book by Pamela Drukerman - www.amazon.co.uk/French-Children-Dont-Throw-Food/dp/0385617615 It's an interesting read but massive generalisations. Quite successful in making me feel a bit crap at parenting!

Can't find the link I used to use unfortunately, but I think it may have been some recipes on the vegetarian society website.

Will have a look at the book too. Pretty sure I've heard them talk about it on Woman's Hour. Generally though most books I've ever read on parenting make me feel crap too.

The bbc food website has lots of veggy recipes on too .

eggs, tofu,beansprouts and wholegrains

A real creamy Dal. Lovely.

How about a small piece of salmon fillet cooked in oven in a foil parcel? Can put a few herbs on the top and a tiny knob of butter in the parcel for moistness. Can be mashed up.

Other white fish can be cooked in this manner too.

Thanks all. I'd forgotton about good old bbc website. I'm thinking about a yummy lentil/chickpea curry tommorrow.

Am I worrying about nothing re too much meat? How much is too much?

Salmon, as others have said. DS has loved it since he was six months - now 13 months and it always goes down well.

Also, peanut butter, beans, prawns, peas.

Peas are a big hit with DS.

Quinoa is the best vegetable based protein you can get. It's the only veg source of complete amino acids (apparently). Just throw it into anything you cook along with a slug of extra water for it to soak up. It takes about 10 mins of boiling to become cooked. You know it's ready when the outside circle separates from the inside circle, which will make sense when you look at it! And it doesn't have the dietary perils of lentils!

Soy beans either mature or as Edamame might be better if you're looking for a single veg protein source for a baby - more fat and protein and less carbs, it's also complete. However it's a bit more of a "hmm..." food than quinoa. DD certainly likes quinoa, and I much prefer it to rice or similar "grains" (no I know it's not a grain) in meals. Thing is though, you can eat multiple sources of veg protein to be complete, you don't need to do it every meal, grains (bread) and beans generally mix pretty readily to be complete.

There are also other complete veg proteins like hemp seeds too. Not to knock quinoa though.

Oh I totally forgot about quinoa! haven't had that in the house for months. Great idea. Quite like edamame too, thanks for the ideas!

Falafels are nice and easy to make. Or bean based dips. Also there is protien in cheese so even a meal like cheesy pasta will have some protien. I could do with a few more ideas myself too as I'm weaning dd at the moment.
Quorn isn't recommended for babies btw as it is low fat and high fibre, so it fills them up without providing many calories.