calling all vegetarians.....

[dandycandyjellybean]

just wondered at what age you would give meat alternatives? not burgers or whatever obviously, but if we are having home made cottage pie with Quorn mince for instance, when could I give ds some? Or casserole made with Quorn fillets and vegetables, that sort of thing. Presuming all other ingredients okay, i.e. not too much salt etc. Don't use meat alternatives every day, but it would be really useful to know when it would be okay to give ds some if we are having. Be really grateful for any help with this. Cheers

I'd ask Health visitor or phone quorn helpline as the egg element might be an allergen risk. Otherwise at whatever age he/she can chew the bits!

I don't know the answer but I would like to try my ds with it too, as we eat quite a lot of it at home as well.

I seem to remember a thread on here a while ago asking specifically about Quorn -can't remember exactly what age was recommended by the manufacturers though -think it might have been around 12m ? Have you tried searching old threads?

DS has Quorn or similar once (twice max) a week and hes 21m. Hes never had any problems with it but DP gets really bad stomach ache if he eats Quorn so I'm not sure if it can be difficult to digest for some people.

Before 12m I tended to use lentils, beans, dairy etc for his protein in take.

HTH

I wouldn't give DS Quorn until he's at least a year old - the manufacturers recommend not before age 2. The ingredients list for the fillets etc seems not too scary, although 'mycoprotein' and 'flavouring' are things I'd like more detail of, but I'd definitely avoid teh meatballs, ham,etc. Another reason for avoiding even the fillets for DS is that I find Quorn a bit indigestible myself (though v. yummy!) and I think it'd be a bit much for DS's little tummy. Mind you, I was wondering about the Realeat Soya Protein fake chicken pieces. Much easier to digest and the ingredients are more understandable.

I waited till DS was 1 before giving him quorn but before that gave him beans and lots of lentils. Quinoa is very good too and it has iron and omega acids - I think that would be nice in a shep pie - always give a bit of fruit afterwards to help iron absorption too (just in case you didn't know)

CorrieDale, I found the realeat stuff awful - all slimy, it reminded me of real meat. Blurggh!

Thanks for all your replys, will stick to lentils / pulses etc for a while yet then.

My dd is 11 months and I haven't given her quorn yet as I've also heard to wait til 12 months. However I found some soya mince where the only ingredients are soya and added iron, so she's had that a couple of times.

She also likes tofu.

Cut and pasting one of my posts from another thread because I can't be bothered to type it all in again

I can give you Marlowe Foods reaction to this, if it helps (they are the makers of Quorn). My dh was working on a production facility there when I was pregnant with dd and asked them what their recommendation would be. They said that they do not recommend it before the age of 2, although occasional use from 12 months should be OK. It's very highly processed, very low fat and high fibre, so it's not really suitable for young children.

It also contains a lot of egg, which many parents like to avoid until later on.

Thanks v much wwb, extrememly helpful. Anybody got any suggestions then, regarding flavourful protein options? Lentils and pulses are okay obviously, but tend to be very bland, and am worried about overdosing on cheese, cheese, cheese.....don't really know whether I need to be worrying too much about protein at the beginning of weaning? Oh and what's the sitch regarding egg then? Are they not supposed to have egg at all till 12 months or something? Not that I've given egg yet, but was planning to in the fairly near future? What about in things, i.e. quiche or frittata or whatever?

Thanks v much wwb, extrememly helpful. Anybody got any suggestions then, regarding flavourful protein options? Lentils and pulses are okay obviously, but tend to be very bland, and am worried about overdosing on cheese, cheese, cheese.....don't really know whether I need to be worrying too much about protein at the beginning of weaning? Oh and what's the sitch regarding egg then? Are they not supposed to have egg at all till 12 months or something? Not that I've given egg yet, but was planning to in the fairly near future? What about in things, i.e. quiche or frittata or whatever?

oops, trigger happy, two glasses of wine down, can you tell?

Herbs. Garlic? (can cause wind beware) Fried onions, low-salt stock, mild spices such as cinnamon, cumin etc (try in small amounts first). All foods taste exciting to a young baby so I wouldn't necessarily be cooking for an adult palate - they like plain foods as well at this age.

Don't worry too much about protein. There is plenty in milk which I presume he is still having. Also there is quite a lot of protein in foods such as wheat, rice, peas and sweetcorn.

Btw I rang the Quorn people too and was told as part of a balanced diet, and remembering it is a low fat food (ie balance out with something high in fat) it was fine from 6 months. I did give it to ds and he was fine, however I do understand people's reservations. It is processed and contains salt and egg.

Yes, guess I should remember that he gets excited about mashed banana and porridge day after day for breakfast.... My gut instinct is that from 6 months, occasional anything is probably okay, with the exception of salted peanuts, vodka and cocaine. The jury's out on the occasional spliff.......

just the odd blowback is fine though..

Yeah well as long as it's organic marijuana...

Nothing but the best.....obviously.....

Oh, and (on a more serious note) fortified cereals are good for breaky.

Second the person who mentioned quinoa - it's a complete protein, contains all the amino acids, so great for giving them everything they need in one hit. It's a grain, so you can use it instead of rice or pasta with vegetables and sauce.

Don't use Quorn & avoided egg until 12 months - but otherwise I just gave my kids what we all eat mashed up. In the week make veg, pasta & cheese alot.

Have never come across quinoa, would I have to go to a specialist health store, or can you get it from Asda? How do you cook it?

Holland and Barrett and Tescos, maybe Asda but I dont' shop there so dunno sorry. Boiled - Give it a good rinse and add it to soups or use like rice. I made a mushroom rissotro with it and rice and it's lovely in ministrone or veggie and lentil soup.