any ideas for a vegetarian baby, 8 months and BLW?

[olivo]

so far, dd has fruit, veg, bread, pitta, pasta, cheese, yoghurt etc but i'm not sure where to go next. dh and me are veggies, but lazy ones (i HATE cooking!!) - we eat plenty of veg etc but rely on quorn and other ready made stuff for our protein. i know that dd needs to be introduced to more proteins but what can i give her? i'm aware of the salt content of some of these ready mades so wouldnt want to give her those unless anyone knows of anything that is ok for her?
any ideas - of course, i WILL cook, but the quicker/easier, the better - i'm just hopeless!

beans / lentils etc?
make soups and serve with bread to dip
dal and rice
chilli, casseroles etc (make thick so she can scoop them up, or dip again)

I shall be watching with interest for ideas. I rang quorn recently and they said it is fine for babies, but I'll wait and see how much I offer. I never use the ready meals though, just the mince and fillets etc. I would have thought the fillets could be good for BLW?

firm tofu is nice, both cooked and uncooked and you can make nice creamy puddings by blending silken tofu with fruit
hummus with things to dip in (pitta, veggies)
peas and sweetcorn useful source of protein
there is adequate protein in all foods except fruits and some veggies in fact, but I do understand your worry (and bet hv is giving you grief)

Mine lived on mildly spiced lentil and coocnut curry and plain yoghurt.

We are vegetarian too and so is our 8m DS. Things he likes are

Cubes of tofu that have been dipped in flour/spices and fried
Eggy bread
Lentils cooked in coconut milk/spices

I mentioned to the HV in passing that I was vegetarian and she wrote it down in her book and asked me if I was vegan.

thanks everyone, for your ideas - we don't tend to have actual ready meals but i thought the stuff like quorn mince, pieces and fillets might not be ok for her! will try them though. and will try some of the other things you have suggested, my mouth is watering! although the thought of cooking soups and casseroles etc scares me, i can see how they'd be good. looks like i'm going to have to learn to cook - yikes!

lots of lentils and hummous in our house too. My DS1 loves those quorn slices (look a bit like ham slices).
I'm also a bit hung up about iron and making sure he gets plenty. I give him loads of spinach pasta (spinach, pasta, cheese) and broccoli cheese.
Tofu is a good idea, not tried that with him. I'll give that a go.....

Here's a link to the ingredients/nutritional info on plain quorn fillets: here which don't seem too bad at 0.2 grams salt per fillet.

Homemade lentil burgers might be a good idea for some healthy protein, but as it's for baby you could make smaller quantities and perhaps cut out the salt.

There's also sosmix which you pretty much just add water to, shape into balls/sausage shapes and fry. So I don't know if they're ideal for babies because of the oil or salt content, I suppose it's at your discretion.

I'm a veggie and was hoping to bring baby up veggie until he was old enough to decide for himself. Dp eats meat but he's not really that bothered. (I think mil will be horrified though) Are you going to let yours eat fish when she's old enough? I eat fish so I probably will.

The Finger Foods cookbook is useful for vegetarians, too

ditto the finger foods book. lods of ideas in there, many are adaptable either way for meat/veg/quorn.

thank you so much.
bananabump, i didnt know you could still get sosmix - i loved that in my teens!
i will encourage her to eat fish eventually as my dh eats fish -we live on an island so we get lots of good fresh fish here. (he'll have to cook it though, i hate the stuff!!)alos, i wont push the veggie thing if she wants to try meat.
i will have a look out for the cookbook too. presumably lots of these things you've all suggested freeze so i can do a load?

find a little old indian lady and pick her brains

Message withdrawn

My hv gave me a leaflet on weaning a baby onto a veggie diet. mind you, haven't read it yet so don't know if it's any use! maybe your hv can give you a copy as it's a DoH thing? the Annabel Karmel book has a lot of easy looking veggie recipes too

My lo is same age and enjoys scrambled egg.Eggy bread is quick and easy too.

for some reason, i thought she couldnt have eggs yet . TBH i got all confused with the whole allergy thing - i suffer from several and asthma and hay fever and dh is mildly asthmatic but, she's had wheat, dairy etc so i guess eggs wont make any difference and it'd make things much easier.
xigris, i'm not in the uk but i'll have look for the leaflet online. thanks

suwoo fillets are fab for blw as are the slices ds loves them!

Just to reassure you about the protein Olivo, I am vegan, and DS has been vegan since conception, and he is a beautiful, healthy child. When he was a baby I didn't give him processed foods like sosmix, as they really are very salty (though probably not as salty as cheese). Hummous is a brilliant idea, tasty and so good for you. Also fallofels (that was one of his first words!), when she is a little older. FrannyandZooey's suggestions seem perfect for a 8 month old baby. There really is no issue with protein, I haven't seen a single piece of evidence that vegetarian children are not getting enough of it.
No health visitor has ever given me any trouble, I would like to see them try.

do you eat fish? that could be a very good alternative for him.

my ds loves red lentils with carrot, those type of lentils only take 10 mins to cook. he also likes cottage cheese, just a bit of a different texture... hope you get some better ideas soon cos I can't think of any more! best of luck..

My two were mostly vegetarian until 2ish - I just couldn't bear the thought of them eating other animals. (I was cheerfully eating meat myself at the time, by the way - hypocritical, moi?) and they both loved plain cooked chickpeas. Make sure that they are realy well cooked and soft thought (don't tell anyone, but tinned ones are great!) They also loved purees or very thick soups made with lentils and yellow split peas. Ds particularly liked lentils with a pinch each of cumin and coriander. Aanother really easy favourite was a jacket potato with a little cheese. Also sweet pototoes - do them the same as ordinary potaotes but for about half the time.

My DD was veggie, but now has ham on her sandwiches for school . DH is keen for DS to have meat, cos he's a boy WTF? Anyway, he won't while I'm cooking!! We have just started BLW as he is only 22 weeks, but he's had broccoli and sweet potato so far. Can't wait to give him my gorgeous home made houmous- get him used to garlic straight away LOL.
Thanks for some great ideas everyone.

Avocados are wonderful for that age.
Couscous mixed with bigger bits of veg - but not brill for blw??
Veggie lasagne cut up into chunks.

Forgot to say - chickpeas are brilliant as finger food and for taking out and about with you because they are lovely cold.

thanks for all your help with this. am off into town this afternoon to visit the healthfood shop. Have also ordered the finger foods book from amazon.