vegetarian weaners: I need meal suugestions please

[MamaChris]

We are vegetarian, and running out of meal ideas for feeding ds (9mo). We try and share our food with him, but he's increasingly fussy and nearly everything he eats seems to be based around cheese, beans and/or tomato. We're out of inspiration. Can anyone suggest any (not too complicated) meal ideas? We're keen to make sure he gets enough fat/protein, without it all being cheese.

Things he absolutely won't eat: banana, avocado, potato, sweet potato, tofu, cucumber, houmous.

Thanks!

You have my sympathy - DD1 doesn't like egg, and it rules out a load of easy vegetarian options. Would he eat a vege bolognese sauce with TVP? DD1 did find with it because the protein was in little pieces and not big chunks.

have you tried quorn, which comes in sausages, chunks , mince?

Both of my DC (weaned veggie) loved lentil based meals

haven't tried TVP or quorn - great ideas, thanks. We'll try some and let you know.

Egg is on ds's "I'll have two mouthfuls and only if it's mixed with cheese" list, together with spinach (disappointing as this was an early favourite). Still, two mouthfuls is better than none

He will eat lentils (and beans) with tomatoes. I worry that he can't really digest them properly yet though, as ... well ... they come out the other end looking pretty much how they looked on the way in

I'm really not sure if quorn is a good idea at this stage - please check it out. But I got a fabulous book by Carol Timperley 'Bay & Child Vegetarian Recipes' which I still use six years on...

Mine loves beans & pulses. A lentil & chickpea (or other beans) stew served with quinoa & grated cheese is a big favourite - and is really healthy too.

Well cooked pasta with cream cheese and pesto and peas stirred through was a hit in the early days.

Many variations on risotto - mine loves mushroom

We did BLW and there are loads of great recipe ideas on the www.babyledweaning.com website.

If you use the lentils that break down when cooked (red or dahl lentils ) he should be able to digest them. I often used to make a really thick vegetable and lentil casserole/soup and use the blender on it to break it down if needed.

DC used to love it either fed by spoon or by dipping bread etc into it and sucking it off.

I make a baby dahl by lightly frying onions with a pinch of turmeric and adding it to well-cooked red lentils and mung dahl lentils. I usually also stir in some rice (regular rice, not the baby kind) before blending (to help break it down) and serving. My fussy almost 8 month old DS sometimes eats it. He also sometimes likes a lentil mush made with carrots and a bit of tomato. I think adding plenty of veg to lentils helps digestion - and adding rice boosts the protein content.

I get blocks of silken tofu, blend it so it's creamy, and add this to soups/sauces for a non-dairy protein boost. I try to alternate dairy/soya/pulses/eggs so that my daughter's not having too much of anything (I'm reluctant to give her too much soya) and I avoid quorn altogether for the moment because I don't think it's suitable for little digestive systems.

She has only just started to eat eggs on their own (at 15 months) previously I had to disguise it as little pancakes, vegetable fritters, etc.

Easy soup I do is a handful of lentils and a load of frozen peas, boiled up for 20 mins or so then blended. The sweetness of the peas makes it really palatable without having to add seasoning.

thanks for all these suggestions. will try dahl lentils (should have thought of that before - duh!) and silken tofu good too - think it's the consistency of regular tofu that puts him off.

how do your DCs eat soup? just dipping bread in or do you have to spoon feed it all?

cheesy peasy pasta is a staple here - doing it for lunch today

don't eat quorn myself, but willing to give it a go. thought it was just a fungus (like mushrooms). is there a reason to avoid it for babies?

We do a combination of spoon feeding and bread dipping - but my DS is just a tad fussy: he'll usually take the first mouthful from a spoon but if he has any more it has to be sucked off bread.

My DD survived on pulses, nuts&seeds and high protein cereals (such as millet and quinoa) until she was a year old, as well as bm. We didn't introduce egg until over a year (as recommended where we live) and no dairy except for mature cheese and the occasional yogurt .

I would avoid all fake meat products like the plague as usually they're ultra processed and tend to contain a lot of salt (also I don't see the point of pretending to eat meat but that's just me).

We do a lot of oriental style dishes - one of DD's current favourites is miso soup with seaweed but she loves her curries and lebanese style food (hummous, falafel etc.) is also a firm fave. That way you can avoid the eternal cheese trap. Otherwise handy complete "fast" foods are things like:
pasta with pesto and peas (adding the peas boosts protein)
chick pea and tomato salad dressed with olive oil and served with crusty bread. 5 mins to open a tin and chop tomatoes.
"kedgeree" made with smoked tofu instead of the smoked fish.
Steamed veg with tahini and lemon juice dip

I found books such as Veggie Food for Kids quite handy to get me started and for inspiration.