Vegetarian

Justask

My son has come home from school today to inform me that he is now a Vegetarian :rolleyes:

Would you encourage this and hope it passes soon

or

Say yea ok love heres a steak??

Now baring in mind this child adores meat, If I cook say stuffed peppers or cauiflour cheese he will say 'Eh no meat again tut'

Moonbeam

What are his reasons? Is it a girl?

Find out his reasons and the work with them.

I was 100% vegetarian for about 13 years, a bit more lax these days.

Justask

Moonbeam wrote: »

What are his reasons? Is it a girl?

Find out his reasons and the work with them.

I was 100% vegetarian for about 13 years, a bit more lax these days.

I think so :rolleyes:

If he was totally serious about it and it wasnt such sudden thing I wouldnt mind (He had lamb last night :rolleyes:)

But he hates pulses.

Thanks for the reply

January

I'd just keep giving him veg meals until he asks for meat again, there's no point in trying to force him to eat meat if he doesn't want to... It may only last a few days/weeks but I reckon if you push the meat he'll become even more determined to be vegetarian (not that it's a bad thing!) and dig his heels in.

Morag

How old is he?
Is he old enough that you can have him prepare his own meals under your supervision?

Chuchu

I announced to my parents that I was a vegetarian at 11 years old, they thought it was 'a phase' I was going throuhg but agreed to accommodate me in the meantime... errr that's about 22 or so years ago now, a long phase!

My two year old is being raised a veggie until she asks to eat meat. My husband is not a veggie and is happy with this set up. PM me if you want any further info.

Ayla

If your son wants to be a veggie today (for whatever reason) I would see no harm in accommodating that request. Let him help you decide what to prepare (better yet, get him involved in the cooking!) Use it as a learning experience, and if he changes his mind next week so be it. A little meat-free time never hurt anyone

Justask

Chuchu wrote: »

I announced to my parents that I was a vegetarian at 11 years old, they thought it was 'a phase' I was going throuhg but agreed to accommodate me in the meantime... errr that's about 22 or so years ago now, a long phase!

My two year old is being raised a veggie until she asks to eat meat. My husband is not a veggie and is happy with this set up. PM me if you want any further info.

Wow, strong minded 11 year old Does your 2 year old eat lentils, kidney beans etc?

Thanks a mill

cbyrd

My 12 year old came home a few weeks ago and announced she was going vegetarian.. i said 'no problem what would you like for dinner?'. .. 'sausages' she says. . 'no sorry you can't have them if you're vegetarian.. so she went online and did a little research.. and informed me she wasn't going to be a vegetarian after all.. once she realised she wouldn't be able to eat her favourite pizza or roast on a sunday the idea lost legs..:D
Depending how serious he is i wouldn't say no outright.. he's at an age where he's pushing his boundaries and if you don't allow him to try some new things it might make him a little resentful that he's not being taken seriously.. it's a delicate age :rolleyes:

Chuchu

Yep sure does... LOVES lentil dhal and naan bread and also we do a red kidney bean chilli with rice once a week which goes down very well... we make both dishes quite mild but there's still a little kick, we serve it with a spoon or two of yogurt on the Indian and sour cream on the chilli. We use Indian cottage cheese (called paneer) and make Saag (spinach) paneer once a week too. My personal favourite... getting hungry!!

cynder

my brother married a veggie and then became on for all of a few months, and gave it up.. They now have a 10 year old son, who will vomit if meat is put anywhere near him, think his been brainwashed..........

He is very short (2 inches taller than my average sized, just turned 6 year old) very pale and seems to be underweight..... his a very fussy eater wont eat chips either! I would love to be a veggie but i love my meat poor chickens and cows and sheep and piggies (i would however not eat anything weird like rabbit, kangaroo, deer, goat or veal, i also would not kill any animal to eat it) i stick to the above 4 and i wouldn't eat a live animal either like they do on im a celeb get me out of here........

If my kids wanted to be veggies all well and good, i will accommodate them, but im not going to force it on them.....

Justask

Chuchu wrote: »

Yep sure does... LOVES lentil dhal and naan bread and also we do a red kidney bean chilli with rice once a week which goes down very well... we make both dishes quite mild but there's still a little kick, we serve it with a spoon or two of yogurt on the Indian and sour cream on the chilli. We use Indian cottage cheese (called paneer) and make Saag (spinach) paneer once a week too. My personal favourite... getting hungry!!

Yea I am to now after reading that :rolleyes:

trouble is he will not eat pulses at all if I put them in salads of anything he will pick them out :rolleyes:

Tofu is a no no. He hates it and have to say im not a fan.


But we are on day 2 and he is happy enough so far. We always had meat free meals about 3 days a week. But now im making sure he has either a egg before school.

Kids they would make you laugh and cry in the space of a hour

Justask

He is very short (2 inches taller than my average sized just turned 6 year old) very pale and seems to be underweight..... his a very fussy eater wont eat chips either! I would love to be a veggie but i love my meat poor cows and sheep and piggies

[/QUOTE]


See that worries me, probably my ingnorance but I always feel its not healthy. But that probably cos I love my chicken and lamb, and roast beef. yummmmm

Ah jaysus I have stuffed peppers and rice for dinner on and I now want a steak lol :rolleyes:

seamus

Justask wrote: »

See that worries me, probably my ingnorance but I always feel its not healthy. But that probably cos I love my chicken and lamb, and roast beef. yummmmm

It's perfectly healthy, arguably far healthier than a diet consisting of red meats, but that's a different debate.

However, you do need to a little more (only a little) fastidious about the content of his meals. Basically, you need to replace like with like. There can be a tendancy by peopel to replace the meat with an extra scoop of potato or some extra rice, or some cheese sauce or whatever. That's not like with like. You need to ensure that his meal contains protein and a little extra iron.

Stuffed peppers are good, provided that you're not just stuffing them with rice and serving them with rice

Prepack faux-meats like Quorn will basically let you serve exactly what everyone else eats and you don't have to worry that he's getting enough of anything.

Outside of that Eggs, beans, nuts, tofu are all generally the vegetarians' staple source of proteins and iron.

Cheese and milk does contain protein, but they generally also contain a good deal of fat. So they don't really work as a primary protein source, but they do work as a supplementary source.

January

Justask, check out the Vegetarian forum here They'll give you loads of advice.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=572

Justask

January wrote: »

Justask, check out the Vegetarian forum here They'll give you loads of advice.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=572

Thank you so much didnt know there was one

Chuchu

My little one is often considered a year or two older than she is, so we must be doing something right!

Keep in mind that you can get fruit flavoured soy yogurts in most supermarkets... the sauce for veg korma made by yourself from scratch is actually blended cashew nuts and is yummy as well as good for you! Cubes of tofu coated and shallow fried is very tasty (fats are not as bad for kids as grown ups!! Also veggie food is cheaper... esp when buying in bulk)

My main concern for both of us is getting vits B so even though I'm not a big fan we tend to eat the fortified cereals to make sure we get them in... vits B are also in eggs, dairy and soy products... so dairy food is important for veggies for reasons other than protein consumption.

Omegas (usually in fish) are also in ground flax seed... throw some of this in a smoothie or on cereal.

Hope this helps... he might well be back on the rashers next week though he has provided some food for thought (sorry!! )

Justask

Chuchu wrote: »

My little one is often considered a year or two older than she is, so we must be doing something right!

Keep in mind that you can get fruit flavoured soy yogurts in most supermarkets... the sauce for veg korma made by yourself from scratch is actually blended cashew nuts and is yummy as well as good for you! Cubes of tofu coated and shallow fried is very tasty (fats are not as bad for kids as grown ups!! Also veggie food is cheaper... esp when buying in bulk)

My main concern for both of us is getting vits B so even though I'm not a big fan we tend to eat the fortified cereals to make sure we get them in... vits B are also in eggs, dairy and soy products... so dairy food is important for veggies for reasons other than protein consumption.

Omegas (usually in fish) are also in ground flax seed... throw some of this in a smoothie or on cereal.

Hope this helps... he might well be back on the rashers next week though he has provided some food for thought (sorry!! )

Thanks a mill for all your help and the veggie thread is brill here.

I can see sunday morning though when he whats a fry :rolleyes:

The Big Red Button

grindelwald wrote: »

my brother married a veggie and then became on for all of a few months, and gave it up.. They now have a 10 year old son, who will vomit if meat is put anywhere near him, think his been brainwashed..........

He is very short (2 inches taller than my average sized, just turned 6 year old) very pale and seems to be underweight..... his a very fussy eater wont eat chips either! I would love to be a veggie but i love my meat poor chickens and cows and sheep and piggies (i would however not eat anything weird like rabbit, kangaroo, deer, goat or veal, i also would not kill any animal to eat it) i stick to the above 4 and i wouldn't eat a live animal either like they do on im a celeb get me out of here........

If my kids wanted to be veggies all well and good, i will accommodate them, but im not going to force it on them.....

Erm ... where do you think veal comes from? Personally I don't eat rabbit, kangaroo, etc, but I wouldn't see it as being any different to eating any other animal. And I don't ever feel guilty about eating meat!

If a child is malnourished (and I'm not saying your nephew is!) it's not necessarily because he's vegetarian. My diet is vegetarian quite a lot of the time - not for moral reasons, but only because I don't like to eat cheap meat and I can't afford to eat the good stuff every day. And on the days I don't eat meat, I get in plenty of protein from other good natural sources - eggs, cheese, quinoa, yoghurt, nuts, etc.

I don't think there's anything at all wrong with a child being vegetarian, just so long as they're getting everything they need from other sources. OP it could be a good opportunity to start educating your son about what's in food, and encourage him to prepare his own food, making sure that he's getting everything he needs from it. Chances are it's a phase that will pass soon enough - but as long as he's getting all the nutrition he needs, it's no big deal if he does stay vegetarian.

lolli

Ive been a vegetarian since the age of ten (17 years ago now) My parents were supportive of me from day one which was always really important to me. It made me so happy that they supported my choice. I did always end up anaemic a couple of times a year but just make sure your child is eating a balanced diet with lots of green leafy vegetables or make sure hes taking some supplements.

Everyone thought I was in a phase too but I proved them wrong :P or else its a really long phase!