My 20mnth old son will not eat meat?!

Question: My son just will not eat meat in any shape or form! Im not that worried I know he can still get all the nutrients he needs from a veggie diet, but as a meat eater I have no idea what to cook for him. So im asking for any child friendly veggie recipies, I already do veggie lasagne and macaroni cheese but I have been advised to try and get more lentils beans and pulses into his diet and I have never cooked these things before and need a hand!! I know some people will say its just a phase but he has always been like this, and I think that introducing better vegetarian meals will be good for the whole family.

Answers: My son just will not eat meat in any shape or form! Im not that worried I know he can still get all the nutrients he needs from a veggie diet, but as a meat eater I have no idea what to cook for him. So im asking for any child friendly veggie recipies, I already do veggie lasagne and macaroni cheese but I have been advised to try and get more lentils beans and pulses into his diet and I have never cooked these things before and need a hand!! I know some people will say its just a phase but he has always been like this, and I think that introducing better vegetarian meals will be good for the whole family.

This is my favorite recipe site..when there type in Vegan meals and all that are listed usually have lentils or chickpeas which are a good source of protein for the whole family.
http://allrecipes.com

Try eggs and different types of meat. My oldest son was allergic to all kinds of meat, fowl, and fish. This lasted for more than 10 years.

I make chili using several cans of different beans, mainly red beans, black beans and kidney beans. Very tasty. In place of using beef broth, I use vegetable broth. Serve it up with some yummy cornbread or indian fry bread.
I feed my family mostly vegetarian type meals but we do eat meat sometimes but sparingly. I have found that using most of your favorite recipes, you can just replace the meat with beans or lentils. Depending on the type of dish you should think that for white meat dishes, use navy or white beans and for dark meat meals, you can use darker beans. My kids didn't even realize that they had gone from having meat so much a week to having mostly beans and lentils. message me later and I may even find my recipe for lentil sloppy joes. No one knows the difference buy everyone loves it.

Don't worry about protein! The meat industry advertises that we need protein from meat and dairy. Wrong.
Guess what percent of protein there is in mothers milk - 3%! Also most mammals such as horses get enough from grass.
Most children who have never been forced to eat meat and given the choice between a pork chop and an apple will always choose the apple and avoid the dead item (however disguised)
Re foods try nut butters, tahini, homous, cucumber with spreads.
Good luck to you and your son it's great that you are listening to his needs.

Hummus is pretty tasty on sandwiches with veggies. You can buy it pre-made at the store.

If he likes Parmesan cheese, just mix a tablespoon of lemon juice and olive oil each, a quarter-cup grated parmesan, and a cup of chickpeas into a salad.

You can always bread cubes of firm tofu with shake & bake and a little milk or broth, bake, and serve with BBQ sauce.

If he likes the taste of cumin and parsley, buy a box of falafel mix - it's cheap, only $1.50 or so a box - and just fry them up. They taste sooo good and have a ton of protein, as they're made from fava beans or chickpeas.

Pizzas, peanut butter sandwiches - those are good choices, too.

Wow good for him, he learns early! And it is healthier for him, due to the illness that come with meat & cows milk.

Here are some links to kids recipes/foods:
http://vegweb.com/index.php?board=148.0
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=...
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/kidfriend...
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/WELCOME/t...
http://www.vegforlife.org/kids_snacks.ht...
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2005/12/es-...
More: http://veganpeace.blogspot.com/2007/08/v...

And some links to kids health:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/veg_d...
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/veget...

You might also want to check out The China Study.

You should definitely respect your babies wishes, babies don't like 'dead' things to eat. Try using firm tofu marinated and cooked with veggie stir fry, or lentil soup. The best thing for you to do it to buy or look up recipes online, and read up on vegan and vegetarian lifestyles.

Not eating meat is a good thing. It clogs the colon and in some cases causes cancer. He could get sick from eating meat any ways. If you have other questions about vegetarian/veganism contact me. My e-mail is paigefrantz1794@hotmail.com

I am not Vegan, but we only eat meat around once a week. After my 4th pregnancy, meat makes me sick. We started this last year and my kids just love it. Trader Joe's is great for a starter. They have all sorts of packaged hummus...my kids love the one with olives in it & we buy little mini pitas and spread it on it. Pair it with carrot sticks & cucumber slices. My 6 & 8 year olds love lentil soup...and it is so easy. Just take your lentils & rinse them according to bag....then, add it to your crock pot, with some cut up carrots & a can of whole tomatoes. Add some salt to taste, when serving (adding salt at the beginning will result in too much sodium). I serve it with cornbread muffins. Bean soup is great too. I get white beans because my kids like the taste of them better. Cook same way as the lentil soup, but the taste is a lot different...for this one you can switch whole tomatoes with tomato sauce, if you want. I think it's great to support your kid in what he likes...just like I think it is fine to eat meat, if you want. It's a good example to show your kids that we all have different tastes & not one certain one is right or wrong. Good luck!!

you can find lots of recipes here: http://vegweb.com/

a good one for little guys is just cook some beans in tomato sauce. It is like a no frills chili, however it is jam packed with protein.
You can also slip some silken tofu into just about anything. If he has a favorite soup, even mac and cheese.

A great resource is your pediatrician, talk to him or her about your fussy eater, they will five you some great ideas for substitutions and possibly even a re feral to a nutritionist which will benefit your entire family!

It sounds like he's on track for a healthy vegetarian childhood, which will help prevent his chances of diabetes, high cholesterol, and other complications as he grows older. There are plenty of kid-friendly things you can do to make sure he gets protein. Most every kid will love a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I highly recommend going to your local grocery store and picking up some Nate's meat balls - these are vegan and absolutely DELICIOUS. I fed these to meat eaters who complimented me (a vegan) for actually making meat and making it taste good. Boca and some other brands make great mock-meat chicken nuggets and burgers. SmartDogs and Yves both make absolutely delicious soy hot dogs and soy breakfast meats. You'll want to discover something your son likes that has protein, and there are plenty of sources from nuts, seeds, legumes and tofu to a whole host of mock-meats now on the market. Good luck!

A girl at school I grew up with was like that... still is, never ate meat. Didn't like the taste at all. Anyway, meat is really for older people with a more developed digestive system.

Things like veggie lasagna and macaroni cheese are for older people. He should be eating very simple foods -- learning what things taste like without sauces, flavours, etc. added. Then later in life he will be less inclined to pour salt, sugar, etc. on things. My older daughter still eats veggies with no flavour added at all, saying how yummy and juicy carrots are etc. Other kids her age cannot even taste a carrot as their tongue is used to a high salt/sugar/sauce/flavour etc. diet.

So, he's almost 2. Our youngest daughter loves pretty much everything we give her. Think of easy simple things. For young children, there's no need for added, sauces, salt, sugar, etc. they haven't been programmed to crave such things (and hopefully never will be).

Miso soup is simple. Boil some water with some veggies in it, throw in some seaweed, even a few dried mushrooms. Don't overcook them. When it has cooled a bit, then add the miso -- (you want to avoid cooking the miso) just scoop some water into a mug and mix with miso then add to the pot. Put a litlte nutritional yeast in there too. There you go. You can also cook up some noodles and put them in the soup.

Steamed veggies are a staple and are always yummy, and only takes about 15 min. We always keep different fruits for the kids to snack on during the day. They love to snack on nori (seaweed sheets) too, or air popped popcorn, rice cakes, whole grain European crackers,... there are all kinds of healthy things for kids that have nothing added at all. We go for all the salt/sugar/additive/colour/etc. free stuff.

Red lentils are the easiest (quickest) to cook. The others need lots of soaking and draining ahead of time, but red cooks pretty much instantly. You can literally throw a handful of red lentils in with your rice and it will cook in the same amount of time. Kids also love congee -- Chinese rice soup. It's really easy to make and yummy for the whole family. A rice cooker it a good addition to have -- they can make rice, or congee... they have all different settings these days. Some make mochi too, and all kids love mochi (Japanese sticky rice snack).

Remember, oatmeal is a quick easy meal. People forget that it's a grain and put sugar or fruit and strange things in it. I make oatmeal for our kids and put some frozen peas in there, nutritional yeast, little flax oil, some spirulina - fast and I like it too.

Bakes yams and sweet potatoes are easy and yummy. Can dip them into some flax oil too sometimes.

We basically keep all the sugars, sauces, salt, etc. very low until they are at least three or four -- they will crave it less later on. Check out Family Favorites by Michio Kushi.

Just keep the meat dish separate at meal times -- cut the meat into small pieces to make it look like more and maybe even cook the meat with TVP (soy protein) as it will suck up the meat flavour and have a similar texture. Will stretch the budget too.

get fake meat. There are soy crumbles that is very much like ground beef. I use them in soups and chilis. The crumbles are good for spaghetti sauces too!

Also, try felafel (fried chickpeas). or mediteranean and indian dishes.

Check out the Vegan Lunchbox blog.

Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard's "How it All Vegan!" has a section on kids' foods.

Dreena Burton's cookbooks have resources for raising vegan children.

"Conveniently Vegan" by Debra Wasserman has very simple recipes.

Trader Joe's has great soy nuggets that are easy to prepare. You can also get veggie burgers and veggie sausages and serve them to him. Some veggie burgers even have beans in them.

Hummus is made of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and is delicious to boot. Find ones with the least seasonings and serve with veggies or chips.

Good for your son--he's a smart kid. And good for you for trying to be supportive.

Try This Website : http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/re...

Don't Worry About Your Son Not Getting Enough Nutrients I Was Veggie Since I Was Born And Am Perfectely Healthy.

Amy .. <3 x

My 16 month old daughter eats a vegetarian diet (and so do I). Here are some of her favourites. Brown rice and quiona cooked in vegetable broth (I use a cube crumbled into the water) and a tablespoon of coconut oil. Quiona is a grain, but it is very, very high in protien and nutrients. I also cut up a block of firm tofu, put it in pan with a little olive oil, and sprinkle it generously with tummeric, papricka, basil, salt, pepper, etc. The cubes are easy for her to pick up and chew and she will eat this hot or cold. If your little one likes more flavour, mix the tofu and seasonings overnight and let it sit. Then cook it up the next day. I cook lentils in my crock pot. The back of the package should have the ratio of water to lentils. Rince them first then put them into the crock pot (or regular pot on a stove). For flavour, I use a bullion cube crumbled into the water. Don't add tomates or tomato products until the lentils are almost done. Tomatoes can "seize" the beans making them darn near impossible to cook! When I make lentil soup, I shred all the veggies into tiny peices so she gets a good dose of veggies too. Hope this helps. Feel free to e-mail me for recipes if you want. Good luck!

GOOD for YOU MOM!!!!!!! 20 months, finger foods, firm tofu in sticks with dipping sauces, check out at local health food store, the kid stuff - alot of times they will have veggie friendly kid foods. if you are having burgers make your boy a tofu burger, or veggie type burger. no joking around find a good book store and find a "cooking veggie with kids" type of cook book. i raised 4 sons (who played youth sports, football, little league, karate), and one daughter (cheerleader )- all 6feet plus, they all had to deal with a Mom (me) who would only serve veggie - and made them separate their trash - recycle -paper - compost. you must be a great Mom - i am sure you will do this great too! :)

try him on eggs and stuff like that

Good on you. My daughter does not like meat and the best thing to do is to just cater to him, because its the loving and caring thing to do for your son. My daugter loves corn, so I keep canned corn on hand and she will eat that hot or coold with toast! Baked beans are really good and you can get a low salt tinned variety and they are very healthy.

Lentil are really good and I have a couple of soup recipes that are good with health.

Try him with humus a chick pea dip with crackers, maybe a mushroom pasta and mashed potatoes are good. A vegetable and bean stew is good and you can put it on burritos or mini taccos. Another veg meal is vegetarian roast - corn, roast vegetables, caulieflower cheese, roast potatoes, braised fennel, braised cabbage, yorkshire pudding roast beatroot, um and the kids love it with gravey.

Make vegetarian pizza.

Here are some recipes and recipe web cites.

Hearty Lentil Soup

Lentils make an excellent base for a nourishing soup. Make a meal of this with plenty of wholemeal bread, or serve in smaller portions as a first course. Vary the vegetables according to what is available, but do include some root vegetables which give the mixture a robust quality. Vegan.

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Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
2tbsp sunflower oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes, chopped
2 sticks celery, diced
4oz/l00g broccoli, broken into small florets
4oz/l00g red lentils
2tsp miso
1pint/600ml vegetable stock
14oz tin chopped tomatoes
1tsp thyme

salt and pepper

Method

1. Fry the onion in the oil until just soft. Next add the vegetables and mix well.
Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes.

2. Add the lentils and cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Dissolve the miso in the vegetable stock. Pour this over the vegetables and add the tomatoes and thyme.
Bring to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 1-1? hours. Season to taste and serve piping hot. Good with crunchy bread.

The Best Cauliflower Soup Ever Made from Victoria Wood

1 potato
1 onion
1 cauliflower
28g / 1oz butter
1 pint vegetable stock
1 pint milk

1. Chop the potato and onion, heat the butter in a saucepan until melted, then add the potato and onion and sauté.

2. Bung in the florets of cauliflower and continue to sauté.

3. Add stock. Boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Add milk. Blend in a liquidiser.

5. Add salt and pepper, then serve.

My children like this soup and think its very tasty

Chunky Vegetable Soup with Dumplings

Serves 4
A hearty soup for a cold day. Make sure that the soup is boiling before adding the dumplings, otherwise they will not fluff up and melt in the mouth.

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Ingredients

For the soup:

1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small potato, parsnip, carrot, turnip, swede, leek and large stick celery
1?pt Marigold Vegetable Bouillon
?tsp dried mixed herbs
seasoning
1 leaf from a Savoy cabbage
1oz / 25g frozen peas

For the dumplings:

2 heaped tbsp self raising flour
1 heaped tbsp vegetarian suet
pinch salt

Method

1. Put the onion and garlic into a pan.

2. Cut the potato, parsnip, carrot, turnip, swede, leek and celery into ? inch cubes and add to the onions, together with the stock, herbs and seasoning.

3. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

4. Make the dumplings by combining the ingredients in a bowl and adding enough water to make into a stiff mixture.
Add more flour if necessary.

5. Take heaped teaspoonsful of the mixture and roll into balls.
Roll the dumplings in a little extra flour and set to one side until the soup is nearly ready.

6. At the end of the cooking time, add the cabbage and peas.

7. Bring the soup to the boil and carefully add the dumplings, making sure that they are immersed in the soup.

8. Cover the pan and allow to simmer for 10 minutes until the dumplings are fluffy and have risen to the top.
Serve at once.

Mushroom & Cheese Macaroni
Ingredients

400g wholewheat macoroni
60g butter or margarine
2tbs chopped parsley
450g mushrooms
60g grated cheese

Method

1. Cook macaroni according to manufacturer's instructions.
Slice mushrooms and fry in the fat for 8 mins then add the parsley.
Drain macaroni and mushrooms and toss together lightly.
2. Serve sprinkled with grated cheese.

Brown Rice Risotto
Ingredients

200g brown rice, washed
400ml water
1 medium onion
? red pepper
200g sunflower seeds
Mixed herbs to toss
Pinch salt
100g sweetcorn/frozen peas
Soya sauce to taste
1 rounded tsp Marmite

Method

1. Cook the chopped onion in the oil to soften, wash rice and drain well, add to the onion and cook for several seconds turning with a fork.
Add the hot water in which the Marmite, soya sauce and herbs have been mixed.
Bring to the boil and simmer gently.
2. After 15 mins add the chopped mushrooms and sweetcorn/peas and simmer for a further 20 to 25 mins until the rice is cooked.

3. Season to taste, top with toasted sunflower seeds and serve.
The addition of chopped red pepper gives colour to the dish.

My children love this as well

Spinach & Cream Cheese Pancakes
Ingredients

Batter

120g 85% wholewheat flour
Pinch salt
1 free range egg
300 ml milk
Oil for frying

Filling

900g spinach washed and chopped (or frozen)
45g margarine
1 large onion
1 clove garlic crushed
?tsp grated nutmeg
?tsp pepper
60g cream cheese
60g grated hard cheese

Method

1. Make the pancakes and keep them warm.
Cook the spinach and drain in a sieve pressing with a wooden spoon to remove excess water.
Set aside.
2. Cook chopped onion and garlic in the margarine but do not allow to brown.
Stir in the spinach, nutmeg and pepper; mix well.
Add the cream cheese and cook on a low heat for 3 mins with stirring.

3. Spread over each of the 8 pancakes, roll up and place on the serving dish.
Sprinkle the grated cheese and place under the grill for 3 to 4 mins until the cheese melts and browns.

www.vegsoc.org
www.savvyvegetarian.com
www.theveggietable.com
www.grouprecipes.com
www.foodreference.com
www.ivu.org
www.grouprecipes.com
www.fooddownunder.com
www.knowledgehound.com
www.kurma.net

GOOD LUCK

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My 20mnth old son will not eat meat?!

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