Reply to Help me support my DD’s effort to not eat meat

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[quote=Anonymous]My 11yo DD also switched to eating pescetarian this fall, and she was really helped out by "The Smart Girl's Guide to Going Vegetarian." It's not just a recipe book, but gives an overview of the different types of vegan/vegetarian, pescetarian/ flexitarian diets, talks about not shortchanging nutrition, how to handle eating out or at friends' houses, etc. Very practical, and super helpful for identifying sources of protein and important vitamins and minerals they might otherwise miss. I never knew peas had so much protein!

Our deal was that she had to participate in meal planning every week, and I'd cook an additional portion of something for her (within reason), if she'd figure out what she wanted to have and help me prep whenever possible. She's always helped a bit with meal planning anyway, so we set up a Pinterest board where she and I could share vegetarian recipes we might want to try.

We generally only ate meat once or twice a week already, so it hasn't been too much of an adjustment, cooking-wise. I've just tried to use meat in ways that are easy to separate from the rest of the dish, if that makes sense. Then I might sauté a few slices of sesame-soy marinated tofu while our chicken is cooking, or roast some vegetables for her to go over pasta or polenta when we have meat with ours. Or take out some of the curry sauce before I add the meat, and she'll have it with chick peas.

She'd always gotten most of her protein from yogurt, cheese, eggs, or black beans, so that hasn't been a problem. Greek yogurt smoothies with frozen berries or a frozen banana and powdered peanut butter make a great breakfast or even lunch, in a thermos. And she can always make a quick scrambled egg, quesadilla, or black bean burrito if she needs something quick. Burritos freeze well, too. A big batch of deviled eggs on Sunday makes lunch prep easy during the week, or just for a quick snack. (If you have an Instant Pot, it makes the eggs really easy to peel.)

Trader Joe's has containers of tofu that are split into two portions, which comes in really handy when she's the only one eating it. She also likes their vegetable gyoza, shrimp shu mai, and vegetarian meat balls, and falafel from Whole Foods (they have some "falafel poppers" that make a great snack or quick lunch). All of those can just be popped in the microwave, if she's cooking for herself. And we keep a box of breaded fish filets in the freezer for an easy alternative when the rest of us have meat. Frozen pre-cooked shrimp can be quickly thawed for stir fries or pasta. Her go-to dinner that she can make herself is high-fiber pasta (we like Barilla Pasta Plus) with butter, parmesan, and peas.

There are a few meat dishes I know she misses, but so far she's really stuck with it, and we're trying to be supportive within reason. I will say that she's held up her end of the deal as far as trying to branch out and eat things she'd previously avoided, like mushrooms or shrimp.

Good luck to you both![/quote]

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