Anonymous wrote:I've been vegetarian my whole life, and honestly I don't worry a whole lot about the nutrients. But because it has been my whole life, I know how to make lots of balanced veggie meals. My kids are growing well. I would say just get some fun vegan or vegetarian cookbooks and go from there.

Me too! We only offered our kids vegetarian food to begin with because that's what we have at home. Have offered to order meat for them when eating out but they (ages 4 & 6) tell me they aren't interested in eating dead animals. Both kids are growing normally. They eat beans, lentils, whole grains, vegetables, fruit, milk & yogurt. One of them eats eggs and cheese as well, the other one doesn't. We eat tofu and tempeh occasionally. We limit simple carbs like pizza, white rice, white bread.

I've been vegetarian my whole life, and honestly I don't worry a whole lot about the nutrients. But because it has been my whole life, I know how to make lots of balanced veggie meals. My kids are growing well. I would say just get some fun vegan or vegetarian cookbooks and go from there.

Anonymous wrote:I would watch the carb intake. I was a chubby vegetarian for 25 years. Once I started lean proteins instead of cheese and carbs... 20 lbs melted off.

Because you didn’t know how to cook and/or slow learner.

You can cook vegetarian without counting carbs or weird powders. Most traditional cuisines from Italy to japan Morocco are basically legumes, vegetables with grains plus dairy and eggs. Get a basic vegetarian cookbook, op. Your kid will be fine.

Breakfast:
Yogurt with fruit and homemade granola
Smoothie with hemp hearts, and flax seeds
French toast

Lunch:
bread with cream cheese
leftovers from dinner

Dinner:
ratatouille
(high-protein) noodles with vegetables
stir fry with tofu
Tempeh-stuffed peppers

Snacks:
Fruit (with hummus or almond butter)
Nuts
banana bread
zucchini bread

P.S. I am vegan.

I would watch the carb intake. I was a chubby vegetarian for 25 years. Once I started lean proteins instead of cheese and carbs... 20 lbs melted off.

Don’t forget about your starches. Using stuff like farro, barley, quinoa instead of standard american starches really ups the protein. I also almond flour. You can replace 1/3 to 1/2 of regular flour with almond flour in almost any baking recipe and the flavor and moistness is amazing. My kids who hate nuts are fine with this. You can also sub greek yogurt for the dairy in muffins or other baked goods.
I’m opposed to using bean purees in random things like baked goods, but bean puree is good on things like toast or in quesadillas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband is vegan, kids are not.

Lots of bean burgers, peanut noodles, lentils, mac & cheese etc.

Snacks are smoothies, trail mix, yogurt etc. Always getting protein with the snacks.

We try to steer clear of fake meat products of any kind. Tofu is rare.

This sounds horrible.

Which part? The vegan husband?

This is how we eat and we're not specifically vegetarian. Though we all eat a lot of tofu, which isn't a fake meat IMO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband is vegan, kids are not.

Lots of bean burgers, peanut noodles, lentils, mac & cheese etc.

Snacks are smoothies, trail mix, yogurt etc. Always getting protein with the snacks.

We try to steer clear of fake meat products of any kind. Tofu is rare.

This sounds horrible.

Which part? The vegan husband?

Anonymous wrote:Husband is vegan, kids are not.

Lots of bean burgers, peanut noodles, lentils, mac & cheese etc.

Snacks are smoothies, trail mix, yogurt etc. Always getting protein with the snacks.

We try to steer clear of fake meat products of any kind. Tofu is rare.

This sounds horrible.

Anonymous wrote:You need a registered dietician. Your pediatrician is not trained to give specific advice on nutritional needs and diets. Find someone who can work with you on specific meal plans and nutritional needs.

No really you don't or at least you don't anymore than anybody else does as very few people get enough fruits & veggies and most people are getting too much junk and processed foods. Our vegetarian family and the other families we know who've made the same choice are way more self conscious about our kids diets than the meat eaters we know who in many cases seems to rely on some kind of processed chicken for most of their calories.

So long as your kid doesn't have a particular dietary handicap this really isn't rocket science.

Since they were about 2.5 our kids have had a daily kids multi-vitamin we get at whole foods that is vegetarian (most kids vitamins are made with gelatin)and that makes sure they get most of their daily vitamins and minerals though if they are eating regular servings of fruits and vegetables B12 is really the only one you need to be careful that they are getting.

Getting the 8-10% of calories that should come from protein from non meat sources is actually pretty easy and almost certainly going to net out to your kid having a much healthier diet than most meat eaters.

Like everyone else you should limit the processed carbs and sugary drinks but that really has nothing to do with being a vegetarian.

BTW the substitute processed meat products while not necessarily being great food products are vastly better for you than the real thing they replace - a veggie hot dog or chick nugget is much healthier than the processed crap they replace.

Black bean rice (canned black bean, cooked rice, pesto sauce, water or canned vegetable stock). Stone soup (Minced garlic, chopped celery/carrot/onion/Cilantro/butternut squash/potato, water or vegetable stock, vinegar, spice and salt etc). Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwich. Home made spinach pesto pizza. Vietnam spring roll which you can pack all the vegetables you like inside. Korean pancake you can again add all kinds of chopped vegetables in it. Spanish migas dish. Sesame cold noodles. India or Japanese curry which can be easily made using curry cube with water, chopped carrot/onion/potato/tomato/apple.

You need a registered dietician. Your pediatrician is not trained to give specific advice on nutritional needs and diets. Find someone who can work with you on specific meal plans and nutritional needs.

Snacks = celery with peanut butter -- a daily staple for my veggie kids.

Protein with snacks is key - edamame, Greek yogurt, cheese, nuts. Focus on quality and variety of proteins and whole grains. Plus a variety of fruits and veggies.

This Canadian cookbook uses bean pulses to every day foods:
https://pulses.org/us/pulse-recipes/