Vegetarian teen - recipes and tips please

[LovingThruBlue]

My teenage daughter became vegetarian a few months ago.

I am struggling to manage her dietary needs and feed her healthy meals.

I try to feed the family meals that can be slightly adjusted so that I don't have to cook 2 different meals.

Cooking isn't my "thing"  so I'm not a fancy cook and have limited time for meals as I am a single mum working full time. 

I'm hoping you lovely people may have some simple, healthy recipe ideas and tips for me  

[Mona-RO]

Hi @LovingThruBlue I've been following a vegan diet myself for over a year now and I know quite a few others who chose to become vegetarian at a very young age (some as young as 5 years old). The good news is, they're very healthy adults  

Vegetarian cooking doesn't have to be a big endeavour. Most recipes can be easily adjusted for vegetarian diet. What kind of things do you typically cook at home, that are easy for you to make? Maybe we can provide some suggestions around that. Hopefully some other parents on the forum will have tips as well.

As for nutrition, she should be okay overall if she's eating enough whole foods. Taking iron and b12 supplements would be a good idea. It might also be good to have a visit to a doctor or nutritionist who understand vegetarian diet.

People in some parts of the world have been exclusively eating vegetarian food for thousands of years which shows it's definitely possible to have a healthy lifestyle with this kind of diet. Some of my favourite vegetarian/vegan websites and blogs are: 

www.ohsheglows.com

www.veganricha.com/

minimalistbaker.com/ (uses 10 ingredients or less)

I also just found this:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/quick-veggie

Do you think your daughter might be interested in taking up cooking herself? 

[LovingThruBlue]

Thank you so much @Mona-RO . That's fantastic help.

I hope to very slowly get her more involved in the actual cooking.

And gradually introduce new foods. Her diet currently revolves around potato, pasta and rice. Fortunately she really likes spinach and takes an iron rich multi vitamin daily.

[taokat]

Hi @LovingThruBlue, I hope you found some things your daughter will enjoy from @Mona-RO's links. I have no vegetarian recipes to offer but I do know red kidney beans and legumes in general are really good for you. Couscous and rissoto could be alternative to rice for a bit of a change. 

I hope your daughter's doing ok with everything.

[Beingme2017]

I made the choice to become vegetarian when I was about 13 - I don't think I was a terribly good one though haha

Iron is important of course - and I remember that having something rich in vitamin c with your iron source helps absorb the iron

Is your daughter eating eggs ? They are very versatile - frittatas , little mini frttatas made in cup cake trays , egg fritters etc - all with cheese and veggies in them.

Lentils are good esp in winter in nice warm soups or casseroles

I haven't really got recipes just what I remember having

Be great for you and your daughter to experiment in kitchen together

Out of interest what has led her to this decision of becoming vegetarian ?

[LovingThruBlue]

Thanks for the tips @taokat  

@Beingme2017, She doesn't like to eat eggs on their own but will eat them in other things.

Frittatas in the cupcake trays are a fantastic idea!

Why led her to become vego? I kind of always knew she would. For as long as I can recall she has been very disturbed by poor treatment of animals and at various times struggled with what she knew was on her plate. 

A number of months ago she watched a video on Youtube that was the clincher. 

I thought that she would miss certain foods and occasionally eat meat but no, this is it it seems. 

I applaud her conviction to something she feels so strongly about. I just have to figure out what to feed her  

[Beingme2017]

Yes that's the basis for my reason as well . I was vegetarian for 14 years and still don't eat red meat

I agree - its great she feels strongly and is making choices based on that .

There's a lot of resources online out there - in my day ( Hahahaha ) it was about buying vegetarian cookbooks

Lentil burgers was one of my fave back in the day - I should revisit that !

[LovingThruBlue]

I used to buy so many recipe mags (they're so pretty! ) but now stop myself because there are so many recipes online. As the rest of our life clears a little my brain fog is (very slowly) clearing and I'll spend some time online searching for recipes.

[Beingme2017]

Yes I admit I miss leafing through recipe books - it just isn't the same as scrolling on the page of my phone getting interrupted by texts etc

I'll send through some links i come across

[taokat]

How are you going finding vegetarian recipes @LovingThruBlue? Is your daughter keen on helping out and giving cooking new things a go?