my 5 year old daughter has stopped eatting red meat . me and her dad have tryed talking to her, asking her why, tryed encorraging her to eat it but she wont. she just says that she dosent like beef any more ( though she eats chicken and fish she will also sometimes say the same about these). so me and her dad were talking last night and we thought ok lets lison to our daughter and cut out the red meat for a while and try veggie meals ( but still also have chicken and fish meals too).
please can anyone help with some vegertain meals i can make and some tips on how i can contiune giving my family the iron and protine in there diets without the red meat. thanks.x.

I was bought up vegetarian by my parents so I've always been this way. I am now pregnant and will eat vegetarian throughout the pregnancy. My OH eats meat tho so I will be letting my child eat meat if they want to.

Be prepared to get creative at hiding vegetables! My mum used to make a great spinach soup which i used to love...but instead of calling it spinach soup she called it green dragon soup so i was none the wiser :lol:
Use a lot of beans and lentils - they are great ways of getting protein. Iron is found in dark green veg especially spinach, broccoli and peas. Mix these veg with foods rich in vitamin C to get the most out of the iron (bell peppers are especially good). My fave dish when I was little was lentil lasagne - basically the same as normal lasagne except you use lentils instead of beef mince. My OH actually prefers my lentil lasagne to any meat lasagne he's had - and it's so much healthier. Soya and quorn products are also really useful for when you're feeling lazy.

I wish you the best of luck with it. I'd highly recommend getting a good vegetarian cookbook - there are some brilliant one's out there and they have loads of good inspiration

Liz x

thanks scarletlady you've been a huge help. i love the green dragon soup idea.x

no problem...when I get round to it I'll send you some recipes - i've just got a severe case of baby brain at the moment and have a head like a sieve!!

Quorn mince is a great thing for making lasagnes and bols for the whole family, high in protein and low in fat! Even things like baked beans on toast is a good snacky meal, add some broccoli and you're there! You can make pizza, with lots of lovely vegi toppings (good way to get them to eat veg) and some cheese whihc has protein and calcium. Houmous is made of chick peas which are good for protein, you can make it yourself or buy it from the supermarket. It is sooo easy to make esp if you use tinned chick peas, put it on baked potato or in a sandwich with some salad.

I really wound't worry about your little one, she's actually quite sensible to be cutting down on red meat!!

Hey hun there were some other mummies chatting about this here http://my.bounty.com/forums/post/196/1801509/1/1/1/Vegetarian-recipes.htm hope that helps x

I make a mash for Daniel (15 months) from Annabel Karmel, but I think it would work for your lo if you don't mash it so much, or maybe serve something else with it. It is really easy - 1 carrot, 1 sweet potato, 2 oz spinach and about 1 and 1/2 oz grated cheese. Chop and boil up the carrrot and the sweet potato. Then add the spinach and boil that all for another 4 minutes. Drain the water. Add the cheese. Mash it all togetehr. That amount will feed Daniel for 2 lunches, and so maybe it would be a portion size for your daughter (sorry, but I have no idea how much children of her age would eat!). It is really yummy and very good for them.

P.S. Annabel Karmel says to add a normal potato to this too, and obviously that would mean you would be cooking a greater amount. but Daniel doesn't like potato (or even chips!) so I leave that out.