totally clueless vegetarian

[Therese's Mommy]

The title describes me Because of my dd's food allergies we are needing to expand our diet. I am struggling with the change because I am totally out of my realm. Anyway, one of my struggles is knowing how much she should be eating to get a serving. For instance, I know a serving of meat for an adult is the size of a deck of cards. But what would it be for a 3yo? What about fish, what would a serving of fish look like for a 3yo (please don't tell me ounces, if you could compare it to something that would be cool).

Thanks!

[blueridgewoman]

I tend not to limit meat, and my toddler (edited to add: she's two and a half) gets as much as she wants to eat at each meal. I do limit grains, particularly refined ones, sugar, and potatoes, but we encourage meat, fruits, and vegetables and allow her to eat what she'd like.

Typically, if we're eating chicken, dd will eat one or two drumsticks or one or two thighs (I try to give her the dark meat because she likes it better and because it has more fat) at a sitting. If it's fish, she can eat about 6 oz of salmon (picture a piece about two inches wide by one inch high by about four inches long) in a sitting.

In terms of beef and pork, she'll eat probably four or five ribs, a quarter pound hamburger (I don't use any egg or breadcrumbs in my burgers), or about half a large steak (but steak is her favorite food).

I'd say her average serving size is about 4oz and I think that is about the normal adult serving size. Again, we don't limit meat- I think kids need protein, and I'd rather she fill up on that than, like, mac and cheese or a sandwich or something. I make sure we get healthy, grassfed meat, and she always eats about a half cup of veggies with each meal and gets three or so servings of fruit between meals. I rarely serve her grains, dairy, etc at meals, so most of her diet is meat, veggies, and fruit. She also has eggs for breakfast and occasional raw milk.

I won't talk about how many pieces of bacon she can eat in a sitting, because honestly, that's just obscene.

[Therese's Mommy]

Just to be clear, I am not trying to limit her consumption of meat/fish, but rather figure out what is the minimum I should be shooting for

[blueridgewoman]

Oh no, I know- sorry that I made it sound that way. I think my point was generally, give them as much as they'll eat and for the first few tries, be prepared to occasionally finish what they don't want, then adjust the serving size next time.

Sorry.

[Owen'nZoe]

The guideline I've always used is a tablespoon of the food per year of age. So a place to start with your toddler would be about 3 T of meat.

[organicmidwestmama]

too much lean meat or lean protien can be hard on the body and not very satisfying, but provided its a fatty type of fish ie. salmon or trout, or provided the meat is either fatty or made with added fat ie. fried in coconut oil, id say feed as much as is desired.

[Therese's Mommy]

Originally Posted by organicmidwestmama

too much lean meat or lean protien can be hard on the body and not very satisfying, but provided its a fatty type of fish ie. salmon or trout, or provided the meat is either fatty or made with added fat ie. fried in coconut oil, id say feed as much as is desired.

Yep, I am not trying to limit her and want her to get plenty of fat (no coconut oil though as she is allergic). I am just looking for what I should be shooting for as a bare minimum; what amount should I be happy with. I haven't eaten meat in 15 years and have never fed it to my children, so this is totally out of my realm of experience.

[JamieCatheryn]

I have a 4 year old who some days will eat 2 bites of meat as his minimum, growth spurts being what they are the range is wide.

[blueridgewoman]

I tend to think that really, any amount is better than none, if that makes sense. So if she hasn't had much meat before, it may take her a while to get used to the taste and the texture, but every little bit has protein and minerals and that kind of thing. Ultimately, I'd be happy with about a half cup of meat a day, assuming that she's getting other good quality protein sources as well.

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by Therese's Mommy

Yep, I am not trying to limit her and want her to get plenty of fat (no coconut oil though as she is allergic). I am just looking for what I should be shooting for as a bare minimum; what amount should I be happy with. I haven't eaten meat in 15 years and have never fed it to my children, so this is totally out of my realm of experience.

I grew up vegan so i know the feeling! fish is a good place to start for many vegetarians, also eggs, especially the yolk which has most of the vitamins.

an alternative to coconut oil is ghee, which is made from butter but has no casien or any remnants of lactose. i know this will probably sounds bad to a vegetarian but i also like pastured lard and duck fat (confit) which a local, organic butcher here sells fr the same price as butter per lb.

[Therese's Mommy]

Originally Posted by organicmidwestmama

I grew up vegan so i know the feeling! fish is a good place to start for many vegetarians, also eggs, especially the yolk which has most of the vitamins.

an alternative to coconut oil is ghee, which is made from butter but has no casien or any remnants of lactose. i know this will probably sounds bad to a vegetarian but i also like pastured lard and duck fat (confit) which a local, organic butcher here sells fr the same price as butter per lb.

Thanks for the suggestions. Lard is definitely something on my radar. I have a farmer that I will be working with and I plan to ask her about lard. I believe she will be raising ducks this year, so if duck is safe we would definitely be taking advantage of duck fat. Ghee is not an option. She is not lactose intolerant, but rather allergic to milk and highly allergic at that. The smallest bit of milk protein is dangerous for her. We cannot chance it with ghee. Eggs would also be awesome, but she is allergic to them as well. Of course, some with egg allergies can tolerate the yolk, but my allergist said that we can't chance it with my dd. Her allergies are many and in many cases severe. We are working with a very limited line up here

[BetsyS]

My 3.5 year old does the 3 T serving size mostly. He eats meat maybe every other day.

It's not for lack of trying. I serve meat most days of the week. He just isn't interested. I was the same way as a kid (though I like meat now), so I don't push it. I offer, I put it on his plate, and then he eats what he wants (which isn't all that much).

Some ways he does like meat: spaghetti, sloppy joes, meatloaf (sometimes), chicken fried steak with white gravy, bacon, ham, and hot dogs

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by BetsyS

My 3.5 year old does the 3 T serving size mostly. He eats meat maybe every other day.

It's not for lack of trying. I serve meat most days of the week. He just isn't interested. I was the same way as a kid (though I like meat now), so I don't push it. I offer, I put it on his plate, and then he eats what he wants (which isn't all that much).

Some ways he does like meat: spaghetti, sloppy joes, meatloaf (sometimes), chicken fried steak with white gravy, bacon, ham, and hot dogs

if the hot dogs are grassfed i wouldnt avoid them. my experience is that kids avoid meat and protiens if they are eating to much snacky processed carbs like noodles, bread, crackers, cereal etc.