Being a Vegetarian

[SmilesALot]

My diet is vegetarian except for occasional
eggs. My DH is vegetarian too since the past
4-5 years. I have a 16 month old ds. I am
quite convinced that a vegetarian diet is good
in terms of health and good energy. Though my
ds is not showing any inclination towards
meat now (he is not exposed to any outside
food items that I do not consider healthy),
sometimes there is arguments between me
and my DH about what food choices our son
should have. He thinks it is ok for us to
introduce him to meat, chicken etc., I get
quite agitated when someone says it is good
to eat red meat etc., Though this is all
talk about things that have not happened yet
(right now DS is spitting out even eggs),
I would like to hear from others who have to
discuss their food choices with people who
are not on the same page. I want to talk about
it calmly but since it involves DS and I feel
very responsible for the habits he learns and
his health, I get easily drawn into a heated
tone. Thank you!

Peace to everyone!

[bebe luna]

Maybe it's because I was raised a vegetarian that I think young kids should be vegetarians. I am not a vegetarian now. I eat fish 2x a week and organic chicken, pheasant, turkey, or duck maybe once or twice a week. I think babies under 1 definately should not eat meat. I think it's too much dense protein for their liver and kidneys to handle. If a child, lets say over 2 yo, seemed to need more protein, maybe some organic chicken soup or some steamed or baked fish. Soup is such a great way to get nutrients. The only reason I eat meat now is because I work out a lot with weights and seem to need extra protein. But I try to get most of my dietary needs from vegetarian sources. I think for kids that they can be raised vegetarians and it's healthy, or they can eat meat occassionally and be healthy, but I think daily meat in their diet is unnecessarry and not as healthy. Some good vegetarian forms of protein-
*tofu
*TVP (textured vegetable protein)
*Soy milk
*tempeh
*seitan
*protein powder (soy or whey)
*legumes(when eaten w/ brown rice they become a complete protein)
*nuts and nut butters
*vegi burgers (made w/ soy protein)
*occassional dairy- I think yogurt is best, cheese ok in moderation, but it's high in sodium.
*soy cheese
*Eggs- but I don't consider them a vegetarian food

[zealsmom]

My dh is more militant about vegetarianism than I am. By that I mean that he is absolutely insistent that his son will NOT eat eggs. (and of course, meat - something we completely agree on) But I do eat eggs when they are cooked in something like cake or bread. I just think it's too much of a hassle and I'm not going to deny myself a cookie just because an egg is in there. Although, I can't even imagine stomaching an actual egg or eating quiche or something. yuck!

But we do not keep eggs or meat in the house (or allow their entry into our house)

I respect dh's no egg thing for the babe. I am proud to raise my son vegetarian. He is becoming such a health eater!

[rainsmom]

vegetarian baby

Great book out there called "Vegetarian Baby". A good resource, some recipes and menu ideas

[Erin Pavlina]

Also check out www.vegfamily.com (my site) and www.veggiebaby.com for info on raising kids vegetarian/vegan.

If you need help finding sweets with no milk, dairy, eggs, or butter, I can totally help you there!

Check out www.allisonsgourmet.com for good organic stuff.

Also, there are Snackimals, Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies, Soy Dream, Rice Dream, Nutrilicious donuts. I could go on and on. I am, unfortunatley, the queen of vegan junk food.