Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians... help me out here...

[treehugz]

I've been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for many years, but now that I have a very hungry 3 year old, I'm taking a new look at nutrition and meal-planning at my house.  I've been trying to learn more about a balanced diet so I can make a regular weekly meal plan (beans and rice on Mondays, oatmeal on Tuesdays, etc).  The trouble I'm having is finding resources specific to Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians.  Either I get the standard meat-eater food pyramid or if I look up vegetarian nutrition or consult my (numerous) vegetarian cookbooks, they all provide Vegan food pyramids and nutrition info.  I'm not a nutritionist, and I don't know how to adjust these to include eggs and dairy products.  I really like the easy-to-read nutrition info in Raising Vegetarian Children, but I'm aggravated that it only has vegan info... I'm clueless when it comes to meal-planning anyway and this is making it so much harder for me for some reason.

So, anybody have any good book/web suggestions that have ovo-lacto specific nutrition guide/pyramid/servings-per-day info?  Or any advice on how to make the adjustments myself... is it as simple as cow's milk/cheese substitute for a soy milk serving, eggs for a bean serving??

[catnip]

It's really pretty simple to adapt the standard food groups for a vegetarian diet. 6 servings of grains, at least half whole, 2-4 servings of fruit, 2-5 (or more) veggies, at least one green leafy and one orange, 2-3 servings dairy (this changes for vegans, who might choose to eliminate this group entirely rather than substituting it and focus on calcium rich veggies and legumes), 2-3 servings of eggs, beans, tofu, nuts, nut butters or tempeh, and healthy fats to meet your caloric needs. Sweets and processed junk foods eaten sparingly.

[FitMOmmyOf2]

I use this one as a rough guide http://www.vegetariannutrition.org/food-pyramid.pdf

[treehugz]

Thanks catnip and FitMOmmyOf2!  This is really helpful.  The pyramid says 6-9 servings of vegetables a day... really!?!  That's a lot of veggies... and I even like to eat veggies!  How about beans... anybody know if I can count them in the bean/protein category AND also in the vegetable category? 

[FitMOmmyOf2]

Treehugz,

personally I don't manage to eat that many either, sometimes not even 6, but I do take a Greens supplement, so I guess it's ok.

I'd guess 9 is really the higher end! As far as counting the beans also as veggies.. not sure, I always count them as protein only..

[catnip]

6 servings of veggies isn't as hard as it sounds. Here's how I do it:

Breakfast- 3 ounces tofu fried in 1/2 tsp olive oil and coated with nutritional yeast and pepper, 1 slice whole wheat toast with 1/2 tsp Earth Balance, 1/2 cup sauteed spinach (done in the same pan as the tofu, only takes a few seconds if you have washed baby spinach on hand), cup of coffee and a piece of fruit. (1 serving)

Snack: fruit

Lunch: 3 cups of mixed baby greens topped with http://catnip13.blogspot.com/2010/10/chickpea-apple-salad.html, and warm pita bread (2 servings)

snack: 1 cup carrot sticks, hummus (1)

Dinner: lentil loaf, 10 spears of asparagus, baked potato (3)

That's 7 not including the veggies in the lentil loaf, which is probably another half serving.

[treehugz]

That sounds delicious catnip!  But... you just reminded me why I must remember to take my vitamins every day, lol!  Sadly my diet is so far from including that many veggies... you're definitely motivating me to get busy on my complete weekly meal plans!!