My once carnivorous 2 year old has now decided that she has no interest in any meat of any kind. She will eat her vegetables most of the time, but I am looking for ideas as to what to feed her besides yogurt and cheese to balance out the lack of protein in her diet. She will eat beans so I have been adding that more into her diet as well. She is allergic to eggs and peanuts so I can't add those two ingredients. I realize that it is the age and her interest in food is not what it once was, but I was curious as to what other Mom's & Dad's have done to keep their kids on a healthy track. Thanks for all your ideas in advance!
My son also used to avoid meats and most proteins, since nuts are not an option how about edamame (young soybeans)? My son likes them because they're fun to open (like a peapod) and steamed with a little salt they are good. Edamame is a veggie of sorts but also has protein.
AE
Remember, meat takes many different forms, so don't be afraid to experiment. She may not like port chops, but she may like the texture of shredded pork instead.
My kids do weird things, too. One won't eat anything orange (haven't figured out that aversion) but eats carrots any chance he gets.
I'd also recommend visiting eatright.org, the website for the American Dietetic Association, which likely has a lot of great advice on how to provide protein in sufficient quantities in lieu of meet and the allergies you mention.
Good luck.
The ADA position on vegetarian and vegan diets is that they can be nutritionally complete. You already have a lot of great suggestions on what to eat, but perhaps this information will help you relax about worrying about her getting enough protein:
"It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes. A vegetarian diet is defined as one that does not include meat (including fowl) or seafood, or products containing those foods. This article reviews the current data related to key nutrients for vegetarians including protein, n-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, iodine, calcium, and vitamins D and B-12. A vegetarian diet can meet current recommendations for all of these nutrients. In some cases, supplements or fortified foods can provide useful amounts of important nutrients. An evidence-based review showed that vegetarian diets can be nutritionally adequate in pregnancy and result in positive maternal and infant health outcomes. The results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates. Features of a vegetarian diet that may reduce risk of chronic disease include lower intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol and higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, soy products, fiber, and phytochemicals. The variability of dietary practices among vegetarians makes individual assessment of dietary adequacy essential. In addition to assessing dietary adequacy, food and nutrition professionals can also play key roles in educating vegetarians about sources of specific nutrients, food purchase and preparation, and dietary modifications to meet their needs."
I have a two year old with a similar aversion to meat, but who likes vegetables and thankfully loves pasta in a red sauce...so, make a bolognaise sauce (veg of your choice, brown the beef, red sauce, etc.), and when cooking time over, whizz the whole thing in the food processor to more or less smooth it out. Takes the look of the meat out of it (and any veg she doesn't like) but leaves the nutrition in. Mix it into the pasta (spaghetti, fusili, whatevever). My boy loves it. This also works with chicken, fish, etc. Another idea is fishcakes - where the fish is well mashed in with the potato. Good luck!
Two words: hummus and quinoa. :-)
My two year old loves both. He just eats hummus straight, with a spoon (either the regular kind or the roasted red pepper kind); he doesn't spread it or dip with it.
We make quinoa patties that he will eat plain or sometimes with ketchup. Let me know if you want my recipe for quinoa patties. You can buy quinoa at Jewel in the organic aisle, but they also have it at Whole Foods (same price.) It seems expensive when you see the little box, but when you think about it, it's still MUCH cheaper than meat. You cook it up like couscous or rice. It's pretty plain tasting, so you can jazz it up a bit if you like. But it's a great, "complete" protein, just like meat but without the meat texture.
Good luck!
P.S.- If anyone has a great homemade hummus recipe, I'd love to try it. The store bought kind is pricey. I have only tried one recipe and it was awful. :-(
Will she eat fruit? My 4 year was the same way and still is at times. He finally has started to eat meat again. He loves fruits, veggies, cheese, pasta with parmesan cheese, rice, beans. I mix rice and peas and carrots together. He drinks the bean juice before eating the beans. We just has red beans and rice and he ate it all. Within time, she will out grow this phase. Like I said my 4 year old did. Hope this helps and good luck.
My son is the same way. I talked about it with his Pediatrician they told me something that I had never heard, but I guess I knew, but never thought about. She said me has a pull back when you chew and a lot of kids don't like that. Next time you eat meat, think about it wheny you chew and you will notice. Anyway, she told me that it was not a big deal and that many vegan have grown up to be strong and healthy adults. I try to add new things, even sneak in meat, but he still won't eat it. So, I feed him like a vegetarian. My son eats hummus, peanut butter or almond butter sandwiches(which I know you said she was allergic to peanuts), cottage cheese, lots of different cheese, even those laughing cow creamy cheese, on rice cakes or crakcers. I make pastas, grilled cheese, he loves black beans in his food. I make homemade pizza and blend in black beans with the sauce and let him add them to the pizza for toppings. I would suggest checking out a vegetarian book from the library and get ideas from there. One thing my son loves in green sauce:
2 cups cottage cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
1/8 tsp salt
Place in blender, mix until creamy.
1 package 10 oz. spinach
rinse and put in pot to steam on med heat for 7 minutes. The water from the rinsing will be enough. drain and squeeze water out of spinach.
Add cooked spinach to cheese sauce and blend until creamy.
My son eats this right out of the bowl. Sometimes I make it with the spinach and sometimes I don't. He doesn't care, he just wants to eat it. I usually make some type of pasta to go with the sauce so he can dip it into or mix it up.
Good luck
How about fish?
My son loves grilled salmon, shrimp and tuna salad.
Is she allergic to all nuts or just peanuts? Walnuts,almonds and hazelnuts are also good sources of protein. You can also add flax seed meal to things like anything you bake and sprinkle it on the yogurt too. There are seeds out there offer nutrition like sesame, or soynuts. Good Luck!
Sounds like you are most concerned with her getting enough protein. If she's drinking her milk, she's getting plenty of protein. Our culture overemphasizes the amount of protein we need so we think we need to eat chicken or beef 3x/day but that's not true. If she's drinking a cup of milk with each meal, she's getting plenty of protein.
I've been a vegetarian for almost 10 years so my son is by default a vegetarian unless someone else feeds him some meat (he seems ok with chicken but hates beef). Here is a list of some good vegetarian protein sources I share with him: milk, cheese, greek yogurt (much higher in protein than regular yogurt), hummus, quinoa (the only grain that's a complete protein - cook it like you would rice), rice and beans (combined make a complete protein), whole grain bread (my son won't even eat white bread), tofu (use silken tofu and fruits for a smoothie), edamame (great hot or cold).... there are lots of options.
I'll also add that recent studies have shown chocolate milk to be a great recovery drink for athletes so don't be afraid to just give her a cup of chocolate milk. It's good for her!
She now knows that she has control over something. I was battling with my son over this, and read all the advice that you offer one thing and they must eat it. I decided that this isn't how I wanted to spend my nights, so I now ask what he wants to eat (one whole week was chicken nuggets). Sometimes he eats them all, sometimes he doesn't touch them, but he was much more willing to try other things when he could control this. I know that as he gets older and stays up late enough for us all to eat together that this will be changing, but it works for us now.
It may be a sensory thing, I have problem where I can't eat different textures of food. Try cooking the meat differently.
If she is okay with tree nuts, you could add those in. Or, if that scares you, how about seeds?
We do meat "cakes" bound with some mashed potatoes or rice (or rice flour) sometimes and it's a great finger-food that doesn't feel like you are eating that much meat if you aren't in a carnivorous mood.
How about lentils? Those can work for substitutes in lots of recipes calling for meat too, like meatloaf.
In place of eggs, (you probably already know this!) you can use flax or chia seeds, which will bump up her Omega 3's too, which is a great thing.
I would make sure you are reducing her sugar as much as you can (this means carbs and fruit too) if she doesn't get protein, because otherwise her body is going to flood with insulin with no protein to slow those down.
Also, is she allergic to whole eggs or just the whites? I know for most people it is just the whites, but tossing that out there in case she can eat the yolks, which would give some protein too.
I would avoid soy at all cost, but if you absolutely MUST, then check for non-GMO and/or organic. Soy can be a hormone disruptor.
Hummus is a favorite here too, and was my go-to protein when I had to eliminate dairy.
Hope this helps!
I have a food blog for autoimmune support and I try to cater to food allergies for children too. If you want, you can check it out, and if there is a recipe you see but needs tweaking for you, let me know and I'll play with it to suit your needs. I love doing that :)
M.
Try homemade humus, subbing sunbutter for tahini.
Soy or whey protein powder can go in her milk or yogurt or in a smoothie, but you might want to check w/ her pediatricain for recommended serving amounts so you don't overdo it. (Too much protein can be really hard on the kidneys, since it's excreted through the urine).
You can use dry TVP as a topping for yogurt or as a stand-alone (uncooked, it's got the texture of Grapenuts, but not really much taste), or cooked in recipes (as a sub for cooked ground beef, turkey, or chicken).
Quinoa is a grain that is a whole protein in and of itself. You don't need to add beans to the dish to make it a whole protein. You can probably get it at Whole Foods.
You can use Bocca Burgers/Bocca Crumbles or MorningStar brand (soy based) in recipes.
You can get Quorn (sp?) in the freezer section of Whole Foods. It's based off of fungus (like mushrooms) but is a non-soy vegetarian protein source.
And of course, there are the classic tofu and tempeh.
