Need Vegetarian Toddler Recipes!

Have you tried Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook? She "hides" vegetables in her kids' foods so they'll eat the veggies. And she says her hubby eats the meals, too. Good luck!

Hi,
Raw tofu??? yuk....I wouldn't even eat that...tofu is much better cooked with sauces or spices...you can make them like scrambled eggs, use in veggie lasagna, pan fry...much better. I would look into cookbooks, veggie cookbooks I or check online receipes....also "The Sneaky Chef" is good. I never used it but Tempeh (like tofu) I heard is not as slimy as tofu and can be used in a variety of ways.
hope this helps.
good luck!!

I don't have specific recipes but there are some great ideas in a new book I'm reading and I'd really recommend it. It's called Naturally Healthy First Foods for Baby by Jacqueline Rubin. (I bought it at Barnes and Noble.) Check it out!

Okay, so the first thing I have to say is Please watch your daughter's Soy intake. I suggest that you read the label of each product you feed her and write down the amount of Soy she is ingesting for everything. I guarantee it will more than exceed the recommended daily allowance (which is much too high anyway). I don't mean to make your dietary life even more difficult, but I have direct experience in excessive Soy consumption. I discovered my Thyroid was being affected (inhibited by the Soy) and also my young son's Thyroid in the same way. He has recovered, thank God, but I will be on replacement meds the rest of my life (not all due to soy consumption as I due have Lupus, but the Soy did me no favors!).

My son is allergic to Eggs, Dairy, Wheat and Soy. I have been assembling a cookbook in the past months and the bulk of my recipes, such as cookies, cake, breads - made with rice, corn, tapioca, potato, xanthan gum. My main meals consist of a large variety of vegetables and beans/lentils and rice or corn pastas; fresh herbs and spices, fresh oils; flax meal. We consume chicken and fish/seafood, pork, but not beef.

One of the most useful item has been a electric skillet that I purchased at Fleet Farm - it has three parts : a lid, a cooking pan, and a griddle. You stack them all together and can make wonderful casseroles, slow bakes, noodle dishes (it heats to 350) otherwise you can just use the griddle surface where I cook pancakes and chicken strips, etc. Long story short is that it is one pot and I can cook a whole meal it in.

I also do alot of oven cooking.

Pork tenderloin
I rub it with a variety of savory spices (salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, thyme, chili powder, ground clove) and then cook it at 375 for 25 minutes. Yum!

Yesterday I drizzled olive oil over cauliflower florets and then coated them with spices and roasted them in a 425 oven for 45 minutes.

I cooked a chicken alongside that I had split in half and had stuffed whole cloves of garlic between the skin and meat.

You could also cook a pot of beans in the same oven - one can washed and drained pinto beans + one small diced onion + cilantro to taste + 2 tablespoons molasses + 1 tablespoon chili powder + large dice shittake mushrooms + 2 tablespoon ketchup (I like Annie's), one can diced tomatoes with italian seasoning. Combine in a pot, bring to a boil on the stove then cover and move to a 425 oven for 45 - 60 minutes.

Well maybe if you like these we can communicate some more as this is how I cook .... good luck (and please calculate your soy intake).

Would she eat chili? check www.allrecipes.com. You can do a ingredient search for beans.

Eggs, cottage cheese, nuts, seeds, and peanuts are all good sources of protein to consider in her diet. It sounds like she was getting a lot of soy based foods. It's always best to have variety.

i am kind of a lacto-vegetarian. i can't eat vegatarian meats though, the thought skeeves me out for some reason :) most of my protein comes from dairy and beans and nuts. my husband eats meat, but my daughter does not seem to like it. unless it is in baby food form.
hummus is good. but i still can't get my 2 1/2 year old daughter to eat it.
i make a white bean dip with cannellini beans (or northern beans), 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil, garlic, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. it is a little "smoother" taste-wise than hummus. daughter digs it.
i make a lentil stew in the crockpot. Half a bag of dried lentils (washed and sorted), 2 cans of diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and spices. Cook on high for a few hours (til veggies/beans are not crunchy) and top the bowls off with some shredded cheddar cheese. daughter really likes this dish too.
there is protein in eggs too, so scrambled egg breakfast would give her a nice start to the day if she won't eat any of the other tofu stuff later on.

Well me and my little family are more extreme than you. We are all vegan. But none the less that just means I have absolutely no animal or animal byproducts in our foods.

Mine go through these picky phases too though. For awhile all my daughter wanted was smart dogs. All she would eat. Wouldn't even eat her veggies. So it was smart dogs, nuts, and fruit all the time for a few weeks. Than magically she went back to eating everything again. My son has never done it. He will eat ANYTHING you put in front of him, even if he doesn't like it. He'll just tell you as such. Anyways, it's pry just a phase she/he will come back out of.

For some other protein ideas I'd highly suggest Tempeh or Seitan. You seem to need fast things So I'd suggest those. You can get them both cheap at whole foods or I'm sure most health food stores. Seitan is a great sub for Chicken and Tempeh can be made into bacon and used in place of hamburger almost anywhere. They are both just like tofu in that you make up a marinade, marinade um (the marinade keeps for three weeks i have) then either fry them or bake them.

Of course there is all the boca and morningstar stuff but I won't eat most of that cause aside from being chocked full of preservatives and stuff most of it includes eggs and cheese. But if you like um there is a huge variety. If I do get prepackaged stuff I get anything made by Amy's. There are burritos, pizzas, indian inspired dinner, american type, lots of Mexican ones, veggie burgers, chickn patties, chickin nuggets etc. But Amy's is just so much tastier and I love that all the ingredeints you typically know what they are WITHOUT a chemists degree.

Plus there is tons of other stuff we eat but I dont' want to overwhelm you with information.

Anyways, if you need any help email me! I'd be happy to assist. My children are far healthier and happier since we have done this. My daughter who was a premie, is actually now catching up to other children her age and is never sick anymore. She use to be sick all the time. So congrats on your decision!

Eating seems to get very challenging after 1! I agree to watch very carefully the amount of soy your child gets. You may end up with a small grouping of foods that your daughter eats on a regular basis...they are often fine with this even if it seems boring to you! Just keep trying foods and after many attempts they CAN develop a taste for them again. If you are worried about a good balance, talk to your MD about a vitamin.

Good luck!

I agree with Michelle H and her warning about consuming too much soy. I need to do a little more research into it myself, but after my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, she was given advice by a dietary specialist to avoid soy altogether as it increases estrogen in the body. Her tumor was estrogen-fed and luckily she had it removed and is healthy today. Diversify your diet, avoid soy as much as possible and keep up with the eggs (especially free-range if you can get them) as they are a super food with protein that you and your kiddies need. Beans and lentils are wonderful too, and if you can get milk that is unhomoginized from cows that are grass-fed that would be good. Also consider whole milk and full-fat dairy as those are good fats (especially if the cows are eating grass, not tons of grain) that our bodies need if you're not consuming any other animal fat. Fish oil is also very good brain food for growing children, and for adults especially mothers in child-bearing years. One more thing, a mother of 3 children I know who is vegetarian was dealing with anemia until she started cooking all her vegetables in an oil that can withstand heat (peanut, sesame, ghee, coconut); basically stir-frying with a little water in the pan too and a lid to cover. Her doctor wondered what she was doing differently; she was thrilled! Good luck.

Hi E., my name is K.. My son is 2.5 years old. He and I are lacto-ovo vegetarian (Aiden has been LOV his whole life and I have been for about 9 years).

I would be happy to provide you with a few recipes. My best guess, though, is that she's going through a phase. My son would eat everything for a while, then he'd only eat macaroni for a week. Then back to trying everything, etc. While it's great to provide your daughter with options, don't stress too much over it. She'll grow out of the chic'n nugget phase and will go back to being the adventurous eater you know and love!

In the meantime, perhaps finding some snacks that are protein packed are a good middle ground for the two of you. Try crackers or apples with peanut butter.

Let me know if you would still like some recipes.

My kids (3 and 7) love all beans and RAW fruits and veggies! I recently learned that cooking any food above 108* kills all the natural digestive enzymes. High protein sources are black beans, chickpeas, lentils and quinoa... here is a high protein recipe (just leave out the turkey) http://wdmmommy.blogspot.com/2008/01/lunch-was-delicious....