A few more questions!

[newpiggiemommy]

I asked a ton of questions in my last thread! I just had a few more questions that are a little more off the topic, I guess!

My daughter is the biggest reason I am considering the vegitarian life style switch. I have noticed so many girls maturing and starting their menstral cycle soooo early. I have often wondered if it is from the growth hormones in our milk and meat.

My daughter is a VERY picky eater. I will give her a plate of food with a small piece of meat, her potatoes, and her veggies. The only thing she will eat(if she eats anything) is her meat. She refuses to eat veggies or potatoes, noodles, or rice. I really don't know how she stays alive. My doctor says she is gaining weight slowly, but as long as she is gaining that we should just let it be. After 6 years of watching her eat almost nothing at each meal, I have decided to make some changes.

That is where my questions come in...

How do you get a picky eater to eat veggies and potatoes?

Do you cut out meat all at once or do you slowly take it away?

How do you deal with the negative response from the grandparents and aunts and uncles?

How do you handle eating at a relatives house?

How do you deal with meal preperation when you have family stay with you? (My parents and brother come to visit for 2 weeks in the spring and 2 weeks in the fall). Do you make two seperate meals or do you just cook vegitarian and let them deal with it?

You said to ask all my questions! I hope you aren't sorry you said that!

[guineapigluver1]

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

I asked a ton of questions in my last thread! I just had a few more questions that are a little more off the topic, I guess!

My daughter is the biggest reason I am considering the vegitarian life style switch. I have noticed so many girls maturing and starting their menstral cycle soooo early. I have often wondered if it is from the growth hormones in our milk and meat.

My daughter is a VERY picky eater. I will give her a plate of food with a small piece of meat, her potatoes, and her veggies. The only thing she will eat(if she eats anything) is her meat. She refuses to eat veggies or potatoes, noodles, or rice. I really don't know how she stays alive. My doctor says she is gaining weight slowly, but as long as she is gaining that we should just let it be. After 6 years of watching her eat almost nothing at each meal, I have decided to make some changes.

That is where my questions come in...

Do you cut out meat all at once or do you slowly take it away?



You said to ask all my questions! I hope you aren't sorry you said that!

You should slowly take it away if you eat a lot of meat. I cut it all out at once, but that was because I hardly ever ate meat anyways.

[alerz]

How do you get a picky eater to eat veggies and potatoes?

If you mix the veggies and potatoes in with something else, like pasta or eggs or even some meat, then a picky eater will probably be more likely to eat these foods.

Do you cut out meat all at once or do you slowly take it away?

I personally stopped totally, but it may be easier for some to stop eating meat gradually. However, to me, it seems sort of like smoking. Most people I know who "gradually" quit, never actually quit totally!

How do you deal with the negative response from the grandparents and aunts and uncles?

It's definitely hard to deal with family at first, but you kind of grow accustomed to the questions after a while. Just keep cool and tell them exactly why you want to change your eating lifestyle. If they have problems with it, just tell them that there's nothing that will change the way you feel and that you deserve just as much respect about your decision to not eat meat as they deserve respect from you for their decision TO eat meat.

How do you handle eating at a relatives house?

At this point, all of my relatives know that I am a vegetarian so I think they are usually pretty good about keeping me in mind when it comes to family get-togethers. Since you are just starting out, it is probably best to let everyone know beforehand that you are a vegetarian so they can cook accordingly. It might even be a good idea to bring something that you made so that you don't feel so bad. I know I tend to feel bad when people try to work around me, being the minority, so I will just deal with eating side dishes a lot! So if that is your case, bringing vegetarian food is a good solution.

How do you deal with meal preperation when you have family stay with you? (My parents and brother come to visit for 2 weeks in the spring and 2 weeks in the fall). Do you make two seperate meals or do you just cook vegitarian and let them deal with it?

This is a tough one because I never have family or friends stay with me for such a long period of time. If I have people visit for a weekend, it's usually easy to deal with because we go out to dinner a lot, so of course everyone can order whatever they want. For two weeks of time though, I'd say that you will have to cook two sets of food, but probably not to an extreme extent. For example, you could cook mashed potatoes, some veggies, and chicken along with a chik'n patty for yourself so that everyone is satisfied. To tell you the truth, my boyfriend eats meat so come to think of it, I have to deal with this basically all the time! Options that everyone can enjoy is spaghetti with tomato sauce or lasagna or something like that. I don't think anyone involved would be happy if you cooked all vegetarian meals to be honest. They may not tell you directly, but they would probably long for their meat!

[thalestral]

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

How do you get a picky eater to eat veggies and potatoes?

Heh, I was brought up to eat what was on my plate or go hungry! Check out vegweb again for good recipes, being vegetarian isn't about eating a bunch of veggies on a plate

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

Do you cut out meat all at once or do you slowly take it away?

I cut mine out straight away after watching this: Meat.org: The Web Site the Meat Industry Doesn't Want You to See

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

How do you deal with the negative response from the grandparents and aunts and uncles?

Fortunately my family were very supportive and proud of my choices, I think as long as you are giving your child support and telling her how proud you are other comments should not matter. Vegetarianism is a very healthy option.

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

How do you handle eating at a relatives house?

I always volunteer to take a dish with me to share with everyone, this has gone down very well every time

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

How do you deal with meal preperation when you have family stay with you? (My parents and brother come to visit for 2 weeks in the spring and 2 weeks in the fall). Do you make two seperate meals or do you just cook vegitarian and let them deal with it?

I do not have meat in my house and my veg*n meals have always been very well received. It isn't difficult to not eat meat after all and vegetarian dishes are just as tasty no matter who is eating them!

[PhoenixFeather]

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

My daughter is a VERY picky eater. I will give her a plate of food with a small piece of meat, her potatoes, and her veggies. The only thing she will eat(if she eats anything) is her meat. She refuses to eat veggies or potatoes, noodles, or rice.

First, how old is your daughter? And, think carefully -- is there anything she likes besides her meats? Start there.

How do you get a picky eater to eat veggies and potatoes?

Start with the ones she likes. Gradually try to bring in new foods that are similar to the ones she likes.

Do you cut out meat all at once or do you slowly take it away?

In your current situation, I wouldn't take my child off meat yet. I would buy organic/hormone-free/cruelty-free milk and meats (I know some will say that it's an oxymoron, but I would say to do the best you can) and not take away the only foods she likes.

Then think about whether any of the "easy" vegetarian meals are things your daughter will eat. Does she eat pizza? Spaghetti? Does she enjoy any ethnic foods?

How do you deal with the negative response from the grandparents and aunts and uncles?

First check with your pediatrician as to whether he advises your daughter follow a vegetarian (or reduced meat) diet. (If not, change to a ped who is more in line with your views.) Once you have the ped on your side, then you tell the relatives that this is what you and her doctor think is best for her. Appeal to authority. Grandparents cannot trump doctors. They may think they know better but then you can fall back on "We have to do what we believe is best, based on the best medical information that is available today". Grandparents, especially, get offended when you make a choice different than what they did, as they think you are criticizing their choice. But if you make it clear that times are different and the best available medical opinion today is different (and that yes, you know, sometimes medical opinions do flip flop, but having done the research, you really feel that you have to go with what science best supports today) then it's clear that you're really doing the "same" thing they did in their day (although it looks different) which is making the best decision you can with the information available at the time.

You may or may not want to send them supportive articles, books, websites, etc. Sometimes it's best to just go with the appeal to authority and not try to win them over. You can also just smile and say, "Thanks for the advice; I'll think about that"

How do you handle eating at a relatives house?

Depends how strongly you feel about your/her vegetarianism, and how supportive or not the relatives are. In most cases, I'd just let her eat what she wants at grandma's house, assuming you don't eat there all the time.

Other options are: getting them to respect your choices and offer a veggie choice, offering to bring a dish (and bring a veggie dish your daughter enjoys), or just not eating there very much.

How do you deal with meal preperation when you have family stay with you? (My parents and brother come to visit for 2 weeks in the spring and 2 weeks in the fall). Do you make two seperate meals or do you just cook vegitarian and let them deal with it?

If you are not eating meat because of ethical concerns, I wouldn't cook it for anyone else either. If you do eat meat infrequently, then you might want to kick up the frequency a bit when you have meat-eating guests. But mainly, we just cook vegetarian and let them deal. Of course we try to make dishes we think they will like (a good way to possibly "convert" someone is to let them see how easy and yummy it is...)

[PhoenixFeather]

Originally Posted by alerz

If you mix the veggies and potatoes in with something else, like pasta or eggs or even some meat, then a picky eater will probably be more likely to eat these foods.

This really depends on the child. Many, many picky eaters do not like food that is mixed together, or even touching (especially young ones).

[newpiggiemommy]

PhoenixFeather, my daughter is 6 years old, and you will laugh(or cry) when you hear what she likes to eat.

*From birth to two months she was nursed.
*From two months to age two the only thing she would eat/drink was formula or milk. About once a day I could get her to eat about a table spoon of baby rice mixed with fruit.
*From two until present she will sit down at any meal I make, and immediately say she doesn't like it, or that's gross. I can get her to eat about a TABLE SPOON or two of meat at a meal, usually nothing else. And she doesn't get to snack from one meal to the next and she may not get dessert if she doesn't eat.

The last couple of weeks she has been eating a little more. I think she is going through a growth spurt! LOL I still can't get her to eat a full meal (by full meal, I mean a table spoon of potatoes, table spoon of veggies, and a small piece of meat.

The one thing she will eat (and we eat it twice a week) is pizza. She will eat one full piece of pizza.

The good news is that tonight we made meatless tacos in a bag. And she ate one whole taco! yeah!!!!!

[PhoenixFeather]

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

PhoenixFeather, my daughter is 6 years old, and you will laugh(or cry) when you hear what she likes to eat.

I have 3 boys, ages 14, 11 and 6. The younger two are both picky eaters, and eat very few of the same foods! (The 11yo likes starches: pasta, potatoes, rice, etc. -- the younger one likes fruits and veggies and some meats) So, I will not laugh at what your daughter eats!

The one thing she will eat (and we eat it twice a week) is pizza. She will eat one full piece of pizza.

The good news is that tonight we made meatless tacos in a bag. And she ate one whole taco! yeah!!!!!

Ok, so that's 2 veggie meals to get you started! If she likes mexican, you might have luck with this mexican caserole that all my boys will eat:
Mexican Vegetarian Casserole Recipe | Recipezaar

My older 2 will also eat black bean quesadillas (mix a can of black beans and a can of rotel tomatoes/peppers; stick a tortilla or wrap into a warm frying pan and add shredded cheese, and a scoop of the beans. When the cheese starts getting melty, fold in half and remove from pan to warm oven to hold until dinner is served). My youngest won't eat that but he'll eat plain cheese quesadillas (a new development!)

On the pizza theme, Morningstar farm makes a pizza-flavored veggie burger that my kids eat. The older ones have it on a bun with cheese. The little one just eats it plain. There are other flavors too; you may find one that works for you. My older guys also like their black bean flavor.

Will she eat french fries? You might try sweet potato fries.

Mine also like Trader Joe's fake chicken nuggets.

My youngest will eat a variety of things if we let him dip them in honey.

They all like felafel. (We us Fantastic mix.) My youngest eats them plain, the middle eats them with shredded cheese (untraditional) and only the oldest eats them with the usual garlic tahini sauce.

Make a list of all the things she will eat, so you remember when you are trying to think of something to feed her!

Good luck!

[newpiggiemommy]

PhoenixFeather, Thank you for the mexican caserole recipe. I made it tonight and my daughter was the first one done eating! Again, that never happens. Thank you so much for all your advice!

[PhoenixFeather]

Originally Posted by newpiggiemommy

PhoenixFeather, Thank you for the mexican caserole recipe. I made it tonight and my daughter was the first one done eating! Again, that never happens. Thank you so much for all your advice!

Funny, we had that tonight too. Apparently my youngest no longer eats it.

Glad it worked for you, though.

[piggly wiggly]

My daughter does not eat meat at all, she is 11. She only eats some veggies, and all pata, rice potatoes, breads and dairy. My 9 yr old son basically only eats meat.He eats bread, chicken noodle soup, noodles, once in a blue moon some potatoe, but he does love his pizza, eventhough there is cheese on it, other than that, no dairy. My 3 yr old did eat a bit of everything until recently, now he is going through the picky stage. One day all he will eat is yogurt, another day only cheese and crackers, another day only hot dogs, macaroni, etc, it depends on the day. I have always served meat veggies potatoe, whatever the meal is, I always offer something from each food group, how each child is so different I will never know, but like the original poster, I seek out info on picky eaters. It is frusterating, sometimes I have to make many meals, other times they just eat part of the meal I make. Dinners are so stressful here.