Digest Number 1255

[Guest guest]

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Monday, October 17, 2005 8:25 pm

Digest Number 1255

 

 

Roberta,

Congratualtions on supporting your son in his decision. I recommend the Family

Vegetarian Cookbook by Nava Atlas. I like a lot of the recipes in it, and the

recipes are designed to be appealing to kids. Most families eat just 10 - 15

main dishes. Basically, all you need to do is come up with that many new

recipes. Some of them may already be vegetarian. Others can be easily converted.

And then you could to Vegetarian Journal (go to www.vrg.org) and Veg

News (go to vegnews.com) and get new recipes every month!

 

Best wishes,

Amie

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

re: feeding new vegetarian kid

 

I don't want to see a wonderful list like that with the word " picky "

attached ever again! Your son sounds like he eats a good variety of

things, which is really the key to any balanced diet, veg*n or not.

(Also, if you're new to this, I suggest *not* looking at that amazing

mom's lunchbox site - you don't have to do anything like that fancy,

but it's fun if you're looking for something to drool over.)

 

www.vrg.org has a lot of good info on feeding vegetarian kids,

including lovely reassuring nutritional data. (Mostly vegan info, but

it's perfectly applicable to vegetarians too.)

http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/kids.htm is a good overview.

 

The first thing most meat-eaters worry about is protein, but really,

getting enough is easier than falling off a log. There's always beans

and lentis, but you can also try tofu and seitan - there's a learning

curve, but there are lots of yummy ways to fix them. Oh - and hummus.

I've never met a kid who doesn't like hummus, it's my secret weapon on

anti-protein days.

Try not to fall into the trap of eating too many meat-analogues

(veggie burgers, hot dogs, etc.) - they're better for you than the

meat versions, yes, but they're still not really " health " food, and

the grocery bills will be crazy.

 

Basically, just try to vary what your kid eats from day to day - don't

buy into the protein combining silliness - and it's just as easy as

any other diet. You probably don't " need " to use a multivitamin, but

if it makes you feel better to give him one, the worst that'll happen

is that your kid will have very expensive pee. My daughter likes

Nature's Plus " Animal Parade " (and my HFS has samplers of all their

chewable vitamins, so you can taste them and see what you like!)

 

Re: deodorant. Ugh. I'm allergic to most deodorants. Lush

(www.lush.com) makes some vegan solid ones that work well and smell

great (but I'm allergic, so I can't use them anymore). Now I'm down to

using two sprays - one is a crystal-type deodorant in a convenient

spray form, the other is a homemade mix of tea tree oil, jojoba oil

(which you could probably leave out, it's for moisturizing, not

deodorizing), lavender extract, and witch hazel. Together they do a

good job, and on really hot days I add a dusting of baking soda at the

end. I miss the simple days of roll-on!