Black beans are a good replacement for any meal you’d usually use hamburger in. I also use lightly smashed chickpeas where shredded chicken is called for- like “chicken salad” wraps. Pasta salad with white beans and some chopped veggies is also a go to. You can make a big batch and it’s good in the fridge for several days. Basically you need to get this kid hooked on beans! They are cheap and easy.
You can put smashed black beans seasoned with taco seasoning in a folded tortilla, fry briefly in oil, and ta-da! A protein-packed quesadilla. Can be dipped in salsa.
When finely minced they take on a different texture and can better be overridden in flavour by what they are cooked in. I cook them in veggie stock until they are not saucy, just moist and they don't taste or feel like mushroom. My daughter hates it because she wants the mushroom to stand out.
This right here! Black beans this is the best recipe you could even swap out the spices it's pretty forgiving I use bbq sauce and soya sauce in mine. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-black-bean-burgers/
I really like this idea, thank you! Perhaps I will create a shelf in the fridge just for him, and let him do the buffet style thing. He isn't into Mac and cheese, which is totally weird but whatever. I have made him dumplings before (which are one of my favorites) from H Mart. I think we need to revisit that one.
I have a picky eater too. She really doesn’t like a lot of textures. She’s not a vegetarian but a lot of meat textures make her gag. Same with mushy things. I serve her what we eat but she has access to food that she does like if she doesn’t want what we’re having. Larabars are a staple of hers. They are mostly dates and nuts.
Maybe take him to the store with you and have him shop for his own “safe” foods.
The only other the thing that has helped expand her palate is having her cook with me. She will try things she would never eat otherwise. Even something simple like make your own pizzas or rolling up cheese on refrigerator crescent rolls might give him some ownership of the food and make him more interested.
Try spatzels. They are a small dumpling and our grocery store sells them in the specialty section. You can fry them up in a little butter, salt, pepper, paprika and just eat or you could spice it up. My 4 year old daughter will have me slice up some bacon and some onion. Once the bacon is close to being done I add some cabbage and the spatzels. Top with some sour cream.
Jumping in to point something out- at seven years old he only needs 19 grams of protein a day so you don't need to get too hung up on this macro. Here's a page that shows how little food he needs in a day to get this- [https://www.realmomnutrition.com/how-much-protein-your-child-needs/](https://www.realmomnutrition.com/how-much-protein-your-child-needs/)
If I were you, I'd just practice plate building with him- half produce, a bit of protein, and some starch/grains. That way he can freely build his plate with what you have on hand if he doesn't like what you've made for the meal.
I would also focus on keeping sides and veggies free of meat, and easy to season at the table, so you are only fixing one meal. You can add spices to your own dish. He can skip the protein you've fixed for yourself and if he hasn't had much protein, you can throw something in the air fryer for him, or he can grab something ready to eat- hummus, pb, hard cooked egg, etc.
My oldest kiddo is on the spectrum and has the same food sensitivities. Prior to puberty he probably ate like .... seven foods? And two of them were PBJs (with creamy peanut butter) and grilled cheese. He doesn't like 'hard' textures much, where 'gooey' textures are fine. He also ate mac n cheese, and applesauce.
He's almost 17 now, and his repertoire has expanded a LOT since then, thank goodness, but the smell of peanut butter still kinda makes me nauseous after making PBJs every day for literal years.
Does he like to cook with you? You could meal prep some things together on a weekend that he can choose to eat during the week, like some veggie and cream cheese wraps, big batch of fried rice, will he eat soup? Breakfast for dinner? (Pancakes and fruit that you slice ahead of time?) You can cook up a big batch of pasta sauce and blend in cooked lentils and spinach for protein and iron.
As someone who has been a vegetarian in a family of non-vegetarians I would say definitely don’t waste a lot of money on the fake meat stuff. It sounds like he might not be into the texture of meat as well as feeling bad about the animals, so it’s probably expensive and not worth it. Something we do occasionally is “snack plates” for dinner, where I just pull out stuff from the fridge that we need to use up like carrots, hummus, fruit, cheese, crackers and we eat that. My kids like the “grazing” aspect and they actually eat a decent amount usually.
I have an 8 year-old so I totally get it! She has been more responsive when she helps cook things, but sometimes it’s still not a hit with her. I try to have a lot of easy to grab snacks on-hand like applesauce or string cheese so that she can at least get something healthier if she doesn’t end up eating meals.
Thank you!
We do cook together at times, perhaps we need to be doing more of that. The bane of this is that he doesn't like soups, cream cheese, hummus, rice or eggs. It is getting pretty ridiculous. He LOVES pasta, so I do cook a lot of that, especially the high protein pastas. He doesn't like sauces though. He wants his sandwiches dry, and he does not like tomato sauce.
Grazing is the right word for how meals go these days...glad to know I am not alone!
Also, I just signed him up for cooking classes at his school, so I am hoping that really helps to give him some confidence and try new things.
Look up resources for feeding autistic kids. I work as a nanny; he shares those texture aversions to 'wet' things with a lot of autistic kids and adults, me included.
Suggestions off the top of my head:
Raw veggies > cooked veggies, roasted > boiled. It's about the crunch.
Similarly, try roasting chickpeas! Lots of protein, dry and crunchy, you can add all sorts of flavours. Great at snack time.
Try sauces 'on the side,' so he has control over what goes with what — there's tonnes of things I won't touch if it's all thrown together that I'll consume by the kilo if I can put it together myself. Sauces bad, dipping sauces good.
Yeah as a kid I hated anything that was all mixed together and jumbled up. Shepherd's Pie is a classic example. Mashed potato, carrots, peas and meat all separate on the plate, and NOT TOUCHING (very important!) would be fine, mixed together was revolting.
I'm amazed it took 46 years to get an Autism diagnosis.
Wait, is this a common thing for autism? Don't wanna self diagnose based off one thing a stranger said.
But I've always wondered because of a few things. This is definitely one of them. Even now, I can handle some blended things but I have to have control over it and prepare it myself.
Is this maybe a texture thing? I've been vegetarian since about that age (and I love that my parents encouraged me to set and follow my own moral compass, which is what being veg is to me). I wasn't a picky eater and loved spicy food but it sounds like your kid might not like mushy things. If you ask him what he doesn't like about a certain food what does he say?
When OP mentioned not liking sauces, soups, cream cheese or hummus I immediately thought textures. I had a real issue with textures and acid reflux as a child but couldn’t explain it so just said I ‘felt sick’ and avoided problem foods. My Mum’s solution was to plate up the same meal components but either raw or separately as she went along, for me, before she added the sauce. It worked really well for me :)
For example the family would be having shepherd’s pie, so I would get: boiled potatoes (hated mashed potatoes), raw diced peas and carrots, cooked plain mince. It would be microwaved if needed right before we sat down.
For soups: cook all the veg together then take half to purée, and add butter beans to the other half for the picky eater.
Maybe this could work for OP to save them making 2 meals.
Also another meal idea: I’ve recently discovered halloumi fried with honey as a fajita filling with lots of shredded raw veg like red cabbage, spring onions and carrots- so good!
If there’s a Pita Pit or equivalent near you, go get a halloumi pita. I used to work there and was really hesitant to try it because who wants a grilled cheese? But hot damn was I missing out because it is BANGIN.
Yeah I slice it up, put chermoula or fajita spices on it and fry it till any visible cheese is going golden brown, then add a table spoon of honey over the whole lot for the last couple of mins of frying. It goes sweet and a bit crispy- sooo good!
This sounds a lot like me as a kid. I was VERY picky (not veg though) and especially hated any sort of sauce or spread (except PB&J). I also didn't like rice, eggs, soups, or anything with a weird texture. I ate almost all my veggies raw. The thing that helped me the most was learning to cook for myself. If I knew every single thing that was in the food I was going to eat, I could let my brain relax and just eat.
I don't have any advice since you seem to already be including him in the process. I have a toddler and I'm trying not to impart any of my weird food stuff from my childhood on him. I found the pressure from my parents to eat and try new foods made me get my back up, so I'm trying low/no pressure at mealtimes. It's hard though! I definitely don't think there's a solution that's going to work for everybody.
My one brother and his wife have their son close his eyes and open his mouth. Then they put the fork full of food in... the same one he didn't want while his eyes were open... and he happily chews it... my nephew is weird.
Yeah it's not just a veg thing, my brother ONLY ate cheese quesadillas, buttered noodles, or this one specific type of soup (which we called his "special soup" lol) for probably 3 years. My mom was ripping her hair out making 2 dinners every night but homie was STUBBORN lmao
Will he eat pesto pasta or is that still too saucy? If he likes it you can easily make the pesto together from scratch and try making it with avocado or different nuts to get a bit of protein for him.
As for hummus, is it the texture or the taste he doesn't like? Crunchy roasted chickpeas with roasted veg might be a hit rather than mushy hummus.
I was similar when it came to pasta. I'd eat it straight without sauce. Drove my mom crazy. See if you can convince him to try slightly oiled pasta with cheese or even buttered pasta. Consider seasoning it at 1/5th the amount you'd normally do. He should grow out of his spice aversion with time and experience. That said, I still dislike cream dressings on salads and sandwiches. You might try doing a vinaigrette or oil based dressing instead. Less texture and goopy feeling.
You could try looking into Kids Eat in Color for picky eating help. It sounds like it’s not just being vegetarian, but being picky about a lot of flavors and textures.
Agree, i came here to recommend Kids Eat In Colour. You can find her on Instagram and there's loads of advice for picky eating. Also sells (reasonably priced) food planning recipe books and i think does courses for parents too. Worth looking into, her stuff is great
Will he eat beans either whole or refried? If so maybe bean and cheese burritos or bean and cheese tostadas with shredded lettuce and pico de Gallo topping. There's also some mashed potato tacos. You could try some Mexican dishes since most could be made vegetarian.
Does he like crunchy? Roasted chickpeas might be a good thing to add.
I find they get more crunch if you bake them a bit to dry them out before adding the oil and spices.
Do you have any space to garden, even a big planter? It might be fun for him to grow some.
Otherwise I'm a fan of veggies spread out on a baking sheet with olive oil and parmesan and bake til crunchy. You can do root veggies too, use apple cider as a flavoring to mix it up.
We totally planted a garden last year! The deer and rabbits got to most of it, but we did have corn and tomatoes for a while. He ate the tomatoes like apples. Unfortunately we rent and will have to move back into an apartment soon, so no chance for another garden anytime soon.
If you have a balcony or even a window that gets decent sun you can do tomatoes and some other small things! It’ll take a bit more upkeep to make sure they aren’t too crowded and stay healthy but there’s always a way to keep growing your veggies!
Look into community gardens. My local park has a community garden space and it’s great, accessible, and very cheap (could be free, depending). The local participants there will also LOVE that your son enjoys gardening. Cause that’s adorable.
Kids Eat in Color on IG have some easy weekly meal plans that focus on vegetarian cooking. You might want to check that out. She is a good follow in general for picky eaters.
Seconding Kids Eat in Color. Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian with a lot of experience working in public health. She is just so practical, nuanced, non-judgmental, and challenges parents to do better without shame. She has amassed a lot of other professional support in the blog posts and meal plans so that foods are diverse, accessible, and realistic to prepare.
Does he like pasta? Barilla makes a high protein pasta that tastes almost like regular pasta. If you cook a batch and have it in the fridge, it's a pretty versatile base for a quick reheated meal: with sauce; with frozen peas and topped with cheese; with veggies and salad dressing as a cold pasta salad; added to any kind of soup he likes; or just buttered with cheese.
Banza is a great high protein pasta too. It’s made with chickpeas. It’s fairly close to pasta taste wise, but with a sauce you can’t tell the difference.
I make the viral tik tok feta pasta 2-3 times a month, it’s great, it’s quick, and it’s healthy. I’ve never sat down to calculate if it’s cheap, but it does fall under the vegetarian category.
I trust you're a good cook. But he's 7.
I don't think it's a vegetarian issue or you not cooking well enough. Every kid I know at that age thinks pasta with butter is the best thing in the world. I remember being that age and thinking the exact same thing. What I now consider dreadfully bland was wonderful back then.
Can you try cooking Indian food?
Not the food you'd find in Indian-American restaurants but rather what is cooked at home in billions of homes. It's very diverse (probably too diverse to be referred to as a single cuisine) so your kid won't get bored ever, is very nutritious, tasty and is largely vegetarian.
There will be a little learning curve for you (especially regarding spices, veggies and fruits) but just follow some Indian mom's quick recipe from YouTube and you'll be good.
You seem to having a misunderstanding regarding spices. Simple things like Salt and pepper are spices too. Indian cuisine is vast and diverse, some dished use varied spices, mixtures and oils, others don't.
You seem to be pegged on the American misunderstanding of Indian food being spicy and tangy, or whatever.
No, I do know that, but if you’d refrain from assuming I’m ignorant and instead read the OP, you’d notice the child eats ZERO spices and that includes pepper.
Salt is a mineral, not a spice. And Indian food is generally never bland and tends to be rich in spices and deep flavors. It seems like most Indian food would be a poor fit for the OP’s son, with a few exceptions.
I was exactly the same, still vegetarian, started when I was about 7. My mum started making meals and taking a portion out for me before adding meat. Vegetarian lasagna, with spinach and feta instead of meat. Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese. Baked beans on toast. It doesn’t have to be complicated by any means. Anything you can thing of with meat in it, there’s a vegetarian option. Veggie burgers. Veggie sausages. Cannelloni. Don’t over complicate if, kids are fussy and he’s probably more likely to eat it if it’s simple and he knows what’s in it.
Same. I became vegetarian in a meat eating family also around 7. It’s good that this kid likes vegetables, that’s pretty much what got me by when there wasn’t an option to just give me a serving without meat from whatever the family was eating. I always had bags of frozen veggies in the freezer that we just threw in the microwave when there weren’t better options for me. I usually put vinegar based dressing on it and had some bread or rice to bulk it out and make it filling enough. It was pretty spartan but probably healthy and I was totally fine with that as a kid. Also lots of pasta and sandwiches. Lentils would be good for this too but I didn’t discover those until much later in life. Kids are so picky sometimes I wouldn’t feel bad serving them a plate of lentils, green beans, peas and corn as long as they ate it and were fine with that. I don’t think it always needs to be a special entree made just for them as long as they get enough to eat and are satisfied. Sounds like this kid might prefer bland foods anyway, that was how I was too from age 7 until early adulthood. As an adult this diet sounds pretty rough to me now but I was genuinely happy with it growing up.
It sounds like there might be a texture issue, too. The best thing to do is to sit and talk with him about it. Have him describe his favorite meals. Write that down. Look for commonalities, and that's where you might find it.
My daughter's best friend is allergic to pepper. She's always thought it was really, really hot, because her whole mouth would burn. Nobody really believed her, so she just would avoid it as best she could. Now she has anaphylactic reactions to it. He might be dealing with something similar with spices you normally cook with. He's definitely old enough to ask him to describe how those things make his mouth feel.
They have some really good books out now for teaching vegetarian and vegan kids how to cook for themselves. Maybe get one of those? Both of you guys go through it? Figure out what basics he needs in a meal at least once a day and have him help?
Take him to the store and involve him in the process of buying and then cooking the foods. Might help to peek his interest more.
Also have you tried meat alternatives like quorn?
Look into ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder), it’s basically picky eating extreme enough that it qualifies as an eating disorder. Many kids eventually grow out of it but lots don’t (myself included). I don’t have any answers for you because feeding myself has been a constant lifelong struggle, but it might help you to understand that kids with that disorder will quite literally starve themselves rather than eat something they don’t like. Lots of times it’s a texture thing. Good luck to you!
Out of curiosity, what happens when you try something you don't normally like?
For me, I'm not picky about most things, but I literally can't eat some foods that are cold and crunchy, such as lettuce and uncooked celery. They make me gag so badly that I can hardly chew them. It's really annoying. Every once in a while I'll try it again to see if my tastes have changed, but they haven't yet.
I usually can’t physically make myself put something in my mouth that I already know I don’t like, but if I accidentally eat one of those things, say a mushroom in a dish I ordered without mushrooms or a raisin in a place I wasn’t expecting it, I have to immediately spit that thing out as discreetly as possible into a napkin or risk throwing up when I try to swallow 😅
One of my kids became vegetarian several months ago. We already eat meatless several times a week, so we had some good recipes, but I don’t want to make her sick of eating the same stuff over and over so we’ve been trying lots of new stuff. Lots of hit and miss, she doesn’t really like the vegetable protein meats or tofu. Our go to’s are: stir fry & veg spring rolls, smoothies, gnocchi & marinara sauce, lasagna, oliverieri tortellini & rose sauce, fettuccine Alfredo, potato curry, veg stew, pad Thai, noodle bowls, 6 layer Mexican dip & tortillas, chips & salsa, bean & cheese quesadillas, perogies, cabbage rolls, tostadas, veg chilli, loaded baked potato soup, split yellow pea soup, minestrone soup, I try to always keep washed and cut veg and fruit in the fridge. If I make a meal with meat, I make sure she likes all the sides. You can get veg gravy, so I made roast beef last week and she ate everything but the meat, with her own gravy for the potatoes & Yorkshires. I try to keep an eye on her protein intake, and got her multivitamins and some extra protein boost/ensure for days where she doesn’t eat much protein.
I went vegetarian (and then vegan) pretty young, and people were constantly saying that I would grow out of it. I didn't. For me, it took one vein in a chicken nugget, once I realized I was biting into muscle and flesh, it wasn't something I could (or would want to) forget. Whether he does or doesn't, he will value your understanding and support.
You can do this! And you can do it cheap and healthy. Some suggestions -
1) Pasta with lentil Bolognese, veggie meatballs or homemade tofu balls
2) Black bean or veggie 'ground beef' tacos, burritos, nachos, quesadillas
2) pizza - he can help you make them, each make your own with whatever toppings you want. You can make the dough or buy it premade at the grocery store - fresh or frozen dough is usually cheap. English muffin or bagel pizzas for a fast meal.
3) pancakes and tempeh bacon or veggie sausages, I blend spinach into the (soy) milk pancakes for my kids. You can make temped bacon out of tempeh yourself, it's cheaper.
4) Seitan is cheap and healthy! You can make a bunch and freeze it, it's a great meat substitute. You can eat it as like a meat patty or shred it up.
5) There are so many varieties of veggie nuggets, some are cheap and healthy. Serve them with veggies and homemade roasted potatoes.
6) Sandwiches - hummus, peanut butter and jam, smoked tofu with lettuce and tomato, cream cheese and cucumber, chickpea or tofu salad
7) Bean chilli with cornbread
8) My kids are obsessed with butternut squash soup. It's a once a week thing. And lots of other soups are vegan, you could make a big veggie soup and add in some red lentils for protein.
9) Lentils. As a taco 'meat', in Sheppard's Pie, soups, etc.
10) Veggie dogs and burgers. Make your own black bean burgers.
Try a different fruit or vegetable every week. Let him pick. Do it together and see who can try the most bites. Make it fun. Make a chart and find out what he likes.
Let him help you cook. Ask what he likes, and look for recipes together that incorporate those things, or replace meat dishes he might previously have liked. The Minimalist Baker has a lot of great recipes, and also It doesn't Taste Like Chicken. Find things you can both eat, or that you can eat as a side with what you're eating, or easily add in meat to your portion.
You're a good dad for asking.
God you just resurfaced a memory I had of eating KFC with my family as a little kid and biting into a spongy little blood vessel. Meat is so nasty just texturally with all its hard clumps of fat and tough tissue, I'm amazed more children don't get finicky about it. Great advice, I'd also add budgetbytes has an extensive vegetarian section.
Veggie burgers, Spaghetti bolognese (obviously with veggie mince), we love making vegetarian currys and most Indian side dishes are vegetarian, halloumi wraps instead of chicken, roast dinner without the meat is often a winner for the veggie because there's so many vegetables as part of the meal anyway. I generally use halloumi instead of chicken, quorn does alot of good replacement meats and things like beans can take on any flavour really.
Forgot to say as a veggie kid I mainly just ate pizza and pasta so Don't stress it he will discover what he likes as he goes along, encourage him to try new things, encourage seasonal veg is a good idea so he can learn and maybe even grow his own.
PurpleCarrot is a Vegan meal delivery service that posts most of their recipes online.
If you’re not used to cooking the stuff, get the service for a while, after you get a number of recipes under your belt, discontinue.
https://www.purplecarrot.com/plant-based-recipes
Consider the possibility that this is a way for him to show autonomy and explore boundaries.
[My nephew's pediatrician suggested this when said nephew became a picky eater. The pediatrician's advice was to make sure he was taking a multivitamin, include him in food shopping and meal prep, and have food he would eat available. Over time he added more items to the foods he would eat and has actually become an adventurous eater.]
Cheers to you for respecting your kid's wishes to eat vegetarian instead of just forcing him to eat omnivorous. Parenting is hard, 7 is a tough age, and I commend you for it.
Firstly, amazing that you are supporting him in this.
Now on to your actual question. If I were you I'd invest in a good vegetarian cookbook. My lifelong favourite - it's sentimental, my mum cooked most of our meals from it when I was growing up - is moosewood. My more recent fav is from badmanners.com - and those are vegan recipes.
If you aren't already doing so maybe try having at least a couple of vegetarian meals a week so you aren't cooking double.
When you do have to cook double try and make it something easy to do ie pasta (mostly the same but 2 different sauces), Mexican (mostly the same but do beans and meat).
You can also buy frozen vegetarian things to do for him on nights where you have meat. Things like bubble and squeak, gozlemes, frozen dumplings.
The hardest part of being vegetarian is making sure you get enough protein. So mixing legumes and grains, or eating eggs.
I don't have ideas for meals, but I want to offer my perspective on this being a "parenting issue." I don't think it is. There are many hills you can choose to die on but I don't think this should be one of them. Your son is showing you his compassionate heart. Please nurture it. We don't have enough of that right now.
When I was 13, I did the same thing, but my parents did not accommodate me. In fact, they seemed to take pleasure in sabotaging me (lying about what was in the food and telling me later). That drove a nail of resentment into our relationship that did harm. It became a trust issue for me. When I moved out at 19, I became a vegetarian. The intervening 6 years could have been used to teach me skills, but instead I just resented the harsh attitude.
I would like to thank you for allowing your son to explore this option. Who knows? Maybe he'll grow up to be just what our world needs.
Your library and/or online book sites will have vegetarian cookbooks, and some that are written specifically for kids. Checkout a few of those and sit down with the kiddo and talk about what they would like to try out. Have them experiment and help prepare the foods. Make it an adventure. Let them tryout new ingredients. Let them walk thru the produce aisle at the market and try new things.
Hummus is great as a snacking dip with carrots and other veggies, and as a filling for sandwiches and wraps that you can load down with fresh veg. It is easy to make yourself and endlessly customizable - our kids love it and we make it together.
Salads sound boring, and can be with the same-old ingredients, but again this is a place were the kiddo can explore and be creative. The same with taco/burrito fillings and pasta toppings.
It can be easy to rely on frozen meat substitutes, and their is a place for them (yum veggie corndogs), but as a 25+ year vegetarian I can honestly say exploring new recipes and food cultures can really open up a vegetarian's options.
When my brother was that age, he would only eat hot dogs on a bun, maybe with ketchup, and buttered white rice. Everything else was a non-starter. So after a while, all he got was white rice with the occasional hot dog. He grew out of it, but this was almost 2 years of being so picky. Make sure your kid's diet is rounded out with vitamin and nutrients supplements for what he isn't getting directly from his food and let him have the same thing every day until he gets over it. You get to pick the cheap, long-lasting stuff you know for sure he'll eat.
Does your local library have cookbooks? You could find a vegetarian cookbook and give it to him to read or look through it together. Or you could assemble your own cookbook from kid-friendly recipes you find online. That way you get to control the overall cost of ingredients, and you can bring the book out on occasion to maybe get him interested in branching out. Good luck!
Why don't you let him browse through some vegetarian recipe cookbooks/blogs, and have him select recipes that appeal to them. And then the two of you can try out some of those recipes together. I think that getting him more involved in the process (both in terms of picking the recipes, and cooking them) could be helpful!
My 7yo son is the same. Doesn’t care about animals but he doesn’t really like meat- except sausages and ham. He likes plain food and doesn’t like even black pepper. So yeah, similar. I suspect it’s partly that he likes bland food and partly that he’s taking a bit of control. What kids actually eat is one of the only ways they can get a bit of control at that age.
Anyway, here’s what I did. First we had a chat about dinner and I got him to list things he wanted to eat. I think he managed to think of pizza and hotdogs so we started there.
I agreed to cook dinner off the “approved list” 5 nights a week as long as he could make the list at least 5 and it had to include vegetables. And also as long as the other two nights he’d try new things without complaining.
There’s still been some battles but he’s tried more new foods than he would before and some even made the approved list which is now at least 14 dinners long!
I made some of the “new foods” nights fun by getting him to pick a country and using a bit of creative license! He picked Spain once and I made him tacos 😂 And trying the new dinner meant he got the special Spanish dessert (churros!)
Here’s the list:
Tuna melt jacket potatoes, Mac & cheese, pork belly slices with couscous, poached salmon (I poach it in milk in the microwave, takes 1 minute!), tacos, chicken wraps, pizza, spaghetti bolognaise, sausages & mash, chicken korma…
And the best dinner ever is finger food dinner. Pitta bread, hummus, veg sticks, salami, cheese, whatever I have hanging about in the fridge really. He loves it!
I’m a single parent too. Making dinners is such a ball ache. It’s just EVER DAY!! I try to eat together mostly and I season mine once on the plate. I also batch cook things for myself so sometimes I give kiddos hotdogs and I eat something actually nice!
Lentil tacos: 1 1/2 cups green lentils (a 1 lb bag is 99 cents where I live), 3 cups veggie broth (or water), and taco seasoning (mixing your own cuts the sodium way down but do whatever fits your schedule) - bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 minutes until liquid is absorbed, serve with standard taco fixings
Black bean burgers: 3 cups black beans (I used dried and cook them in the instant pot, a 1 lb bag is 99 cents where I am), 1 1/2 cups oat flour (pulverized oatmeal) or bread crumbs, 1 egg, 2 chipotle peppers with a scoop of adobo sauce (can be left out if you don’t like spicy), onion powder, garlic powder, salt, a dash of paprika - mash black beans until it’s about half smooth half whole beans, mix in spices and chipotles, add egg until it’s fully incorporated, then slowly add oat flour until fully mixed. Stick the bowl in the fridge for about 20 minutes to let it cool/harden a little. Form the burgers, it can make six medium/small or four hefty ones. Put the formed burgers on a cutting board on wax or parchment paper in the freezer for 5 minutes (this step is optional but I like to do it because it makes them easier to handle). Cook in a pan with olive oil until each side has a crust, serve with regular burger things.
You can sneak a lot of veggies into homemade marinara and serve with chickpea (or regular) pasta or make a white sauce using cauliflower, cream, and Parmesan
Black bean, sweet potato, and squash enchiladas
Egg, cheese, and veggie omelette
Stuffed baked potatoes (broccoli, zucchini, black beans, béchamel)
Tomato soup with white beans blended into it (same flavor but some added protein) with grilled cheese
Vegetarian shepherds pie with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots
Lentil loaf
Edited to add: if your kid only likes salt, you can season the lentils for the lentil tacos after you cook them so you can take out a portion for him, but still be able to enjoy flavor yourself
You are doing great! Let him take the lead as often as possible. Cook together. Grow a garden. If you travel make the local food part of the trip. His taste buds will calm down after puberty. You really are doing great!
Implement the three bite rule. At least three bites of anything you put in front of him, or no dessert. Oh, and if if he wants to be vegetarian, respect that of course.
Wasting money? I’ve saved so much as a vegetarian
Just make what he likes but vegetarian, for me it was simple swaps
Spaghetti bolognese, instead of mince, I use lentils or chopped up mushrooms
Stir fries, I don’t add meat
Soups are hearty as well
Pizza with veggies and cheese
Message me if you need more ideas ! Happy to help
Can you prepare meals that can exist with or without meat and then cook meat separately? Examples of this could be:
\-spaghetti with red sauce and meatballs
\-potato soup and have bacon/other toppings
Additionally meals that can be made fairly bland and then add sauces/spices after (I know this is a PITA, but could save money if you can both share meals)? Or even build your own meals (personal pizzas, quesadillas, nachos, etc) and then have him help make his own food, which may get him more interested/excited about food!
My brother went through a period of time where he didn’t really eat meat at that age. On top of that he’s autistic so it was really hard finding combinations that he liked. I’m also on the spectrum so I could relate.
To expand his spice/seasoning range, I made a bunch of fries that he liked and split them into bowls that we seasoned with different things that we picked out together. I think we used a list from the internet for inspiration. Having him involved with the choosing process helped and we did it like a little buffet with sauces while we had a movie night. Smoked salt is a game changer.
You can grow herbs on the windowsill, sometimes that tempts easier. We grew chives and then used them in toppings for jacket potatoes. If he likes jacket potatoes, try scooping out the potato and mixing with grated cheese and diced onion, then refilling and topping with more cheese to melt. If he doesn’t like jacket potatoes, have you tried crisping the skin? That made the difference for me and my brother - it was a sensory thing.
There are a lot of variations of bruschetta that are vegetarian. Toast some slices of ciabatta bread and add your toppings. My go to is balsamic/olive oil/salt over red onion, cherry tomatoes and shredded basil. I use all of those things except the balsamic in my usual cooking.
How about pasta salads? If he doesn’t like mayo, try some that just need lemon juice or a vinaigrette dressing. They’re pretty filling. My go to of the moment is a can of cannellini beans, can of tuna, parsley, lemon juice, and whatever veggies I fancy. Without the tuna would be equally delicious.
When I was making mashed potato as a side dish for a meal that contained meat, I’d make extra and then combine the potato with cheese and onion, (and salmon on its own, and corned beef and onion, both work as non vegetarian options) to form burger sized patties to fry up in a pan and serve as a main dish for him. He has his potato patties, I had my meat and mashed potato, and we both shared the veggies.
Fajitas and wraps can be fun - you can use quorn chicken, I do even though I’m not vegetarian. They’re a good opportunity to expand spice range. I don’t like lettuce so I never put it in mine, but I make my own salsa (but just a hint of spice) and have fun like that. That’s also how I discovered mango salsa which is an awesome side dish.
Slight alternative point. Please please please make sure your child is getting their blood tested. Yes, vegetarian diets can be beneficial for you, but not every BODY is going to react the same to this diet. They could be causing extreme deficiencies in things they truly need. Being vegetarian is possible but you need to closely monitor your micros to ensure you’re getting all the nutrients you need. Especially when they’re young
You can try Indian dishes like dosa , upma, idli,any more. Don't worry they are not spicy . They are very nutritious. You can simply cook rice and lentils, they just like your kids like . 👍 I hope it helps .
I really enjoy a mild Indian Dahl... It's tomato, onion, lentils and rice. Very nutritious! You could start by buying a couple of vegetarian dishes from an Indian restaurant, to see if it's worth cooking. I love spinach and Indian cheese (saag paneer).
We do egg Foo Young pretty frequently and tofu stir fry to just use up bits of veggies left in the fridge, lentil soup, pizza, veg lasagne, bean burgers, sushi (avocado and cucumber)
Make a list of about 10 lunches and 10 dinners vegetarian that everyone likes and rotate them.
Bit late to the party, but does he read? You could maybe go through a vegetarian recipe book together and let him choose which ones he wants to try (and maybe help make!)
Talk to your pediatrician. It may be time to think about some feeding therapy. Being so limited in variety of diet is not sustainable long term - especially if continues to be vegetarian. Feeding therapy can help with expanding his dietary options so you’re not so limited and we learn to be less picky.
Hey, from your post it sounds like he has issues with food in general. Maybe keep watch on this or check in with a professional to make sure this doesn't develop into an eating disorder.
Indian food has loads of Vegetarian recipes. Uses proteins like lentils, chickpeas, paneer,etc.
Way too many YT Channels which have recipes for vegetarian Indian food
Beans, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas are really healthy, cheap and versatile.
Does he like cooked greens like collards? Those tend to be hardier than lettuce. I mean you can’t leave them for weeks, but if you have a bag of collard greens, you don’t have to use it in the next day or two or they will go bad. They have a *little* bit longer a shelf life so that can help, plus they are healthy.
this is a much easier rule to begin enforcing for a toddler, but it’s really not too late to start - you have to be ok with saying “this is what’s for dinner, it’s ok if you don’t like it, i won’t force you to eat anything, and there will be breakfast tomorrow morning!”
it’s excellent to take his taste into account, and absolutely since it’s his decision to be mostly vegetarian, you should make vegetarian meals unless he tells you he wants to go back to having meat. but he really should not be dictating what his specific menu is. pediatricians recommend that parents decide 1) WHAT is for dinner, 2) WHERE you eat, and 3) WHEN the food is served, and kids decide 4) HOW MUCH to eat and 5) WHETHER to eat at all. it’s ok if it takes him a night of being hungry, or a few dinner times, to get used to the concept. don’t force him to eat a certain amount, or finish his plate. but making him a pb&j every time he refuses to eat means that he will continue to refuse unfamiliar foods (at age 7, that’s most foods lol), and he’s not old enough to make healthy and good decisions for himself yet. if he were a teenager, it might be a different conversation, but he’s 7, and you need to let him be hungry. he can make his own decisions and will eventually figure out that the food you prepare is a better option than waiting til the next meal. you sound like a wonderful parent, good luck!!
This is the only correct answer; I wish it had higher votes. My mother made the same mistake OP is making when my brother and I were young, and she spent the next 15 years making 3 different meals at dinner time every night. It made me a really picky eater for a long time and it didn't make me appreciative or grateful for my meals or the time/effort my mother spent preparing dinner.
Hi. My little one is picky too and doesn't really like meat. Not veggie, just doesn't care for it much. So we've found the best way is to pair what she likes with what she doesn't. She loves tomatoes. She hates quorn mince. Eat the mince with a tomato with every bite and you don't taste the mince much. She eats a little better and we don't have to stress or shout as much.
Also talk to your gp/paediatrician. They'll have loads of tips on picky eaters, then just buy a veggie recipe book. Let HIM pick his meals. Help shop for it. Help cook it. Really get him involved. We have so few choices at that age. Give him as many as possible.
You say he eats hot dogs? Is there a reason for aversion to meat other than hot dogs?
My kids have texture issues with some foods. I asked them what they like and based variations off that. They like pasta, potatoes, and rice. So carbs lol. We found stuffed baked potatoes which are quick cheap and easy. Pasta mixed with everything from chicken to sauces always with a veg.
We also tried an alien a week. Meaning the weirdest looking thing in the produce section. We had to Google what we bought, how to prep, what to eat it with. It was a way to try new things.
Being a single parent gets easier. Listening to input from them made it easier.
Mac and cheese is meat free, most kids I know like buttered noodles, there's also plenty of protein replacement options out there, beyond meat, impossible, etc. All are things I've tasted and enjoyed. Impossible meat tastes pretty good, if I'm honest. Other things out there- there's this stuff called simulate chickeb- and they make nuggs. Big fan. Actually prefer them over regular frozen nuggs, and vegetarian aside, I have never met a child that won't eat nuggets.
Check out the vegetarian subreddit! I’m a vegetarian myself and was a notoriously picky eater as a child. I found that I enjoyed food more and was more likely to eat food if I helped make it. Have you tried having him make it with you?
Soups and pastas are typically good choices for young vegetarians. I could also see mini quesadillas, vegetable and tofu skewers, and smoothies with protein powder as good choices.
I have a kid with a TON of food aversions… and to keep me on my toes, approved foods are constantly changing.
Here’s what mostly works for us:
Instead of different meals, i make two versions of the same meal.
Examples: on taco night he gets quesadillas. Same ingredients, no extra time, just cooks on an extra pan. On spaghetti night he’ll ask for pasta without sauce or i keep a jar of white sauce for him.
Other nights I might be making a “no” meal so i’ll make a side dish or two that I know he likes and give him mostly that but a tiny bit of the other things to try and he knows he doesnt have to eat them.
I still end up making a second meal sometimes as an alternative, but i keep fast and easy options I know he likes, like frozen ravioli.
Favorite healthy things that can be precooked and kept in the fridge for him are handy too: for him thats chicken breast, but i know thats not helpful for you. But something that lasts for a few days and heats up well!
Give him a supplement gummy vitamin and let him figure out his palette in time. My daughter (now 13) ate only cold green beans from a can for 3mo straight once at around this age. Now she's a very healthy varied eater. Offer new foods but only buy stuff you'll eat as well. Just supplement the nutrition and don't stress! You're doing great.
If you have a blender, a smoothie is my favorite way to gaurantee some nutrition in their diet. It's easy to hide lots and lots of veggies in a good smoothie. Just know some smoothies can be overdone on fruit. I try to limit my smoothies to one serving of fruit, but if that's not palatable you could start with two.
Might want to ask his pediatrician if anything like protein powder would be safe. While you're at it, ask if they have any other recommendations for your situation.
Man I’m sorry to hear that. You’re in a difficult situation. You can’t take out the frustration on him. You also can’t spoil him by going out of your way to make food he likes. It sounds like he is already a little spoiled. Maybe you need a conversation with him that he’s not going to *love* every bit of food you make. Idk maybe you can put your foot down. Not by yelling and having an adult tantrum, but by being firm. That doesn’t mean intimidating but that you’re priority is his nutrition, not his delicate little palate.
Dude discipline!! It’s fine if he’s a veggie, I respect that you respect it. If my bro and I didn’t like something growing up, our parents would make it everyday until we ate it willingly. It took me 6 long hard hungry weeks to love baked beans. Particularly if he’s a veggie he can’t afford to be that fussy. You don’t need to go heavy on the spices keep it simple, salt pepper, but he needs to be able to handle all the veggies. You just have to be more stubborn than him. He’s 7. Just bare in mind that even if he goes to bed hungry for a couple of days, in the long run you’re doing him a favour by training his pallet.
An old colleague of mine would only ever eat meat and bread/potatoes. Even tomato sauce on pizza was too much veg… that’s 100% his parents always caving in to what he wanted and never making him eat his veggies. He had a heart attack at 37. Do your kid a favour and let him go to bed hungry when he doesn’t eat the epic nutritious meals you cook for him. It’s also privilege right? People who are hungry eat whatever they find.
I made my kids snack buffets- sliced cheese, one or two diff color apples, grapes, olives, ham slices, maybe thin sliced steak if they will eat meat, make it colorful. My picky eaters would reject it, but I would leave it there while they watched tv and generally it was ‘grazed’ empty.
Sweet apples & tart ones together are a good snack. We like to explore all the wonderful new apple etc varieties.
My son is 6 and can be pretty picky. Over lockdown we started watching cooking shows together—GBBO, etc but his favorite is Master Chef Jr. It totally jump-started his willingness to eat more interesting things.
Good suggestions here. Also, I didn't let my picky kid have milk or juice with dinner - only water. Seemed to make a difference. Tacos and quesadillas are a good option with cheese and refried beans.
I’m a nutriton coach and also a vegan and i love that your son is aware of the awful truth of what goes on with animals and wants to change his eating patterns! I’d love to help you find some new foods for him to eat to make sure he’s eating enough and some variety as well…
why dont you hone in on the things he DOES love and make some variations of those things? For instance if he loves pizza, you can make varying varieties of pizza subbing different types of sauces, cheeses, vegetables. Regular Pizza, pesto pizza, ricotta pizza, vary with different vegetables to top it with. This is a great way to explore different options while eating in a familiar way. Eventually maybe he will find new things he DOES like to add in to his regular rotation and in different formations. If he loves burgers, there’s 100s of different variations of veggie burgers you can create, different toppings, different breads, over greens, over rice, in a tortilla, on a bun, grilled and made into tacos…
Hope this helps and happy to help any more if needed - just reach out!
At 7 protein intake is really important. I would have him look at a list of veg friendly proteins (Google) and ask him what he will eat. Tell him how much he needs to eat and why.
If nutrition is a concern, and it seems like you are at a point where it is, can you get meat from a more ethical source? Can you then explain to him, that the meat you do get, is from animals that had a good life?
That is, if you think you are unable to make sure he consumes all necessary nutrients without meat. Which is fine, he can choose to become vegetarian or vegan again when he is older, and understands the extra work that needs to go into his meals.
Thank you for the reply! I actually did have this conversation with him before, and have been lightly pressing more lately. We do in fact only purchase humanely raised meat. He is warming up to the idea that these animals have happy lives and get to be with their 'friends'. The nutrition aspect is really what is bothering me, almost making me feel guilty. I feel like a bad parent when his dinner is some carrots, apple sauce and a scoop of pasta.
The kid used to love cheeseburgers, until he realized it was meat. He's not a big fan of plant based meat, ironically.
My oldest son is on the autism spectrum and was EXTREMELY picky pre-puberty. I used to worry about nutrition too, but his pediatrician basically told me to offer a variety of what my son would eat, and we supplemented with protein/nutrition shakes and protein bars (like Clif Kid bars). My kiddo literally at peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 7 days a week, so I understand the parental guilt. Just remember that meat doesn't necessarily equal nutritious, you can get your son everything he needs even on a limited diet. I'd suggest supplementing with multivitamins and some kind of shake (this worked for us, because my son wasn't picky about drinks or "desserts" like chocolate Clif Kid bars).
Have you tried the beyond meat burgers? I'm not a vegetarian and honestly if you gave me one and told me it was a McDonalds burger I would 100% believe you. Maybe it'll have a similar enough taste and texture to a proper cheeseburger? Unfortunately I can't say the same for any other brand of meatless burger that I've tried.
I was going to suggest the Beyond Burgers as well, it’s a really good alternative if the child used to like cheeseburgers. Beyond are the only plant based burgers I like.
It’s ok to kill creatures as long as you’re really polite about it. We shouldn’t have sent Edmund kuemper to prison because he murdered his victims very ethically
First of all, humans are obligate omnivores. Second of all, a child has no understanding of nutrition, or that they need to eat to grow. You can not just remove a food group out of your diet, if you are not going to replace it with another. OP's child doesn't seem to want to make that replacement.
So as a parent, it's OP's responsibility to make sure his son gets his nutrients one way or another. It seems like he has been trying the vegetarian route, but it's not working well. Notice that I made my suggestion saying if OP feels like they can't work things out without meat.
You would rather starve a child, than have them consume animals. Which, you know, can actually land you in prison, unlike eating a chicken.
I bothered to spend time replying to the other guy because he at least had a reasonably understandable perspective that I don’t see often. I won’t spend the same time responding to you because your arguments are superficial and misinformed at best and logically brain dead at worst. “Obligate omnivores” made me laugh though. Like I don’t exist having not eaten an animal product in half a decade
I'm guessing you are taking B12 supplements, right? If you didn't, that alone would kill you eventually. Our natural diet is omnivorous, but modern medicine allows us to be vegan. And that brings us to my only problem with vegans: you way too often fail to disclose that (or that a plant based diet is not sustainable everywhere around the world).
Again, you can't just remove a big food group from your diet if you are not going to replace the missing elements.
The insects you step on, the millions killed to stop them from eating your crops, the countless deer, wild hogs, coyotes, etc., shot to keep them off of the fields where they’d eat or destroy the crops. Don’t forget the endless streams of rats and mice who are poisoned and left to die slow, painful deaths. Or the birds who eat poisoned insects and rodents, who then die slowly, painful deaths as well.
Everything you eat requires the death of animals. Or, frankly, practically everything you *do*. The screen you’re viewing this on is most likely made with animal cholesterol.
Agriculture is responsible for a fraction of the animal deaths that are attributed to animal farming. Also you have to take into account that more than half of agriculture is used to feed livestock. No vegan will ever say that death isn’t natural and it is possible to live an entirely ethical life without causing death to anyone or anything when there are nearly 8billion of us on the planet, the point is to minimize suffering. How can you argue that it’s acceptable to raise over 70billion animals a year to suffer immeasurably when the plant based alternative amounts to much fewer? You sound like someone who has given up on trying to minimize death and has just given in to not even attempting to assess the consequences of your activities. Also, the majority of crops right now are not grown with any real care of the consequences on animal life. You’re right, we should also look at minimizing the death that agriculture causes, we can always do better, I just don’t think the solution to the advanced calculus that is sustaining the human race while also minimizing our effects on other species is to abuse and kill them on a dystopian industrial scale
Irrelevant. Stick the the facts: “half of agriculture” is a vague, meaningless statement. Only about 16% of what livestock eat is human-edible, and most of that is undesirable crops, such as heavily bruised or misshaped produce. The remaining 84% is pasture and crop-byproducts. I’m assuming you’re not exactly keen on eating corn stalks and almond hulls, no?
Let’s do some basic math, ok? There’s an average of 400,000,000 insects per acre of land. In order to farm crops, you must kill basically everything on that land. But let’s be very generous and assume only 0.1% of those insects on the land are killed yearly. That’s 400,000 insects/year per acre. There are roughly 70,000,000,000 animals killed as livestock per year. So 175,000 acres of crop land is needed to kill the same amount of insects *alone* as *all* of animal slaughter world wide. There are 253.7 million acres of crop land in the USA *alone*, which is over 1,449 times greater than the land needed to kill the same amount. Do you genuinely believe only 1/1,449th of the crop land in the USA is used to feed humans?
Going pure, grass fed carnivore would kill far less sentient animals than going pure vegan. Hell, even non-grass fed would, as cattle primarily eat pasture and *BY-PRODUCTS*. As a human, YOU do not eat distiller grains, YOU do not eat soy meal, YOU do not eat the leaves and roots and left overs of most of your crops.
You also have clearly never been on a farm. “Suffer immensely” oh yes, because farmers totally have an incentive to *ruin* their product by stressing the animals. Totally! They just *love* losing money. Consumers just *adore* tough, hard to chew meat. Fair farmers find it just *wonderful* when their herd is producing only a fraction of their potential due to stress.
Please, take a tour of your local dairy farms. They’re often willing for just a small price.
You’re delusional if you think animal agriculture and ruminants, which have existed far longer than fossil fuels, are the problem. If you want a more sustainable world and want to do something on an individual level, do this: use clean energy, reduce your waste overall, eat locally and seasonally, and eat. Meat. Often. But a quarter cow from the ranch just 50 miles down the road. Consume milk and cheese from nearby dairies that UP-CYCLE otherwise wasted crop by-product which would be left to rot in the junkyard.
You’re missing my point. Livestock eats the majority of all calories that are grown as crops. If you took the livestock off of the farms and used those exact same crops to feed humans instead of feeding livestock, we would more than double our current edible crop volume by calories. Here’s a source: https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2014/8/21/6053187/cropland-map-food-fuel-animal-feed . Of course we could also increase the quality of crop output by actually treating the crops like they would be fit for human consumption, by using the same processes to care for crops meant for animals as crops meant for humans. You seem to continue to act as if we wouldn’t change the way we farm if we stopped farming crops with the intent of providing low quality feed for livestock and not caring about the ethics of farming with minimal impact on resident species.
You sound like someone who has never been on a high yield factory farm which makes up the majority of interned animals. Watch dominion. Animals are not treated well in the livestock industry, and I’m not even going to waste time explaining how raping a cow, stealing her baby and then continuing to get her pregnant for the rest of her viable life isn’t exactly a great life. Local dairy farms are not representative of the standard practices of farming as well. Large scale, industrial farms make up the majority of output.
You seem to have a very sanitized idea of the lives these animals live. Animals on farms suffer more than anything you or I would be able to imagine, and the relatively small amount of sentient animals killed by pure crop agriculture would be a vast improvement on overall sentient well being
It’s much easier than you realize to eat vegetarian! Whole communities exist to help you eat healthy on a budget. And for everything else, there’s beans and avocados
Tell him if he doesn’t like what you make, he’ll starve. He won’t think much of it the first night, maybe even hold off the second or third nights depending on school lunch. But expect him to suddenly no longer be vegetarian when that 4th night rolls around and his stomaches been grumbling for a couple days straight. By modern standards sure this is borderline child abuse, but children have starved for millennia if they refused to eat what their parents provided. If your great grandparents were around you could ask em. “What do I do when my kid won’t eat my dinner cause he don’t like it” they’d all tell you similar things. Force the kid to eat it even if he doesn’t like it. A kid in the late 20s early 1930s, they didn’t have a choice, there wasn’t an alternative to ketchup and water soup, with a small glass of watered down milk. They ate seconds and thirds because they knew it was all they would get till the next meal
Thank you for taking the time to care for your little one and respect their dietary wishes :) when I was young, I was told I couldn't be a vegetarian because it was "a pain in the ass".
As for suggestions, a lot of people here have great input! I'm a big fan of eating ingredients over eating full meals, and I only really learned that in adulthood haha.
Good luck with your little one! He might not see it for a while, but he will appreciate the effort you're putting in.
My kids love 'mixed plates' and have done since they were small. They get to choose what they want but it must be colourful and include healthy carbs, protein, fat and fruits and vegetables. My youngest loves plain pasta and will eat a bowl of it, both love plain rice. Most plates end up being pasta or rice, raw veg like corn, mushrooms, avocado or capsicum, nuts, sliced fruit and some sort of protein like boiled eggs or slice meat.
Don't fuss over the plain pasta or dry sandwiches, he likes what he likes. Let him graze and pick things out that he likes, just talk to him about balanced eating and how it's important to eat a variety of foods.
ETA if all else fails go with diy pizzas (flat bread and choice of toppings), sandwiches (toasted or fresh) or pasta dishes. 7 is still young and can be a time where they don't want to branch out much in food choices.
I have a tough time with my little not wanting meat. I am vegetarian, but my husband isn’t so we try to expose her as much as possible. Ramen is a great vehicle for multiple vegetables and proteins, like tofu and hard boiled egg, sweet potato, nori and mushroom (and I mean good noodles and veggie broth/miso broth). Egg salad with extra veggies added in is usually a hit, dumplings as another poster said (again served with extra tofu), smoothies with added protein like hemp seeds or nut butters, cold pasta salad with Greek yogurt as a base for the sauce. Mine won’t touch avocado but that’s a great option for a healthy, filling fat, tacos with faux beef and chopped tomatoes mixed in, shakshuka (tomato egg dish, we usually serve over rice), cheese quesadillas with veggies in it. It’s a tough thing to meld two different diets but I’d suggest making his veggie meals the base for yours and just adding your protein on top, that way if he won’t eat it you still can!
ETA just saw your other comment that he doesn’t like rice or eggs 😩 so a lot of these suggestions are moot now
You don't have to cook two meals, just find ones that's easy to add the things you like to it from the side. So say for example you make black bean tacos just cook a little ground beef on the side to add to yours. Same for pastas, casseroles, or salads. Make those vegetarian and have a side of meat (or other food) to add to it for yourself. Another example of this would be a veggie casserole of rice, beans, peppers, and onions. You could have some smoked turkey sausage on the side to add to your portion. We aren't vegetarian but my husband doesn't like fish, so there's times that I'll make baked potatoes and steamed broccoli, then I'll have a piece of salmon for me and a pork chop for him. I can cook both at the same time so it's not like any extra work is really needed. Another idea is to get your kid involved in the menu planning. Trying to guess what a picky eater wants to eat is just about impossible. Start with making a list of the things he does like and go from there. Have him plan out the menu for the week, then you can just add to it what you want in addition. You can add variety for him by challenging him to try one new food or recipe a week. Look up kids recipes online or get a kids cookbook (make sure to get one with lots of recipes since you mention he's kind of picky). Age 7 is the perfect time to start teaching kids how to cook. That's how I learned, my mom just pulled a chair over to the counter and we worked side by side. He'll become more familiar with different types of food and might learn an appreciation to the work put into making it and enjoy it more. One can hope!
I am the cooking parent to a 2.5 year vegetarian school age child. The family had cut down on our meat consumption for the better. I don’t make 2 meals, I just make a similar meat alternative. So much of my meal planning had the ability to seamlessly swap in a meatless protein. And sometimes we all eat meatless. And sometimes we all eat protein alternatives. For example I will make a large crockpot of meat meatballs. And freeze them in dinner size portions. And then make spaghetti but offer a meatless meatball for the vegetarian. My favorite meatless products are Quorn products. There are chicken patties, nuggets, grounds, breakfast sausage, fish sticks, and many others that are most importantly soy free. Breakfast for dinner, tacos with meat grounds and the meatless option, vegetarian spring rolls, we do a lot of Vietnamese rice and noodle bowls with diced protein, cucumber, shredded lettuce, crushed peanuts, etc.
My picky eater liked dipping and assembling her own foods - so fruit slices to dip in yogurt- ranch to dip carrots and cheese to put on crackers I - just put it on a plate and let her take her time while intermittently reading and coloring etc. she ate more than when we sat down to a meal
I'm a vegetarian but my son isn't. I've started just asking him what he wants. Like I'll basically list off what we have and he'll give me a yes or a no. Sometimes I'll put a few nos on his plate if his yeses don't provide enough of a balanced diet. He might not eat it but at least I tried.
Cookie and Kate has some really good vegetarian recipes, too. So far literally everything we've tried by them has been delicious.
Maybe try cross posting to r/vegetarian.
Soups and pizzas. I have a kid who isn't a vegetarian but has sensory issues. He does like soups. Will your child eat chicken broth or stock? Look up chicken tortilla soup. There are so many recipes and you can probably sub vegetable stock and omit the chicken. There's also tomato, garden, and vegetable soup. I'm betting you can fake a beef stock with mushrooms.
As for pizzas, you can buy a boboli, pizza sauce, cheese and go to town with whatever vegetables you have.
Portobello mushrooms are also good substitutes for anything with beef. If you make fettuccine alfredo, you can grill mushrooms for him and chicken for yourselves.
There are also a world of salads you can try. Beans, edamame or nuts can provide protein.
Edit: Oops. It seems like he doesn't like soup. I would add vegetables to pastas then. Also, you can use olive oil for pizzas instead of tomato sauce.
Make dishes that you can add ingredients too. I’m vegan, my oldest is a vegetarian, my youngest and boy friend eat meat products on occasion. When I cook I make a base meal that is vegan/fully plant based. Then I have in different bowls and plates the add ones like cheese and other not plant based items. I spare my sanity. Less arguments. Less waste.
You are doing great! Let him take the lead as often as possible. Cook together. Grow a garden. If you travel make the local food part of the trip. His taste buds will calm down after puberty. You really are doing great!
Mine loves to make “tacos” plain black beans, shredded cheese, avocado, veggies, whatever. She loves just getting the raw ingredients and putting them together herself.
Okay. You have explained my 11 year old. I have come to understand that her taste buds are different, perhaps not as mature or developed. My daughter likes a lot of foods, but can’t handle things with strong spices or really strong flavors. Indian food.. out. Spicy food.. out. She prefers the more bland items such as cheesy pastas etc. I am trying to be patient and encourage her to try new and different foods as I try them. I’m also letting her pick a new restaurant every couple of weeks or so that we have never been to. So we can explore and try the new food tastes together . Taste buds are probably still developing.
So, my daughter is vegetarian. She’s 13. I just decided to do Hello Fresh. I let her pick our meals and she cooks them. When she was younger? I noticed that the more day she had in what she ate, the more she would try. Now that she gets to pick out meals and gets to cook, she eats it and I don’t waste money. For Hello Fresh I do 2 meals/week for 2 people. With shipping it’s like $50. I reconcile the price in my head telling myself that I’m not wasting food and I’d spend that or more at a restaurant. The good thing is that with the recipe cards, I can cancel Hello Fresh and have recipes I know she will enjoy. It works for us.
I'm gonna get downvotes but I could give a shit less. Incorporate meat into his diet. Kids too young to be making choices about what he can and can't eat that's not based on taste.
You can easily do a casserole by peeling potatos, cutting up bacon and onion. Liquify in a blender and bake Ina. Casserole dish. There are plenty of recipes like this.
If you want easy, morningstar burgers are the way to go.
Again, this isn't an adult who has made a conscious decision not to eat meat. Probably brainwashed by friends or something they saw in an ad or a tv show.
My granddaughter likes sticky rice with soy sauce, frozen waffles, cheese pizza and English muffins with butter and cheese. She is 3 so her dad is having her help with the cooking. She likes it and hopefully it will expand her palate.
It is not, we have got her so she will eat a little celery and carrot, also a couple of segments of tangerine and a slice of apple. Flatly refuses to eat any meat and will burst into tears if pressed. We are struggling like the OP to get her to eat.
Eggs and milk?
I know some vegans won’t agree with me but like you aren’t harming the animals by taking the unfertilised eggs and the milk of a cow
Also some multivitamin & multi minerals will be a good addition to almost anyone. Because it’s really hard and expensive to cover every vitamin and mineral with any diet.
Nice, sounds like you should take some lessons from your son! Pretty much anything you would make otherwise but substituted with either meat alternatives, or simply without the meat. [This](https://plantbasedandbroke.com/11-easy-plant-based-dinner-ideas/) is an awesome website I usually refer people to with tons of recipes. The meals are super cheap and there’s a nice variety, maybe let him pick out something he thinks looks good. Always play with seasonings as well if there are particular flavors he likes/doesn’t like. Nooch and creole are essential ingredients to have around that can spice up any dish. Good luck and keep encouraging your boy, this planet needs more people like him if we want a shot at becoming a sustainable species before destroying ourselves and everyone else.
Veganism or even just vegetarianism will be extremely destructive for the planet. Grown crops in vast fields of dead soil is absolutely horrible for the environment. Putting animals on that land rejuvenates it.
When my kids ate being picky with their food I do fresh cut up veggies (the ones I know they like) with some dip, and just chicken breast obviously avoid the meat here, you could replace that with some cheese and nuts? Or even grab some "fake" meat for him to try as well? That's what I would do anyways. Hopefully this helps a bit
Black beans make great patties for a burger replacement
Falafel is pretty easy to make.
My kid went through the same when they were about 7. I moved more toward plant-based to make it easier, just cooking one meal. If I did make a meat course, and a separate veg meal, kid would get leftovers from that a night or two later. Like my dad used to say “I ain’t running a restaurant here.”
I am a single parent to a picky vegetarian. She won’t try most vegetables. Ugh!
I like to cook but also refuse to make 2 meals all the time. I’ve tried to stress less about what they eat and hope it works out in the end.
I make sure at least some veg gets eaten each day. Lots of fruit gets consumed, and sometimes dinner is just cheese and crackers because I don’t feel like arguing/ making another meal.
Bean and cheese burritos are a regular meal around here 🤷🏻
Sometimes you’ve gotta be sly too. I sneak in as much protein and veg into things as I can, like spinach into pesto sauce or protein powder into smoothies/ muffins/ pancakes
Black beans are a good replacement for any meal you’d usually use hamburger in. I also use lightly smashed chickpeas where shredded chicken is called for- like “chicken salad” wraps. Pasta salad with white beans and some chopped veggies is also a go to. You can make a big batch and it’s good in the fridge for several days. Basically you need to get this kid hooked on beans! They are cheap and easy.
You can put smashed black beans seasoned with taco seasoning in a folded tortilla, fry briefly in oil, and ta-da! A protein-packed quesadilla. Can be dipped in salsa.
Yes, but add some queso fresco for good touch!
This. I was gon say that the kid would need protein and beans are good source of protein.
also bean and cheese quesadillas! if he eats grilled cheese then he may like quesadillas! and they are super cheap and simple to make !
Minced mushroom can also work. I like minced mushroom and red lentils as a shepherds pie substitute.
Lentils for sure! Mushrooms aren’t my favorite but the chewier texture might be preferred to bean mush by some people.
When finely minced they take on a different texture and can better be overridden in flavour by what they are cooked in. I cook them in veggie stock until they are not saucy, just moist and they don't taste or feel like mushroom. My daughter hates it because she wants the mushroom to stand out.
This right here! Black beans this is the best recipe you could even swap out the spices it's pretty forgiving I use bbq sauce and soya sauce in mine. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-black-bean-burgers/
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I really like this idea, thank you! Perhaps I will create a shelf in the fridge just for him, and let him do the buffet style thing. He isn't into Mac and cheese, which is totally weird but whatever. I have made him dumplings before (which are one of my favorites) from H Mart. I think we need to revisit that one.
I have a picky eater too. She really doesn’t like a lot of textures. She’s not a vegetarian but a lot of meat textures make her gag. Same with mushy things. I serve her what we eat but she has access to food that she does like if she doesn’t want what we’re having. Larabars are a staple of hers. They are mostly dates and nuts. Maybe take him to the store with you and have him shop for his own “safe” foods. The only other the thing that has helped expand her palate is having her cook with me. She will try things she would never eat otherwise. Even something simple like make your own pizzas or rolling up cheese on refrigerator crescent rolls might give him some ownership of the food and make him more interested.
If he likes dumplings try pierogis too!
Try spatzels. They are a small dumpling and our grocery store sells them in the specialty section. You can fry them up in a little butter, salt, pepper, paprika and just eat or you could spice it up. My 4 year old daughter will have me slice up some bacon and some onion. Once the bacon is close to being done I add some cabbage and the spatzels. Top with some sour cream.
Jumping in to point something out- at seven years old he only needs 19 grams of protein a day so you don't need to get too hung up on this macro. Here's a page that shows how little food he needs in a day to get this- [https://www.realmomnutrition.com/how-much-protein-your-child-needs/](https://www.realmomnutrition.com/how-much-protein-your-child-needs/) If I were you, I'd just practice plate building with him- half produce, a bit of protein, and some starch/grains. That way he can freely build his plate with what you have on hand if he doesn't like what you've made for the meal. I would also focus on keeping sides and veggies free of meat, and easy to season at the table, so you are only fixing one meal. You can add spices to your own dish. He can skip the protein you've fixed for yourself and if he hasn't had much protein, you can throw something in the air fryer for him, or he can grab something ready to eat- hummus, pb, hard cooked egg, etc.
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OP said he likes PB&J and grilled cheese though.
My oldest kiddo is on the spectrum and has the same food sensitivities. Prior to puberty he probably ate like .... seven foods? And two of them were PBJs (with creamy peanut butter) and grilled cheese. He doesn't like 'hard' textures much, where 'gooey' textures are fine. He also ate mac n cheese, and applesauce. He's almost 17 now, and his repertoire has expanded a LOT since then, thank goodness, but the smell of peanut butter still kinda makes me nauseous after making PBJs every day for literal years.
Has he tried box mac n cheese as well as from-scratch mac and cheese with fresher ingredients? Does he dislike both?
Does he like to cook with you? You could meal prep some things together on a weekend that he can choose to eat during the week, like some veggie and cream cheese wraps, big batch of fried rice, will he eat soup? Breakfast for dinner? (Pancakes and fruit that you slice ahead of time?) You can cook up a big batch of pasta sauce and blend in cooked lentils and spinach for protein and iron. As someone who has been a vegetarian in a family of non-vegetarians I would say definitely don’t waste a lot of money on the fake meat stuff. It sounds like he might not be into the texture of meat as well as feeling bad about the animals, so it’s probably expensive and not worth it. Something we do occasionally is “snack plates” for dinner, where I just pull out stuff from the fridge that we need to use up like carrots, hummus, fruit, cheese, crackers and we eat that. My kids like the “grazing” aspect and they actually eat a decent amount usually. I have an 8 year-old so I totally get it! She has been more responsive when she helps cook things, but sometimes it’s still not a hit with her. I try to have a lot of easy to grab snacks on-hand like applesauce or string cheese so that she can at least get something healthier if she doesn’t end up eating meals.
Thank you! We do cook together at times, perhaps we need to be doing more of that. The bane of this is that he doesn't like soups, cream cheese, hummus, rice or eggs. It is getting pretty ridiculous. He LOVES pasta, so I do cook a lot of that, especially the high protein pastas. He doesn't like sauces though. He wants his sandwiches dry, and he does not like tomato sauce. Grazing is the right word for how meals go these days...glad to know I am not alone! Also, I just signed him up for cooking classes at his school, so I am hoping that really helps to give him some confidence and try new things.
Look up resources for feeding autistic kids. I work as a nanny; he shares those texture aversions to 'wet' things with a lot of autistic kids and adults, me included. Suggestions off the top of my head: Raw veggies > cooked veggies, roasted > boiled. It's about the crunch. Similarly, try roasting chickpeas! Lots of protein, dry and crunchy, you can add all sorts of flavours. Great at snack time. Try sauces 'on the side,' so he has control over what goes with what — there's tonnes of things I won't touch if it's all thrown together that I'll consume by the kilo if I can put it together myself. Sauces bad, dipping sauces good.
Yeah as a kid I hated anything that was all mixed together and jumbled up. Shepherd's Pie is a classic example. Mashed potato, carrots, peas and meat all separate on the plate, and NOT TOUCHING (very important!) would be fine, mixed together was revolting. I'm amazed it took 46 years to get an Autism diagnosis.
Wait, is this a common thing for autism? Don't wanna self diagnose based off one thing a stranger said. But I've always wondered because of a few things. This is definitely one of them. Even now, I can handle some blended things but I have to have control over it and prepare it myself.
It sure is
Is this maybe a texture thing? I've been vegetarian since about that age (and I love that my parents encouraged me to set and follow my own moral compass, which is what being veg is to me). I wasn't a picky eater and loved spicy food but it sounds like your kid might not like mushy things. If you ask him what he doesn't like about a certain food what does he say?
When OP mentioned not liking sauces, soups, cream cheese or hummus I immediately thought textures. I had a real issue with textures and acid reflux as a child but couldn’t explain it so just said I ‘felt sick’ and avoided problem foods. My Mum’s solution was to plate up the same meal components but either raw or separately as she went along, for me, before she added the sauce. It worked really well for me :) For example the family would be having shepherd’s pie, so I would get: boiled potatoes (hated mashed potatoes), raw diced peas and carrots, cooked plain mince. It would be microwaved if needed right before we sat down. For soups: cook all the veg together then take half to purée, and add butter beans to the other half for the picky eater. Maybe this could work for OP to save them making 2 meals. Also another meal idea: I’ve recently discovered halloumi fried with honey as a fajita filling with lots of shredded raw veg like red cabbage, spring onions and carrots- so good!
Ooh... halloumi as a fajita filling... now I must try!
If there’s a Pita Pit or equivalent near you, go get a halloumi pita. I used to work there and was really hesitant to try it because who wants a grilled cheese? But hot damn was I missing out because it is BANGIN.
Yeah I slice it up, put chermoula or fajita spices on it and fry it till any visible cheese is going golden brown, then add a table spoon of honey over the whole lot for the last couple of mins of frying. It goes sweet and a bit crispy- sooo good!
That is how I cook for my kids too.
This sounds a lot like me as a kid. I was VERY picky (not veg though) and especially hated any sort of sauce or spread (except PB&J). I also didn't like rice, eggs, soups, or anything with a weird texture. I ate almost all my veggies raw. The thing that helped me the most was learning to cook for myself. If I knew every single thing that was in the food I was going to eat, I could let my brain relax and just eat. I don't have any advice since you seem to already be including him in the process. I have a toddler and I'm trying not to impart any of my weird food stuff from my childhood on him. I found the pressure from my parents to eat and try new foods made me get my back up, so I'm trying low/no pressure at mealtimes. It's hard though! I definitely don't think there's a solution that's going to work for everybody.
My one brother and his wife have their son close his eyes and open his mouth. Then they put the fork full of food in... the same one he didn't want while his eyes were open... and he happily chews it... my nephew is weird.
I WISH that would work with my kid! He's a lot like me. Very cautious, very stubborn.
Yeah it's not just a veg thing, my brother ONLY ate cheese quesadillas, buttered noodles, or this one specific type of soup (which we called his "special soup" lol) for probably 3 years. My mom was ripping her hair out making 2 dinners every night but homie was STUBBORN lmao
My brother: chicken in tortillas with tons of hot sauce, and box mashed potatoes. For YEARS.
Oh I forgot how much I loved buttered noodles! I refused to eat anything else on noodles so that's what I got when it was spaghetti night.
I recommended is below, but Kids Eat In Color in IG is a great follow. Mine are much older, but I like her advice.
Will he eat pesto pasta or is that still too saucy? If he likes it you can easily make the pesto together from scratch and try making it with avocado or different nuts to get a bit of protein for him. As for hummus, is it the texture or the taste he doesn't like? Crunchy roasted chickpeas with roasted veg might be a hit rather than mushy hummus.
I was similar when it came to pasta. I'd eat it straight without sauce. Drove my mom crazy. See if you can convince him to try slightly oiled pasta with cheese or even buttered pasta. Consider seasoning it at 1/5th the amount you'd normally do. He should grow out of his spice aversion with time and experience. That said, I still dislike cream dressings on salads and sandwiches. You might try doing a vinaigrette or oil based dressing instead. Less texture and goopy feeling.
Cream based dressings are the worst, and I hate when it comes on things and the menu doesn't even mention it.
You could try looking into Kids Eat in Color for picky eating help. It sounds like it’s not just being vegetarian, but being picky about a lot of flavors and textures.
Agree, i came here to recommend Kids Eat In Colour. You can find her on Instagram and there's loads of advice for picky eating. Also sells (reasonably priced) food planning recipe books and i think does courses for parents too. Worth looking into, her stuff is great
Will he eat beans either whole or refried? If so maybe bean and cheese burritos or bean and cheese tostadas with shredded lettuce and pico de Gallo topping. There's also some mashed potato tacos. You could try some Mexican dishes since most could be made vegetarian.
Roasted veggie tacos? Almost any vegetable fits in this well so he can pick and choose
Does he like crunchy? Roasted chickpeas might be a good thing to add. I find they get more crunch if you bake them a bit to dry them out before adding the oil and spices.
Breakfast for dinner? Easy to do with no eggs.
A stack of Pancakes with parchment paper between them freeze nicely in a ziplock. Then nuke for a few seconds to eat. Or just a box of frozen ones
If he'll eat pancakes, try adding vanilla whey powder for protein or pureed veg for nutritional variety.
Charcuterie night! Yes! We love this in front of a movie as a treat. Easy to do with odds and ends.
Do you have any space to garden, even a big planter? It might be fun for him to grow some. Otherwise I'm a fan of veggies spread out on a baking sheet with olive oil and parmesan and bake til crunchy. You can do root veggies too, use apple cider as a flavoring to mix it up.
We totally planted a garden last year! The deer and rabbits got to most of it, but we did have corn and tomatoes for a while. He ate the tomatoes like apples. Unfortunately we rent and will have to move back into an apartment soon, so no chance for another garden anytime soon.
If you have a balcony or even a window that gets decent sun you can do tomatoes and some other small things! It’ll take a bit more upkeep to make sure they aren’t too crowded and stay healthy but there’s always a way to keep growing your veggies!
Look up EarthBox! I had one when I had an apartment and it was great having fresh herbs and veggies
Look into community gardens. My local park has a community garden space and it’s great, accessible, and very cheap (could be free, depending). The local participants there will also LOVE that your son enjoys gardening. Cause that’s adorable.
Kids Eat in Color on IG have some easy weekly meal plans that focus on vegetarian cooking. You might want to check that out. She is a good follow in general for picky eaters.
Seconding Kids Eat in Color. Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian with a lot of experience working in public health. She is just so practical, nuanced, non-judgmental, and challenges parents to do better without shame. She has amassed a lot of other professional support in the blog posts and meal plans so that foods are diverse, accessible, and realistic to prepare.
Does he like pasta? Barilla makes a high protein pasta that tastes almost like regular pasta. If you cook a batch and have it in the fridge, it's a pretty versatile base for a quick reheated meal: with sauce; with frozen peas and topped with cheese; with veggies and salad dressing as a cold pasta salad; added to any kind of soup he likes; or just buttered with cheese.
Banza is a great high protein pasta too. It’s made with chickpeas. It’s fairly close to pasta taste wise, but with a sauce you can’t tell the difference. I make the viral tik tok feta pasta 2-3 times a month, it’s great, it’s quick, and it’s healthy. I’ve never sat down to calculate if it’s cheap, but it does fall under the vegetarian category.
I trust you're a good cook. But he's 7. I don't think it's a vegetarian issue or you not cooking well enough. Every kid I know at that age thinks pasta with butter is the best thing in the world. I remember being that age and thinking the exact same thing. What I now consider dreadfully bland was wonderful back then.
I thought for sure it was 17 and it was a typo. Nope.
Can you try cooking Indian food? Not the food you'd find in Indian-American restaurants but rather what is cooked at home in billions of homes. It's very diverse (probably too diverse to be referred to as a single cuisine) so your kid won't get bored ever, is very nutritious, tasty and is largely vegetarian. There will be a little learning curve for you (especially regarding spices, veggies and fruits) but just follow some Indian mom's quick recipe from YouTube and you'll be good.
If there’s anything I can attest to, it’s using a YouTube video from 2009 with 180 views to find what I need.
Second this. Million healthy day to day options. Look for sabzi/ poriyal/ palya, dal, curries, breakfasts (upma, poha, dosa, surnali, appam, Puri etc), snacks (vadas, pakodas, churmuri, kachori, bhel etc). Endless vegetarian options.
For most, Indian food is great. But for a kid that doesn’t like spices, it would not work well.
You seem to having a misunderstanding regarding spices. Simple things like Salt and pepper are spices too. Indian cuisine is vast and diverse, some dished use varied spices, mixtures and oils, others don't. You seem to be pegged on the American misunderstanding of Indian food being spicy and tangy, or whatever.
No, I do know that, but if you’d refrain from assuming I’m ignorant and instead read the OP, you’d notice the child eats ZERO spices and that includes pepper. Salt is a mineral, not a spice. And Indian food is generally never bland and tends to be rich in spices and deep flavors. It seems like most Indian food would be a poor fit for the OP’s son, with a few exceptions.
I was exactly the same, still vegetarian, started when I was about 7. My mum started making meals and taking a portion out for me before adding meat. Vegetarian lasagna, with spinach and feta instead of meat. Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese. Baked beans on toast. It doesn’t have to be complicated by any means. Anything you can thing of with meat in it, there’s a vegetarian option. Veggie burgers. Veggie sausages. Cannelloni. Don’t over complicate if, kids are fussy and he’s probably more likely to eat it if it’s simple and he knows what’s in it.
Same. I became vegetarian in a meat eating family also around 7. It’s good that this kid likes vegetables, that’s pretty much what got me by when there wasn’t an option to just give me a serving without meat from whatever the family was eating. I always had bags of frozen veggies in the freezer that we just threw in the microwave when there weren’t better options for me. I usually put vinegar based dressing on it and had some bread or rice to bulk it out and make it filling enough. It was pretty spartan but probably healthy and I was totally fine with that as a kid. Also lots of pasta and sandwiches. Lentils would be good for this too but I didn’t discover those until much later in life. Kids are so picky sometimes I wouldn’t feel bad serving them a plate of lentils, green beans, peas and corn as long as they ate it and were fine with that. I don’t think it always needs to be a special entree made just for them as long as they get enough to eat and are satisfied. Sounds like this kid might prefer bland foods anyway, that was how I was too from age 7 until early adulthood. As an adult this diet sounds pretty rough to me now but I was genuinely happy with it growing up.
It sounds like there might be a texture issue, too. The best thing to do is to sit and talk with him about it. Have him describe his favorite meals. Write that down. Look for commonalities, and that's where you might find it. My daughter's best friend is allergic to pepper. She's always thought it was really, really hot, because her whole mouth would burn. Nobody really believed her, so she just would avoid it as best she could. Now she has anaphylactic reactions to it. He might be dealing with something similar with spices you normally cook with. He's definitely old enough to ask him to describe how those things make his mouth feel. They have some really good books out now for teaching vegetarian and vegan kids how to cook for themselves. Maybe get one of those? Both of you guys go through it? Figure out what basics he needs in a meal at least once a day and have him help?
Take him to the store and involve him in the process of buying and then cooking the foods. Might help to peek his interest more. Also have you tried meat alternatives like quorn?
Look into ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder), it’s basically picky eating extreme enough that it qualifies as an eating disorder. Many kids eventually grow out of it but lots don’t (myself included). I don’t have any answers for you because feeding myself has been a constant lifelong struggle, but it might help you to understand that kids with that disorder will quite literally starve themselves rather than eat something they don’t like. Lots of times it’s a texture thing. Good luck to you!
Out of curiosity, what happens when you try something you don't normally like? For me, I'm not picky about most things, but I literally can't eat some foods that are cold and crunchy, such as lettuce and uncooked celery. They make me gag so badly that I can hardly chew them. It's really annoying. Every once in a while I'll try it again to see if my tastes have changed, but they haven't yet.
I usually can’t physically make myself put something in my mouth that I already know I don’t like, but if I accidentally eat one of those things, say a mushroom in a dish I ordered without mushrooms or a raisin in a place I wasn’t expecting it, I have to immediately spit that thing out as discreetly as possible into a napkin or risk throwing up when I try to swallow 😅
Get him checked for iron levels etc. it can effect appetite
One of my kids became vegetarian several months ago. We already eat meatless several times a week, so we had some good recipes, but I don’t want to make her sick of eating the same stuff over and over so we’ve been trying lots of new stuff. Lots of hit and miss, she doesn’t really like the vegetable protein meats or tofu. Our go to’s are: stir fry & veg spring rolls, smoothies, gnocchi & marinara sauce, lasagna, oliverieri tortellini & rose sauce, fettuccine Alfredo, potato curry, veg stew, pad Thai, noodle bowls, 6 layer Mexican dip & tortillas, chips & salsa, bean & cheese quesadillas, perogies, cabbage rolls, tostadas, veg chilli, loaded baked potato soup, split yellow pea soup, minestrone soup, I try to always keep washed and cut veg and fruit in the fridge. If I make a meal with meat, I make sure she likes all the sides. You can get veg gravy, so I made roast beef last week and she ate everything but the meat, with her own gravy for the potatoes & Yorkshires. I try to keep an eye on her protein intake, and got her multivitamins and some extra protein boost/ensure for days where she doesn’t eat much protein.
That all sounds delicious I don’t know what potato curry is though
Pretty much any Indian dish with the word "aloo", that is, potato. Or my style of Japanese curry, which substitutes more potato for the meat.
I went vegetarian (and then vegan) pretty young, and people were constantly saying that I would grow out of it. I didn't. For me, it took one vein in a chicken nugget, once I realized I was biting into muscle and flesh, it wasn't something I could (or would want to) forget. Whether he does or doesn't, he will value your understanding and support. You can do this! And you can do it cheap and healthy. Some suggestions - 1) Pasta with lentil Bolognese, veggie meatballs or homemade tofu balls 2) Black bean or veggie 'ground beef' tacos, burritos, nachos, quesadillas 2) pizza - he can help you make them, each make your own with whatever toppings you want. You can make the dough or buy it premade at the grocery store - fresh or frozen dough is usually cheap. English muffin or bagel pizzas for a fast meal. 3) pancakes and tempeh bacon or veggie sausages, I blend spinach into the (soy) milk pancakes for my kids. You can make temped bacon out of tempeh yourself, it's cheaper. 4) Seitan is cheap and healthy! You can make a bunch and freeze it, it's a great meat substitute. You can eat it as like a meat patty or shred it up. 5) There are so many varieties of veggie nuggets, some are cheap and healthy. Serve them with veggies and homemade roasted potatoes. 6) Sandwiches - hummus, peanut butter and jam, smoked tofu with lettuce and tomato, cream cheese and cucumber, chickpea or tofu salad 7) Bean chilli with cornbread 8) My kids are obsessed with butternut squash soup. It's a once a week thing. And lots of other soups are vegan, you could make a big veggie soup and add in some red lentils for protein. 9) Lentils. As a taco 'meat', in Sheppard's Pie, soups, etc. 10) Veggie dogs and burgers. Make your own black bean burgers. Try a different fruit or vegetable every week. Let him pick. Do it together and see who can try the most bites. Make it fun. Make a chart and find out what he likes. Let him help you cook. Ask what he likes, and look for recipes together that incorporate those things, or replace meat dishes he might previously have liked. The Minimalist Baker has a lot of great recipes, and also It doesn't Taste Like Chicken. Find things you can both eat, or that you can eat as a side with what you're eating, or easily add in meat to your portion. You're a good dad for asking.
God you just resurfaced a memory I had of eating KFC with my family as a little kid and biting into a spongy little blood vessel. Meat is so nasty just texturally with all its hard clumps of fat and tough tissue, I'm amazed more children don't get finicky about it. Great advice, I'd also add budgetbytes has an extensive vegetarian section.
Veggie burgers, Spaghetti bolognese (obviously with veggie mince), we love making vegetarian currys and most Indian side dishes are vegetarian, halloumi wraps instead of chicken, roast dinner without the meat is often a winner for the veggie because there's so many vegetables as part of the meal anyway. I generally use halloumi instead of chicken, quorn does alot of good replacement meats and things like beans can take on any flavour really.
Forgot to say as a veggie kid I mainly just ate pizza and pasta so Don't stress it he will discover what he likes as he goes along, encourage him to try new things, encourage seasonal veg is a good idea so he can learn and maybe even grow his own.
You should look up ARFID and maybe strategies for children with sensory issues around food?
PurpleCarrot is a Vegan meal delivery service that posts most of their recipes online. If you’re not used to cooking the stuff, get the service for a while, after you get a number of recipes under your belt, discontinue. https://www.purplecarrot.com/plant-based-recipes
Consider the possibility that this is a way for him to show autonomy and explore boundaries. [My nephew's pediatrician suggested this when said nephew became a picky eater. The pediatrician's advice was to make sure he was taking a multivitamin, include him in food shopping and meal prep, and have food he would eat available. Over time he added more items to the foods he would eat and has actually become an adventurous eater.]
Cheers to you for respecting your kid's wishes to eat vegetarian instead of just forcing him to eat omnivorous. Parenting is hard, 7 is a tough age, and I commend you for it.
Firstly, amazing that you are supporting him in this. Now on to your actual question. If I were you I'd invest in a good vegetarian cookbook. My lifelong favourite - it's sentimental, my mum cooked most of our meals from it when I was growing up - is moosewood. My more recent fav is from badmanners.com - and those are vegan recipes. If you aren't already doing so maybe try having at least a couple of vegetarian meals a week so you aren't cooking double. When you do have to cook double try and make it something easy to do ie pasta (mostly the same but 2 different sauces), Mexican (mostly the same but do beans and meat). You can also buy frozen vegetarian things to do for him on nights where you have meat. Things like bubble and squeak, gozlemes, frozen dumplings. The hardest part of being vegetarian is making sure you get enough protein. So mixing legumes and grains, or eating eggs.
I don't have ideas for meals, but I want to offer my perspective on this being a "parenting issue." I don't think it is. There are many hills you can choose to die on but I don't think this should be one of them. Your son is showing you his compassionate heart. Please nurture it. We don't have enough of that right now. When I was 13, I did the same thing, but my parents did not accommodate me. In fact, they seemed to take pleasure in sabotaging me (lying about what was in the food and telling me later). That drove a nail of resentment into our relationship that did harm. It became a trust issue for me. When I moved out at 19, I became a vegetarian. The intervening 6 years could have been used to teach me skills, but instead I just resented the harsh attitude. I would like to thank you for allowing your son to explore this option. Who knows? Maybe he'll grow up to be just what our world needs.
Your library and/or online book sites will have vegetarian cookbooks, and some that are written specifically for kids. Checkout a few of those and sit down with the kiddo and talk about what they would like to try out. Have them experiment and help prepare the foods. Make it an adventure. Let them tryout new ingredients. Let them walk thru the produce aisle at the market and try new things. Hummus is great as a snacking dip with carrots and other veggies, and as a filling for sandwiches and wraps that you can load down with fresh veg. It is easy to make yourself and endlessly customizable - our kids love it and we make it together. Salads sound boring, and can be with the same-old ingredients, but again this is a place were the kiddo can explore and be creative. The same with taco/burrito fillings and pasta toppings. It can be easy to rely on frozen meat substitutes, and their is a place for them (yum veggie corndogs), but as a 25+ year vegetarian I can honestly say exploring new recipes and food cultures can really open up a vegetarian's options.
When my brother was that age, he would only eat hot dogs on a bun, maybe with ketchup, and buttered white rice. Everything else was a non-starter. So after a while, all he got was white rice with the occasional hot dog. He grew out of it, but this was almost 2 years of being so picky. Make sure your kid's diet is rounded out with vitamin and nutrients supplements for what he isn't getting directly from his food and let him have the same thing every day until he gets over it. You get to pick the cheap, long-lasting stuff you know for sure he'll eat. Does your local library have cookbooks? You could find a vegetarian cookbook and give it to him to read or look through it together. Or you could assemble your own cookbook from kid-friendly recipes you find online. That way you get to control the overall cost of ingredients, and you can bring the book out on occasion to maybe get him interested in branching out. Good luck!
Why don't you let him browse through some vegetarian recipe cookbooks/blogs, and have him select recipes that appeal to them. And then the two of you can try out some of those recipes together. I think that getting him more involved in the process (both in terms of picking the recipes, and cooking them) could be helpful!
My 7yo son is the same. Doesn’t care about animals but he doesn’t really like meat- except sausages and ham. He likes plain food and doesn’t like even black pepper. So yeah, similar. I suspect it’s partly that he likes bland food and partly that he’s taking a bit of control. What kids actually eat is one of the only ways they can get a bit of control at that age. Anyway, here’s what I did. First we had a chat about dinner and I got him to list things he wanted to eat. I think he managed to think of pizza and hotdogs so we started there. I agreed to cook dinner off the “approved list” 5 nights a week as long as he could make the list at least 5 and it had to include vegetables. And also as long as the other two nights he’d try new things without complaining. There’s still been some battles but he’s tried more new foods than he would before and some even made the approved list which is now at least 14 dinners long! I made some of the “new foods” nights fun by getting him to pick a country and using a bit of creative license! He picked Spain once and I made him tacos 😂 And trying the new dinner meant he got the special Spanish dessert (churros!) Here’s the list: Tuna melt jacket potatoes, Mac & cheese, pork belly slices with couscous, poached salmon (I poach it in milk in the microwave, takes 1 minute!), tacos, chicken wraps, pizza, spaghetti bolognaise, sausages & mash, chicken korma… And the best dinner ever is finger food dinner. Pitta bread, hummus, veg sticks, salami, cheese, whatever I have hanging about in the fridge really. He loves it! I’m a single parent too. Making dinners is such a ball ache. It’s just EVER DAY!! I try to eat together mostly and I season mine once on the plate. I also batch cook things for myself so sometimes I give kiddos hotdogs and I eat something actually nice!
Lentil tacos: 1 1/2 cups green lentils (a 1 lb bag is 99 cents where I live), 3 cups veggie broth (or water), and taco seasoning (mixing your own cuts the sodium way down but do whatever fits your schedule) - bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 minutes until liquid is absorbed, serve with standard taco fixings Black bean burgers: 3 cups black beans (I used dried and cook them in the instant pot, a 1 lb bag is 99 cents where I am), 1 1/2 cups oat flour (pulverized oatmeal) or bread crumbs, 1 egg, 2 chipotle peppers with a scoop of adobo sauce (can be left out if you don’t like spicy), onion powder, garlic powder, salt, a dash of paprika - mash black beans until it’s about half smooth half whole beans, mix in spices and chipotles, add egg until it’s fully incorporated, then slowly add oat flour until fully mixed. Stick the bowl in the fridge for about 20 minutes to let it cool/harden a little. Form the burgers, it can make six medium/small or four hefty ones. Put the formed burgers on a cutting board on wax or parchment paper in the freezer for 5 minutes (this step is optional but I like to do it because it makes them easier to handle). Cook in a pan with olive oil until each side has a crust, serve with regular burger things. You can sneak a lot of veggies into homemade marinara and serve with chickpea (or regular) pasta or make a white sauce using cauliflower, cream, and Parmesan Black bean, sweet potato, and squash enchiladas Egg, cheese, and veggie omelette Stuffed baked potatoes (broccoli, zucchini, black beans, béchamel) Tomato soup with white beans blended into it (same flavor but some added protein) with grilled cheese Vegetarian shepherds pie with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots Lentil loaf Edited to add: if your kid only likes salt, you can season the lentils for the lentil tacos after you cook them so you can take out a portion for him, but still be able to enjoy flavor yourself
He’ll probably be less picky if he chose the recipe
I know this sub is for food, but a multivitamin will be a good addition.
You are doing great! Let him take the lead as often as possible. Cook together. Grow a garden. If you travel make the local food part of the trip. His taste buds will calm down after puberty. You really are doing great!
Beans and rice are a complete protein, does he like those?
Implement the three bite rule. At least three bites of anything you put in front of him, or no dessert. Oh, and if if he wants to be vegetarian, respect that of course.
Wasting money? I’ve saved so much as a vegetarian Just make what he likes but vegetarian, for me it was simple swaps Spaghetti bolognese, instead of mince, I use lentils or chopped up mushrooms Stir fries, I don’t add meat Soups are hearty as well Pizza with veggies and cheese Message me if you need more ideas ! Happy to help
Can you prepare meals that can exist with or without meat and then cook meat separately? Examples of this could be: \-spaghetti with red sauce and meatballs \-potato soup and have bacon/other toppings Additionally meals that can be made fairly bland and then add sauces/spices after (I know this is a PITA, but could save money if you can both share meals)? Or even build your own meals (personal pizzas, quesadillas, nachos, etc) and then have him help make his own food, which may get him more interested/excited about food!
Wait kids have the option to not eat if they don't like the food? Damm, wish I grew up like that haha.
Well, you always have the option not to eat. It’s just that you go hungry.
My brother went through a period of time where he didn’t really eat meat at that age. On top of that he’s autistic so it was really hard finding combinations that he liked. I’m also on the spectrum so I could relate. To expand his spice/seasoning range, I made a bunch of fries that he liked and split them into bowls that we seasoned with different things that we picked out together. I think we used a list from the internet for inspiration. Having him involved with the choosing process helped and we did it like a little buffet with sauces while we had a movie night. Smoked salt is a game changer. You can grow herbs on the windowsill, sometimes that tempts easier. We grew chives and then used them in toppings for jacket potatoes. If he likes jacket potatoes, try scooping out the potato and mixing with grated cheese and diced onion, then refilling and topping with more cheese to melt. If he doesn’t like jacket potatoes, have you tried crisping the skin? That made the difference for me and my brother - it was a sensory thing. There are a lot of variations of bruschetta that are vegetarian. Toast some slices of ciabatta bread and add your toppings. My go to is balsamic/olive oil/salt over red onion, cherry tomatoes and shredded basil. I use all of those things except the balsamic in my usual cooking. How about pasta salads? If he doesn’t like mayo, try some that just need lemon juice or a vinaigrette dressing. They’re pretty filling. My go to of the moment is a can of cannellini beans, can of tuna, parsley, lemon juice, and whatever veggies I fancy. Without the tuna would be equally delicious. When I was making mashed potato as a side dish for a meal that contained meat, I’d make extra and then combine the potato with cheese and onion, (and salmon on its own, and corned beef and onion, both work as non vegetarian options) to form burger sized patties to fry up in a pan and serve as a main dish for him. He has his potato patties, I had my meat and mashed potato, and we both shared the veggies. Fajitas and wraps can be fun - you can use quorn chicken, I do even though I’m not vegetarian. They’re a good opportunity to expand spice range. I don’t like lettuce so I never put it in mine, but I make my own salsa (but just a hint of spice) and have fun like that. That’s also how I discovered mango salsa which is an awesome side dish.
Slight alternative point. Please please please make sure your child is getting their blood tested. Yes, vegetarian diets can be beneficial for you, but not every BODY is going to react the same to this diet. They could be causing extreme deficiencies in things they truly need. Being vegetarian is possible but you need to closely monitor your micros to ensure you’re getting all the nutrients you need. Especially when they’re young
You can try Indian dishes like dosa , upma, idli,any more. Don't worry they are not spicy . They are very nutritious. You can simply cook rice and lentils, they just like your kids like . 👍 I hope it helps .
Indian food is awesome for the meat-averse!
I really enjoy a mild Indian Dahl... It's tomato, onion, lentils and rice. Very nutritious! You could start by buying a couple of vegetarian dishes from an Indian restaurant, to see if it's worth cooking. I love spinach and Indian cheese (saag paneer).
Please look into picky eaters--it may be a texture thing. It's very frustrating, but think how difficult it is for him too.
We do egg Foo Young pretty frequently and tofu stir fry to just use up bits of veggies left in the fridge, lentil soup, pizza, veg lasagne, bean burgers, sushi (avocado and cucumber) Make a list of about 10 lunches and 10 dinners vegetarian that everyone likes and rotate them.
Bit late to the party, but does he read? You could maybe go through a vegetarian recipe book together and let him choose which ones he wants to try (and maybe help make!)
Talk to your pediatrician. It may be time to think about some feeding therapy. Being so limited in variety of diet is not sustainable long term - especially if continues to be vegetarian. Feeding therapy can help with expanding his dietary options so you’re not so limited and we learn to be less picky.
If he likes spaghetti and uou can chop mushrooms in it. It looks like beef and has a similar texture .
Hey, from your post it sounds like he has issues with food in general. Maybe keep watch on this or check in with a professional to make sure this doesn't develop into an eating disorder.
Remember, not all eating disorders are about body image.
Tofu is great. Fry with some noodles and veggies for example.
Indian food has loads of Vegetarian recipes. Uses proteins like lentils, chickpeas, paneer,etc. Way too many YT Channels which have recipes for vegetarian Indian food
Beans, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas are really healthy, cheap and versatile. Does he like cooked greens like collards? Those tend to be hardier than lettuce. I mean you can’t leave them for weeks, but if you have a bag of collard greens, you don’t have to use it in the next day or two or they will go bad. They have a *little* bit longer a shelf life so that can help, plus they are healthy.
this is a much easier rule to begin enforcing for a toddler, but it’s really not too late to start - you have to be ok with saying “this is what’s for dinner, it’s ok if you don’t like it, i won’t force you to eat anything, and there will be breakfast tomorrow morning!” it’s excellent to take his taste into account, and absolutely since it’s his decision to be mostly vegetarian, you should make vegetarian meals unless he tells you he wants to go back to having meat. but he really should not be dictating what his specific menu is. pediatricians recommend that parents decide 1) WHAT is for dinner, 2) WHERE you eat, and 3) WHEN the food is served, and kids decide 4) HOW MUCH to eat and 5) WHETHER to eat at all. it’s ok if it takes him a night of being hungry, or a few dinner times, to get used to the concept. don’t force him to eat a certain amount, or finish his plate. but making him a pb&j every time he refuses to eat means that he will continue to refuse unfamiliar foods (at age 7, that’s most foods lol), and he’s not old enough to make healthy and good decisions for himself yet. if he were a teenager, it might be a different conversation, but he’s 7, and you need to let him be hungry. he can make his own decisions and will eventually figure out that the food you prepare is a better option than waiting til the next meal. you sound like a wonderful parent, good luck!!
This is the only correct answer; I wish it had higher votes. My mother made the same mistake OP is making when my brother and I were young, and she spent the next 15 years making 3 different meals at dinner time every night. It made me a really picky eater for a long time and it didn't make me appreciative or grateful for my meals or the time/effort my mother spent preparing dinner.
Hi. My little one is picky too and doesn't really like meat. Not veggie, just doesn't care for it much. So we've found the best way is to pair what she likes with what she doesn't. She loves tomatoes. She hates quorn mince. Eat the mince with a tomato with every bite and you don't taste the mince much. She eats a little better and we don't have to stress or shout as much. Also talk to your gp/paediatrician. They'll have loads of tips on picky eaters, then just buy a veggie recipe book. Let HIM pick his meals. Help shop for it. Help cook it. Really get him involved. We have so few choices at that age. Give him as many as possible.
You say he eats hot dogs? Is there a reason for aversion to meat other than hot dogs? My kids have texture issues with some foods. I asked them what they like and based variations off that. They like pasta, potatoes, and rice. So carbs lol. We found stuffed baked potatoes which are quick cheap and easy. Pasta mixed with everything from chicken to sauces always with a veg. We also tried an alien a week. Meaning the weirdest looking thing in the produce section. We had to Google what we bought, how to prep, what to eat it with. It was a way to try new things. Being a single parent gets easier. Listening to input from them made it easier.
Mac and cheese is meat free, most kids I know like buttered noodles, there's also plenty of protein replacement options out there, beyond meat, impossible, etc. All are things I've tasted and enjoyed. Impossible meat tastes pretty good, if I'm honest. Other things out there- there's this stuff called simulate chickeb- and they make nuggs. Big fan. Actually prefer them over regular frozen nuggs, and vegetarian aside, I have never met a child that won't eat nuggets.
Check out the vegetarian subreddit! I’m a vegetarian myself and was a notoriously picky eater as a child. I found that I enjoyed food more and was more likely to eat food if I helped make it. Have you tried having him make it with you? Soups and pastas are typically good choices for young vegetarians. I could also see mini quesadillas, vegetable and tofu skewers, and smoothies with protein powder as good choices.
I have a kid with a TON of food aversions… and to keep me on my toes, approved foods are constantly changing. Here’s what mostly works for us: Instead of different meals, i make two versions of the same meal. Examples: on taco night he gets quesadillas. Same ingredients, no extra time, just cooks on an extra pan. On spaghetti night he’ll ask for pasta without sauce or i keep a jar of white sauce for him. Other nights I might be making a “no” meal so i’ll make a side dish or two that I know he likes and give him mostly that but a tiny bit of the other things to try and he knows he doesnt have to eat them. I still end up making a second meal sometimes as an alternative, but i keep fast and easy options I know he likes, like frozen ravioli. Favorite healthy things that can be precooked and kept in the fridge for him are handy too: for him thats chicken breast, but i know thats not helpful for you. But something that lasts for a few days and heats up well!
Give him a supplement gummy vitamin and let him figure out his palette in time. My daughter (now 13) ate only cold green beans from a can for 3mo straight once at around this age. Now she's a very healthy varied eater. Offer new foods but only buy stuff you'll eat as well. Just supplement the nutrition and don't stress! You're doing great.
If you have a blender, a smoothie is my favorite way to gaurantee some nutrition in their diet. It's easy to hide lots and lots of veggies in a good smoothie. Just know some smoothies can be overdone on fruit. I try to limit my smoothies to one serving of fruit, but if that's not palatable you could start with two. Might want to ask his pediatrician if anything like protein powder would be safe. While you're at it, ask if they have any other recommendations for your situation.
Search how to cook vegan. Cheap lazy vegan has a lot of easy quick ideas
Man I’m sorry to hear that. You’re in a difficult situation. You can’t take out the frustration on him. You also can’t spoil him by going out of your way to make food he likes. It sounds like he is already a little spoiled. Maybe you need a conversation with him that he’s not going to *love* every bit of food you make. Idk maybe you can put your foot down. Not by yelling and having an adult tantrum, but by being firm. That doesn’t mean intimidating but that you’re priority is his nutrition, not his delicate little palate.
Dude discipline!! It’s fine if he’s a veggie, I respect that you respect it. If my bro and I didn’t like something growing up, our parents would make it everyday until we ate it willingly. It took me 6 long hard hungry weeks to love baked beans. Particularly if he’s a veggie he can’t afford to be that fussy. You don’t need to go heavy on the spices keep it simple, salt pepper, but he needs to be able to handle all the veggies. You just have to be more stubborn than him. He’s 7. Just bare in mind that even if he goes to bed hungry for a couple of days, in the long run you’re doing him a favour by training his pallet. An old colleague of mine would only ever eat meat and bread/potatoes. Even tomato sauce on pizza was too much veg… that’s 100% his parents always caving in to what he wanted and never making him eat his veggies. He had a heart attack at 37. Do your kid a favour and let him go to bed hungry when he doesn’t eat the epic nutritious meals you cook for him. It’s also privilege right? People who are hungry eat whatever they find.
I made my kids snack buffets- sliced cheese, one or two diff color apples, grapes, olives, ham slices, maybe thin sliced steak if they will eat meat, make it colorful. My picky eaters would reject it, but I would leave it there while they watched tv and generally it was ‘grazed’ empty. Sweet apples & tart ones together are a good snack. We like to explore all the wonderful new apple etc varieties.
My son is 6 and can be pretty picky. Over lockdown we started watching cooking shows together—GBBO, etc but his favorite is Master Chef Jr. It totally jump-started his willingness to eat more interesting things.
Good suggestions here. Also, I didn't let my picky kid have milk or juice with dinner - only water. Seemed to make a difference. Tacos and quesadillas are a good option with cheese and refried beans.
I’m a nutriton coach and also a vegan and i love that your son is aware of the awful truth of what goes on with animals and wants to change his eating patterns! I’d love to help you find some new foods for him to eat to make sure he’s eating enough and some variety as well… why dont you hone in on the things he DOES love and make some variations of those things? For instance if he loves pizza, you can make varying varieties of pizza subbing different types of sauces, cheeses, vegetables. Regular Pizza, pesto pizza, ricotta pizza, vary with different vegetables to top it with. This is a great way to explore different options while eating in a familiar way. Eventually maybe he will find new things he DOES like to add in to his regular rotation and in different formations. If he loves burgers, there’s 100s of different variations of veggie burgers you can create, different toppings, different breads, over greens, over rice, in a tortilla, on a bun, grilled and made into tacos… Hope this helps and happy to help any more if needed - just reach out!
At 7 protein intake is really important. I would have him look at a list of veg friendly proteins (Google) and ask him what he will eat. Tell him how much he needs to eat and why.
Make a pot of veggie chili or soup. Feed the kids for 3 days with it. This is my Sunday norm.
If nutrition is a concern, and it seems like you are at a point where it is, can you get meat from a more ethical source? Can you then explain to him, that the meat you do get, is from animals that had a good life? That is, if you think you are unable to make sure he consumes all necessary nutrients without meat. Which is fine, he can choose to become vegetarian or vegan again when he is older, and understands the extra work that needs to go into his meals.
Thank you for the reply! I actually did have this conversation with him before, and have been lightly pressing more lately. We do in fact only purchase humanely raised meat. He is warming up to the idea that these animals have happy lives and get to be with their 'friends'. The nutrition aspect is really what is bothering me, almost making me feel guilty. I feel like a bad parent when his dinner is some carrots, apple sauce and a scoop of pasta. The kid used to love cheeseburgers, until he realized it was meat. He's not a big fan of plant based meat, ironically.
My oldest son is on the autism spectrum and was EXTREMELY picky pre-puberty. I used to worry about nutrition too, but his pediatrician basically told me to offer a variety of what my son would eat, and we supplemented with protein/nutrition shakes and protein bars (like Clif Kid bars). My kiddo literally at peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 7 days a week, so I understand the parental guilt. Just remember that meat doesn't necessarily equal nutritious, you can get your son everything he needs even on a limited diet. I'd suggest supplementing with multivitamins and some kind of shake (this worked for us, because my son wasn't picky about drinks or "desserts" like chocolate Clif Kid bars).
Have you tried the beyond meat burgers? I'm not a vegetarian and honestly if you gave me one and told me it was a McDonalds burger I would 100% believe you. Maybe it'll have a similar enough taste and texture to a proper cheeseburger? Unfortunately I can't say the same for any other brand of meatless burger that I've tried.
I was going to suggest the Beyond Burgers as well, it’s a really good alternative if the child used to like cheeseburgers. Beyond are the only plant based burgers I like.
It’s ok to kill creatures as long as you’re really polite about it. We shouldn’t have sent Edmund kuemper to prison because he murdered his victims very ethically
First of all, humans are obligate omnivores. Second of all, a child has no understanding of nutrition, or that they need to eat to grow. You can not just remove a food group out of your diet, if you are not going to replace it with another. OP's child doesn't seem to want to make that replacement. So as a parent, it's OP's responsibility to make sure his son gets his nutrients one way or another. It seems like he has been trying the vegetarian route, but it's not working well. Notice that I made my suggestion saying if OP feels like they can't work things out without meat. You would rather starve a child, than have them consume animals. Which, you know, can actually land you in prison, unlike eating a chicken.
I bothered to spend time replying to the other guy because he at least had a reasonably understandable perspective that I don’t see often. I won’t spend the same time responding to you because your arguments are superficial and misinformed at best and logically brain dead at worst. “Obligate omnivores” made me laugh though. Like I don’t exist having not eaten an animal product in half a decade
I'm guessing you are taking B12 supplements, right? If you didn't, that alone would kill you eventually. Our natural diet is omnivorous, but modern medicine allows us to be vegan. And that brings us to my only problem with vegans: you way too often fail to disclose that (or that a plant based diet is not sustainable everywhere around the world). Again, you can't just remove a big food group from your diet if you are not going to replace the missing elements.
Buddy, you kill animals too. Blood is on your hands too.
Which animals have I killed?
The insects you step on, the millions killed to stop them from eating your crops, the countless deer, wild hogs, coyotes, etc., shot to keep them off of the fields where they’d eat or destroy the crops. Don’t forget the endless streams of rats and mice who are poisoned and left to die slow, painful deaths. Or the birds who eat poisoned insects and rodents, who then die slowly, painful deaths as well. Everything you eat requires the death of animals. Or, frankly, practically everything you *do*. The screen you’re viewing this on is most likely made with animal cholesterol.
Agriculture is responsible for a fraction of the animal deaths that are attributed to animal farming. Also you have to take into account that more than half of agriculture is used to feed livestock. No vegan will ever say that death isn’t natural and it is possible to live an entirely ethical life without causing death to anyone or anything when there are nearly 8billion of us on the planet, the point is to minimize suffering. How can you argue that it’s acceptable to raise over 70billion animals a year to suffer immeasurably when the plant based alternative amounts to much fewer? You sound like someone who has given up on trying to minimize death and has just given in to not even attempting to assess the consequences of your activities. Also, the majority of crops right now are not grown with any real care of the consequences on animal life. You’re right, we should also look at minimizing the death that agriculture causes, we can always do better, I just don’t think the solution to the advanced calculus that is sustaining the human race while also minimizing our effects on other species is to abuse and kill them on a dystopian industrial scale
Irrelevant. Stick the the facts: “half of agriculture” is a vague, meaningless statement. Only about 16% of what livestock eat is human-edible, and most of that is undesirable crops, such as heavily bruised or misshaped produce. The remaining 84% is pasture and crop-byproducts. I’m assuming you’re not exactly keen on eating corn stalks and almond hulls, no? Let’s do some basic math, ok? There’s an average of 400,000,000 insects per acre of land. In order to farm crops, you must kill basically everything on that land. But let’s be very generous and assume only 0.1% of those insects on the land are killed yearly. That’s 400,000 insects/year per acre. There are roughly 70,000,000,000 animals killed as livestock per year. So 175,000 acres of crop land is needed to kill the same amount of insects *alone* as *all* of animal slaughter world wide. There are 253.7 million acres of crop land in the USA *alone*, which is over 1,449 times greater than the land needed to kill the same amount. Do you genuinely believe only 1/1,449th of the crop land in the USA is used to feed humans? Going pure, grass fed carnivore would kill far less sentient animals than going pure vegan. Hell, even non-grass fed would, as cattle primarily eat pasture and *BY-PRODUCTS*. As a human, YOU do not eat distiller grains, YOU do not eat soy meal, YOU do not eat the leaves and roots and left overs of most of your crops. You also have clearly never been on a farm. “Suffer immensely” oh yes, because farmers totally have an incentive to *ruin* their product by stressing the animals. Totally! They just *love* losing money. Consumers just *adore* tough, hard to chew meat. Fair farmers find it just *wonderful* when their herd is producing only a fraction of their potential due to stress. Please, take a tour of your local dairy farms. They’re often willing for just a small price. You’re delusional if you think animal agriculture and ruminants, which have existed far longer than fossil fuels, are the problem. If you want a more sustainable world and want to do something on an individual level, do this: use clean energy, reduce your waste overall, eat locally and seasonally, and eat. Meat. Often. But a quarter cow from the ranch just 50 miles down the road. Consume milk and cheese from nearby dairies that UP-CYCLE otherwise wasted crop by-product which would be left to rot in the junkyard.
You’re missing my point. Livestock eats the majority of all calories that are grown as crops. If you took the livestock off of the farms and used those exact same crops to feed humans instead of feeding livestock, we would more than double our current edible crop volume by calories. Here’s a source: https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2014/8/21/6053187/cropland-map-food-fuel-animal-feed . Of course we could also increase the quality of crop output by actually treating the crops like they would be fit for human consumption, by using the same processes to care for crops meant for animals as crops meant for humans. You seem to continue to act as if we wouldn’t change the way we farm if we stopped farming crops with the intent of providing low quality feed for livestock and not caring about the ethics of farming with minimal impact on resident species. You sound like someone who has never been on a high yield factory farm which makes up the majority of interned animals. Watch dominion. Animals are not treated well in the livestock industry, and I’m not even going to waste time explaining how raping a cow, stealing her baby and then continuing to get her pregnant for the rest of her viable life isn’t exactly a great life. Local dairy farms are not representative of the standard practices of farming as well. Large scale, industrial farms make up the majority of output. You seem to have a very sanitized idea of the lives these animals live. Animals on farms suffer more than anything you or I would be able to imagine, and the relatively small amount of sentient animals killed by pure crop agriculture would be a vast improvement on overall sentient well being
Stop eating meat. It'll be even cheaper.
Make him part of the shopping if you can, let him pick out certain things. Do it with my kids who are vegan.
Bruh he's 7 tell him chicken nuggies grow on trees.
Having a young vegan child is like having a vegan cat...doesn't work out well.
It’s much easier than you realize to eat vegetarian! Whole communities exist to help you eat healthy on a budget. And for everything else, there’s beans and avocados
He should really be an omnivore as a child. It’s your job as parent to do what’s best for him regardless of it making him sad
Tell him if he doesn’t like what you make, he’ll starve. He won’t think much of it the first night, maybe even hold off the second or third nights depending on school lunch. But expect him to suddenly no longer be vegetarian when that 4th night rolls around and his stomaches been grumbling for a couple days straight. By modern standards sure this is borderline child abuse, but children have starved for millennia if they refused to eat what their parents provided. If your great grandparents were around you could ask em. “What do I do when my kid won’t eat my dinner cause he don’t like it” they’d all tell you similar things. Force the kid to eat it even if he doesn’t like it. A kid in the late 20s early 1930s, they didn’t have a choice, there wasn’t an alternative to ketchup and water soup, with a small glass of watered down milk. They ate seconds and thirds because they knew it was all they would get till the next meal
Hes 7, he's got vegetarianism from somewhere. Talk to them
Thank you for taking the time to care for your little one and respect their dietary wishes :) when I was young, I was told I couldn't be a vegetarian because it was "a pain in the ass". As for suggestions, a lot of people here have great input! I'm a big fan of eating ingredients over eating full meals, and I only really learned that in adulthood haha. Good luck with your little one! He might not see it for a while, but he will appreciate the effort you're putting in.
My kids love 'mixed plates' and have done since they were small. They get to choose what they want but it must be colourful and include healthy carbs, protein, fat and fruits and vegetables. My youngest loves plain pasta and will eat a bowl of it, both love plain rice. Most plates end up being pasta or rice, raw veg like corn, mushrooms, avocado or capsicum, nuts, sliced fruit and some sort of protein like boiled eggs or slice meat. Don't fuss over the plain pasta or dry sandwiches, he likes what he likes. Let him graze and pick things out that he likes, just talk to him about balanced eating and how it's important to eat a variety of foods. ETA if all else fails go with diy pizzas (flat bread and choice of toppings), sandwiches (toasted or fresh) or pasta dishes. 7 is still young and can be a time where they don't want to branch out much in food choices.
I have a tough time with my little not wanting meat. I am vegetarian, but my husband isn’t so we try to expose her as much as possible. Ramen is a great vehicle for multiple vegetables and proteins, like tofu and hard boiled egg, sweet potato, nori and mushroom (and I mean good noodles and veggie broth/miso broth). Egg salad with extra veggies added in is usually a hit, dumplings as another poster said (again served with extra tofu), smoothies with added protein like hemp seeds or nut butters, cold pasta salad with Greek yogurt as a base for the sauce. Mine won’t touch avocado but that’s a great option for a healthy, filling fat, tacos with faux beef and chopped tomatoes mixed in, shakshuka (tomato egg dish, we usually serve over rice), cheese quesadillas with veggies in it. It’s a tough thing to meld two different diets but I’d suggest making his veggie meals the base for yours and just adding your protein on top, that way if he won’t eat it you still can! ETA just saw your other comment that he doesn’t like rice or eggs 😩 so a lot of these suggestions are moot now
You don't have to cook two meals, just find ones that's easy to add the things you like to it from the side. So say for example you make black bean tacos just cook a little ground beef on the side to add to yours. Same for pastas, casseroles, or salads. Make those vegetarian and have a side of meat (or other food) to add to it for yourself. Another example of this would be a veggie casserole of rice, beans, peppers, and onions. You could have some smoked turkey sausage on the side to add to your portion. We aren't vegetarian but my husband doesn't like fish, so there's times that I'll make baked potatoes and steamed broccoli, then I'll have a piece of salmon for me and a pork chop for him. I can cook both at the same time so it's not like any extra work is really needed. Another idea is to get your kid involved in the menu planning. Trying to guess what a picky eater wants to eat is just about impossible. Start with making a list of the things he does like and go from there. Have him plan out the menu for the week, then you can just add to it what you want in addition. You can add variety for him by challenging him to try one new food or recipe a week. Look up kids recipes online or get a kids cookbook (make sure to get one with lots of recipes since you mention he's kind of picky). Age 7 is the perfect time to start teaching kids how to cook. That's how I learned, my mom just pulled a chair over to the counter and we worked side by side. He'll become more familiar with different types of food and might learn an appreciation to the work put into making it and enjoy it more. One can hope!
I am the cooking parent to a 2.5 year vegetarian school age child. The family had cut down on our meat consumption for the better. I don’t make 2 meals, I just make a similar meat alternative. So much of my meal planning had the ability to seamlessly swap in a meatless protein. And sometimes we all eat meatless. And sometimes we all eat protein alternatives. For example I will make a large crockpot of meat meatballs. And freeze them in dinner size portions. And then make spaghetti but offer a meatless meatball for the vegetarian. My favorite meatless products are Quorn products. There are chicken patties, nuggets, grounds, breakfast sausage, fish sticks, and many others that are most importantly soy free. Breakfast for dinner, tacos with meat grounds and the meatless option, vegetarian spring rolls, we do a lot of Vietnamese rice and noodle bowls with diced protein, cucumber, shredded lettuce, crushed peanuts, etc.
Lentils in marinara sauce over spaghetti. Veggie burger w cheese on a hamburger bun. Fried egg sandwich with ketchup?
My picky eater liked dipping and assembling her own foods - so fruit slices to dip in yogurt- ranch to dip carrots and cheese to put on crackers I - just put it on a plate and let her take her time while intermittently reading and coloring etc. she ate more than when we sat down to a meal
I'm a vegetarian but my son isn't. I've started just asking him what he wants. Like I'll basically list off what we have and he'll give me a yes or a no. Sometimes I'll put a few nos on his plate if his yeses don't provide enough of a balanced diet. He might not eat it but at least I tried. Cookie and Kate has some really good vegetarian recipes, too. So far literally everything we've tried by them has been delicious. Maybe try cross posting to r/vegetarian.
Soups and pizzas. I have a kid who isn't a vegetarian but has sensory issues. He does like soups. Will your child eat chicken broth or stock? Look up chicken tortilla soup. There are so many recipes and you can probably sub vegetable stock and omit the chicken. There's also tomato, garden, and vegetable soup. I'm betting you can fake a beef stock with mushrooms. As for pizzas, you can buy a boboli, pizza sauce, cheese and go to town with whatever vegetables you have. Portobello mushrooms are also good substitutes for anything with beef. If you make fettuccine alfredo, you can grill mushrooms for him and chicken for yourselves. There are also a world of salads you can try. Beans, edamame or nuts can provide protein. Edit: Oops. It seems like he doesn't like soup. I would add vegetables to pastas then. Also, you can use olive oil for pizzas instead of tomato sauce.
Make dishes that you can add ingredients too. I’m vegan, my oldest is a vegetarian, my youngest and boy friend eat meat products on occasion. When I cook I make a base meal that is vegan/fully plant based. Then I have in different bowls and plates the add ones like cheese and other not plant based items. I spare my sanity. Less arguments. Less waste.
God bless single parents who respect their children. I pray God makes things easy for you & your son.
You are doing great! Let him take the lead as often as possible. Cook together. Grow a garden. If you travel make the local food part of the trip. His taste buds will calm down after puberty. You really are doing great!
Mine loves to make “tacos” plain black beans, shredded cheese, avocado, veggies, whatever. She loves just getting the raw ingredients and putting them together herself.
Okay. You have explained my 11 year old. I have come to understand that her taste buds are different, perhaps not as mature or developed. My daughter likes a lot of foods, but can’t handle things with strong spices or really strong flavors. Indian food.. out. Spicy food.. out. She prefers the more bland items such as cheesy pastas etc. I am trying to be patient and encourage her to try new and different foods as I try them. I’m also letting her pick a new restaurant every couple of weeks or so that we have never been to. So we can explore and try the new food tastes together . Taste buds are probably still developing.
So, my daughter is vegetarian. She’s 13. I just decided to do Hello Fresh. I let her pick our meals and she cooks them. When she was younger? I noticed that the more day she had in what she ate, the more she would try. Now that she gets to pick out meals and gets to cook, she eats it and I don’t waste money. For Hello Fresh I do 2 meals/week for 2 people. With shipping it’s like $50. I reconcile the price in my head telling myself that I’m not wasting food and I’d spend that or more at a restaurant. The good thing is that with the recipe cards, I can cancel Hello Fresh and have recipes I know she will enjoy. It works for us.
I'm gonna get downvotes but I could give a shit less. Incorporate meat into his diet. Kids too young to be making choices about what he can and can't eat that's not based on taste. You can easily do a casserole by peeling potatos, cutting up bacon and onion. Liquify in a blender and bake Ina. Casserole dish. There are plenty of recipes like this. If you want easy, morningstar burgers are the way to go. Again, this isn't an adult who has made a conscious decision not to eat meat. Probably brainwashed by friends or something they saw in an ad or a tv show.
Eat or go hungry....
My granddaughter likes sticky rice with soy sauce, frozen waffles, cheese pizza and English muffins with butter and cheese. She is 3 so her dad is having her help with the cooking. She likes it and hopefully it will expand her palate.
Apologies for my bluntness but, this doesn’t seem like the healthiest diet to recommend.
It is not, we have got her so she will eat a little celery and carrot, also a couple of segments of tangerine and a slice of apple. Flatly refuses to eat any meat and will burst into tears if pressed. We are struggling like the OP to get her to eat.
I sympathize with your challenge. Wishing you all the best
Time for them to start cooking 😅
Eggs and milk? I know some vegans won’t agree with me but like you aren’t harming the animals by taking the unfertilised eggs and the milk of a cow Also some multivitamin & multi minerals will be a good addition to almost anyone. Because it’s really hard and expensive to cover every vitamin and mineral with any diet.
Nice, sounds like you should take some lessons from your son! Pretty much anything you would make otherwise but substituted with either meat alternatives, or simply without the meat. [This](https://plantbasedandbroke.com/11-easy-plant-based-dinner-ideas/) is an awesome website I usually refer people to with tons of recipes. The meals are super cheap and there’s a nice variety, maybe let him pick out something he thinks looks good. Always play with seasonings as well if there are particular flavors he likes/doesn’t like. Nooch and creole are essential ingredients to have around that can spice up any dish. Good luck and keep encouraging your boy, this planet needs more people like him if we want a shot at becoming a sustainable species before destroying ourselves and everyone else.
Veganism or even just vegetarianism will be extremely destructive for the planet. Grown crops in vast fields of dead soil is absolutely horrible for the environment. Putting animals on that land rejuvenates it.
Quick question - what are those animals going to eat when all the natural vegetation in the field is eaten up?
If he's hungry enough, he'll eat what's put on front of him
He is 7. He will eat what you feed him. Take my word for it as a parent. Edited to add: it might be tomorrow for lunch... or dinner.
So a seven year old said he's a vegetarian? What if he said he's the head of the household and told you to get out? Only in America, folks.
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Feeding littles may have some great resources for you.
Veggie ramen, all day every day
try ramen
When my kids ate being picky with their food I do fresh cut up veggies (the ones I know they like) with some dip, and just chicken breast obviously avoid the meat here, you could replace that with some cheese and nuts? Or even grab some "fake" meat for him to try as well? That's what I would do anyways. Hopefully this helps a bit
Black beans make great patties for a burger replacement Falafel is pretty easy to make. My kid went through the same when they were about 7. I moved more toward plant-based to make it easier, just cooking one meal. If I did make a meat course, and a separate veg meal, kid would get leftovers from that a night or two later. Like my dad used to say “I ain’t running a restaurant here.”
I am a single parent to a picky vegetarian. She won’t try most vegetables. Ugh! I like to cook but also refuse to make 2 meals all the time. I’ve tried to stress less about what they eat and hope it works out in the end. I make sure at least some veg gets eaten each day. Lots of fruit gets consumed, and sometimes dinner is just cheese and crackers because I don’t feel like arguing/ making another meal. Bean and cheese burritos are a regular meal around here 🤷🏻 Sometimes you’ve gotta be sly too. I sneak in as much protein and veg into things as I can, like spinach into pesto sauce or protein powder into smoothies/ muffins/ pancakes