Help with ideas for vegetarian meals please?

[Mouse]

I'm taking on an 18 month old who has a vegetarian diet.

I was completely fine with that, but have suddenly had a complete lack of confidence about what I can provide!

My mind has gone completely blank

Do vegetarians eat bread? What about margarine or butter?

I will be supplying breakfast, a light lunch and snacks. I would be grateful for any hints or tips...and would be immensely grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of any vegetarian menu plans

[loocyloo]

:-) sandwiches, toasties, pitta, bagel etc ... cheese/soft cheese/goats cheese. Peanut butter and grated carrot, marmite etc.

Assorted veg soups

Egg .. scrambled, poached, boiled, omelette, eggy bread

Stir fry veg and noodles/rice
Egg fried rice
Veggie chilli using aubergine
Veggie Shepherds pie using veggie mince.
Peppers stuffed with rice or couscous.

Asda or tesco sell really nice frozen vegetarian meatballs. Plus veggie sausages.

Macaroni cheese
Cauliflower cheese

Pasta and tomato/veg sauce.

Veg pizza

Veg sticks and dips.
Plus crackers and rice cakes.

I also use quorn pieces in place of meat for a quick casserole or curry etc.

Oh and often add a tin of beans/pulses etc to meals.

'My' veggie child eats fish so tuna, smoked mackerel, salmon etc

I often add a sprinkling of seeds and nuts.

Breakfast ... I would think most cereals etc are ok.

I use normal butter/margarine.

I try not to give cheese by default every meal but it's hard.

Watch out for jelly, jelly type sweets and marshmallows. Haribo do vegetarian sweets ( fun mix and giant strawberries ) and I have used agar agar to make jelly.

[Simona]

I'm taking on an 18 month old who has a vegetarian diet.

I was completely fine with that, but have suddenly had a complete lack of confidence about what I can provide!

My mind has gone completely blank

Do vegetarians eat bread? What about margarine or butter?

I will be supplying breakfast, a light lunch and snacks. I would be grateful for any hints or tips...and would be immensely grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of any vegetarian menu plans

Does the child eat fish?...or nothing that comes from animals at all? in which case butter or eggs would be out
If fish is allowed you can substitute it in pasta and bakes for protein

You can make different pasta sauces using vegetables and plenty of bakes with vegetables...also thick soup you could blend a little

Let us know if you are still stuck for ideas...also look at some mediterrenean diets
Hope it helps

[smurfette]

Hard cheese like cheddar
Contains animal rennet so it might need to be veggie cheese..
Some people are stricter than others

A lot of biscuits contain marine oils and animal fats

You probably need to ask mum how strict they are, and it will only take a week or
Two to get in the swing of it

[moggy]

Hard cheese like cheddar
Contains animal rennet so it might need to be veggie cheese..
Some people are stricter than others

A lot of biscuits contain marine oils and animal fats

You probably need to ask mum how strict they are, and it will only take a week or
Two to get in the swing of it

Yes, get a detailed list of the breakfasts, snacks and lunches the child eats at home.
There is an enormous range of veggie options so easiest to go with what the child is used to- ask what brands and what products.

Generally, if they use the term 'vegetarian' it means no meat or products which involve killing the animal- so no beef/pork gelatine as found in marshmallows and many sweets and jellies.

If they say 'vegan' then that means nothing derived from an animal, so no honey, eggs etc.

But people use the term 'vegetarian' nowadays even when they eat fish, shellfish, gelatine and so on, so you just need an exact definition of what they allow and do not allow.

Basically, you are replacing meat protein with vegetable protein.
Vegetable protein sources are:

Peas (chick peas, hummus)
Beans (baked beans, butter bean dip)
Lentils (lentil soup, lentil flan)
Tofu (there are different types- can be stir fried, you can get it 'ready-marinaded' but is high in salt)
Soy protein like veggie sausages/burgers
Nuts and seeds (peanut butter, almond butter, pinenuts in pesto)

If they eat animal products but not meat:
Eggs
Dairy
Quorn- not advised for toddlers/babies in any large quantity as is low in calories and quite filling.

[VeggieSausage]

I am a completely veggie childminder and all food I provide is vegan/ veggie.
I use Morrisons frozen veggie mince in place of any mince products such as in bolognese or lasagne etc.
We have Linda Macartney sausages and sausage rolls which are suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
As the others have said check what they do and don't eat, if they have eggs then you can give them quorn.
All the children eat the veggie food so when that child is there you could cook totally veggie.

We have veggie burgers in buns, jacket potatoes with beans and cheese, pitta pizzas, veggie shepherds pie and veg, pasta and bolognese or cheesey sauce with peas, veggie lasagne, veggie chilli, veggie fingers with new potatoes and veg, omelette's, sandwiches, toasties, panini's, bangers and mash, sausage and bean casserole, rice and stir frys, noodles, and lots more.

Feel free to message me if you want any advice

[HTSMumma]

Check with parents what kind of veggie they are. Lacto ovo vegetarian, lacto only, ovo only.
Vegans don't eat anything to do with animals; so no egg, dairy products and no honey too.
A person who eats fish ISN'T a vegetarian, they are a pescetarian. As a vegetarian, it really grinds my gears when people who eat fish identify themselves as vegetarians. It confuses the masses and makes things difficult for vegetarians when we get offered a tuna sandwich as the 'veggie' option, for example.

I can email you my newly created fortnightly menu plan, which is largely vegetarian, but occasionally caters for both veggies and meat eaters.

[Mouse]

Thank you very much for all your help.

I'm glad I'm going to be doing this as it's may me realise how little I know. I think it's one of those things that I thought was going to be easy, but there's more to it when you look into it properly. It'll certainly help my CPD!!

I'll see parents again next week, so will ask for more information

[Maza]

I make quite a few veg soups and for the protein content I would either add lentils or beans to the soup. Annabel Karmel's Golden Veg soup with lentils has gone down well with every mindee I have had. If pulses don't lend themselves to the recipe then I might give the child some cheese as finger food or some quorn pieces/slices or some tofu. I use quorn pieces instead of chicken when I make fajitas and enchiladas. ***** has a recipe for lentil Bolognese which my mindees and hubby love (I throw in extra veg). Quinoa is very healthy - experiment to make it tasty, just like you would with rice. There are tons of mixed bean recipes out there. Also, my friend used to cook gorgeous Indian vegetarian meals for her children - dahls, chick peas. I often substitute chicken for quorn pieces when I make chicken noodle dishes and I used to use quorn mince to make spag bol, cottage pie, chilli and lasagne.

My vegetarian mindee loved egg fried rice with mixed veg, omelettes, scrambled egg etc.

I think ***** might have a sample vegetarian menu - it certainly has lots of veg recipes. If not, there are lots of books in the library which are great - don't just look at kids recipe books - Delia's vegetarian book and Leith's Vegetarian Bible are great. Don't think it has to be so difficult though - after all, who doesn't love good old jacket potato with cheese and baked beans? Yum. x

[Maza]

If they eat eggs then you can make quiche too. I make Slimming World quiche which uses cottage cheese instead of hard cheese and so reduces the fat content. It's delicious. You can add peas or serve it with baked beans (you might want to use low sugar low salt beans) and you then have loads of protein. x

[yummyripples]

Risottos
Falafells in pitta bread
Soups
Jacket potatoes
wraps