Our 7 year old is in a phase where he won’t eat anything that used to be alive. He’s VERY sensitive about it and the right thing for us to do is ride it out and keep him healthy w/o protein from meat. Maybe this is permanent, but probably not. We don’t eat a lot of red meat, maybe 3 times a month, but do eat a lot of fish and chicken. What are some good ways to get the missing protein into his diet? Something tells me a glass full of of Hammer Nutrition’s Whey Protein isn’t going to go over too well!
Eggs, soy products, garden burgers, tofu, cheese are things that I eat a lot of that are full of protein.
won’t eat anything that used to be alive.
That sounds like a cool kid. (Have you told him that vegetables and fruit used to be alive, too? I know, I know- not the point)
Eggs? Beans?
How about eggs? You can explain to him that they aren’t fertilized. My son (now 10) has always loved eggs hard boiled, poached, fried…almost any way. And you can make him smoothies, why not?
You can also use the traditional vegan (and many cultures’) method of combining foods (ex. grains + legumes) to get all eight essential amino acids. I’m sure you can find a lot of readily available info on how to do this. This is not too hard to do…in fact, these days my kid is pretty much living on bean and cheese burritios.
Good for you for wanting to support him. Many, many kids are raised vegetarian and I assure you that, with a little effort, he can be perfectly healthy. Conversely, battling with him about food choices now could give him life long food issues.
Also, I don’t have any expertise here or anything, but if his diet is temporarily restricted, maybe you should consider a daily multi-vitamin for him, if he doesn’t already take one.
rawfood.com has a vast resource of information on this type of situation.
Pretty much anything…
Although Soy is about the only non meat complete protein source a mixture of various vegies will give you all teh proteins you need.
http://veggietable.allinfo-about.com/articles/protein.html
~Matt
how 'bout TVP (textured vegetable protein)? You can toss it in stews, soups, etc.
They make vegetarian ‘chicken patties’ now that when fried, taste exactly like chicken feet and beaks. IOW, the real deal. Seriously, they’re pretty tasty.
Yogurt/other dairy is also good. Smoothies, altho that’s more of a summer food. I freeze yogurt in little cubes and chunk it into the blender w/ some tofu, OJ, frozen fruit. Delish.
See if he’ll eat Boca Burgers - they’re meat-free, but still high in protein and actually taste mighty fine.
let him eat cake
.
Maybe start BBQing some good Tritip! Or some juicy hamburgers! Fish and chicken just don’t have the tempting smell as these on a grill. Once I start smell’n a good Ribeye, nothing can hold me back!
But, for good protein, soy products, eggs, nuts, peanut butter or even yogurt I believe.
Chris
won’t eat anything that used to be alive.
(Have you told him that vegetables and fruit used to be alive, too? I know, I know- not the point)
Eggs? Beans?
I tried just the opposite saying “you know, these animals weren’t anyone’s pets. They were raised to be eaten, just like carrots.” That got us nowhere! One of the neighbor kids described in pretty graphic detail what its like to watch a cow get slaughtered, and I think that put him over the top. I’m guessing a Thanksgiving turkey will prove pretty tempting, but we’ll see.
Many of you are assuming his 7 year-old will eat these other foods. Do not underestimate the picky eater!!!
Since I have an 8-year old daughter, same situation. let me tell you what we do.
She will not eat any meat. I can occasionally get her to eat chicken. She prefers McNuggets, but I have been able to pursuade her to eat grilled chicken breast.
My concern has always been the protein deficiency and all of the carbs she eats (a real junk food nut).
So our solution has been peanut butter. She has a peanut butter sandwhich almost everyday on a different variety of breads. The other thing that works is salads. She does not eat eggs either nor is she at an age where she is conscious of her body, so it’s not an anorexic thing.
She also eat’s pizza (cheese).
Good luck w/ your son.
My renal kids at work have the same issue, but they can’t have dairy products in their diets. So, we encourage parents to use protein powder in their foods. It can be added to gravies and sauces and even sprinkled on popcorn. We also have contests and games with the kids to drink protein drinks (kind of like Boost, but for a renal diet). It is a constant struggle, but it seems to help. Good luck, I feel your pain.
Colin-
I am a vegetarian, but my 10 yr old son is not. He is free to eat meat if he would like, but frequently chooses the soy alternative. Someone else mentioned TVP and they are right, IMO it tastes just like meat, but more importantly, son loves it. He likes “chicken” nuggets", “corn dogs”, pizza burgers, etc. Give some of these a try and have the whole family try with him. Who knows?
My son went through this when he was younger, saw me take a baked chicken out of the oven, said “hey that looks like a …” and the light went on. Only lasted a couple of weeks. Good luck!
Veggie burgers are good in terms of protein, and also are v. easy to prepare- nuke for a minute or so on high. Mimimum amount of fuss while the cooking is going on to feed the rest of the family. They also come in many different types from hamburger-like to pizza and fajita flavors.
Also chili with beans and tvp is very tasty if you get the spices right.
McNuggets count as meat?
I personally love peanut butter, but it has an awful lot of fat for the protein it provides. Would she be willing to try an Ensure/Boost/equivilant? They have high-protein versions, and if the thought of a creamy chocolate shake isn’t tempting, it’s not too hard to pound one down.
Starve the picky eater for a few days and he will eat roadkill by the end of the week! Alternatively, make allt he food he will eat taste really bad by over sugaring it, over salting it or over anything else while making the protein meals to his liking
Don’t give in to your kid. You are the parent/adult, you get to make the rules and you kid should learn to obey your wisdom.
If you give in to them, then how much fun do you think you will have when tough situations like drugs and sex get on the agenda in a few years!
Best of luck
I definitely like your angle on passing off the Ensure for a shake.
My wife’s grandparents lived with us for 6 months. Her grandmother was undergoing chemo and needed to drink ensure to keep her weight up. Her grandfather had his health issues and needed to be on a low calorie diet. Well you know it had to happen. G’ma had a hard time drinking the Ensure and Grandpa was only to happy to finish them.
Sorry to digress, but haven’t had an Ensure in the house since they both passed away!
Re: peanut butter, my wife uses the “healthy” version. My daughter hasn’t noticed the difference.
Tim
Give him Calvin’s favorite
chocolate-frosted sugar bombs
.