The other day, I posted about my daughter wanting to go shopping so she could buy turkey.
In the comments, it was noted that she doesn’t eat meat…not really.
I figured, I’d expand on this a bit.
Though we’re far from being a vegetarian household, for some odd reason, my daughter will not eat meat.
The only meats she eats are chicken nuggets and/or chicken fries and sometimes deli meat. More often than not, we force her to eat the nuggets/fries and sometimes we sneak the deli meat into her sandwiches.
If it were up to her, she could go without.
Now, this wasn’t always the case. When she started eating solid foods, and especially when she started eating on her own, she would eat cut-up chicken, bacon, and sometimes she’d even eat some beef in a broth with rice.
But, she slowly started rejecting all meats and we had to re-introduce the little bit she’ll eat now.
Like I said, we’re not a vegetarian household, so it all seems very strange to us. She sees us eat meat all the time.We keep offering it to her in various forms. But, nothing.
I know there are vegetarian kids out there who are perfectly healthy. Her doctor even said it’s fine and wasn’t concerned.
But, as her mami, I can’t help but worry if she’s getting enough protein. She doesn’t eat beans either. Well, not in the way we cook them with the gravy. I haven’t tried another way.
I keep hoping she’ll outgrow it and will soon start eating some meat, so I can just give her the same food we eat.
Actually, I keep hoping she’ll overcome being a picky eater in general.
Any vegetarians out there have any suggestions?
I can help you with a few suggestions if you like.
Been vegetarian for more than 6 years.
You can email me if you like.
Have a great day.
I also hated meat as a child, and as soon as I left home became a vegetarian. It wasn’t until I was pregnant and anaemic that my husband started making me eat meat and cooking it for me. It took a while, but I now love it – he does great lamb and pork roasts with crackling, steak with mushrooms etc, all food I loathed as a child. But I still love my vegies and fish, and we only eat meat a few times a week. Funnily enough, as a kid the only meat I ate was chicken, and now I’m not fond of it at all. Maybe just your tastes change?
I have one picky eater, and find he will eat spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne etc (with vegies hidden in them), also homemade sausage rolls with loads of vegies and sausage meat.
Also, if you sit them down with other kids and an assortment of foods, they will often try what they see their friends tucking into quite happily.
We perservered with our picky eater, and he eats most things now.
Good luck!
I was the same way growing up. In a Cuban household my parents thought I was nuts not to want everything they put on the table. It was just my natural taste, even into adulthood I loved chicken and hated meat. We’re vegetarian now and are raising DD that way (she’s almost 19 months). We have had to learn as we go along so I’m no expert but there are lots of sources of protein – eggs, various whole grains, even plain yogurt (not the fruity fun stuff). You could also buy tofu and just stick into meals she does eat now. It tastes like whatever it is cooked with. Check out http://askdrsears.com and they’ll have a section on nutrition. If I discover anything else I’ll let you know…GL =)
Thanks all for the tips. I shall keep on trying.
Oh we have the opposite issue at my house … my kid will eat nothing BUT meat! Have you checked out weelicious.com? Excellent recipes and ideas for picky eaters.
No I haven’t! Thanks so much for that link…will definitely take a look.