Quick questions for vegetarian mummies........

[MothersInc]

1. What is your favourite hot dish?

2. What is your favourite cold dish? Last but not least........

3. what is your favourite sandwich filling?

Thank you in advance!!! x

[Fuschia]

Something like thai curry

Salad with goats cheese and spinach and walnuts

Egg mayonnaise

[bee74]

gosh... difficult one!

1. pasta/ curry/ parmigiana/ pizza...

2. salad, hummus and carrots

3. avocado, goat cheese

[crystal7]

1. Some sort of curry with paneer

2. Goats cheese salad with sundried tomato and avocado

3. roasted pepper and halloumi

[hanstands]

1 Most things cooked in coconut or parmesan or a rich, creamy goats cheese and leek flan.

2 Maybe hummous, sour cream, grated cheese, falafels, sun dried tomato and salad in a pitta bread.

3 Egg mayonnaise [free range/organic]and cress.

[Fuschia]

Tacos...

Nice dips and crudites...

[MothersInc]

Thank you very much for your great feedback!! It has really helped. I will definitely incorporate many of these dishes for Mothers inc events. Thank you X

[siobhanleighhunt]

can i hijack? I'm "veggie" bringing up my 1 and 2 yr old girls as meat-eaters, like their daddy. Anyone in the same position? I say I'm veggie but actually, I'm no longer really veggie because I now eat fish at the weekends so that we can all sit down as a family and share the same meals. I know there are lots of family friendly veggie and fishy recipies out there but I am always seeking the loosethebabyweight low fat option, yet toddlers need and prefer higher fat meals. Anyone got any advice/tips/experiences/ recipies they'd like to share on family eating?

[Fuschia]

siobhanleighhunt Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> can i hijack? I'm "veggie" bringing up my 1 and 2

> yr old girls as meat-eaters, like their daddy.

> Anyone in the same position? I say I'm veggie but

> actually, I'm no longer really veggie because I

> now eat fish at the weekends so that we can all

> sit down as a family and share the same meals. I

> know there are lots of family friendly veggie and

> fishy recipies out there but I am always seeking

> the loosethebabyweight low fat option, yet

> toddlers need and prefer higher fat meals. Anyone

> got any advice/tips/experiences/ recipies they'd

> like to share on family eating?

I'm a long term veggy

child no 1 (7) is veggy + fish

Mr F and twins are carnivores

For low fat options I suppose a meal where you have extra protein would suit... and lowish GI?

We quite enjoy meze sort of meals, with salads. stiffed or roasted or grilled veg, halloumi, lamb, salmon, pitta or wraps and hummous.. perhaps from something like that you could get everyone fed to their satisfaction?

[siobhanleighhunt]

now fushia that sounds like a great idea! I know you've mentioned this meze approach elsewhere on the forum and i think it has legs in my household! (no ironic pun intended!) I'm intrigued - how many mums sit down with your kids at teatime and eat with them or do you eat later? The ealiest my husband ever gets home is 7 and at the mo I choose to eat with him but i'm beginning to realise that this may change in the not to distant future

[Fuschia]

I sit down and eat if I fancy the food... so is preferable all round to cook a "family meal" from the point of view of kless cooing, more social, I eat earlier etc. But if they have pasta or fishfingers or something, I don't usually want to eat that.

I do find cooking a few dishes means everyone is happy (Mr F isn't keen on veg while I love salad!) and we can have spicey food or I like things like beetroot..

Another good meal is stuffed tortilla wraps - lay out grated cheese, salad, olives, guacamole, veg or meat chilli, shredded chicken, sour cream, or something like huevos rancheros (scrambled eggs cooked with tomato, peppers, and after taking out part for kids you can add chulli sauce or refried beans with chilli)

[Fuschia]

Other idea is buy two or three woks and cook simultaneously tofu and chicken stir fries... also egg fried rice or a noodle dish is a child;'s crowd pleaser

Just stand there and fling different ingredients in... doesn;t longer than cooking one big dish

Pizza with different toppings or baked pots also good but not so low fat

[Pickle]

I cook meals for the whole family, and generally I sit down and eat with the kids at their teatime (5.30ish). Works well for me as I often have rehearsals in the evening once they're in bed, so saves me rushing to eat before I dash out the door.

[crystal7]

OH and i are veggie sort of- we eat fish but E has meat now and again. I'm looking for meal ideas too siobhanleighhunt & like you i don't want to eat food loaded with cheese butter etc. Keep food ideas coming!

[littleEDfamily]

My daughter is a raving carnivore, but LOVE LOVE LOVES green pesto with wholemeal penne, which if you add an interesting salad makes quite a reasonable meal for a grown up as well. If she's not in the salad eating mood, I give her a couple of carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes as well to help me feel better about her veg consumption.

We also make a lot of bean/ chickpea and tomato stews, which she has eaten happily since very small, and we like too (not to mention uber cheap).

I know peanuts are controversial, but in my mind it's a great sandwich filler and protein galore (so I tell myself).

Also, you can't go wrong with scrambled egg on wholemeal toast. Quite possibly the world's best veggie fast food, and ideal if you have had a big lunch and want a quick nutritious dinner for all.

I'm keen to hear anyone else's veg ideas as often my mind goes blank in the barrage of "I want sausages/ ham/ fish fingers for dinner, mummy!!!" And my instincts tell me a lot of meat ain't good for little ones (anyone, really).

Meantime, I am going to try Fushia's noodle idea - what do you put on the noodles?

[Fuschia]

I tend to mix with mange tout or peas or just plain with a dash of sesame oil, though personally i like hoi sin

frittata is a good meal

you know you can stir pureed peas into pesto, it's invisible and hard to detect (could do the same with soya beans)

[siobhanleighhunt]

we've been trying the whole stir fry thing for a couple of weeks now and whilst the enthusiasm is there ("mummy loves stirfry, martha loves stirfry" rant) the reality of being presented with beansprouts is less impressive. we perserve though and i'm sure eventually they'll get their heads around it if we keep doing it each weekend. I'm currently saucing them with 1 part ketcup/ 1 part soy sauce/ 2 parts olive oil - annabel karmel i think. But I so love this whole meze, picnic approach idea as well! I think it'll work wonders for mine - kids get to control what they eat, i get to do my necessary calorie-control thing, yet we all share a meal and i can encourage healthy eating. More more more! Loving your ideas!

[littleEDfamily]

Aaah, good tip on the pureed pea and pesto (by the way, BEWARE the wild rocket pesto I bought by mistake one day. Vile stuff). I am going to try the Hoisin on noodles. I am a devotee of soya and sweet chilli combos, but it's hardly the healthiest option.

To my delight I found out recently my daughter will eat plain brown rice - how exciting is that!? I think it's the sweet nuttiness they like and you can substitute it for spuds or whatever your default carb side is.

Wraps used to also be a favourite. Grated carrots and hummous inside (or whatever).

Sorry to have gone off track (this was meant to be about vege mummies eat, wasn't it), but I do love a kids' recipe thread.

[MothersInc]

This is very good for meat eaters like myself as it would be nice having meat free family meals a few times a week and these ideas are really good. Unfortunately, my daughter doesn't like noodles :( but lots of other things to try out!!! The stuffed tortilla wraps sounds lovely and also fun for kids.

[Fuschia]

siobhanleighhunt Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> we've been trying the whole stir fry thing for a

> couple of weeks now and whilst the enthusiasm is

> there ("mummy loves stirfry, martha loves stirfry"

> rant) the reality of being presented with

> beansprouts is less impressive.

Mine like their fave veg only.... carrots, peppers...

[marscapone]

We are veggie plus some fish. Husband eats meat but he usually has that at lunch at work.

Some of our favourite family meals:

pizza - we use pita bread bases to make individual pizzas with our fave toppings

pita bread, carrot sticks etc with hommous, raita etc

wraps with tofu and salad, or spicey beans and salad

pancakes rolled up with a cottage cheese and spinach filling and tomato sauce on top

mild curries - as long as we don't call them 'curry'

thick lentil and vege soups - not the favourite meal but good with with big dollps of honey and lots of bread

vege shephards pie

noodles (great idea to cook two at once!)

potato/pasta salads

nachos

We all eat together at 6.30 on the days one of us is home. If we're both at work then we will eat later. Although it's great eating together, I do find I get hungry later in the evening and start eating chocolate...