<p>I like the term “non-dogmatic vegetarian.” I guess that’s what I am. I do not eat meat, except for bacon once in a while. (I know, no sense to that.) I have not eaten beef or chicken since the Jack in the Box e coli problem here in the NW in 1993. I don’t mind if there is meat in something if I can pick it out (large chunks). I don’t think ground beef is safe any more.</p>
<p>There are two yummy-sounding recipes over on the health/wellness/exercise thread here.</p>
<p>I think Morningstar makes the best veggie burgers, and they have a ton of varieties. Also, if you live near a Trader Joes or Whole Foods, the amount of meat alternatives there are astounding- ‘chicken’ nuggets, 'meat’balls, taco ‘meat,’ etc etc- all meatless. Amys is a great line of vegetarian frozen food.
Have him google some vegetarian recipes that sound interesting to him for ideas. </p>
<p>Will he eat dairy and eggs? Great sources of protein- Omelettes, quiches, yogurt. If you’re really concerned about protein, protein powder is widely available at healthfood stores.</p>
<p>I second quinoa. It actually cooks more quickly than rice, it tastes wonderful, and it has lots of protein.</p>
<p>There is really nothing in meat that you can’t get some other way. The only questionable thing would be vitamin B12, which you can get from certain types of yeast used in cooking, but it’s easier to just take a vitamin with it. </p>
<p>Rice with black bean sauce (pureed black beans with cilantro and other spices to taste) and roasted peppers is delicious. So are stir-fries with tofu chunks and sesame tahini+ soy sauce for sauce. Almonds are a great snack with protein and fat. Look up recipes from Indian, Thai, and similar Asian cuisines. They have lots and lots of absolutely delicious vegetarian and even vegan dishes.</p>
<p>I was vegan for a few years as a teen. My mom let me prepare most of Thanksgiving dinner one of those years. She still did the turkey, but I made all the sides:</p>
<p>Mashed potatoes with chives and soy cream
Rice dream ice cream with cinnamon sprinkled on top
Green beans sauteed in red wine and garlic
stuffing with veggie broth
gravy made out of veggie broth and apple cider</p>
<p>It was all very, very good. </p>
<p>I’ve also made chili with crumbled meat-substitute. It tastes almost identical.</p>
<p>Former Registered Dietitian here. (I let my accreditation lapse years back.) Bottom line is, a plant-based diet is much healthier. Your son is on the right track to good health. BUT, and this is from the mom of a vegetarian daughter, it takes work…especially if there are other carnivores in the house. (My son loves meat, not so much vegetables.)</p>
<p>You’ve received some excellent suggestions here. I would second the choice of Morningstar over Boca patties. Quinoa is a good source of protein, particularly when mixed with beans of some sort. </p>
<p>Most of all it takes time…to find good recipes and learn to get the whole family involved. My son still loves meat, but after two years he no longer turns his nose up at the vegetarian meals we often have. I keep some vegan frozen things in the freezer for my daughter for the meals that do include meat. And if your son will eat eggs…you have it made. Give it time! Good luck!</p>
<p>(The best part for me was, exactly one year after my daughter started this new way of eating, I brought my own cholesterol down from 238 to 179! Not by strictly cutting out specific things, but by focusing on a plant-based diet with occasional meat.)</p>
<p>NYMomof2,
I currently have in my freezer Morningstar “Asian Veggie Patties,” “Tomato & Basil Pizza Burger” patties, and “Mushroom Lover’s” burgers. I think they’re delicious. I would also recommend GardenBurgers. My son’s have a few friends who are vegetarians and I have cooked these on the grill for them and they have insisted on seeing the package so that they could go out and buy them.</p>
<p>nymomof2, you should be very proud of your son for feeling passionately about animal rights. It is refreshing to know that our young people have the capacity to follow through on a cause they believe in. My D is a vegetarian and she started out exactly like your son, learning about the plight of animals. It is a work in progress. It has been approx 5 yrs now and she is getting better and better at finding the right nutrition. Tofu, lentils, eggs, cheese with grains, brown rice, whole grain pastas and green leafy vegetables in any combination as possible. It is also easy to fall in a trap of eating too many bad carbs to counteract the loss of meat.
Trader Joe’s is one of her favorite places to shop, because it has a lot of vegeterian/vegan friendly combinations and choices. They also carry printed list of their products that are strictly vegetarian(looking at the ingredients) which makes shopping easy. Did you know gelatin is a meat product? so they take a lot of the guesswork out shopping. As time goes by, there will be a rhythm as far are meal preparation. It was a challenge to have a vegetarian in the house becasue H and I love our chicken, fish and burgers but as she got older she took more and more responsibility for her own food preparation, which I think is important. It is easy to be a vegetarian if someone else is preparing your food, it is another story when you commit yourself to being a vegetarian and have to prepare it yourself. It takes planning and if your son is serious this is when it will be apparent.</p>
<p>You should be careful to limit the amount of soy protein consumed (such as from tofu). The phytoestrogens (plant chemicals that resemble human sex hormone estrogen) can have a feminizing effect at high levels. That couldn’t be good at this developmental stage. Of course, there are soy-industry websites that deny this, but there is quite a lot of published data.</p>
<p>Nutrition is a little more complicated than people want to make it seem. I would go to a good RD for meal plan help. Don’t go to a doctor for nutrition advice because they really don’t know all that much about it. Also check out a book like Joy Bauer’s Complete Idiot’s Guide to Nutrition. She gives a lot of great info in it.</p>