Veggie Mummy Needs Cooking Advice!!

[LunaRose]

Hey! I need a bit of help!

I'm a vegetarian and have never cooked a fish or an animal! I want Jayden to have a good balanced diet including meat and fish ... So which meats do you cook for your LO's and what is the best way to cook them?

Any help would be brilliant thanks .. I'm hopeless when it comes to cooking! xxxx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

You CAN offer LO balanced diet without meat and fish - in the groups section there is a veggie mums and babies group that may be of help.

If you want to offer some anyway, how about some tinned tuna on toast, with sweetcorn mixed in? This is the only meat/fish my LO likes at the moment so I'm not a great help!

 

[lemily]

Easiest way to cook fish is to poach it either in a pan or the microwave for between 5 and 10 minutes depending on the size of the piece of fish.

Get a bowl, pop in a piece or pieces of fish, cover with water or milk, and cover and put in the microwave on full power for between 5-10 minutes. The fish should be opaque and flake easily. You can then use the milk or water to loosen your puree a bit.

Also tinned fish, like tuna or salmon, is good but it doesn't have all the goodness e.g. omega 3 oils, as fresh (not sure this matters with babies though really).

As for meat, mince is easy. You just chuck it in a hot pan til it browns and then puree with veg.

And as for chicken, just buy some thighs and drumsticks and pop them in the oven to roast until the juice runs clear (poke a knife in the thickest part of the meat to see).

But do remember, that all the essential amino acids for babies and adults can be got from a diet that includes beans, squashes and corn, so as long as these are part of your baby's diet, then they are getting all the amino acids they need.

 

[cupcake]

I buy chicken breast and cook that in a soup so it comes out very soft and kids love it. If you can get your child to eat the carrots or potatoes in the soup then you have a whole meal out of it, and some kids even like the soup too.

You can cook pieces of chicken by just putting them in a dish in the oven for 1.5 hours on 200.you can make any sauce or just use some spices and roast them.
my easiest spices is salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. I lay some onions on the bottom which brings out the juices and then you can spoon that over the chicken pieces to make it more tasty.

I also make ground beef, you can make it into hamburgers by mixing some egg, salt, pepper, and a bit of breadcrumbs in it and then forming hamburgers which can be fried.

you can make it into spag bol, by cooking the meat in a pot by browning it first with some salt and pepper and then adding tomato sauce, or crushed tomatoes, or a store bought sauce and cooking for half an hour on a high flame, mixing as needed. you can serve that with spaghetti or noodles or rice or even mash potatoes.

my son likes tuna fish just from the can and mixed with some mayo.

hope these ideas are helpful and have not grossed you out.

 

[LunaRose]

Thanks, this has all been really helpful! I'll have a go tonight! I've given him tuna and strips of chicken so far! I know I could give him a balanced diet as a vegetarian but I just want him to eat a wide variety of foods. I don't eat meat through choice so I'll leave it to him to decide if he wants to be vegetarian when he's older.

Thanks Ladies

xxxx