My daughter ....

[piskieinboots]

I take the best of both worlds - cos I can

[zazen999]

Hi
As Quorn, Tofu, cheese and eggs are protein based, yes they can be used in place of meat. So are peanuts, and beans, and to an extent broccoli.
I usually make sure I have half the dish/plate veg, a quarter is carbs and the other quarter is protein. Unless I do my special fresh pasta with onion and pepper cheesy sauce, where the protein [cheese] is a lot less and the carbs [pasta] is over half...but it is lovely!!! But that is counteracted when we have sausage and mash, with broccoli, beans and carrots as then half the plate is protein. And then there is the fortnightly ommlette.

There is no exact science, just make sure she gets enough of the food groups; substituting the above is she eats it is probably enough. That's why I try to include the above guide when I am cooking, and that goes for all of us [me, the OH and his 10 year old daughter].

[valmarg]

One of my aunts always reckoned that the first word I spoke was 'meat'. I am more carnivore than herbivore, although I do eat a balanced diet. I eat loads of fruit and veg, but would not be prepared to give up meat.

I was brought up in the late 1940's, early 50's when meat production was still humane, and the intensive rearing of beasts had not started, so the 'ethical' problem did not arise. If we had a chicken, it came complete with feathers and guts. I can remember watching gran pluck, and take out the innards of the bird, and being fascinated at the stages of development of the eggs in the oviducts.

Man is naturally an omnivore, ie his teeth and guts are designed to process/digest both meat and fruit/veg.

Personally, the meat I buy is from either farmers' markets or farm shops where the traceability of the meat is guaranteed. It is more expensive, but it has the vital ingredient 'TASTE'.

valmarg

[veg4681]

Hi Farmer Gyles,

I come from a harsh background (as in made to toughen up) so if anyone didn't eat meat, they were given the responsibility of fixing/cooking their own meals and this has happened with guests too , okay they were still relatives so my mother didn't think it was rude.

Luckily I've never had to cook for a vegetarian but if I have to, I'd cook a separate meal from the other meat eaters but I would never turn the entire dinner veggie though but I know someone did and we were all wondering why there were no meat until we realised one guest was a vegetarian.

But would you let your daughter cook her own meal at 13 although in my days things were different, you were expected to be useful at home including with the cooking and definitely the washing up and also ironing our own school uniform. There are lots of good vegetarian cook books about which is a good start.

[Farmer_Gyles]

As Quorn, Tofu, cheese and eggs are protein based, yes they can be used in place of meat. So are peanuts, and beans, and to an extent broccoli.

brilliant, thanks - that's what hadn't sunk in to the old grey matter here!

so what beans are we talking here? all beans? runners / french / baked / broad?

[Farmer_Gyles]

But would you let your daughter cook her own meal at 13 although in my days things were different, you were expected to be useful at home including with the cooking and definitely the washing up and also ironing our own school uniform.

i had to learn to cook when i was in cubs - and that was in the 70s and i was under 11, maybe even under 10 - and i had to learn to iron and make beds and all sorts - and cubs of the same age still cook these days

as a single parent with 2 busy and active kids, i've always had to get my kids involved around the house to some extent - my 11yo son makes me a cuppa every morning, makes his own toast etc - both kids iron their own school shirts ever since i found they screwed up all the shirts i'd freshly ironed and threw them in the bottom of their wardrobes

and i've been teaching my daughter to cook family meals, and it's a really good laugh as she's paranoid about blowing the house up every time she touches the cooker!

i'll carry on teaching her to cook - except i've got to kinda re-learn cooking - i think it's gonna be difficult to break old cooking habits .........

[beefy]

As a side note to the discussion - how good is it that every child in England will from next year get cookery lessons at school if the government does what it says and introduces its policy. I honestly beleive that kids who know how to cook will take more of an intrest in what they eat ,where it comes from and how it was produced .

[Paul Wagland]

...how good is it that every child in England will from next year get cookery lessons at school if the government does what it says and introduces its policy.

Very, would be the answer to your question! This is so overdue. Can't understand why 'feeding yourself' ever left the curriculum.

[Paulottie]

I'm a carnivore by nature,I hardy ate a vegetable till I was eighteen, through some twist of fate I married a lady with the dietary requirements of a goat..(with a bit of seafood too).Ive now got two allotments and three greenhouses, but she doesn't ever try and convert me or the children, just quietly eats what she wants and she just doesn't like meat. Obviously we have got pretty nifty at using all the veg so our diet is very seasonal and varied.

Really, I now just tend to eat less meat less often but of higher quality. I'd far rather eat a pheasant, or a rabbit to a chemical chicken who has had a miserable life without seeing the light of day. Unlike your daughter I am not squeamish about butchery. I just prefer to buy a really good lump of locally produced meat very occasionally, and as a treat, rather than eat the stuff from the supermarket everynight. OK, so I live in the country, but my points are:

It is more to have a varied diet of quality fresh food.( you will get all the nutrients you need with or without meat)
Avoid pakaged food.
Many teenagers go through a time when the stop eating it for many reasons. They will either start again or not -no point in forcing the issue.
The most important point is that you are cooking togther.
I now love veggies (you'll be suprised how much better you own diet will become now you daughters gone veggie)
best get sowing some seeds hey!

[JanieB]

Very, would be the answer to your question! This is so overdue. Can't understand why 'feeding yourself' ever left the curriculum.

Mmmh. I sincerely hope they teach "proper" cooking. My daughter (now 40) did cookery at school and was taught using ready packed stuff. Fortunately, as a farmers daughter, she was taught how to cook properly by me, as were her brothers.

God forbid that there should ever be a holocaust of the human race, but shouldn't children be taught how to cook from scratch. I'm pretty sure sure that people on this site not only grow their own but also know how to pick edible stuff from the hedgerows. Or am I the only weird one.

[Paulottie]

No, no I'm weird too....(and i know how to pick edible stuff from the hedgerows!)

[Paulottie]

No, no I'm weird too...(and i know how to pick stuff from the hedgerows!)

[HeyWayne]

No, no I'm weird too...(and i know how to pick stuff from the hedgerows!)

No, weird is vegans. They've got pointy ears and everything!

[Alison]

I'm now rapidly approaching 40 and had the (mis)fortune to suffer cookery lessons at school. As it happened I'd been cooking at home for years and could knock together a perfectly good meal, however if I'd had to rely on school instruction then all I'd be able to do was sponge cakes and biscuits. What they need to teach is basic nutrition and how to put together a simple, economic and tasty meal without having to resort to junk food. Sounds like Farmer Gyles is doing a good job setting a fine example to his daughter, don't cut yourself up about not getting every meal 100%, it should balance out over the week. Re the bean question, I personally find that various dried pulses are fab, get through a ton of chickpeas, kidney beans etc in our house, especially at this time of year as they make lovely winter curries / casseroles. Tonight's tea is a mixed bean enchilado affair using up the final batch of last summer's tomatillos in a salsa verdi sauce. By the way, you also got a fair shot of protein in brown rice which is another good reason to use that instead of the white processed stuff.

[willowstar]

I really can't recommend the Vegetarian Society website enough for people in your exact situation, there are whole sections for young vegetarians and sections for parents of young vegetarians and families adapting to a member becoming vegetarian as well as loads of recipes and nutritional information. The Vegetarian Society