help!!!! need ideas for my daughters meals.
fussy about what she eats

Hi,

Have you tried veggie kebabs which are quick and easy to make and you can always get your daughter involved which can be fun. I think good food live had a great cheese burger recipe on it the other day when Jenny wasn't there.

spaghetti bolognaise made with quorn mince, with chopped peppers and carrots added to the tomato sauce is a good fairly ballanced meal, you can even get vegetarian parmesan from some deli's now if she's a very strict veggie (parmagiano reggiano is made with animal rennet)

Veggie thats tough wekk there are loads of veggie things like veggie burger, fruit yogs, soup, spring rolls, pizza!

Loads of things you can eat if you are beggie!

Tell more about her fussiness tinker 34, does she like meat substitutes? Or are we looking more at the vegetable side of things, and if so which veg she does and doesn't like.

I can't believe fruit yoghurts are being suggested as meal ideas!
As mentioned above every kid must love Spag Bol surely?
If the Quorn mince isn't to her fussy liking (My bf thinks it's too squishy textured) try Real-Eat Mince, it's readily available, I get it at Tesco.
Meat substitutes like Quorn 'chicken breasts' are great for quick dinners, but try & make some fresh stuff for variety. There are some great veggy recipes listed here. Even check the packaging of fresh veg, a few of my favourites have come from the plastic bag my sweet potatoes were in
Pizza was mentioned above but why not try making your own with her favourite toppings? If you don't feel up to making bases you can buy readymade. A little tomato sauce & mozzarella et voila! (plus your own toppings)

Simon Rimmer has an excellent veggie sausage receipe made with lancashire cheese. In fact his book the accidental vegetarian has lots of good ideas. There are loads of variations of pasta dishes and rice dishes that you can do as well.

try indtroducing different cuisines to her diet like thai or indian, there must be one she is bound to enjoy?
Have you tried tofu?
Make your own veggie burgers at home with tofu and mashed beans (kidney, cannelini, pinto) and season lightly (salt, pepper, cumin?) if she is that fussy.
Introduce new things slowly in a fun way and hopefully she will begin to like new things?

I make a really nice veggie burger, make with chick peas then add what you want, try grated carrot, courgette, (fry vegetables first to remove moisture) spices, herbs, dried apricots, morroccan theme is always good.
Just put everything in processor. Extremely easy as Chick Peas bind the mixture as well.

You could always part exchange your daughter for a carnivore!!!

I can recommend a great book a friend bought me called Baby & Child Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Timperley. There are fab recipes in here for things like Ratatouille, Vegetable Curry, Veggie Burgers, Leek Tart, Spinach and Mushroom Lasagne (which is to die for), Frittata, Potato Hash...to name but a few and a Tiffin recipe that everyone oohs and ahhs over it is so rich and delicious. Although the book is mostly aimed at toddlers, my whole family has loved most of the receipes I have tried. I have found it invaluable as a way to provide something different when I was struggling for ideas whilst making sure meals are nutritious as well. Hope this helps, anyway. Btw Jamie Oliver's pizza base recipe from his Naked Chef 2 book, is a piece of cake to make, tastes really good and freezes really well.

My niece has just turned 13 and has been semi vegi for a couple of years. She lives in the North or our fair land and on my visits I have tried to introduced her to as varied a diet as possible and have found that she is effected most by her friends views and after that by a lack of understanding of what is out in the Big Wide World. So far she has tried and enjoyed Thai, Indian and Italian having started from the point of view which said, 'don't like that'. Before having tried it of course!

My advice, keep plugging away with a varied diet, try to find a new dish each week and be patient. By the time she is 23 she will probably have settled down.

Good Luck

David