I have no idea how to accommodate her new needs I am the only one supporting her in this her mother is upset with her - her father my husband is considering it a phase which it may be FYI she is 9 but I just need ideas on how to help her and well general info :help:

I recommend the book "Vegetarianism for Dummies." It has a lot of great info on vegetarian nutrition, and you can also read some of the other chapters if you are interested in finding out why she might be choosing this dietary path.

I also suggest checking out a few vegetarian cookbooks from your local library. See if you stumble on one that you really like. Until then, remember that a lot of food your family might already eat is vegetarian, such as: spaghetti, bean burritos, veggie pizza, spinach lasagna, etc. If you normally serve meat with some of these dishes, consider making it seperately for the meat-eaters to add later (i.e. meatballs on the side when you serve spaghetti).

It might encourage your step-daughter's mother (whew, that was a mouthful!) to know that the American Dietetic Association considers a well-planned vegetarian diet to be healthy and adequate, even for children. Here's a link: http://www.eatright.org/Member/PolicyInitiatives/index_21026.cfm

Good luck, and :up: to you for being supportive of your step-daughter!

You're one cool step-parent. :)

Does she know how to cook? If she does, a cookbook would be in order. I recommend "The Teen's Vegetarian Cookbook" for quick and easy (and yummy) recipes.

Otherwise, just make sure she's not living off only grilled cheese and quesadillas like I did when I first went veg and she should be fine. :)

You would be amazed how many children are turning to vegetarianism on their own and sticking with it. She is truely blessed to have support through you!

It really is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. To begin it is basically easier to replace the meat and meat based broth with veggie varieties. When cooking burger and hot dogs, you can cook veggie burgers and veggie dogs, kid's seem to prefer the one's by morning star. When cooking speghetti make sure the sauce is meat free and if you are adding meat to the dish add it after it is finished so you can set her's aside, she may like mushrooms, green peppers, or veggie meatballs on her's. vegweb.com has lots of recipes if you are looking for some new tasty dished to try.

Breakfast can be, cereal, waffles, fruit, bagels with peanut butter or fruit spread, or several of the veggie food options on the market today such as veggie sausage or veggie bacon.

Lunches can be PB&J, grilled cheese, cheese sandwich or sub, veggie sandwich or sub, toasted tomato sandwich, carrots and Peanut Butter, celery, peanut butter and raisins, apples and peanut butter, veggie soups, veggie chili, bean tacos, bean buritos, salad, fruit salad, or many of the veggie slices on the market today.

Check out the raising veggie kids section and also:
http://www.vrg.org/family/kidsindex.htm

http://www.vegkids.com/order.asp

My sister went veg around that time. I thought for sure it was just a phase, she used to get sooo mad at me for not taking her to McDonald's. :p She went back to eating fish for a few years but other than that she's stuck with it this whole time (she's 16 now).

I don't really have much advice. We have a lot of knowledgable people here so hopefully you'll get the information you need. :)

I went vegetarian when I was 8 or 9 and even though everyone thought it was a phase, 6 years later, I'm still vegetarian. The trick is learning to try new things. When I first became a vegetarian, my mom agreed that I could as long as I tried one new healthy food every week. This really expanded my horizons, and even though I didn't like a lot of the things I tried, I think I gained at least one or two new foods a month. I still try and do this actually, it's a great way to approach new things in an unbiased manner.

Also go to http://vegweb.com/.

That really is cool of you to find out how you can help your stepdaughter. I take it you aren't veg?

Check out Beforewisdom's wisdom (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=39153) if you haven't already, it has some really good information. :)

You are to be highly commended for supporting your step-daughter when no one else will! :up:

Some step-parents are cooler than biological parents!

I went vegetarian when I was 11, 8 years later I'm vegan and apparently it wasn't just a phase :) This would be a great time for her to start learning to cook and take care of some of her own meals. Its amazing how many of my friends (20+ aged people) don't know how to cook and are unable to feed themselves when they move out. Even if it is a phase learning about nutrition and cooking now will be a real help to her later.