My dd wants to go vegan

[believer]

I need helpful ideas. My 14 year old daughter has decided that she wants to go vegan. Not a bad idea, except she eats very few vegetables. This is my child who could have been a carnivore and has eaten mostly meat and dairy her whole life. She has decided that milk upsets her stomach - could be so, it bothers mine. She won't eat beans and picks the peas and lima beans out of vegetable fried rice - which she usually eats with orange chicken (both from trader joes). Tonight for dinner, we got fajitas from Rosa's and she put spanish rice and lettuce in a tortilla with salsa. I figure that is pretty good although I wish she would have put in a bit of the refried beans. She will eat some types lettuce and has salad sometimes - prefers ranch dressing on it and I am not going to tell her there is milk in it. Perhaps she will figure that out. I do cook lots of fresh veggies from my garden from scratch - but she won't eat them.
Anyway, I have no problem with her eating a vegan diet if she will eat veggies. I need suggestions of good meals for her. She won't eat tofu or seitan or green beans or broccoli or anything that seems too healthy. Reminds me a bit of the book I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (we have that book at home). I bought some almond milk and she drank some, but not a lot of it. So please share suggestions. Thanks!

[Aerynne]

Does she like fruit? Fruit gets a bad rap but it is very good for you and has lots of antioxidants and things- much of what is in vegetables. Two vegetables that are easy for most people to eat are marinara sauce and potatoes (even white potatoes have lots of vitamins and are good for you in spite of what the current fad diets say).

If she doesn't eat vegetables or beans anyway I don't think she'd be worse off vegan. Her diet might have less variety but she might also get tired of that quickly and go back to omnivore. But if not she should be okay nutritionally if she'll eat a lot of fruit.

I'd just focus on getting her a wide variety of colors of fruit, the darker the better. Smoothies are great for this (you can put some veggies in, too. Spinach is great in a lime smoothie (lime, mango, pineapple) or in a smoothie with purplish berries or in a chocolate smoothie.

When you make desserts try to go for ones with produce in them- pumpkin cookies, zucchini bread, banana bread, etc.

And if you can steer her towards whole grains or mixed grain dishes (like half whole wheat bread) then that is good, too.

Does she eat peanut butter or other nut butters? It's also good in a smoothie or in baking as a fat substitute.

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

What's her reasoning for wanting to go vegan? How well thought out does it sound? How willing is she to learn about and implement vegan nutrition?

Honestly what you are describing right now strikes me much more as disordered eating than veganism. Vegetarianism is a common cover for adolescent eating disorders. HOWEVER, I'm not in the situation and you're in a much better place to assess is she's deeply committed to, say, animal rights but just extremely picky.

[flowermama]

Has she shared why she wants to go vegan?

Does she like peanut butter, almond butter, cashews, sunflower seeds, things like that, or chia seeds or hemp seeds? I eat a lot of toast with peanut butter and jelly on it. How about avocados? Does she like smoothies? How about fruit eaten by itself or in a fruit salad, . . . watermelon, apples, oranges, bananas, pineapple? Grapes, raisins? Will she eat things like carrot sticks, celery sticks, and cucumbers cut into sticks or slices (my boys mostly avoid cooked veggies, but will eat things like that). Spaghetti sauce with pasta is good.

I'm sorry. . . my kids are waiting for me so I'd better go! but I'll be glad to talk more.

eta: I took so long to decide what to write that I see that there are already other replies. I'll go ahead and post mine anyway.

[believer]

Thanks. She wants to cut out milk and cheese because she thinks it is upsetting her stomach. That may be the case. The meat - is because a friend of hers is vegan. I am not sure of the reasoning behind it - I will ask her. This is a very recent thing she just sprang on me a couple of days ago. The thing is that I tried to go vegan a while back and I bought all the vegan fake foods and tried to get my whole family to eat them and we all decided that all the fake meats and cheeses are disgusting. I really don't know if she will be able to give up on all meats because that has been her favorite thing to eat for her whole life. But, if she is going to try it, I want to make sure she stays healthy. She will eat some fruits and likes smoothies, but in the past, when I have tried putting veggies in them, she notices and does not like it. She will eat peanut butter and does eat cashews. She eats many fruits, but not all. She will eat strawberries, watermelon, bananas, oranges, mangos, carrots. Won't eat green beans, broccoli, peas, asparagus, cucumber. Won't eat deserts with fruit in them. Eats brownies made from boxed mixes. Sometimes she will eat banana bread. She is my pickiest eater. I will just have to try a variety of foods with her and see what happens.