by EdF » Tue 07 Jun 2005, 15:30:56
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', '.')..
My biggest concern is meeting the nutrinional requirements for an 8 year old. Its one thing to say "I'm not eating meat!" and quite another to say "I'm going to live a healthy lifestyle without eating meat"...
Specop,
A couple of high-protein, easy to prepare foods you can look into are tempeh (from Indonesia) and miso (Japan).
Tempeh is a fermented soy cake that can be used in lots of different recipes. Tastes like chicken when fried

- very neutral taste. You can make it from scratch with soybeans and starter in a bit more than 24 hours of it sitting at the right temperature. You can also buy it in a lot of stores. Tempeh is one of the richest vegetable sources of B-12.
Miso is another fermented soy/grain product that has the consistency of a paste. It has a very good balance of easily absorbed amino acids, and you can use it just about anywhere you use boullion, as well as in a bunch of other things. Miso soup is a staple in Japan, which has the highest life-expectancy of any nation. The nice thing about miso is you can use in lots of "regular" recipes: gravies and other sauces, salad dressings .... The flavor is really pleasant.
There's some controversy about the health effects of eating unfermented soy products (eg tofu). Tempeh and miso don't have this problem.
I was a vegetarian (macrobiotic) for almost 10 years in my youth. You can do it and be healthy without jumping through too many hoops.
- Ed