Vegetarians unite!

beans, beans, beans...did i mention beans?? great source of both iron and protein, and sooo many varieties to choose from! fermented soy (tofu, tempeh) are also rich in iron and protein. seitan also rocks. I was anemic for a while, and found that gnc carries vegetarian friendly iron supplements that actually don't make you wanna die a little on the inside when you take them (lots of iron supplements are rough on the tummy). quinoa, oatmeal, cous cous, dates, and dried apricots are good sources for iron. seeing as you're vegetarian rather than vegan, i'm assuming you still nom the dairy at least once in a while. nonfat greek yogurt is a great low cal protein source. hope this helps a bit.

We're more pescatarians because we do still eat fish from time to time and I haven't cut out eggs, yogurt, and cheese for our family either. I have a few great recipes that were a work of endurance b/c of all the "fine tuning" it took to get good responses from my two sons and my ultra picky husband. My boys are far far far more supportive of "yum!" than he is However, I have some veggie patties that we love as burgers, sandwiches, wraps, and crumbles on salads.

We also love our soups and stews, various ways of cooking veggies and we haven't found ourselves to be deficient in any of the vitamin categories. Although there are days when we "blow it" there are far more days when I must admit I'm sooo proud to have such awesome boys who read labels, pick up on nutrition myths, and actually do a great job of making awesome choices whether I'm there or not

I'm always looking for great new recipes and will happily share ours
Catherine