My daughter, the vegetarian

My daughter is 4 years old. A few months ago she started asking me questions about where the meat we eat comes from. I always want to be as honest as possible with my children, so I told her. We would be eating dinner and she would ask, "What animal does this come from?" and I would tell her - a chicken, or a cow, or a pig. Then one day she tells me "Mama, I don't want to eat animals anymore. I don't want animals to be killed because I am eating them." So I explained to her that many people feel this way and they are called vegetarians. She was thrilled to find out there were other people in the world who felt the same way she did and that she had a name for it now. (In my head, I was thinking - uh-oh maybe I shouldn't have been so honest...). 

She has not eaten meat for 2 months now. Not even Chik-Fil-A or McDonalds. I am impressed with her determination to stick with her beliefs at the age of 4! But sometimes it can be hard to find recipes to make everyone happy. Of course my son wants to eat nothing but meat. I don't want to cook separate meals for her, so I have to either cook a vegetarian recipe everyone will eat, or cook a recipe that will allow the meat to be added separately. Oh, and it has to be points plus friendly for me. Here's a  vegetarian egg casserole that was successful in making everyone happy. Which I only need to try and do every day...

Vegetarian Egg Casserole 

(5 points plus value per serving)

Ingredients

	6 oz bread stuffing dry mix
	1 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese
	2 cups low-fat milk
	1 can cream of mushroom soup
	6 large eggs
	1/4 cup uncooked onions
	1/2 cup uncooked broccoli
	1/2 cup red bell pepper
	1 tsp garlic salt
	1 tsp Italian seasoning
	12 oz Boca Meatless Ground Crumbles

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Add stuffing mix, boca crumbles, veggies and cheese. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over ingredients in the pan. Cook uncovered for 50 minutes. Let sit a few minutes before serving. Note: you can add other veggies to this dish, whatever you have on hand!
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