What did your Vegan Child/ren Eat Today?

[ConsciousCuisine]

Blake: age 12 (all organic, homemade and vegan)

upon arising:

8 oz. distilled water

morning meal:

1 serving oatmeal with 1T. ground flax, 1 T. wheatgerm, 1 tsp. coconut oil, 1 T. chopped walnuts, 1/2 serving soy yoghurt and 1/3 c. dried mango

1 serving orange juice


to School:

16 oz. distilled water, which is refilled once during the School day

2 slices sprouted sesame bread, tempeh salad made with tempeh and 1 tsp. each Nutritional Yeast, capers, green onion, Veganaise and dijon mustard

1 C. raw carrots and baby tomatoes


after school:

8 oz. distilled water then, 30 minutes later:

sprouted english muffin with coconut oil

2 servings steamed broccoli with lemon, flax oil and nutritional yeast

8oz. B-12/ Calcium Fortified Rice Milk and 1 sublingual 500 mcg B-12 dot, 2 "Prescription 2000" Vegan Bone Support Vitamins (vitamin D, K, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Silica), 1 Selenium tablet and 1 chewable Zinc/C tablet

evening meal:

1 serving red rice and pinto beans

1 serving each: steamed collard greens, broccoli, garlic, nutritional yeast and coconut oil

8oz. B-12/ Calcium Fortified Rice Milk


pineapple upside down cake made with rice flour, fruit juice and coconut milk :D

Before Bed:

8oz. B-12/ Calcium Fortified Rice Milk

8 oz. distilled water

[feline01]

Tried to feed the kids scrambled tofu and sauteed dandelion greens with rice milk, nutritional yeast and flaxseed meal. Ben had 2 teaspoons then kept shaking his head. Sarah had about 5 teaspoons before she decided no way. Oh well, new food.

[Realfood Mary]

Séamus is still enjoying his sushi fetish. This is the first time I made sushi with sushi rice, rather than ordinary rice stuck together with tahini. It didn't seem quite as nice to me, but then I suppose I am used to what I am used to.

We had baby sweetcorn, slices of avocado, and pickled ginger in the sushi.

Séamus also ate porridge for breakfast, over the course of a day most of a punnet of strawberries, two glasses of fortified rice milk, one cup of orange juice, one can of pop, smashed potatoes with beans and vegan sausages, brown bread with mashed avocado, mixed leafy salad (including water cress and rocket) and tahini instead of margarine, with marmite, and cherry tomatoes. He bought himself a vegan samosa from the shop around the corner, and finished off with a smoothy before he went to bed.

You know, he eats quite a lot for a small person! Some of it really good, and some of it "junk" (vegan sausages and mash passes as junk in this house.) But he does just keep on putting his food away, and coming back for more. He is going through a bit of a growing spurt these days. He needs a new pair of shoes which I will get him at the festival next week. I think he will be size three by now!

Mary

[feline01]

We have the opposite, the kids don't seem to really want to eat. They fight us alot and sometimes a meal can take over 2 hours.

Maybe it's just my cooking. *sigh*

[bittersweet]

We have the opposite, the kids don't seem to really want to eat. They fight us alot and sometimes a meal can take over 2 hours.

Maybe it's just my cooking. *sigh*

I doubt it - children are just like that sometimes - usually when you've put the most effort in. But as all the best childrearing books say - keep presenting the food - they won't starve themselves (although if they get on a three or four day run of not eating, mums get a bit panicky!).

I suppose many raw fooders would say that's just a natural thing to sometimes not want to eat - voluntary fasting seems to be part of the general "programme" for many of them - also, are they still having "feeds"? (I remember you posting about soya formula at one stage)? - that could be filling them up if so, if they're just not very hungry.

At any rate, this is a long post just to say - from what you've posted in this thread, I don't believe it's your cooking!

[puffin]

We have the opposite, the kids don't seem to really want to eat. They fight us alot and sometimes a meal can take over 2 hours.

Maybe it's just my cooking. *sigh*
I had the same problem with my eldest child, he would hardly eat at all. He would just sit in his highchair and scream :confused: He still isnt a big eater a 7 but my 17 month eats everything :)

[feline01]

Yesterday was a good day for the kids (and hence, their parents):

Breakfast: organic oatmeal with organic blueberries and organic rice milk with a little organic soy formula (they are almost completely off the soy formula)

Lunch: organic brown rice, organic red lentils, organic peas with nutritional yeast and Udo's oil mixed in and organic rice milk

Dinner: whole wheat spaghetti w/ marinara, 1/2 slice each of ezekiel bread (though nearly 3/4 of each 1/2 ended up on the floor, their butts, the seats etc.), 1/2 jar of organic peaches w/ oatmeal and organic rice formula

They drank spring water at the pool during the afternoon.

[Lilith]

Quote ER "All you mothers are doing a fine job! Practically nothing erks me more than vegan parents who choose to raise their children on non-vegan diets, foolishly thinking they cannot obtain adequet nutrition that way. "

I don't have kids nor do I intend to for the next 6 years or so at least! But just thinking ahead:
1)WHat if your partner is not vegan and does not agree with feeding their offspring on a vegan diet? And don't say 'find a vegan partner', because it's ridiculous to leave someone you love just because they are not vegan.

2) People have said to me 'it's not fair to impose a vegan diet on your children...let them have a "normal" diet until they grow up and are old enough to choose.'
I am unsure as to what a 'normal' diet is......, and I think a meat-eating diet just another imposed way of eating that the child has no choice over.
So how do you compromise and feed them what's classified as a "normal" diet?? :confused:

[feline01]

Hi Lilith,

1) My only suggestion is to make sure you do your research. There is more and more research out there about the benefits of a well-balanced vegan diet for children. If you do have a non-vegan partner, I wouldn't really bother with the moral implications as much as the health implications of a non-vegan diet. Focus on issues like antibiotic resistance/bovine growth hormones in meat and dairy, the link between obesity/diabetes/heart disease and dairy etc.. My husband wasn't even vegetarian when we met while I was ovo-lacto veg and he said now that even if he wasn't vegan (which he's been for nearly 3 years), he would have wanted the kids to be vegan because of finding out all the health issues.

2) I don't give a shit what people say about how I raise my kids however, you're right. Feeding them meat is imposing the parents value on the child. I get that comment occasionally and my response is to describe what my children eat and ask people where the kids are deficient. People always say, "what about protein and calcium?" I then ask how much should a child their age be receiving. No one ever knows. Regarding the "normal" diet, in the US, that's usually fast food and overly-processed foods. I love my children too much to even consider that as food for them. That's what I tell people and some people do get upset with that (because they feed that crap to their kids) but tough.

[Lilith]

I will try and show/tell him the health problems, and yes your right, the more research I do the more 'evidence' I'll have perhaps....
Even though he's adament that he 'doesn't give a crap what he eats...if it tastes good it's ok' :( hmph.
However he's given me a loop-hole there ....I cook vegan meals that taste good, and he does eat them. It just concerns me when I see him later tucking into a can of 'fullmonty' beans, (reconstituted sausages, kidneys and other stuff...it looks disgusting even to my other meat-eating friends!).
The only way round this is for me to warn my parents of all the health implications as they do the food shopping (i'd do it if I wasn't in full-time education with no money!)....I'm *very slowly* getting through to them.

I also don't want to be landed with cooking for my boyfriend (husband by then tho that's still a scary word :p ) and kids for the rest of my life because if I don't they'll continue to eat crap!

I guess I worry too much and too far into the future.
I think by then I'll be stronger than I am now and will have been vegan for much longer, meaning I'll stop caring completely how others view me. :cool:

[feline01]

The kids had tempeh for the first time this weekend, Sarah really liked it while Ben slowly ate it (which is unusual for them). They also had their first tahini roll-up, whole wheat tortilla spread with tahini then cut. Same situation, Sarah enjoyed it more then Ben. Ben decided to see how it would look as a covering for our carpeting while Sarah ate hers. They also played smash the peas while eating them and Ben ate his banana slices while Sarah took hers and smushed them under her table. At least they're slowly eating more finger foods.

[Peas'nHominy]

My 3-yr-old (and his dad) like the Tofu Scramble, prepared normally then mixed into rice. It's like a cheesey rice casserole. :)

Probably my kids favorite vegetable is beets. They love anything that's red. :D

I'm frustrated trying to get my foster child (who is almost 7 and has never gotten use to eating veggies) to eat vegetables. So far, she'll only eat corn or baked 'french fries' (I just cut the potatoes like fries or curly fries and bake with a touch of veg. oil, then add a little salt).

She will eat raw carrots if served with Ranch dressing (bleck!) -- is there a way to make a vegan ranch dressing?

She will eat green beans if fixed southern style (cooked with bacon or ham for seasoning...double bleck!). Is there a way to do this without actually using meat?

[Realfood Mary]

Hey, congratulations on fostering a child!!! I would never be allowed to foster or adopt, though I can breed with impunity (she says with her brood of one!) so you must be the perfect mum to get past the red tape. :D I am seriously glad that you are helping a child in need. Well done.

A friend of mine is a social worker (now don't go jumping to any conclusions) and if you let me know how long you have been fostering, how long you hope to foster for, etc, then we might be able to work things out for you. Like recipes etc.

Unfortunately I have been vegan nearly ten years, and my son was raised vegan all his life, so I am not the best person to ask on this one. I would say use bacon substitutes - but then I don't know what these are like in America. In Britian they are so like dead pigs that I cannot eat them... At least they don't have that distinctive smell of urine...

But if that is what your adoptive child wants, let us know! There are plenty of recipes out there.

And again, well done on looking after your family! Weren't your own wee ones enough for ye? You must be mad!

[Peas'nHominy]

A friend of mine is a social worker (now don't go jumping to any conclusions) and if you let me know how long you have been fostering, how long you hope to foster for, etc, then we might be able to work things out for you. Like recipes etc.

I've been fostering for a couple of years now. I plan to continue as long as I am able. When a child first comes to me, I spend about a week discovering how the child was eating, then I help the child to steadily learn about nutrition and develop better habits.


Unfortunately I have been vegan nearly ten years, and my son was raised vegan all his life, so I am not the best person to ask on this one. I would say use bacon substitutes - but then I don't know what these are like in America. In Britian they are so like dead pigs that I cannot eat them... At least they don't have that distinctive smell of urine...
The bacon substitutes I've tried out thus far are not good. I think I'll try just using vegetable oil and salt for cooking the veggies, and see if that works...unless I can figure out something else.


But if that is what your adoptive child wants, let us know! There are plenty of recipes out there.
I'll start posting questions in the recipe section for now on so I don't mess with this thread too much. Meet me there? :)


And again, well done on looking after your family! Weren't your own wee ones enough for ye? You must be mad!
HAHAHAHA!!! Yes, I'm part crazy. I'm goo-goo over kids. :D Also, it breaks my heart that there are thousands of children who are neglected, abused (etc.) and are in such need of proper care and love. CPS (especially the doctors!) drives me NUTS, but it's not the kids' fault...so I just take a deep breath to keep jumping through hoops and all the red tape, and know the goal is what I really want -- to help these kids.

And this thread is really helpful!! I'm wishing I had studied to be a vegan chef ... :D

[Tigerlily]

Peas, maybe try to make veggies interesting?

Vegetables just plopped on a plate can be boring, especially if you aren't used to it.

Maybe try to get the child involved in making their own meals (stir fries, salads)? And maybe try to present them in fun ways or use colorful varieties (red peppers instead of green peppers). Instead of trying to veganize old favourites, why not try to encourage new favourites?

[feline01]

She will eat raw carrots if served with Ranch dressing (bleck!) -- is there a way to make a vegan ranch dressing?

She will eat green beans if fixed southern style (cooked with bacon or ham for seasoning...double bleck!). Is there a way to do this without actually using meat?
Here are some various vegan ranch recipes. (http://vegweb.com/recipes/misc/index-misc-dressing-ranch.shtml) .

Try getting some vegan bacon bits, even some of the ones sold commercially are vegan though I'm not sure which ones. You can make the green beans and sprinkle some on. Or sautee some vegan bacon and add to the green beans.

[Wildflower]

Bacos are vegan, but they have partially hrdrogenated oils in them. I was actually suprised how much canned green beans taste like the ones my dad used to make "southern style." Just from the tinned taste and the added salt.

I would suggest using canned and maybe adding some liquid smoke flavoring. That should do it. I am not sure of the nutritional content of canned verses blanched fresh green beans. The fresh/fresh frozen taste totally different. Maybe adding some liquid smoke to them would help a bit. Also, Smart Bacon tastes great to me - gets very soggy when cooked though.

[Yoggy]

CC and feline, why don't you post what your children eat anymore? I really enjoyed reading this thread!

[ConsciousCuisine]

CC and feline, why don't you post what your children eat anymore? I really enjoyed reading this thread!

You know, I am glad you revived this thread! I will post about Blake's day tomorrow or maybe later tonight ;)

[ConsciousCuisine]

Blake: age 12

8 oz. distilled water

1 serving oatmeal with 1T. ground flax, 1 T. wheatgerm, 1 tsp. coconut oil, 1 T. chopped walnuts and 1/3 c. dried cranberries, strawberries and blueberries cooked with calcium/B-12 fortified rice milk

1 serving calcium-fortified orange juice

6 oz. distilled water

1 C. pineapple

1 serving Spinach Soup (spinach, onion, tofu, white beans, nutmeg, garlic, nutritional yeast, veggie broth and white pepper, blended and heated)

10 oz. distilled water

1 serving Salad of mixed baby greens, chickpeas, shredded beets, carrots and sprouts dressed with lemon, flax oil and nutritional yeast

4 oz. distilled water

Sandwich on 2 pieces of whole-grain bread with roasted tomatoes, red bell peppers, zucchini, avocado and Basil Aioli with lettuce, sprouts, pickles and tomato slices

1 serving Broccoli with garlic, lemon juice, pickled and chopped jalapeno, kalamata olives, nutritional yeast and coconut oil

6 oz. sparkling water

Oven fries with olive oil, sea salt and pepper

Tapioca pudding (made with agave nectar, cinnamon and rice milk) :D

8oz. Silk Enhanced

8 oz. distilled water

[Tigerlily]

Blake is well fed!

[Mystic]

CC I am coming to San Diego - will you cook for me?

[Tigerlily]

CC, I'm moving with you.

[Tigerlily]

CC, did Blake stop eating????????????????

[ConsciousCuisine]

CC I am coming to San Diego - will you cook for me?


I am soooo sad I wasn't able to connect with you! I would have made you an exotic and decadent (healthy) meal! Please let me know if you ever come back to San Diego ;)