Raising your kids VEGAN
Raising Your Kids Vegan
It makes me sad that many parents feel they have to hide or disguise their veggies within other foods to get their kids to eat them.
Being foodies and vegan, nutrition is an important part of our parenting. Since Jayden (our first son) was an infant, he has been allowed to play with food. He held string beans and broccoli, as often as other kids carried rattles and although he also carried rattles, he loved the veggies, gnawing on them and playing with them.
Our kids’ baby food was always and still is steamed by us and blended by us. We do this for two main reasons:
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We know what is in the food. It is a whole food with whole flavor.
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We know that it is fresh with no chemicals added.
Our vegan kids experience delicious, whole foods. We introduced rice cereal early with our first child but not with our second. We decided to stick to fruits and vegetables because we want foods that are packed with nutrients to serve our children.
Heading: Raising Our Kids Vegan
As our Jayden got older, he was given a taste on his plate of everything we ate: Spicy, green, red, yellow... it didn’t matter. We talked to him about the food and he tried it. We talked about the experience that he had. If he didn’t like something he did not have to eat it. But he tried everything.
When he got even a little older, he’d pull up a chair to the counter and cook with Daddy or Mommy. He’d use a plastic cake knife to chop steamed veggies. The more involved your children are with the food, the more they will eat the food.
Lastly, we always include salad on his plate. Honestly, when we first introduced greens to Jayden like lettuce and kale, he wasn’t that into it. But we didn’t give up. It would still go on his plate. We start with salad and now he eats his salad and even on a day that he is not feeling like it, he always has at least a few bites!
Everything he eats is a vegetable, fruit or grain.
There are many great resources out there for raising your kids vegan. We read books about being vegan and we talk about why we are vegan in simple terms. His favorite book is ________
On birthdays, Jayden always gets a vegan sweet treat. (Our youngest is still too young). So he is never left feeling deprived.
Do you think vegan kids are lacking anything? What do you do in your household?
From our family to yours,
The Sanctuary Bistro Family
Have you heard we are opening Sanctuary Bistro late Fall 2013? Please visit our Kickstarter Campaign page and consider sharing (the share buttons are right under the video) and/or backing. Every dollar and every share helps. Please check it out here. We have great rewards such as dinners, tastings, classes, and even a vegan wedding reception!
We need help please! We are over 30 percent funded on our Kickstarter Campaign for Sanctuary, a new plant-based bistro to open this Fall in East Bay. Please check it out and consider backing and sharing with your friends. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/473325024/sanctuary-bistro-a-plant-based-bistro-in-the-eastThank you!