Newbie Needing Advice
Posted by Mommy2Boys on Jan 24, 2008 · Member since Jan 2008 · 3 posts
Hi. I'm new here...obviously. My name is Andee, 32, married, mother of 2 boys.
I've always thought about becoming vegan. I've been a vegetarian most of my life. A couple of weeks ago, we found out that my youngest, 13 months old, is allergic to dairy & eggs. So, he is already completely vegan and it has given me that push I needed to go vegan myself. So, I'm making the transition to vegan and my kids will be be joining me on the ride! ;)b I am in SERIOUS need of some kid-friendly vegan recipes. My boys LOVE cheese so that is gonna be the biggest obstacle for them.
Any ideas or recipes would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!!
Welcome to vegweb! My children like cheese too. But, they love the vegan manicotti on this site, the vegan mac-n-cheeze, lentil soup, soy burgers, bean burritos /w rice. You can find soy cheeze (read the ingredients), Follow Your Heart is vegan. They like hummus, soy burgers, vegan chili, vegan lasagna, red beans and rice, some crazy broccoli, peanuts, and rice dish from this site. There are a lot of great recipes on here! My children love nutritional yeast, which is used in the manicotti and lasagna to give it a cheesy flavor. There were even loading it on their baked potatoes the other night. Good luck with your transition. ;)b
when I was younger I used to really like grilled bean sandwiches and something my family called "cheesy noodles" - a combo dish of noodles, cheese (you can use any "cheeze" sauce on this website), some garlic powder, and weiners (use soy dogs). I don't know, that was comfort food for me.
I've been meaning to try to make my own vegan cheese. maybe that could be an option for you?
good luck and congratulations!
Hey Mommy2, I replied to you on the Free For All too, but wasn't sure if you'd see it. Anyway, here's an old thread where tons of people gave suggestions for lunches and snacks. Most seem kid-friendly:
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=18262.0
Also, on the cheese thing, someone mentioned that their kids liked homemade cheese much better than gross Veganrella, so maybe you can try that too. I can't find the link where people gave tips about keeping it in the fridge and someone posted a picture - does anyone else have it? Capture maybe?
A word of advice on quitting cheese though, most folks around here agree that it's best to go without cheese all together for about 3 weeks, and then eat a cheese substitute so you'll trick your taste buds into thinking it tastes okay :-D
I second the grilled bean sandwiches idea. They are delicious! Just make them like you would a grilled cheese, but instead of the cheese, use refried beans. I think kids would really like them.
Also, pastas are always a good fall back meal. I think all dried pastas (except egg noodles, of course) are vegan. You can make a "parmesan" cheese, too, to top a marinara sauce. Here's a recipe from Vegan Society:
Parmesan Cheese
1 oz (25g) nutritional yeast flakes
½ oz (12½g) blanched almonds
1 tsp salt (seems like a lot, I'd use less)
1. Grind all ingredients in coffee grinder or food processor until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Use as parmesan cheese. Can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
You could probably add a bit of garlic powder, too, if you're a garlic freak like me ;D You could also use this to make a vegan pesto, also. Mmm...pesto!
Andee, welcome to vegweb! Here's a great uncheese sauce mix that I think you and your boys will enjoy. It works well on pasta, mexican-style dishes, veggies, etc. It's a bit hit around here.
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7126.0
This website has a lot of useful recipes for kids, but Jennifer McCann writes a vegan blog almost exclusively directed at kids. It's called Vegan Lunch Box. You should check it out.
I just want to say that I think the nutritional yeast cheese sauce is great and I'm sure that kids would love it!
I have been allergic to dairy and eggs all my life so I could give you some good recipes for birthday cakes and kid things. My mom passed them down to me. ;)