vegan family

March 14, 2001

My husband went veggie when he met me in 1996. He was very open to the

idea, especially the idea of simplifying his impact on the earth, and

improving his health, but had never actually become close to any vegetarians

or gotten involved. I helped him along by saying once that I wouldn't kiss

him because he tasted like chicken. Well, he liked kissing me so much, he

gave it up! Sounds corny but I think he just needed some added incentive,

and I'd already been vegetarian for about 8 years at that point, so I was a

good guide, and obviously healthy. In 1998 we went vegan together, and now

we have a 1-year-old son who is also a bright, happy and healthy vegan. My

husband was always very adventurous with food. He will eat anything except

raw celery. Before he met me, he says it just never occurred to him that

there would be so much food left to experience when he cut out meat, eggs,

and dairy. It's a whole new world and he loves it. There is one exception:

he likes to go fishing, and if he catches a fish (rarely), he would rather

eat it than throw it back. It's been a source of contention for us but I've

come to accept it because he has a very deep attachment to fishing, going

back to treasured childhood fishing trips with his grandfather.

In a message dated 2/27/2001 9:16:28 AM Pacific Standard Time,

sprepejchal writes:

> Just out of curiosity, am I the only one here whose husband is also

> vegetarian? OK, ok, so my home life is harmonious...it's just the rest

> of the culture we're at odds with! Susan

March 23, 2001

Susan - I just recently joined the list. You were

asking if you were the only vegetarian with a husband

who was also vegetarian. No, you're not. When I met

my husband in 1999, he had been vegan for 3 years. He

actually converted me, first to a vegetarian and then

to a vegan. And we don't eat things with processed

sugars or other chemicals we don't know in them. And

right now, I'm pregnant and wondering how I'm going to

feed my baby when it's here. What do you suggest?

My husband is a musician and I work for the

government. So, it's not like I can stay home. But,

I do plan on breast feeding as long as I can stand it.

I don't know what I'm going to do afer that. The

daycare that I take my other child, who's six, to

isn't vegetarian and she's regulated by the State. I

cannot take him out of that daycare because we share

the six year old with his father and stepmother, who

incidentally, aren't vegetarian. My child has been

pretty good about eating when he's at our house but

when there's a little brother or sister around...

we'll see.

I joined the list to see if there were any people out

there who had small children and to see if there was

advise on what to feed them and how to do it quickly

and easily. I read and taken down a few book titles.

But that's about it. What do you feed your youngster?

- Kelly in Calif.

--- Karen McCollough <kkmc wrote:

> My husband went veggie when he met me in 1996. He

> was very open to the

> idea, especially the idea of simplifying his impact

> on the earth, and

> improving his health, but had never actually become

> close to any vegetarians

> or gotten involved. I helped him along by saying

> once that I wouldn't kiss

> him because he tasted like chicken. Well, he liked

> kissing me so much, he

> gave it up! Sounds corny but I think he just needed

> some added incentive,

> and I'd already been vegetarian for about 8 years at

> that point, so I was a

> good guide, and obviously healthy. In 1998 we went

> vegan together, and now

> we have a 1-year-old son who is also a bright, happy

> and healthy vegan. My

> husband was always very adventurous with food. He

> will eat anything except

> raw celery. Before he met me, he says it just never

> occurred to him that

> there would be so much food left to experience when

> he cut out meat, eggs,

> and dairy. It's a whole new world and he loves it.

> There is one exception:

> he likes to go fishing, and if he catches a fish

> (rarely), he would rather

> eat it than throw it back. It's been a source of

> contention for us but I've

> come to accept it because he has a very deep

> attachment to fishing, going

> back to treasured childhood fishing trips with his

> grandfather.

>

> In a message dated 2/27/2001 9:16:28 AM Pacific

> Standard Time,

> sprepejchal writes:

>

> > Just out of curiosity, am I the only one here

> whose husband is also

> > vegetarian? OK, ok, so my home life is

> harmonious...it's just the rest

> > of the culture we're at odds with! Susan

>

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March 26, 2001

Kelly,

I think a lot of us here have small vegetarian children! For really

fast, simple meals, my kids have always liked things like fruit pieces,

tofu cubes with a little tamari on them, whole grain breads of various

kinds, sometimes pasta with a little olive oil on it, baby carrots,

juice, peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches and fortified soymilk, etc...

If you were to pack a lunch for your children would the daycare provider

feed that to them, or would your older son feel too " different " ? If she

serves hotdogs, etc, there are lots of vegan versions available so your

son could feel like he's fitting in.

Let's see...you are really wondering about baby foods, though, aren't

you? I fed mine a lot of fruit purees and tofu-based spreads or hummus

on whole grain breads when they were a bit older. Mine didn't eat a lot

of " real food " until they were well past 6 months.

You might also look at the vegsource.com parenting and breastfeeding

boards, also the recipe board! Good luck! Susan

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March 26, 2001

Kelly,

Oh, my son is 8, about the same age as your kids. Glad you liked the

ideas. My kids like Edensoy Extra vanilla, which is what I started

giving them at one year or so. So of course they got used to it from the

start. BUT, there is a tasty chocolate soymilk, SoyDream chocolate

enriched, which actually has more calcium than the Edensoy, although more

sugar, of course. My kids don't care for it, but my husband and I love

it!

I remember at first my son wasn't a big soymilk drinker, so I gave him

calcium fortified orange juice--another idea. He was, however, still

nursing at the time. When he finally weaned, soymilk became his favorite

rather suddenly.

Also thought of another idea my daughter loves-peas and pasta. Cook

little pasta shells and fry some green peas and a tiny amount of ground

up walnuts in some olive oil and salt. Mix them up and serve hot or

cold. Pretty simple, but kind of nice. Susan

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March 26, 2001

Susan,

I think this post was addressed to the other Kelly, but I just wanted to say

thank you for these suggestions. We are currently (slowly) switching to a

vegetarian diet, (me, hubby, 8 yo daughter and 7yo son) and I appreciate the

suggestions for the kids. It's going pretty well, but the kids are not

adjusting to the soy or rice milk very good.

Thanks again,

Kelly in IN

-

Susan M. Prepejchal

Monday, March 26, 2001 8:37 AM

Re: vegan family