child friendly cookbooks

November 25, 2003

i have been trying to find a good child (toddler) friendly vegan

cookbook, most of the ones i find are very complex or too simple and not

things i think my toddler would like. i want fairly quick but tasty meals.

she is vegan and avoiding nuts right now (for another 6 months or so

then we will begin introducing them) and has a sensitivity to onions

(which i usually just leave out). she is really into the dipping stage

but i can't find a good healthy dip for her.

one of her favorites is tofu nuggets, but i can't make those every

night, she also loves soups.

if anyone knows of a book that can help i would appreciate it

tara

November 25, 2003

How about a sweet dip for fruit slices?

I used to do this for my kids sometimes. I just make a silken tofu sour

cream, but I add succinat to it or natural brown sugar. If you can find a

natural brown sugar, it makes it sorta taste like caramel.

Dip pears, apples, orange slices, berries, banana slices, etc.

I also found, oddly enough, that about any raw veggie and/or salad

combination would go right in and right down if it had ranch dressing on

it. I used to make my own ranch with mayo, but I switched to silken tofu

with the dietary shift to vegan/vegetarian. You can try vegweb.com for a

recipe or even adapt one from allrecipes.com. My toddlers would eat their

greens with ranch covered fingers, but the spinach got eaten.

Tofu also has some protein! :-)

I would also make carrot curls or shreds, cut zucchini slices in a fun way

and peel and score the outside of a cucumber, slice it thin and then slit a

slice, and open it out into a pretty stand up thing.

Don't forget toast " soldiers " . I have used Marmite and Vegemite thin on

whole wheat toast, cut into strips for Marmite soldiers. If she can

tolerate a bit of peanut butter or perhaps Earth Balance if not, try

that. Vegan children have a need for fat because their diets are so low in

fat and they need the calories for energy and growth. Or even some just

fruit jam on your toast fingers.

You are very smart NOT to get caught up in the endless round of starches

that kids seem to live on nowadays. You know, the crackers, cookies,

biscuits, cheerios, pretzels of this world that DO NOT feed growing little

brains. You will find that if you can teach a kid early to eat good foods

like these I have mentioned, and your child will be better able to learn

and settle into school. It is a fact, I promise. Keep up the good work.

dragonfly

November 25, 2003

Hi!

This is a big dilemma in our house as well. I have found Whole Foods for the Whole Family is a good resource for snack crackers/finger foods and sweets that are actually pretty good for our little ones! As far as meals go... I make pita bread and set out ingredients for my 3 yo to make her own pizza. I do pasta in lots of different ways, usually no sauce though-steamed veggies, vegan parmesan, etc. She's not big on sauce. Mine also likes salads with vegan dressings. We eat vegan burgers or I make a tofu loaf . Sometimes we have pancakes, tofu scramble and vegan sausage for a treat. We're big peanut butter eaters... if that's what she wants for dinner and I want something she won't eat, she gets the pb. :-) Along with fruit and carrot sticks of course. I use silken tofu to make dips- a greek tzatziki type dip or I mix it with vegan veg. soup mix. Tofutti cream cheese is great with some maple syrup and nutmeg for fruit dipping. We do smoothies and I just bought a juicer for making fresh apple-carrot-ginger juice. I find recipes online all the time for my "notebook" and we try those out. PETA also has a kid's recipe book list. Hope this helps!

Amissa

>i have been trying to find a good child (toddler) friendly vegan

>cookbook, most of the ones i find are very complex or too simple and not >things i think my toddler would like. i want fairly quick but tasty meals. >she is vegan and avoiding nuts right now (for another 6 months or so >then we will begin introducing them) and has a sensitivity to onions >(which i usually just leave out). she is really into the dipping stage >but i can't find a good healthy dip for her. >one of her favorites is tofu nuggets, but i can't make those every >night, she also loves soups. >

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