People often wonder what we ate as a 100% vegan family and how our 2 year-old enjoys his veggies so much. Here’s a short walk through our philosophy and approach to cultivating a balanced diet and positive relationship with food for our family.
Our Plant-Based Eating Philosophy:
We lead by example. Practice what we teach. If he sees us enjoying certain foods, that’ll inspire him.
“No, thank you” bite. Whenever we introduce any food we encourage one bite to decide if it’s good and after, if it’s not, he can say, “no, thank you”. We keep introducing that food cooked differently over a few weeks to see if he just prefers broccoli steamed over sautéed, for example.
Plants only. When plants are the only option, the palette develops towards preferring those flavors.
Menu with Vegetarian Recipe Ideas for Toddlers:
Breakfast Recipe:
Oatmeal with Seed Mix and Nut Butter
Thought: nut butters bring a consistently satisfying flavor to oatmeal, the seeds are high in protein and fiber without creating a strange texture or flavor, oatmeal in general is just an affordable staple that takes less than 10 minutes to make.
Lunch Recipes:
Chickpea Salad with Crackers and Seasonal Fruit
Thought: this is a play on chicken salad but with chickpeas, our son loves making this with us because of all the mashing. We can use crackers to make tiny sandwiches or to scoop the salad like a dip. Fruit is always fun to try in different shapes and colors to expose kids to variety.
Dinner Recipe:
Roasted Veggies and Protein of Choice and Grains
Thought: We typically roast veggies and seasoned tofu on a sheet pan all at once while rice cooks on the stove. It’s a market-fresh dinner that requires little attention while it cooks. We serve a veggie dressing on the side for him to use as a dipping sauce opposed to just ketchup. We can mix up the veggies roasted each time to see what they like and dislike.
Dessert Recipe:
Tofu Chocolate Pudding
Thought: a fun, high protein treat!
Even More Recipes from CharlottesvilleFamily:
Pippin Hill PIzza, Pasta Primavera, Hearty Soups, Harry Potter Recipes, Stuffed Peppers, Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Berry Shortcake.
Note: As with any nutritional advice, make sure to talk to your trusted physician and pediatrician about your family’s specific nutritional needs.
About Carrington….
I was born with a passion for food. I committed to a completely vegan lifestyle when I was 20, while at UVA. After having my son, it was clear to me that I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t miss out on special occasion baked goods due to food allergies and being vegan. So even though I’m more of a savory chef, I taught myself how to make vegan desserts. I want to remain as a full time stay at home mother and I figured out that being a cottage baker allows me to do so and contribute financially to our household. Given that there’s no vegan bakery in central Virginia, I wanted to bring that option as well!
About Carrington’s Chanterelle Cafe…
Chanterelle Cafe offers a variety of classic & custom, vegan & allergy friendly baked goods to the community. You can purchase a baked good directly, at pop ups, farmers markets & special events. Everything from birthday cakes to croissants are available to the community.