what to give

[Leonie]

I just want some suggestions on what to do about my children’s diets, I know that there have been many threads on this already, but my situation is a bit different because I live in The Netherlands and I can’t get all these amazing food items/supplements that you can get in America.
It’s a bit hard being a vegan here.

But I would like to bring down the soya intake of my daughter, only I can’t find an organic rice or almond milk with added calcium here, the laws are strict over here, you’re not allowed to add certain vitamins to organic drinks, and I only want to give her the organic ones.
Almost everything is made from soy here, the cheeses and also all the desserts are made with soy, even all the vegan meat substitutes all have soy in them, I really can’t find ones made from something else.
So I was thinking of replacing the glass of soya milk she gets a day, and leaving the cheese, but does somebody have an idea for a dessert made without soy?

So I am a bit puzzled as to how she will get her calcium and if it will leave her enough protein? She doesn’t have a diet that is that varied, we don’t have fake meat slices or other fancy stuff for sandwiches and she doesn’t drink or eat anything with added vitamins or calcium.
So will a multi vitamin be sufficient for her calcium intake?

And should I give my 10 month old son extra vit. B12 already, or does he get enough from my breastmilk, (3 feeds a day) and what about calcium, does he also get enough from just my breastmilk? I use rice milk to make his porridge, but that again doesn’t have added calcium or vit. B12, his porridge and cereal do have almonds, raisins and sesame seeds, I think they are good for calcium, right?

Who can give me some tips for a daily menu so that my children get all her daily needs!

[feline01]

Is there anyway you could get a copy of the book, Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina? It covers veganism from a nutritional perspective and has valuable advice and suggestions for children.

[kjmckenzie]

Hi Leonie,

I believe that there are lots of recipes out there for making your own almond or sunflower seed milks. I'm sure if you look on the web you can find some. I can't get organic almond milk either and even if I could, it would cost a fortune. So I may look into making it as well.

I believe that your son will get enough B12 from your breastmilk if you get enough B12. My son only breastfed until he was a year old and I never gave him any supplements.

I believe that calcium is found in lots of dark green leafy vegetables and in nuts and beans and lentils among others. You don't have to drink anything fortified necessarily or take a supplement as long as your are eating lots of different foods with calcium.

Honestly, all those fake meat products aren't really that good for you anyway. It is much healthier to eat veggies, rice, beans, fruit and nuts etc. I almost wish we didn't have the temptation of all the fake products!

And eating organically means that your foods should have more nutrients in them.

Good luck!

[bazu]

Hi Leonie,

I find the information on the following website useful in terms of calcium needs for vegetarians.

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm

Some of the best veg. sources of calcium are almonds, figs, and kale. I believe many other dark leafy greens are valuable as well.

I agree that fake meats aren't that great anyway. And you are lucky being in Europe, where GMOs are illegal!

Good luck!

[Christa]

Can you get an icecream maker? We bought a Cuisinart one a few years back and I have used it to make coconut sorbet with coconut milk, agave nectar, vanilla and a pinch of guar gum. I got the recipe out of one of the Millenium restaurant cookbooks.

You could make lots of different sorbets using juice and fruit. Vegweb has some recipes for sorbet and most actually don't even require and icecream maker:
http://vegweb.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=b00b031569641edb514421b87dc654 7b&action=search2