Need help with vegan food ideas!

[elismom]

We found out at 8 months old that my DS is severly allergic to dairy and now at 17 months he is still the same.

I am running out of food ideas for him. Does anyone have any good (easy) recipes they would care to share? My hubby and I are not vegan so I'm kinda lost on what to make. We are however vegetarian but a lot of the recipes that I have been able to find call for some sort of dairy.

Thanks in advance for your help :)

[feline01]

Check out Veg Web (www.vegweb.com) for great ideas on dairy-free meals for your son. There is a special section for kid-friendly recipes. Road's End Organics (http://www.chreese.com/) makes dairy-free macaroni and cheeze mixes that are very easy, quick and kid-friendly. My kids drink rice milk and I use rice or almond milk to make them smoothies, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, and other recipes that one would use cow milk. Some great non-dairy sources of calcium are kale, broccoli, sesame seeds (kids love tahini which is sesame seed paste), nuts and non-dairy beverages.

[mamaoftofuboy]

avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, rice/almond milk, olives, almond butter, sunflower butter, pasta with flax oil, smoothies with cut up kale almond butter and fruit and flax oil. Brown rice with avocado or oil. Beans!

Is he eating "real" meals? At 17 months my son was merely grazing and so I am offering more snacky things. We are all vegan here and we love the cookbooks Vive LA Vegan, The Medeteranian vegetarian cookbook, and other's.

[PikkuMyy]

Good question.

I was allergic to milk most of my life, along with a host of other allergies, and mostly my parents ate what I could eat.

Is he eating "real" meals? At 17 months my son was merely grazing and so I am offering more snacky things. We are all vegan here and we love the cookbooks Vive LA Vegan, The Medeteranian vegetarian cookbook, and other's.

This is a very important question. Would he eat "real" recipes or does he want more separated items? I highly recommend Vegan Family Favorites, which is geared towards children (and tested by them!)

[annie7]

Also, Sarah Kramer's books are awesome. Garden of Vegan, How it all Vegan, & La Dolce Vegan. There are some really fun kid friendly things in them, too. Check your local library and if they don't have any of all our suggestions, request them. They can either get them from another library to borrow (ILL service) or they'll buy them (that's what library funding is for). Good luck!

[ahallit]

When my daughter was diagnosed with her dairy allergy, I decided that it was best for me to give up all of the foods that she can not have, (which is what lead me to becoming a vegan).

I have used a lot of soy yogurt and milk, when a recipe calls for any dairy you can usually find an alternative that is vegan.
You can do pastas with olive oil and beans, with some vegetables.

Nut butter and jelly sandwiches, oatmeal with fruit.

You can try any vegetarian cook book and they will help you out!!

Good Luck.

[celtic-womble]

My little man (two today!) loves hummus with crackers, sauteed or baked tofu, over cooked veggies (he's not big on crunchies), any kind of carbohydrate (bread, bagel, pasta), vegan grilled cheeses or quesdillas among other stuff. Mostly he eats what we eat (DH and I are both vegan) because he's a very adventurous eater. Try diffirent things, you never know what they're going to like. So many books say toddlers don't like strong flavors but my little guy loves dishes like tofu triangles with sweet chili sauce, chana masala (chickpea curry), and strong garlic flavors like garlic bread or ravioli (soy boy tofu filled ravioli, frozen section) tossed with a little olive oil and couple of crushed cloves.

[liansmom]

I am going to hijack rather than start another thread about toddler eating habits.

My husband and I adopted a little girl from China in May and she seems to be waking up in the middle of the night hungry. She eats alot during the day which isn't uncommon, but I don't know what to give her before bed that will fill her up through the night. I posted something on the adoption boards, but everyone says milk, cheese dairy, meat, even though I said she doesn't eat these things. I am a strict veggie and husband is an omni so when animal products are around she refuses them.

Here's an example that I posted from the other day, though she doesn't eat like this everyday. Yesterday she ate almost 1/2 a can of chickpeas for lunch.

1 large serving of rice cereal
2 large apple
3 mashed potatoes with some winter squash mixed in
4 two servings of congee with broccoli, one small as a midmorning snack and the other a lg before bed snack
5 alot of pretzels
6 a peppermint luna bar
7 pita chips
8 plus after bedtime snack she is walking around with two baby carrots
9 she helped me eat two blueberry muffins

Thanks for your help!

Christine

ETA: She is 19 mths old

[Shanelalexa]

:) Hello there, My son who is 2 years old and my entire family drinks Hemp Milk by Living Harvest (plus it has the essential fats Omegas that reg milk does not), Almond Milk by Blue Diamond and Soy Milk by Silk. Follow my heart cheese is really good and so is Rice brand.

Nowadays it's really easy to find these diary substitutes and to cook with them. My son too was allergic to diary, when he was younger. Lucky my son's pediatrician supports our vegan lifestyle and we're all healthier now.

VegFamily.com has great recipes and we're all here to help. Viva La Vegan & Vegan Family Favorites cookbooks are both great too!

Hang in there.

[veganloraine]

we also mix it up by drinking almond, soy and brown rice milks! i haven't tried hemp milk yet only because it is sooo expensive and pretty hard to find. we drink the silk milk fortified with omegas. i almost bought omega 3 orange juice only to read the ingredients to find fish oil. it really annoys me when they take a perfectly wonderful happy, vegan item and make it mean. grrr... haha.

[liansmom]

i almost bought omega 3 orange juice only to read the ingredients to find fish oil. it really annoys me when they take a perfectly wonderful happy, vegan item and make it mean. grrr... haha.

Wow! I would've never thought to look at the label for oj. I guess I'll steer clear of that one.

Thanks!

[VegParent]

...I don't know what to give her before bed that will fill her up through the night.
ETA: She is 19 mths old

I'd suggest a spoonful of nutbutter for a filling before bed snack. Maybe give her some banana to go with it. This seems to do the trick nicely for our little ones. Our son is sensitive to nuts, but I just discovered soy nutbutter. It's really yummy and creamy and good, too. A glass of soymilk and a couple FigNewmans is also filling and enjoyable. Dried fruit and seeds would work, too.

For the original poster, I'd suggest checking out my favorite vegan recipe site: the Post Punk Kitchen http://www.theppk.com/recipes/. Love, love, love their stroganoff recipe and several others.

Amber

[vegan_fae]

to liansmom:

Have you tried oatmeal before bed? That always keeps me full late into the day. Other really filling dishes are things with beans and rice, or potatoes. I make a dish with tofu, potatoes, and kale (sauteed/steamed) that is incredibly filling and healthy.

Maybe simply try making dinnertime closer to bedtime?