How to train meat and potato kids to a more plant based veg/organic diet?

[Lux Et Veritas Academy]

We are meat and potato lovers born and raised and we have done the same thing with my kids. Roast beef every Sunday, hamburgers and chicken with everything it seems like.

 

How have you successful switched to a more plant based/veggie/organic diet etc. without complete anarchy?

 

I am raising 4 kids 16, 13 , 10 and 7 who are not going to like the change!

 

I must mention that we are good about our grains. We grind wheat and make plenty of homemade breads.

[Peela]

So what vegetables do your kids already like, and how do they like them?

Do they eat a basic salad (such as even on a burger? ) You could start there..and extend it. Put a bit more salad on the burger. Put carrot sticks as a side on the plate as well. Make your own chips and leave the skin on, and oven bake them.

Make your own burgers...with less meat, more vegies.

Try making other types of burgers- chickpea, vegie, mushroom, tofu.

Do they eat fruit? Its always a good place to start. I made myself and ds15 ice cream the other evening (I was PMSing) from frozen banana, fresh dates, and lots of raw cacao powder. He asked for 2nds.

I fed my dd16's new boyfriend spagghetti bolognaise the other night and he was very surprised that there was no meat in it. It was Quorn (and tomato).

Give them raw vegies and dips while they watch TV.

Make desserts with fruit.

I would just slowly start introducing new foods while continuing the old ones. Enjoy it...be creative...and be prepared for some rejections...and some successes. Its very hard for me to please all 4 of us at every meal- if I can get 3/4 it is a good meal, and 2/4 is pretty normal. But I have a very fussy vegetarian dh as well, which doesnt help.

 

What most people lack is vegetables. My kids prefer their vegetables raw, so although I get tired of it sometimes, mostly I add salad to every plate of food. So if they are having pasta, I add salad. If I am making a bolognaise sauce, I add vegetables.

And they love fruit...so that's easy. We always have a full fruit bowl.

 

I have found that my kids really need their protein and ds really craves it- so I need to keep up the meat..and just add more veg. We still only eat meat 3 times a week or so, but they really want it. The times they rebel against what I make is often when we havent had enough meat for them...but we are at the other end and tend much more towards vegetarianism, although my son reckons thats a pretty lame way to eat. Yet if he eats too much meat now, he feels awful too...so its all a case of what you are used to.

[Chris in VA]

I agree with adding more salads, if they like them. I have taken away some of the white starches from our meals and added in veggies. I grew up with meat/starch/veg on the plate every night--so the other night, I fixed a meatloaf and salad for dinner. No potatoes meant a little lighter meal, and everyone had a double portion of salad. I'm still tinkering, but we are getting there.

 

Do they like beans? Subbing those is a good strategy, I think. Mexican food with beans instead of meat, chili w/o meat or with less meat, white bean veggie soup--maybe just one or two meals a week to start, with less meat or no meat the goal, would get you started.

 

You are doing great with the bread! :D

[jld]

We turned veg before dd was two, so we didn't have this issue. But I think at the ages your kids are, you could talk to them about the health advantages of a plant-based diet and the reduced costs. There is a lot of great info over on the McDougall website, and PCRM has some nice materials for explaining a veg diet to kids, too (okay, it's been a couple years since I saw their stuff, but I remember it seemed good). You might stress to the teen that an oil-free vegan diet really makes for a beautiful complexion (if you want to go that extra veg mile, lol!) and keeps the weight down. I think they will also feel really good on a veg diet, too (no more constipation, fewer illnesses, etc.) and they may comment on it themselves.

 

How about offering to put the money you save from not buying meat, and possibly dairy, into a kitty to be used on a family treat? That might be motivating and rewarding.

 

I would just keep the diet as similar to the one they eat as possible. Just serve the potatoes and bread and rice and as many veggies and fruit as they'll eat and you can afford. Give them pasta every day if they want, with tomato sauce. A starch-based diet is very healthy and filling and cheap. It's the way humans survived for millennia (McDougall has a book out on this -- The Starch Solution).

 

You're going down a healthy road, and your children will be grateful to you someday.:)

[Lucy in Australia]

Haven't read other replies so sorry if I'm repeating....

 

Although we are a vegetable-loving family anyway, I've always found that when kids grown their own veggies (or at least help grow them) and especially when they help prepare them in the kitchen they are far more "into" them. My younger DS who for whatever reason has been hanging around in the kitchen since he could walk, with his little nose & hands in whatever I was cooking, is quite the foodie. That kid will try anything once, and usually likes most things. Guess where our little princess spends most of her time :) She is now eating blue cheese at the ripe old age of 14 months :lol:

[Pretty in Pink]

I think it's important to talk to the children about our food and it's nutritious value. My boys enjoy choosing fruits and veggies at the supermarket. It gets expensive, but I've never seen a child so excited to dive into a dish of brussel sprouts as my 7yo the day he selected the bin of sprouts at the supermarket and then helped me prepare them for supper.

 

Since your family's tastes are already 'set' I would try adding salads to your meals, or turning your favorite meals into salads. I'm thinking taco salad, pizza salad, BLT salad, buffalo chicken salad, etc.

 

Have you ever tried mashed sweet potatoes in place of white (mash with a splash of milk, a pat of butter, and sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over the top), or sweet potato fries?

 

What about adding veggies to dishes the kids already like? You can add sauteed peppers and onions and chopped tomatoes to enchilada sauce or other mexican dishes, finely diced pepper, onion, celery, and/or shredded carrots to meat loaf, meatballs, and burger patties, stir shredded carrots and zucchini into cooked risotto, add finely diced red pepper or other veg to rice pilaf, etc.

 

ETA: You can also set out a huge tray of veg/dip for the kids to pick at while you are cooking dinner at night. It's expensive to keep it filled because they devour it (at least around here they do), but I don't mind.

Edited December 5, 2010 by Pretty in Pink