The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Eating for Kids - M.s.j., Dana Villamagna [3]
Part 2, “Nutritional Needs of Vegan Kids,” covers the specifics parents need to know to be sure their vegan child is getting enough of all the essential vitamins and nutrients to grow up healthy and strong without animal-based foods. First up, the needs of vegan babies and toddlers, including how to find a veg-friendly doctor for your child’s medical care. Next, discover what vegan kids ages 4 through 8 need to thrive, including special tips for picky eaters. Then, find out what vegan tweens ages 9 through 13 need as they hit the onset of puberty and hormones begin to kick in. In the unlikely event that your child’s vegan diet isn’t working, Part 2 also includes tips on how to discern the problem and what to do to correct course.
Part 3, “Stocking the Vegan Kitchen,”targets those three dreaded parent activities: grocery shopping with kids; fitting a healthful diet into a tight budget; and cooking meals everyone in the family will eat, from youngest to oldest. We talk about what you need to stock the best vegan home kitchen and ways to involve your child in preparing meals and other fun foods together.
Part 4, “Let’s Eat!” is, of course, our favorite section. Here’s where we get to show you the amazingly easy, kid-tested and -approved recipes we’ve created through the last 12 years of kitchen fun. A lot of fancy, delicious vegan cookbooks are out there—and we love them all. But many recipes in them cater to vegan singles or couples with ample time and energy to shop at five different specialty stores, come home and cook for two hours, and serve a four-course meal. The recipes in this book cater to real-world parents like us who have little time, even less energy, and multiple hungry little mouths to feed. Most recipes are relatively quick, made with readily available ingredients, and include variations to make them pleasing to both kid and adult palates.
At the back of the book we include a glossary of helpful terms and more kid-focused vegan resources to help you continue on your own family’s journey into healthy, yummy, compassionate eating.
Extras
In every chapter, you’ll find these boxes of helpful, important, or fun info to make your job feeding vegan kids easier:
That’s So Vegan
Check out these boxes for facts about veganism, health notes, and vegan kitchen tips.
Vegan Vocab
Here you’ll find definitions that help you better understand the technical aspects of child health and nutrition.
Parent Trap
Be sure to read these cautionary notes to help you keep your child safe and healthy.
Vegan Voices
These boxes contain advice from vegan parents. We’ve surveyed more than 60 vegan parents from around the globe and brought their top tips to you.
Acknowledgments
We’d like to thank our agent, Marilyn Allen; Senior Acquisitions Editor Karyn Gerhard, Senior Development Editor Christy Wagner, and everyone who assisted with the creation of this book at Alpha Books; Dr. Neal Barnard, for writing the foreword, and the entire PCRM staff for the important work they do; all the vegan parents who graciously shared their families’ experiences; Drew’s colleagues who offered information and opinions; VegNews, Vegetarian Times, Peta.com, and other progressive magazines and websites for endless inspiration, motivation and for being the voice for change; Michelle Crouch, freelance writer extraordinaire, for the push; our children, for sampling endless recipe creations (some winners, some flops); Bev and Bob, for always supporting and encouraging their kids and grandkids to do good work and make the world a better place. And thanks to Garcia, our black Labrador, the “Other Mother” in our family.
Trademarks
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Alpha Books