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cookbooks are available that base their recipes on nonwheat flour. Start there, and experiment with substitutions in other standard wheat flour recipes when you get used to the textures and amounts in those specially formulated recipes.

We carefully placed the general word sugar on this pantry list knowing many types of sweeteners fall under the umbrella of this word: brown, white, confectioners’, unbleached cane, agave, stevia, brown rice, Splenda, and more. Some vegans avoid using white and confectioners’ sugar at all because much of it (but not all) is manufactured through a filtering process that uses animal bone char. We hope someday the refined white sugar that doesn’t use the bone char process will be labeled “vegan” because some dessert recipes don’t translate well with other forms of sweetener. Choose whatever form of sweetener you want for your baking, and substitute amounts according to package directions. But be aware that if your child is used to standard white refined sugar, the flavor of other sugars may be very noticeable to them until their taste buds adapt.

Oils, Vinegars, Spices, and Condiments

This isn’t a comprehensive list by any means—but it is a kid-friendly one!

Oils and vinegars:

❏ Apple cider vinegar

❏ Asian sesame oil

❏ Balsamic vinegar

❏ Canola oil

❏ Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening

❏ Extra-virgin olive oil

❏ Nonstick spray oil

❏ Red wine vinegar

❏ Sunflower oil

Spices and condiments:

❏ Chutneys (mild varieties)

❏ Cinnamon

❏ Coriander

❏ Cumin

❏ Dijon mustard

❏ Dried basil

❏ Dried oregano

❏ Ginger

❏ Ketchup

❏ Kosher salt

❏ Mild curry powder

❏ Nutritional yeast

❏ Paprika

❏ Red cooking wine

❏ Salt substitutes

❏ Sea salt (use iodized salts)

❏ Soy sauce

❏ Vegan butter substitute

❏ Yellow mustard

Parent Trap

Salt substitutes, like the Mrs. Dash variety, can be an excellent way to introduce kids to spicy flavors without the use of salt.

Finding Food Allies

Vegan families now have a wide net of resources available. Natural food stores are among your best friends. Don’t only frequent the national natural food chains; find your local natural food grocers as well. After a while, shopping at a local grocer often brings the added perks of them ordering special products you request or placing bulk orders for you. You may also benefit by attending cooking or health workshops held at local mom-and-pop shops. Sometimes the employees get to know your family and maybe even will drop a vegan treat in the bag at checkout for your child every now and again!

Ethnic grocers, such as Indian, Asian, Caribbean, and Latino, carry lots of specialty products often at lower prices than larger stores’ ethnic sections because they sell more. Some ethnic grocers also sell prepared foods or know customers who make traditional foods—often vegan—you can buy and freeze to heat and eat.

Depending on where you live, nearby co-ops may carry locally grown organic produce, tofu, bulk grains, or shipments of nonperishable goods like canned foods that were rejected by mainstream grocers because of dented boxes or approaching expiration dates at extremely low cost.

Farmers’ markets are the place to go to find fresh produce and connect with other families who care about their food choices and health. Kids especially enjoy seeing the farmers’ wares and meeting the people who produce food near you. Some communities’ farmers’ markets may be more vegan-friendly than others. Check out yours and see.

That’s So Vegan

You can have your very own “farmers’ market” in your backyard by planting a small garden, even if it’s just a few tomato plants, a window herb garden, or a strawberry patch. Kids love growing their own food!

Finally, tap in to the ever-growing number of online stores that cater to vegans (check out Appendix B for some addresses). It can be a bit more expensive because of shipping, but you can also find many foods, books, T-shirts, and other veg products you won’t find elsewhere. Let your kids browse with you, and try