To say she can’t become a vegan yet

[funnyfairy360]

So my 10yr old DD has announced that she does not believe it is Ok to use animal products any more and from now on will not be eating/wearing/using anything made from animals or produced by animals. She does not even want to be ‘forced’ to sit on our leather couch. Now don’t get me wrong I’m all for her finding her own way in life but this is not just becoming vegetarian or going goth, becoming vegan is life changing and to be honest too inconvenient and expensive for me to make happen for her right now. She said she has the right to choose I say yes when she can pay for the products and cook the food herself .....she wants vegan friendly washing up liquid/shampoo/ soap/ clothes/this list could go on and on. None of the rest of us have any desire to go vegan.

Chicken herbivores can digest cellulose. Because they are designed to be herbivores.
animals.mom.me/animals-gain-protein-eating-grass-7833.html

We are designed to be omnivores.

As an adult woman, I need about 45g protein a day www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z8899j6

Looking back at my daily food diary when I was vegan, I was getting about that most days - less some days. But the most protein was from veggie substitutes for meat (because the rest of my family didn't want to eat rice and pulses every day) and from one particular type of bread.

My regular diet now has maybe 50-60g protein per day but most of that comes from meat in my evening meal or, if I have it (usually I will have it one or the other, or skip it, not both) at lunch.
My other foods e.g. regular bread, hummus, rice have very very little protein. If I'd eaten say my meals on Monday last week (random example) with the beef I had for tea it's 67g protein but if I'd cooked that for me without the meat and everyone else had the beef stew I'd have had 30g protein. Fine for me for a one-off but if the OP just leaves out the meat at dinner for her DD then that wouldn't be enough for her.

The next day we had cauli mac and cheese for tea. Either leaving the cheese out or substituting vegan cheese would have left that day at about 30g protein too (as I had a slice of pizza at lunch so again would have ditched that cheese/meat).

All the things that people say are good plant based sources of protein - you know, whole grains, hummus, rice - not really. Especially tricky is the plant milk/cheese as they have almost nothing compared to the dairy versions.

(And yes, we need way less protein than bodybuilders/Paleo diet people will have you believe. But we still don't need zero protein).

Humans are omnivores, cutting any food group is not a good idea.

@specialsubject
the issue is not the veganism, it is the kid's choices making extra work. if the kid means it, she takes the extra work.

Absolutely spot on IMO

Its easy to have morals if you can get everyone else to do the workload of them for you. If you are willing to put in the work for those morals you get my support. My dd so far has not been willing to do so hence remains vegetarian

As per Enko above. DD is vegetarian and a thwarted vegan as she won't put the miles in.

Drspouse plant milk doesn't have almost no protein compared to dairy. I've got a carton of unsweetened soya milk and a bottle of skimmed milk in the fridge at the moment, soya has 2.9g per 100ml and dairy has 3.6g per 100ml so pretty similar.

soya milk and dairy milk has pretty much the same protein, and its the cheapest plant milk, so its a great and easy swap to make. The lightly sweetened with apple juice one is more palatable for kids, but i prefer the unsweetened.

Rice milk, oat milk , coconut milk etc have bugger all protein, but many people like them more. Oat milk is my favourite, but id probably do soya for kids for the protein

Soya milk is cheaper than dairy too, you can buy it for around 58p for a litre (aldi, lidl or supermarket value) vs around 70p a litre for dairy. It would be a pretty easy swap to make.

Nanny I can't stand soy milk - we also had a couple of months when my DD was trying lactose free so we got her plant milk and the HV said don't give her mainly soy milk either as she was only 3.

Someone mentioned egg substitute in baking. I never use it. The best cakes I make and eaten by everyone have no egg replacement in them( omnis choose my cakes over their own as they say they are nicer leaving none for the vegans lol but that’s another thread ). Here’s a recipe for a brilliant Victoria sponge:

www.thevegspace.co.uk/recipe-make-ultimate-vegan-victoria-sponge/

Here are some easy sandwich filling ideas:

www.vegansociety.com/resources/lifestyle/food-and-drink/sandwich-and-wrap-fillings

As for health, an omni diet is no healthier and can be lacking in nutrients if meals aren’t planned properly. my GP took me off blood pressure meds after being on for 15 years, and now have normal BP. I have lost weight and feel better than I ever did since being vegan.
I had a blood test 2 months ago as part of my yearly blood pressure monitoring and they always let me have a full blood count as I ask for it. No anaemia and good B12 results.
I use Alpro original UHT in cooking, porridge and cereal, hot drinks(it doesn’t split). Dairy free spreads are around £1 and you can buy palm free ones. A new one has just come out, I linked to it earlier.

I prefer normal easy food to the meat replacements. Cottage pie, chilli, bolognese made with different beans, lentils, chickpeas. Vegetable curries full of lot of variety of vegetables in season. I do like salads a lot and I make my own sandwich fillings and baked potato toppings with stuff like mashed chickpeas and avocado and tomato.
I buy packs of Cauldron tofu and just keep in Tupperware in the fridge. Cut a few chunks off and use in stir fries with some stir fry veg, soy sauce and Chinese 5 spice added. It takes minutes.
You can also slice the tofu thinly, spray with oil and add soy sauce and some nutritional yeast. Cook in the oven and it makes an easy and cheap bacon sub for sandwiches for someone who may want to substitute it.

Biscuits and snacks, there are loads of ‘accidentally vegan’ choices. You would be amazed at what happens to be vegan even though it isn’t aimed at that market. Doughnuts, biscuits, snacks, chocolate.
Tesco dark chocolate digestives, co-op custard and jam doughnuts, party rings for example. There are absolutely loads more.

If people don’t fancy cooking from scratch Tesco etc sell things like vegetable fingers and vegetable patties cheaper than meat. In a burger bun/hot dog roll they are a good replacement and can be shoved in the oven or under the grill or on the bbq at the same time as everyone else’s. No extra cost or work involved.

There are some really good Facebook vegan groups and people post what they have cooked/bought and liked. The Vegan Society have loads of health info and ideas and now there is more awareness then ever, it’s a good time to go vegan!

Thing is, VeganCow, you are the vegan and you are in charge of your cooking and your meal planning. That's not the case for the OP.

Why should the OP alter her diet and cooking completely for one member of the family? She doesn't want to alter her own diet and she doesn't want to cook twice.

If you are vegan and like it, you would obviously think it's great for a whole family to turn vegan. My family wasn't keen, I wasn't thrilled enough by the whole experience to push it, we now eat a bit less meat than we did. The OP isn't keen. Why should she have to change everyone's diet and make much more of an effort (YES it is more of an effort) just for one member of the family?

Nanny I can't stand soy milk - fair enough, everyone has different tastes. Hopefully the info about soya milk might be useful to someone considering making changes towards a plant based diet though.

drspouse I am the only vegan in our family of 3 though. I wouldn’t t dream of pushing it on other people. We all eat vegan meals if I cook a big curry or whatever but otherwise I just cook my thing alongside the potatoes and veg or whatever. It’s not hard to do that. But then there is the other option which is to shut the 10 year old down and tell her she can’t become vegan.

Vegan the difference is you cook your vegan food. And you're able to assess if you're getting a balanced diet. You're an adult, and one of the regular cooks in the family.

Maybe the 10 year old can cook her own vegan food for every meal, occasionally cook for everyone, and assess if she's getting enough vegetables/too much fat/sugar. I doubt it though.

I also doubt she's going to be calling in to extra shops, or paying the bills for different foods.

Just been in Tesco and on a 3 for £5 deal were veggie paella, bean chilli and rice and edamame laksa, all marked as vegan also vegan Mac and cheese on a similar deal. Ready meals aren’t ideal all the time of course but this is a cheap, convienient and in the case of the first 3 ostensibly healthy option that would do a few dinners for the week. They had 4 vegan creme Brulees for £1.25 and a vegan Margherita oven pizza for £3ish which could be the occasional treat. It really doesn’t have to be that hard.

When we are all at home I cook for vegan son, vegetarian son, coeliac omnivore husband and nearly vegan me. Once you get into this it is not that difficult, and in reality it means we eat vegan main meals ( no one notices the lack of meat or dairy because I am a very good cook) some things such as a traditional apple crumble and custard made with soy milk, Birds custard powder, gluten free flour, vegan margarine, ground almonds and a few gluten free oats taste almost exactly the same as the standard versions and suit us all.

As others have pointed out, some own brand items that are very cheap are vegan. Original source shower gel is available for £1 in Home Bargains for example and is vegan.

Vegan food can be v.cheap too, it doesn’t have to be expensive. Maybe your family could begin having one or two vegan meals a week? It’s better for the environment.

Try your best to accommodate her wishes, she will only resent you if not.

Being vegan is actually cheaper than not being vegan, unless you insist on buying dairy and meat substitutes (I wouldn't and I find those items disturbing to be honest, like why would you want highly processed imitation meat). Vegan food is just food. It is a lot more effort and work though to make sure you aren't consuming/using anything made with animal products. It's not appropriate for her to dictate what the household uses, like washing up soap etc if the rest of you don't want to be vegan, but I think she should be able to choose not to eat animal products.

Cooking meat, fish, eggs can be really quick. (Scrambled egg, grilling meat or fish.)

Cooking nuts, pulses, grains etc well is a lot slower. Yes there is vegan fast food and it is possible to heat up a can of beans. But most of the taste comes from careful use of spices, and also from - for example - roasting nuts/and vegetables to bring out maximum flavour. So to eat good vegan food you do have to devote a lot of time to cooking. I'd argue that in a time-poor world eating animal protein is a lot quicker - even though it may be a less ethical choice. Given that time is a huge issue for working parents, switching to a vegan diet - with all the associated learning - is a big ask, especially if the parent doesn't actually want to be vegan!

I don't think many people have taken on board that the OP doesn't want to go vegan and neither does the rest of the family.

drspouse you’re right. I didn’t see op last post. Good luck OP and your plan to see if she still wants this in new year. It may be a fad but if not you have offered support then.

Veganism doesnt have to be a huge problem
I have suggested this on other threads with the same issue but why not buy or get out from the library the cook book ' "virtually vegan" which is a vegan cook book that offers alternatives to the recipes for meat eaters.

Google words like vegan family meals,vegan budget meals, vegan meal plans etc for ideas.

That sounds like a perfectly good solution for 15 and 18 year olds (really can't understand why these aren't choosing and cooking food for themselves if they want to be vegan) but it's probably a minority of 10 year olds these days who can cook a full meal for themselves while the rest of the household eats something else.

The only thing I would say is don’t force the rest of your family to eat food made using vegan cheese, milk, etc. in an effort to make just one dish because that’s not fair on them. I would get your daughter to do as much of her cooking as poss.

From experience (vegan daughter) what really does make life a pain in the arse and expensive are members of the family all having differing dietary requirements. I cook each night for a vegan, two meat eaters and a gluten free no carbs dieter - fish and chicken. It's really hard going. I have a repertoire of dishes

• gluten free pasta Bol, vegan & meaty.
• fajitas
• variety of salads with warm toppings
• stir fries
• Thai curries
• BBQ with vegan option

It's hard work. Many leftovers in fridge that get dumped. Much loved favourites like stews etc are too hard to do for 2 people. I'm the cook, I'm knackered.