Vegan-Vegan friendly MNetters- the new thread-sign in here!

[anyabanya]

Hi Vegan and vegan-friendly MNetters!

Just wanted to know if anyone was out there and wanted to form a support thread- to talk about food/ veganism, 'stuff' in general.

I am late 30s, have been an on and off vegan for about 6 years, and after a hiatus of about 9 months or so am back 'on'. I adore cooking with a passion, and love reading food blogs and vegan food blogs.

I would very much like to exchange thoughts/tips/frustrations with anyone else out there!

Carrots, parsnips, rice flour for bulk and with rice milk for pudding. Think about fruit purees as well I think you can get org. baby jars with pure veg and fruit.

Also remember gorillas who are stronger than humans and are not only vegan they are fruitarian with a few insects. We don't need cheese and yoghurts despite the advertisers!

Am so happy to find this thread as I am currently starting to wean my vegan baby. I have been vegetarian my whole life and was also vegan as a baby.

When I tell people I don't want my baby drinking cows milk they look at me like I am mad, so will be reading your views and hope to pick up some good weaning ideas....

Yes vegggiemama I'm always amazed that the brainwashing by the dairy industry is so complete. As soon as I took my DCs off dairy all the runny noses, ear aches, asthma etc disappeared!

You see I know dairy needs are a must, but think I feel guilty about not feeding her myself in the day. Though I will carry on in the night for as long as she wants. Also she is what you might call a 'high-needs' baby and DH is convinced if she had more milk in the day she's be better. She currently is limited 3oz at lunchtime. I have enough frozen milk to get her through to one year with a lunchtime feed if I stop expressing after xmas and hopefully by then she be eating more solids. We don't do purees.

Anyway I think she's doing fine but her weigh in yesterday scared me a little (like it always does) but think I'm over it again now and this is what prompted the question.
She only put on 14oz from months 6-9 but she's BF, always been a slow gainer and has been walking for a few weeks.

I'm going to brave up at some point as well and try her on peanut butter

that first sentence was supposed to be 'I know dairy needs are a myth' don't where must came from

The weigh ins are also unnec. IMO and E you know yr own DC better than anyone. Is it not poss for her to feed herself purees? why no purees? Adults eat them don't they?

How old is she? what about almond butter on ryvitas you can make carrot spread and tahini which is full of calcium. HTH.

Try Kara which is a coconut based milk. DS is dairy allergic and his dietician at Children's Hospital said to steer clear of the rice milks as they had a high arsenic content? Apparently there is a permissible amount per parts per billion or something, and probably fine in small quantities, but maybe not as a milk replacement for a child.

Good weaning foods: toast, tahini, chips, and a favorite at our house: lentil and broccoli pizza!

i've got a vegan toddler ds and a bf 4.5 month old dd so i'm very happy to swap ideas.

yy re ricemilk and arsenic.

we use soya milk and oat milk altho ds has just had some v loose nappies since we upped the oat milk which might be that change or just a virus. Have gone back to the soya milk for now but will try to increase the oat milk more gradually again.

we did baby led weaning with ds (so finger food not purees) presumably that what climber is doing too.

ds ate his own body weight in humous and breadsticks over the first year after weaning! he's gone off it a bit at the mo tho.

other things we found useful (either high calories, fat or protein): olives (not too many tho due to the salt), bananas, almond butter then peanut butter, dried fruit esp dates and raisins, the humble baked bean, home-cooked cake, coconut milk/creamed coconut, quinoa and lentils. Avocados would be great but he doesn't much like them!

He loves things like pasta, pizza, rice and potatoes for carbs/calories.

Nutritional yeast is brill for making 'cheese' sauces - he loves this on cauli or macaroni.

He also adores provamel soya desserts and yoghurts which are a great quick pud. I try to reduce his soya intake elsewhere (eg soya-free margerine, using oat milk for cooking, soya-free 'cheese') so he can have these without too much soya overload. When he was younger he had the soya 'natural' yoghurt with mashed banana.

he also has 1/2 tsp of flax seed oil a day plus vitamin powder (probably doesn't need it but i'm a worrier!)

Some ideas to go on, so thanks :). I shall have a ponder. Alas over here, if DD see's the doctor they get weighed. As Crimbo says we're doing BLW and to be honest I don't really eat purees, even yogurts. Liquid foods, don't agree with me, even the sight of soup turns my stomach (not that I'm weird of anything).

This is/was AbFab - I decided I fancied a namechange!

Climber, I am not at the weaning stage yet (DS is two months old) but am wondering what your reasons are for not doing purée for your child?

Can't remember who on here has entirely vegan households, can anyone empathise: we are strict vegans, and I don't cook or buy non-vegan 'foods' for guests. I wanted to host Christmas this year, especially as it's our first with our baby, but mainly, I am becoming more and more grossed out sharing a dining table with rotting corpses, am becoming more intolerant of the cruelty of it all, and I know I'll do a better job of cooking vegan alternatives like vegan turkey and vegan sausages wrapped in vegan bacon etc than my mum (no offence to my mum). My brother is kicking up a fuss saying he doesn't want to have it at mine as there'll be no meat, and he wants it at my mum's as per usual. When we go to my mum's for roast dinner, even though she is good and makes DH and me a vegan option, the whole house stinks of cooking flesh, and it really makes my stomach churn. I've explained this many times to my brother, but he won't relent. I am so saddened that he just doesn't get it. Doesn't help that his birthday is actually Christmas Day too, so it's always been that he gets his way on this day. I am fed up of it. Am I setting DH, DS (and any future DC) and myself up for a lifetime of Christmases just our little family unit?

cool new name abfab

i know your Q re purees was to climber but i thought i might as well answer too as it applies to me as well. baby led weaning is where you give finger foods from the start (6m+) and allow the baby to choose what (within reason) and how much they eat. I works very well alongside bf as that's usually baby-led too.

ds did brilliantly with blw - he's now 2.2yo and eats a huge range of foods and really enjoys different textures and flavours.

it was great watching him (as a baby) experiment with different food and learn what he did and didn't like.

it's fantastic if you're sociable and eat out and about lots as you don't need to worry about taking/buying puree, possibly warming it and then sitting there spoon-feeding.

i can empathise about Christmas - it's so hard mixing vegan and non-vegan families and traditions. could you meet in the middle - e.g. your family bring ready cooked, ready-sliced turkey to your house? i know having meat on the table is not what you dream of when you envisage your Christmas but it's a compromise you might be able to live with.

Hi, CC&R. :) Thanks!

Ah, thanks for explaining. Sounds good.

There's no way we can have meat in this house - I view it as our sanctuary, the one place that is free from the vileness that is dead animal flesh. And the smell, it does just put me off my food, the sight makes my heart sink. My other brother has come up with the suggestion that he, my mum and other brother have their turkey dinner at our mum's, and DH, DS and I have our vegan roast here (well, DS will be having vegan roast-flavoured breast milk!), then they'll come over early evening (or 'prevening, if you are a Big Bang fan!) and we'll see each other then. First brother is still not happy, he thinks I am OTT and ridiculous, and that I should be more accommodating and put up and shut up. Despite my being vegan for 11 years, he just doesn't get it. Co-incidentally, this brother's girlfriend's mum is also vegan! I think she is less bothered about meat in their house though.

Afternoon all and thanks to NoHunIntended for directing me this way.

We'll be having an interesting Christmas here. I'm vegan, my teenaged daughters are lifelong veggies and my parents, who will be visiting for a few days, eat dead things meat.

I'm a recent convert to veganism having been vegetarian for over 30 years. I'm still trying to convince the girls to join me but although neither will touch flesh, fowl or fish they reckon they'll miss their cheese/convenience foods/"proper" milk in tea and so on too much to become vegan.

Hi All,

Anyone know how good black molasses is for babies, apparently it is a good source of iron.

Am going to start baby boy on houmous this week, so far he is loving carrots, bananas, pears, blueberries, sweet pots, quinoa and millet....

Pleasure, Vall.
Great to know you raised vegetarian daughters who have stayed non dead things meat-eaters. Do your parents eat veg*n when staying with you?
Hope your DDs go vegan in time. There is so much vegan cheese and chocolate available now.

veggiemama, hi, good luck with feeding DS.

nohun i totally get where you're coming from but can also understand why your brother can't. The recent Vegetarian Soc mag had a great article about the paradigm that omnivores are in - did you see that?

veggiemamait sounds as tho your baby is still pretty young from what you've described giving him. I'd wait a little while before giving too large an amount of molasses although it's probably not the end of the world it's strong stuff and will probably result in some interesting nappies and wind effects!

Hey valhalla, welcome to the thread.

Just to continue the theme of sharing food ideas:

What toddler DS ate:

Breakfast: 2 dates, peanut butter on toast, diluted apple juice

Lunch: Soya milkshake, beans and soy-free cheese on toast, slice of cake

Snack: Raisins and 3 mini organix cookies

Dinner: Bolognese (with lentils and various veg) with pasta, Alpro dessert

He'll also have 2 cups of soya/oat milk a day

He'd normally have some fruit too but didn't fancy it

Cakes, I didn't see the article. Are you able to summarise for me at all?

Thanks, might try some molasses and see what happens! He is almost 7 months.

It is interesting to note that almost every other baby in my NCT group has been ill in some way, colds, coughs since they have started to be weaned on meat and dairy apart from mine.

Hello,

May I join this thread? I have lurked a bit. I am vegan curious, and want to be vegan, but have not quite yet done it. I would be an ethical vegan, and I hate that I am currently a hypocrite - mainly for convenience sake really.

I have a 5 month old son, and I do not want to give him an example of someone who has a set of ideals, but cannot personally follow through. I want to live my values.

My son is combined fed, and we will start solids soon. I would love to be vegan, and for him to be vegan.

DH is a meat eater, but VERY supportive, so no issues there.

I just wanted to check in and say 'hi' as the title says 'vegan-friendly- so i hoped that even if I am not vegan - yet- then I mightbe able to be a part of this.

Anyone got any ideas for Vegan party-food?
We've off to a NYE buffet tonight, and it would be nice to take something... even if it is just so that DH has something to enjoy while everyone else goes mad on the cheeseboard.

I'm so uninspired at the moment, it feels like we've mainly been subsisting on jacket potatoes & potato and [insert green vegetable] soups lately...

Over on another thread about 'elderly bananas' I recommended the Banana Split Pudding Brownies from 'Vegan with a vengeance', and I think they've been a hit

brillo i make my own haricot bean dip which is easy and you can add as much garlic and or cumin you like. good served with low salt corn chips.

Bough DH a waffle iron for Xmas

Kicked off the New Year with an adaptation of the ginger-pear waffle recipe from "Vegan with a Vengeance" amended to apple-cinnamon, yum.