Recommendations for a vegetarian/vegan book for mom with toddlers (Read 131 times)

Since you are not fully vegan yet, I suggest you read through a book called Vegan for Life by Jack Norris and Ginny Messina, two RDs. It will go through the nutritional requirements to stay healthy as a vegan at all different ages, from infancy to senior, and what you should supplement (B12 and possibly D). Additionally, both of these folks have blogs that you can google that are pretty informative. I like these two bloggers in particular because they advocate what I call a regular old vegan diet - not  super low-fat high-raw or middle-raw or whatever, and not eschewing some convenience foods like veggie dogs and burgers as 'toxic' or whatever scaremongering is popular these days.

Here are a couple of pretty decent blogs by vegan parents with vegan kids:

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/search/label/kid-friendly

http://tofu-n-sproutz.blogspot.com/

This is another kid-oriented one is food for whole-foods, low-fat, vegan (think Forks Over Knives, Engine 2, China Study), but the recipes are (mostly) tasty!

http://kidtestedfirefighterapproved.com/

There used to be a blog specifically on a vegan kid's school lunches. The mom made all sorts of great, healthy meals based on the book How to Disease-Proof Your Child and then her son rated each lunch. If you're interested, I can dig up the link. It was a fun blog.

As for vegan athletes, I guess look to Jurek's book, but I actually like a blog called No Meat Athlete, which has a lot of training advice and also a lot of recipes that you might like for recovery drinks, tips on quick healthy smoothies, transitioning to veganism, etc.

http://www.nomeatathlete.com/

There are so many vegan cookbooks out these days, but the two that I recommend that do not call for any so-called strange ingredients are Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson and Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Actually any cookbook by either of these authors is great - the recipes are well-tested and mostly foolproof.

I think being from Maine or anywhere in the Northeast should not cause any trouble in the winter as long as you are okay with using frozen vegetables (which may have a better nutrition profile than fresh vegetables that have traveled a long distance, anyway). I hope you enjoy trying out a vegan diet. I think swapping out low-fiber, high-fat protein for high-fiber, low-fat protein is very good for your body. But take it easy and learn a few go-to recipes that you like to make and that your kids will eat. If you need some specific recipe suggestions, post here or over in the Veg/Vegan group. Good luck!

 

I think being from Maine or anywhere in the Northeast should not cause any trouble in the winter as long as you are okay with using frozen vegetables (which may have a better nutrition profile than fresh vegetables that have traveled a long distance, anyway).

While nutritionally they are fine, they've lost most of the volatile organic compounds in the freezing process - those VOC's provide the smell of a vegetable, and are important in how you perceive taste.

YMMV on this one, though, I suppose - but it's HUGE for me.  Huge.  I've been veg for 20 years in the frozen north.  I couldn't care less about cheese and cream in the summer, but come winter, I get super excited about our dairy dinners.

My wife and I are big fans of 'Veg Every Day!' by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, everything we've made from it so far has been delicious.

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/rivecott-21/detail/1408812126

While I'm not a vegetarian or vegan, I am a "vegetablist" and do find myself eating exclusively plant-based meals most of the time.

One thing that's made this easy is falling in love with Indian food, which happened because of the cookbook 660 Curries (http://www.amazon.com/660-Curries-Raghavan-Iyer/dp/0761137874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378228579&sr=8-1&keywords=660+curries). 

Most of the book is taken up by the vegetable and lentil chapters. The recipes that call for ghee (clarified butter) can all be made with canola oil instead. The vast majority of the dishes are remarkably healthy, and most are very easy to make. One reason I eat so much Indian food is because this is just a very clear, well organized, easy-to-follow cookbook with excellent recipes.

There are some side-boxes that mention nutrition needs if you eat vegetarian. For instance, lentils have lots of protein, but they're not complete proteins: To get your full range of amino acids, it's best to eat lentils (and all legumes, actually) with wheat or rice. You don't have to do this all in the same meal if you don't want to - just keep a balanced diet and eat a variety of foods.

Madhur Jaffrey also has an excellent vegetarian Asian/Indian cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Madhur-Jaffreys-World--Vegetarian-Cooking/dp/0394748670/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378228699&sr=8-1&keywords=madhur+jaffrey+east+vegetarian