teen has decided to be vegan

[Anonymous]

I don't mean to offend the vegans out there, but this is really inconvenient for our household. I cook a lot and I like to eat dinner as a family. I have no problem cooking vegetarian, but I feel like she just took a bunch of family favorite dishes off the menu. Sorry, just needed to vent.

[Anonymous]

My oldest DD was basically vegetarian from birth, and then became vegan. What basically happened was, we had to come up with vegan dinners everyone could stomach. Just like non-vegan dinners where not everything is everyone's favorite, it's the same with vegan dinners.

We're all healthier for it.

[Anonymous]

Teach your teen to make her own food. She can still eat with the rest of the family, but don't let your child force her chosen diet upon the rest of the family. She can prepare several meals ahead of time if she doesn't have time to make her meals daily.

[Anonymous]

From a different perspective, my parents found it so inconvenient that they simply never made meals that included me once I decided to eat vegan. I definitely learned how to cook for myself quickly (or to eat packaged crap), but really the effect was it gave me an overall feeling that I wasn’t an important part of the family. I see now as a parent I was probably being very annoying but I wasn’t mature enough to realize that at age 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From a different perspective, my parents found it so inconvenient that they simply never made meals that included me once I decided to eat vegan. I definitely learned how to cook for myself quickly (or to eat packaged crap), but really the effect was it gave me an overall feeling that I wasn’t an important part of the family. I see now as a parent I was probably being very annoying but I wasn’t mature enough to realize that at age 13.

OP here. Just curious: Are you still vegan? I'm wondering if this is a phase or a genuine commitment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest DD was basically vegetarian from birth, and then became vegan. What basically happened was, we had to come up with vegan dinners everyone could stomach. Just like non-vegan dinners where not everything is everyone's favorite, it's the same with vegan dinners.

We're all healthier for it.

I would love for recipe suggestions, but maybe I will post separately in the food forum asking for them.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I know this is maybe not fair, but I also worry that for some teens, the restrictive nature of veganism can be a component of (or lead to) disordered eating. To be clear, I'm not saying that is true for all or most vegans. Just that the restrictive nature of the diet has some parallels.

[Anonymous]

Why were vegan dinners off the menu in the first place?
Life is long. Expand your palate and your repertoire. Learning is good for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why were vegan dinners off the menu in the first place?
Life is long. Expand your palate and your repertoire. Learning is good for you.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I never meant to imply that vegan dinners weren't on our menu. We do, in fact, have several recipes that either are vegan or can be made vegan. But there is also another realm of food that I make that is vegetarian but not vegan, and I'm sad that those recipes won't be in my regular rotation.

If you have recipe suggestions that will help me expand my palate and repertoire, please share them.

[Anonymous]

OP, I just posted on your other thread and this is really helpful context. I am so happy to help. We are not vegan, but I try to eat a mostly vegetarian diet and end up making some things that are vegan, plus I think about how every dish could be made vegan.

My 10 yo DD has never eaten meat (her pediatrician always reminds me that she had ALWAYS rejected it) and now identifies as a vegetarian. The rest of us just want to eat healthier, more plant-based diets.

The key things for me are:
1. Making sure she is eating a varied, healthy diet. That means lots of different foods, plenty of nutrients, watching added sugar, and not just eating a bunch of processed things. We have a farm share and access to great foods so I want to make sure we are all eating real, substantial food.
2. Making sure she is part of the process - she picks recipes, helps meal plan and shop, and does a lot of meal prep/cooking so she is engaged in the process and knows how to supplement her meals if something I’m making isn’t exactly aligned with her diet.
3. Making sure she understands that food is fuel and she needs a lot of it to fuel her mind and body (she also plays a lot of sports). This can’t just be an excuse to eat nothing.

[Anonymous]

Make sure there are enough ingredients and food items for her to eat. When possible, omit stuff and put it aside, like mash potatoes and put the plain ones aside, then add the cream and butter for the rest of you. Roast Brussels sprouts plain in one small pan and with bacon for the rest of you. Make pasta and keep some plain before you add Alfredo sauce for the rest of you. Basically do whatever you can plain and set aside. After that, it’s up to her to make herself more food if she’s hungry.

[Anonymous]

I would just make your normal meals and use a vegan meat substitute for her portion. Most of them are precooked and just require reheating in the microwave, so it's not super inconvenient. Field Roast and Morningstar are the best tasting brands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would just make your normal meals and use a vegan meat substitute for her portion. Most of them are precooked and just require reheating in the microwave, so it's not super inconvenient. Field Roast and Morningstar are the best tasting brands.

Vegan is more than just using fake meat. It also means no eggs or dairy, and a lot of recipes do not work without eggs, milk, or cheese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why were vegan dinners off the menu in the first place?
Life is long. Expand your palate and your repertoire. Learning is good for you.

Rather supercilious comment. Why would vegan meals be on the menu if nobody in the family was vegetarian?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were vegan dinners off the menu in the first place?
Life is long. Expand your palate and your repertoire. Learning is good for you.

Rather supercilious comment. Why would vegan meals be on the menu if nobody in the family was vegetarian?

* if nobody was vegan