Mom to the Left

I'm a mom who tends to live just to the "left" of most of the people around me here in Indiana.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Vegetarian Families

Now that our life is getting back onto a more even keel (knock on wood) we are trying to practice vegetarianism more. My 15 year old is the most devout vegetarian in the family. He has consistently been vegetarian since about last April. The rest of us, however, have not been very good at avoiding meat lately. To be honest, we have had to make use of some charitable food sources and have found them to be heavy on the meat. The saying, "Beggars can't be choosers," immediately comes to mind.

But as we have more power to decide for ourselves what we eat, I am trying to merge back onto the vegetarian highway. ;-)

I have a small collection of recipes that I can fall back on. But generally, I have found that most of my veggie recipes don't go over well with the kids. I look at vegetarian websites and vegetarian cookbooks and find recipes that are just not very tasty to kids. Now, as an adult, I often love the recipes. But if I have to listen to complaining during every meal or watch my son's pants slide down on him and see his ribs because he's so thin, I need to find something else.

There especially seems to be a dearth of plain old vegetarian websites. The "in" thing seems to be vegan. Hey, at this point, I'm doing well just to get my kids to cut out meat - I'm not ready to push it.

And I do admit to being more than a little put off at the holier-than-thou tone on some of the websites. Contrary to what some may think, meat eaters are not bad or even stupid. Different people have different opinions. A little more respect for that reality would be welcome, as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, I've added a few links to my blog over on the right side of the page. I'm hoping to find some good resources to jumpstart our veggie eating again. If any of my readers knows of a good website or can recommend a family-friendly veggie cookbook, please leave me a comment. Thanks!

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7 Comments:

  • At 8:57 PM, Blogger Boy in the Bands (Scott Wells) said…

    So, what kinds of food does your family (and the kids especially) like?

     
  • At 3:15 AM, Blogger jfield said…

    Like Scott, I would wonder, vegan or not, what foods are your kids used to?

    When I cook for kids other than my own, I find familiarity and compartmentalization to be very useful.

    TVP sloppy joes or chili are great for kids who are used to traditional forms of either. We do the same thing with pasta often as well. Even if I have something more elaborate planned, like thai curry then have unexpected young company, I've found that if I serve the curry and the rice side by side it makes a big difference.

    With kids I don't generally try anything that makes weird substitutions. Sometimes vegan recipes are actually better that way, though my kids and most guests actually have liked all the Uncheese Cookbook recipes we have made for them. Joanne Stepaniak who wrote that book actually has a book on vegetarian food for kids. Dorothy Bates who wrote the Farm Vegetarian Cookbook also has a kids cookbook that several of my friends like.

     
  • At 7:35 AM, Blogger Steven Rowe said…

    Tomato sauce! Lots and lots of tomato sauce! peter butter sandwiches.

     
  • At 8:54 AM, Blogger Mama G said…

    Vegetarian meals that work with my kids: veg lasagna, spaghetti (either w/o meat or with fake beef crumbles), mac & cheese, cheese pizza, veggie burgers.

    There are several dishes that I love (spaghetti squash w/balsamic lima/kidney beans, couscous and veggie salad, apple/walnut/brown rice salad) that my kids turn their noses up at. :-(

     
  • At 9:29 AM, Blogger Charlie Talbert said…

    You write,"And I do admit to being more than a little put off at the holier-than-thou tone on some of the websites."

    The veg advocates I know try hard not to be or appear "holier-than-thou." We don't always succeed.

    Would you mind listing the site(s) that have come across to you in this way, and describing how? This would help.

    Best wishes to you and your family! My partner and I do not have children, and I don't have a particular website or cookbook to recommend that addresses your question. You're already aware of the best general advice I could offer: Go gradually.

     
  • At 12:26 PM, Blogger mathmom said…

    You might enjoy this article which argues against the "holier than thou" attitude, as scaring off potential vegetarians and thus ultimately hurting animals. I thought it made a lot of very good points.

     
  • At 1:15 PM, Blogger Mama G said…

    Charlie, I'm not really comfortable naming names. In fact, I'm not sure right now if I remember exactly which particular site I'm thinking of. But one woman was going on and on about how aghast she was at a meat eater who told her how she enjoys meat too much to go veg and that she's careful about where she buys her meat (local farmer vs. big meat farm). The blogger was pretty judgmental about the other woman because she didn't see things her way ("no meat is good meat" to paraphrase). I don't know if she actually said anything that I'd consider rude to the other lady, but what she printed online wasn't very understanding. I was disappointed.

     

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