How do i start feeding my family better?

Question

I would really like for my family to start eating better, completely stop fast food. i really wish we could be vegetarians, but i don't know how to go about this. my husband is into the idea, and i think he would do it, but we have a 6 yr old, a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old. the 1 yr old is still nursing, so she wouldn't be that hard, but the other two would probably be very hard to convince! what can i do? what is the difference between vegetarian and vegan and all the other ones?

Answer 1

It doesn't matter what the ages are, it is always possible to be a healthy vegetarian.

If you need meat or dairy during any stage of your life or to live any certain lifestyle, why does the American Dietetic Association say otherwise?

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada...

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/preg...

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/real...

The only definitions worth repeating are from the founders of the words.

vegetarian - http://www.vegsoc.org/info/whatis.html

vegan - http://www.vegansociety.com/newsroom/ind...

Bread, pasta, cereal, rice, beans, peas, lentil, nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies can easily offer everything that you need except B12.

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo

All vegetarians should take a B12 supplement regularly since most people eat meat, dairy AND fortified cereals yet still have a B12 status that is lower than recommended.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/b12

It may help you if you see proof that vegan people have the same potential as anyone else.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sto...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.macdanzig.net/bio.php

http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php

Answer 2

Your kids being as young as they are actually would make things easier.

I will never forget years ago when one of my children came home, totally shocked by what someone was eating, 'a black looking round thing - and it had stuff that oozed out of it all over their fingers' - their first sight of a ''Ding Dong''.  :)

Some children will do better than others.  Some will not want to make the switch.  I will say that all my children while not vegetarians are very aware of the foods that they eat and do not allow much if any 'junk food' in their homes.

The one thing that you can control is what they eat in your home.  They actually have soy hot dogs, and 'hamburgers' - even sausage.  I am not a fan of the fake poultry - but that is my personal choice.

I would suggest just start by taking out all the 'bad' snacks and replace them with things like - oh apples and peanut butter - maybe some celery sticks, baby carrots.  Believe it or not, I have NEVER had a child not like them - even when I have had parents swear that they wouldn't eat them - they did for me.  There are also nuts, trail mix, dried fruits - how about just some plain old fashioned regular fruit like apples, oranges, and grapes?

When you go out to eat - don't do McD's.  Easeir said than done if it is a place that your children have come to look forward to going out to.  Instead try to go to a place like "Subway" where they have the "Veggie Delight".  "Wendy's" has baked potato - but then that is going to be having them begging for the hamburger that they more than likely are used to eating - so I would avoid it.  There is also cheese pizza or one with every veggie possible on it with no meat since you posted another question showing that your looking more to a diet with dairy and eggs.

Your a military wife it appears - years ago when I was an NCO wife, I used to make sure that I always had a cooler full of things for the kids to munch on when we went out - because one never knew if where one was going there was going to not only be something that the kids would actually eat - but if the people there were 'open' to an American (more than a tad bit of hate against Americans back in the 70's and 80's, esp. those in the military, esp. overseas).

Take it at a pace that is comfortable for you and that you can live with.  Do study on it.  Make the choices that you need to make and fit them into your lifestyle as you are able.  If this indeed is something that you really want to do - you will find that you have the success that you are looking for sooner than you think.

Answer 3

Well, you could try eating meat less often first off. Try bringing it down to 1-3 times per week. You don't have to be absolutely anything. You can just greatly reduce the frequency that you eat it if that's easier at first.

Being vegetarian simply means not eating meat. You can still have eggs and dairy.

Being vegan means eating no animal products at all.

Here is a bunch of websites with vegan/vegetarian recipes:

http://www.ivu.org/recipes/

http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-recipes.a...

http://www.randomgirl.com/recipes.html

http://vegweb.com/

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-C...

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/...

http://vegkitchen.com/recipes-galore.htm