Transition to a vegan diet, not only for myself but also for my family 4 years ago, has been such a learning experience around making different recipes, learning how to stay disciplined in this decision to eat this way and learning the many perspectives around a different way of eating.
Over the years I have been asked pretty much the same few questions every time someone finds out I’m vegan and so I thought I would make a post answering these questions more in debt with the hopes to also give out useful information to the vegan lifestyle in case you may want to try it for you and your family.
Check out the questions and answers down below!
1.Are my kids vegan too?
Yes, my kid are vegan too!
When I first decided to try a vegan diet, my kids transitioned with me and as I began exploring vegan options, they were right by my side, as well as my husband. We all began trying out new things together.
It was a process introducing new food to my kids and honestly even until this day, it’s still a process at times but honestly, I think that’s just with kids in general. One day they like something, and then the next they don’t!
Some things that I did to introduce my family to vegan food was:
- Transitioning to a vegetarian diet first
- Giving myself time and patience to pick out recipes and test what my family liked and did not like
- Informed and educate them on the food they are eating and why we eat the way we do.
- Observing the things they liked and finding meals around those veggies/ingredients.
- Try to make similar food that we were already eating, just the vegan version.
2. How do you get your protein?
This is the most common question out of them all, and I get it. The most known source of protein is known to come from animal products such as steak, chicken, ham, etc but not much education around what other sources of foods can give us protein. I have learned that you can get protein from so many plant-based sources, such as :
- Beans: Black beans, red beans, pinto beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc.
- Tofu or Tempeh
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Greens: Collards, Turnips, Cabbage, Kale, etc.
- Seeds such as pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flaxseeds
- Nuts: Walnuts, Cashews, Peanuts, etc.
3. Do I eat fish, eggs, dairy?
I hear this a lot. So, you do not eat any meat, not even fish?
No, a vegan diet consists of no animal products, everything we eat is plant-based.
To sum it up, we do not eat:
- Meat; Chicken, Turkey, lamb, Beef, Pork
- Fish, shellfish, crabs, clams, etc.
- Eggs
- Cheese, Butter
- Milk, cream, ice cream, anything dairy or with dairy in it
While this cut out a lot of the things that we normally ate, with consistency in exploring the different food we could eat and finding different alternatives, eliminating these main ingredients became a lot easier.
Some examples of alternatives food that I listed above are:
- Plant-based milk such as Almond milk, Coconut milk, Cashew milk, oat milk, soy milk.
- Eggs substitutes such as chickpea flour used for breakfast scrambles and apple sauce, flax seeds are used as egg substitutes when baking things like cornbread, cakes, etc.
- Plant-based butter and vegetable oils.
4. What do you eat?
I wondered the same thing when I decided to start changing into a vegetarian diet, then a vegan diet. I began just piecing together random things that didn’t have meat, (when we turned vegetarian first) but after a while my egg sandwiches, fries, and salads became boring! Okay, okay I cooked a little more things than that, but the point is, the food I was cooking wasn’t very convincing for this transition I wanted us all to make.
It wasn’t until we leaped a fully vegan diet, that I began to start researching and exploring different recipes in the kitchen. Switching to a vegan diet pushed me to learn how to cook for the first time really, and I’ve learned so much!
Over the years I’ve learned how to make homemade gravy, macaroni, and cheese (vegan style), scallop potatoes, all kinds of soups, burgers, the list can go on and what I have realized is you can turn anything into a vegan dish with a little extra mixing, blending and chopping!
Vegan food is loaded with many ingredients because oftentimes you are mixing multiple ingredients to create a specific substitute for the main dish. Being that a vegan diet doesn’t consist of any animal products, it can be hard to find things in the store that don’t have eggs, dairy, or meat products in them or if you do find a vegan organic product, it can be expensive!
So being that we are a family of 5, I buy all the side ingredients I need and make a lot of things from scratch!
I say all of that to say, a vegan diet allows you to eat everything you currently eat, you will just have to find alternatives and learn how to make those dishes without dairy, eggs, and meat.
Some of the foods we eat:
- Fruits and vegetables, salads
- A variety of beans, lentils, black beans, chickpeas are our favorites
- Nuts and seeds, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds,
- Bread, rice, pasta
- Tofu (occasionally)
- Oats
- Almond milk
- Different herbs
5. How do I do it?
Many things keep me and my family grounded in the decision to eat vegan. Becoming vegan, surrounded by pretty much everyone, every restaurant that doesn’t accommodate this change has its challenges but if you want this bad enough you can do it and you will find what works for you and your family!
Somethings that I have learned that helps:
- Mentality first and foremost. Know your why behind this decision, have discipline, and educate yourself.
- Meal prepping our food and packing food when you go out somewhere
- Learning alternatives for the food we miss or crave
- Learning how to cook good vegan food!
Alright, and that was the last question that I could think of that we get asked the most. Transitioning our family to a vegan diet felt like we entered a whole new world. Researching recipes, learning how to grocery shop, learning how to cook was all a process and I’m still learning today!
In the beginning, I didn’t have all the answers as people would come to me with these questions and I found myself becoming discouraged at times like I needed to be able to defend this way of eating by knowing all the answers, but the reality is it’s all a learning process! You will learn as you go!
I hope if you are reading this and have been considering making the switch or have been wanting to try some vegan food. I say hop on out there and explore the different options! Find a recipe, go grab your ingredients and explore in the kitchen!
Be open to feedback from your family, observe what your kids are liking and disliking, take it slow and have patience with yourself and have fun!
I’d love to hear your thoughts and vegan meals you cooked for your family in the comments!
Also let me know if you would like to learn more and see more post about transitioning over to a vegan diet!
Until next time
Stay tuned, in tune, and forever evolving
Stephanie
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