Comments (1)

By laviyah, August 24, 2010 12:47 PM

As the mother of four healthy vegan children I get asked a lot of questions. The questions are often specific to what my children eat. If you are a vegan and want your children to be too, its actually quite simple. I will let you in on a little secret. Make good food. I have an 11 and 9 year old who will eat almost anything I make. The reason for this is a)they have no choice b)they have been eating this way since infancy.

Continue reading 'Raising healthy vegan children (Part 1)'»

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By laviyah, June 13, 2010 5:43 PM

I took my children to the museum earlier this week. I was shocked by how many obese parents and children there were.  If you are obese, I am not in judgment of you, I am more than hopeful that I can help you.  I know something is seriously wrong with the way Americans eat when I can actually walk to McD’s, but I have to get in a car to go pick up fresh produce.

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Comments (6)

By laviyah, September 25, 2009 11:29 PM

I wish!

Feeding a family of six on an entirely vegan diet is not as difficult as it sounds as long as you keep the pantry stocked with these must have ingredients.

• Bragg Liquid Aminos – We use this as a salt substitute in many dishes.  If Nahum were stuck on a deserted island, his only requests would be a bottle of Braggs and ESPN
• Pasta – We generally have 4 to 6 pounds of pasta on hand throughout the month for a quick and easy meal
• Canned Unsalted Whole Tomatoes – We make our own sauce for pasta and pizza.
• Nutritional Yeast – I can’t imagine being vegan without Nutritional Yeast.  I can’t imagine life without Nutritional Yeast!  This stuff certainly does add a cheesy flavor to your meal.  We use it on vegetables, in pasta dishes and to make cheese.
• Cous Cous – Talk about quick and easy.  With a quick soak in the boiling hot water, you’ve got a delicious grain to add to supper.
• Vegenaise – This is the vegan version of Hellman’s, it’s just that good.  Have you ever met a mayonnaise that will totally transform your sandwich for you?
• Sesame Seeds – I make milk from these practically every day.  Sesame Seeds are high in calcium and the calcium is far more easily absorbed than that glue (cows milk) you buy from the local grocery store.
• Legumes – Beans, Peas, Lentils, we consume it all and we usually cook our Legumes nice and slow in the crock-pot.  I have two words for you, “orange lentil.”
• Sesame Oil – This oil adds a delicious something, something to your cooking.  Of course it is a staple in Asian cooking, so just keep some around.  Most self respecting vegans know how to make at least one vegan Asian dish.
• Olive Oil – Nothing really needs to be said, except don’t skimp.  Get the good stuff.  Cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil.
• Tofu – There are so many ways to prepare tofu.  The opportunities are endless.
• Tempeh – I know there are just as many ways to make tempeh however I only request it one way and the consistency is kinda like a chunky tuna salad the way hubby makes it.  Sooooo good.
• Coconut Milk – Coconut milk adds a new dimension to creamed spinach.  Instead of using fatty pus filled cow’s milk try coconut milk.  You won’t be disappointed.
• Curry – To change the dish above to a Thai inspired dish, try adding some curry to the spice mix.  Amazing.
• Basmati Rice – Fragrant, flavorful and delightful.  This rice is a must have to keep around the house and it cooks quickly too!
• Agave Nectar – I use this as a sweetener in smoothies or for tea.
• Turbinado Sugar – I use this as a sweetener for baking in place of refined white sugar.  For recipes that call for brown sugar I mix up to a tablespoon of molasses per cup of sugar.
• Bread Flour – Well this is my list, and we make fresh bread around here often.  I am talking about three times per week often.  Once you get bitten by the fresh bread bug, there’s no turning back.
• Unbleached All Purpose  Flour- Gravies, biscuits, baking cookies and cakes.  Got to have it.
• Peanut Butter – It’s a staple.  With three growing boys roaming around the house, it’s just necessary.  Quick lunches snacks, even smeared on sliced apples or bananas for breakfast.  We do it for the kids.
• Dried Fruit – Raisins, Dates, Pineapple, Mangoes  Children like to snack and there is no candy to be found in my house.  To be truthful I don’t even consider cany a snack.  Why would I when dried fruit is nature’s concentrated sweetness.
• Fresh Fruit – (Strictly speaking, fresh fruit doesn’t go in the pantry…)Whatever is in season, go and buy it.  Your children will eat it.  Mine do.  They don’t have a choice.  They don’t have jobs either.  Fruit, it’s what’s for breakfast.
• Raw Thick Cut Oatmeal – I am not referring to those quick cooking packets full of sugar.  When I refer to oatmeal I am talking about the stuff you get from the bulk section in Whole Foods or any natural foods store.  When you buy it this way, the world is your oyster.  You can pour hot soy or almond milk over them with cinnamon, agave and raisins for a quick and easy breakfast or use them in baking.  The options are endless.
• Apple Sauce – The all natural unsweetened kind.  Keep a couple jars around.  It’s useful in vegan baking and when you’re at a loss for what to do for the kids lunch.  It’s also a healthier late night snack than that entire pint of ice cream.
• Soy Milk - We make cheese with it, soy butter, we make sauces with it.  We pour it on cereal when we run out of Almond milk…
• Almond Milk – Just one word, cereal. When I get lazy and don’t make sesame seed milk every day, my toddler will drink this by the cupful.

I started this list on a whim and I am sure I am forgetting something.  What food items can’t you live without?

Comments (2)

By nahum, June 11, 2009 12:23 PM

Mom & Me

This has been an up,  down and all out interesting week so far.  My mother had heart valve replacement surgery yesterday.  The surgery went well as determined by the doctors.  It is hard to say something went well after having your chest ripped open, heart stopped and new parts put in.  The thought of my mother going through that freaks me out.  Unfortunately, abusing your body through years of  bad diet and smoking takes it toll.  During my youth, my grandfather on my mom’s side had bypass surgery fairly young.  He never said anything directly to me about it, but eavesdropping on family conversations, he said it was the worst pain of his life.  He never changed his dietary or life style habits and developed additional heart issues later on.  Because of the experience, he chose not to have further surgeries.  He chose to live his life as he wanted and left us earlier than he should have.

Grandpa Lissy...Stylish!

Looking back, I believe that had a stronger effect on me than I ever realized until recently.  I changed my diet to veganism over 15 years ago.  I wanted to live healthier and I wanted to live longer than my relatives.  They say heart disease is hereditary.  What is hereditary is part DNA and part what you learn socially from your family.  If you follow the same dietary patterns as the previous generation, you can expect the same results.  I am determined to break the history and heredity.

I love my mother and am pained she has to go through this.  We have been somewhat estranged over the past years; not to the point where we don’t have communication.  But the relationship has been less loving and more matter-of-fact over the past years.  How this happened?  Choices I made, most likely.  I never said F-you family or get out of my life, but I do have some skeletons that hurt my family.  When you make choices in your life, you have to accept the consequences, good or bad.  And you certainly can’t control the emotions of others.  My mother has chose her path and I accept that.

In no way has it diminished my love for her.  I am the baby of my family and every time I see my mother, it is through the eyes of an affectionate 10 year old.  I never see myself older when I am with her.  I just want to sit next to her, tell her I love her and snuggle.  On the surface, my mother is eccentric and loves to be catered to.  Underneath, she is fiercely strong, a go-getter and will go Terminator on anybody she feels is threatening her family.  I have seen Terminator Mom and trust me, Arnold has nothing on her.

Birthday Boys in 2007

This week in June marks two of my son’s birthdays.  The Little Prince turned 3 and the next day Little Z turned 10.  So we had a two day family extravaganza of food, toys and movies.  I generally make a meal per request of the birthday honoree.  For the Little Prince we had grits, scrambled tofu, broccoli and biscuits.  Little Z got a special treat, Laviyah took him out for a special lunch between the 2 of them.  10 years ago, Laviyah became a first time mother & she was feeling extra nostalgic for this birthday.  For dinner I made Sun-dried Tomato Mac & Cheese – Little Z is a tomato nut!  He can’t get enough of that Lycopene.  Well boys, happy B-day’s…now time to get back to the grind…school work through the weekend.

Last week, I came across Food Network on Twitter.  They tweeted about a contest with Bobby Flay called the ‘Flayvors of Washington’.  You basically submit a recipe and 2-minute video showcasing a dish that includes a Washington State ingredient.  Also you have to get inspiration from a Columbia Crest wine (they are the sponsor of the contest).

So I thought – I’m a cook, I drink wine…perfect.  Let’s do this!

I decided to make a Wild Mushroom Linguine with a side dish of Sauteed Asparagus and Swiss Chard.  I used Chanterelles and Morels which are Washington native wild mushrooms.  These mushrooms taste great, but Damn! they are expensive…$20 for an ounce.  They better had tasted great paying that much.  I would say, they are worth the investment.  With the mushrooms I used a Cab reduction to make a light sauce for the linguine and it turned out super delicious.  Asparagus is also a Washington ingredient, so I sauteed them with some garlic, leeks and Swiss Chard.  You gotta try this veggie combination, it is outstanding.  I will be posting the recipe soon.

The recipe part…easy.  Now the catch, the video thing.  I hate being videotaped.  Why?  Because I feel like a complete dork on video.  It’s only for 2 minutes, how hard can it be.  For me it was like pulling teeth.  I had to do about 300 “takes” just to explain my dish.  My wife was my camera woman, producer , editor and peanut gallery.  She rolled her eyes and laughed enough for all of y’all.  Thanks for the confidence love.  For some reason I felt like a nervous school boy about to ask a girl out.  At least, in school I could pass a note and get the results without any verbal exchange.  That’s how I like it…the more I can reduce any emotional exchange the better.  Why?  Hell if I know, it’s just the way I am.

Anyway, I got through that fiasco, barely.  I still haven’t watched the two minute video that took me two days to make.  I’m completely ridiculous…I know.  I have issues…Yes!  You can check out my recipe video debut at the Flayvors of Washington link on foodnetwork.com.  The videos are randomized, so you may have to search through the 6 files to find me.  The caption to my video is Wild Mushroom Linguine & look for the goofy guy in a brown shirt and white apron.  Food Network will choose 20 recipes they like and the public can vote on their favorite of the 20 starting June 18th.  Well, if I make the top 20, I’ll be counting on everyone to vote for me.  Let’s get a Vegan on Food Network!  Even if it is only for one recipe.  Check me out and have a chuckle on me.  Don’t worry about my feelings, my wife already desensitized me with two days of heckling.

Comments (3)

By laviyah, May 28, 2009 8:55 PM

The Princess

One question I get asked a lot after I tell people that I am the vegan mother of four children is:

Are your children vegan?

I always think it  is an odd question. I can’t imagine being a vegan and raising meat eating children.  The idea of cooking separate meals within a family environment is just plain silly.  To answer the question, yes my children are vegan and they will eat vegan as long as I purchase and prepare their meals.

With increasing rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes among American children, raising my children as vegans is the best choice for our family.  I know that I am blessed, having given birth to four healthy children without any complications, however I do feel that excellent health is much more about maintenance rather than luck.

The constant in our household is lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Most meals (we indulge from time to time) are cooked from scratch and more often than not, nothing goes to waste because my children clean their plates  and ask for more at almost every meal.  We don’t buy a lot of juice.  If we are thirsty we mainly drink water.  We go through a lot of broccoli, fresh garlic, onions, parsely, cilantro, green onions, apples, bananas, pears, carrots, and peppers of all types.  We eat basmati rice, cous cous, we buy dry beans (pinto, black, navy, garbanzo) and soak them before cooking, we also eat a lot of other grains (barley, quinoa, bulgar, millet).  We cook brown and orange lentils.  We us olive oil, sesame oil, vegetable oil and vegan margarine.  With such an interesting variety to choose from we manage to keep the menu exciting.

Cooking with fresh wholesome ingredients plays a big part in whether or not your children will eat healthy for a life-time rather than part-time.  My eldest will eat an entire container of cherry tomatoes.  My middle son will beg for a banana smoothie to start his day.  My youngest son will eat just about anything you place in front of him.  All of my children have been or are currently breast-fed.  I believe that breastfeeding is absolutely the single most important thing that you can do for your baby.  Breastfeeding helps children develop healthy appetites as well as a healthy immune system.

Vegan children are not as picky eaters and tend to be just as adventurous as their parents.  I love this.  I don’t get strange looks when I use curry spices or when making a sofrito for my spanish yellow rice, or when I use seaweed or any other not so average spice or flavor combination.

I would love to hear from other vegans out there who are raising vegan children and vegans who are not raising vegan children.  What are the choices of the different households?  What is grocery shopping like?  Are you a meat eating parent with a child who refused to eat the Standard American Diet?  Are your children vegan?