Eating Plant Based: The Kids. Protein. Meal Planning.

Well, it's almost two months since my last post, and I may as well pick up where I left off.

Geoff and I are still eating plant based foods. It's been about four months for me now, and it's mostly gone pretty well. Eating this way is still a big adjustment for me from a cooking perspective, and I'm slow to change that which has been my reality for 50+ years! I still struggle with intense cheese cravings, and every once in a while I eat something with cheese in/on it. But I'm going strong, and getting better at this every week.

One of the first questions I always get, when someone learns of our lifestyle change, is about the kids. And that's a great question. Having children who don't necessarily want to pursue the same lifestyle complicates life a little, for sure. But I decided early on that, although the kids' diets would surely change as Geoff's and mine did, I don't need to worry about forcing them to choose this lifestyle. Matthew and Lizzie have actually been fine with this change, although they occasionally eat meat or dairy. Seth has been more resistant and, although he eats everything that I prepare, he still asks daily if what we're eating is vegan (ever hopeful that one day I'll say 'no'). Over time, everything is smoothing itself out and we've allowed for huge adjustments for the kids.

The kids mostly eat what I eat these days and three or four consecutive days can pass by where they have eaten 100% or close to 100% plant based. I've never considered myself to be a short order cook and have never cooked more than one meal for a dinner to accommodate my kids' likes/dislikes; and at least partly as a result of this, my kids have always been good eaters - thankfully, they were already good vegetable, fruit and legume eaters before Geoff and I made a change to becoming plant based. They eat what we eat, just as they always have. So it hasn't, perhaps, been as huge a shift for them as I'd feared it might be. And I don't mind if they choose meat or dairy products at other times - I'm not here to foist my desire for change onto them, and I recognize that they'll have to make their own choices about how they want to eat as they get older and more independent. I figure all I can do now is feed them the best I know how, as I've always done...and hope that they are healthier and a little wiser for it in the long term.

I have definitely noticed that, because the kids tend to follow what Geoff and I do, certain things have definitely changed for them. The most basic thing is that they rarely eat meat any more - and really only when they are eating out of the house (if my parents take us out for dinner, for example, or if they are at a friend's house). During the summer, I would occasionally include a bit of meat at lunch for them; for example, if I was putting out ingredients to make sandwiches, I'd put out a small package of meat for them to add to theirs. But even that began dying a natural death when the kids discovered that they loved the falafels that I was including in my wraps with veggies, etc. I think, too, that as they are more exposed to a plant-based diet, their tastes have even begun to change a little. For example, Geoff and I continued to purchase dairy milk for the kids this summer, because they have always been huge milk consumers (like, four big jugs of milk every 7-9 days!). But as I continued to put out jugs of ice water, and as Geoff and I quietly chose to drink almond/oat/cashew milks, their milk consumption started to rapidly, and naturally, decline. By early August, I was throwing out the last third of the one milk jug I'd bought for the week; and by late August I just stopped buying milk and the kids haven't once asked for it. They drink water and almond milk (and even that has changed from sweetened to unsweetened and I don't think they even noticed). There are sooo many ways to include calcium in our diets, and plants are so rich in so many nutrients, that we really don't need to be drinking cow's milk. I'm glad that the kids are drinking virtually no dairy milk any more, and a lot more water.

The other thing that people keep asking me about it protein - how are we ensuring that we get enough protein in our diets? I had that concern initially, too, until I started reading more about it and understanding that, as a western culture, we are way obsessed with protein and eating far more than our bodies actually need. As one researcher/doctor put it, in the western world he has never once heard of someone having a protein deficiency! I'd also just add that there is plenty of protein to be found in vegetables (especially in the dark green ones), legumes, nuts, and seeds. As long as we eat a varied and balanced diet, I don't have to spend even a second worrying about whether or not we are getting enough protein.

I am definitely continuing to read and research about the nutrients that our bodies need, to ensure that we maintain healthy bodies. So on the one hand, I'm trying as hard as I can to be on top of this in my non-scientific brain. On the other hand, I'm not super worried about getting sufficient nutrients; in so many ways, we're eating more health-fully than we've ever eaten.

It is still a significant challenge for me, to eat plant based. It has been such a huge change, despite having been mostly healthy eaters for years prior to this decision. I struggle with meal ideas at times, for example. I had no idea until this summer how much I had planned every meal around what meat we would consume every week - we would have beef one night, fish another night, chicken on two nights, one vegetarian night, etc etc. Once I had the animal protein figured out (other than for the vegetarian night), I would plan the rest of the meal around that. Sometimes it still feels like I'm preparing all of the side dishes that I used to serve alongside a chunk of meat, only now it's all the side dishes (and with some modifications). Everything used to centre (unconsciously) around the meat and how I'd prepare it. And I was good at it!

To help with this meal planning dilemma, I have begun creating a list of meal and snack ideas so that I can resume menu planning - which has been a lifesaver for me for many years already, and something that I have sorely missed over the last few months. I am poring through my plant based recipes and recipe books to create this list, and I am looking forward to it being done in the next 2-3 weeks, as I have time. I'm hoping that this will be helpful as we continue into our busy winter months ahead.

So there's my progress report for now. I have one or two more thoughts to put to paper, but that'll have to wait for another day! I hope this hasn't been too boring!