How do you ensure vegan kids stay nourished in busy times?

Hi there, it's Gen. Welcome to this week's podcast. So this week, I'm going to talk about the essential foods that I make sure my kids have each day,in order to make sure they're getting the nutrition that they need. So, it's kind of a what my kids eat in a day type thing. Now, before I start, I wanted to remind you about my new vegan recipe book, which is coming out really soon, it should be out in the next couple of weeks. I'm really excited about it. So, It's Super Boosted Snacks. It's full of vegan snacks, that are super high in iron and zinc and calcium, protein, veggies and beans, all the things that your kids need in snacks, that they're going to really love to eat. So, make sure that you sign up down below for the waitlist for that one so that you hear all the updates and you know exactly when it's been released. So you can sign up for it and it should be out in the next couple of weeks. At the moment, I've just finished doing all the recipes. 

So now I'm just putting everything together, so that I can get it published. So it's gonna be really exciting and look out for that in the next couple of weeks. Okay, so let's talk about the essential foods that I make sure my kids have each day. So I was thinking the other day about things have been for me in the last sort of year or have been really full on. We've had a death in the family, I've had my kids have been diagnosed with autism. We've started homeschooling both of them, which is really hard to juggle between with two parents who are also working from home as well. And we don't have any family support or anything up here either. So things are very full on. 

We've also had, our cat has had some issues she spent all week last week in the emergency vet, which was fun. We've also had another family member diagnosed with cancer. So yeah, so things are really full on at the moment and I was thinking about it. I'm thinking about, I have a bunch of foods that I always make sure I give my kids to make sure that they're getting the minimum nutrition that they need. As I'm sure you can imagine right now, when things are really busy and crazy and overwhelming. We aren't as a family, eating as well as we could, when things that come and my kids tend to eat a lot of vegetables, a lot of home cooked foods, yeah, we eat quite differently. 

But at the moment, things are really crazy and busy and we don't have a lot of time to cook. So we are having more takeaway than I like to have. We all have seasons in life and that's just how it is. But as I said, there are a few things that I have as non negotiables that I always make sure my kids are having, to make sure that they're getting the nutrition they need. So, there are some essential nutrients that vegan kids need that we really need to concentrate on, which I've spoken about before in other podcasts. So if you want a deeper dive in any of those go and make sure you grab some of my other podcasts to listen to. But they're things like iron, zinc, calcium, are all really important. So, is just overall energy, making sure kids are actually eating enough because vegan food isn't always that high in energy or calories. 

So that's a really important one too. And then also making sure that they're getting the vitamins they need from fruits and vegetables as well. Both my kids have autism and they are both very fussy eaters in very different ways. Couldn't be simple and have them both and dislike the same foods. They're actually basically opposites really, one likes, very plain food, hate sauces. Everything has to be playing preferably roll. The other one likes really flavor some foods and really love sauces and hates things that are plain. So yeah, makes things fun. Anyway, so as I was saying, there are some foods that I make sure that they're getting each day in order to make sure that those nutrients are covered. 

And then I don't tend to worry as much about the other foods. We ended up having a lot of nights where they'll have pasta.Hormel pasta and cheese and some veggie sticks on the side and some fruit and stuff like that. That's one of our very low energy can't be bothered fighting with them to get them to eat something else. Sorts of dinners that we have. My husband and I will often have a curry or a stir fry or something to go with it. Yeah. So back to the foods that I do make sure that they have. So, the first one that I always do is I always make sure that each week or even each fourth night. That, I make up a bunch of a batch of snacks for the kids. So these are snacks that are from my recipe book. And so they're snacks that are high in iron and high in zinc. So that I'm making sure that they're getting those. So, I often do a batch of protein balls, I'll do some cookies and maybe some muesli bars. 

And I try to do double of all of them. So that I've actually got enough for two weeks. So, that normally takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to do that. So I try to put that time aside and then I'll actually freeze them all so that they're all in the freezer and the kids can just grab them each day. So those snacks are quite high in iron, and zinc. So they have about one and a half to two milligrams of iron each and then one to two milligrams of zinc each. So that's giving my kids a really good amount and it also means that they're having snacks. I know that they're having healthy snacks in the morning, and in the afternoon. They normally have those but some fruit as well. 

And so I know that that's giving them a really good amount of iron and zinc protein as well, which I don't tend to worry about. But I know that some people do worry about protein. So yeah, so that's the first thing I do. And as I said, once a fortnight, I try to take an hour or so out of my time to do that and I make sure that I freeze them. So most of the snacks in the recipe book are all freezer friendly and they have instructions on how to freeze them. So that you're not having to make snacks really regularly and it's really great to be able to freeze them ahead. So that you can just grab them out as well. Something else that I do as an aside is I always make sure that I have a breakfast bar or something for myself when I'm doing that too. 

Because when we're really busy and stressed and stuff, I tend to miss out on breakfast a lot. I'm not very good at eating breakfast in the morning. So, I always make sure I've got something for myself in there as well. And the same goes with the snacks is that my husband and I will then have probably one of them a day, as well. So it means that we've got snacks aside for us to. Another thing that I do as well is we have non negotiable in our family around whole grains. And in particular, so we have wholemeal bread all the time, because it's a lot higher in iron. We have wholemeal bread, we also tend to have a whole meal pasture most of the time to. 

You do need to try a few different brands for that I find some of them taste really not nice and some are a lot better. Yeah, we always do that, and always have brown rice, too. When I'm really busy, I tend to either make up a big batch of rice ahead and then freeze it in bags, or I use the supermarket packets as well, if I'm really busy. They do have a bit of oil in them, which I don't like but I figure it's better to have the brown rice than not have rice at all. So that's something else that we do by making sure that my kids are always having wholemeal or whole wheat, if you're in America. I think is what the term is, then it's a huge boost of iron. It's up to double the amount of iron that white products have. So, that's another really easy way of making sure that they're getting enough iron. 

So, I tend to use just the wholemeal bread, just the cheap Supermarket Brand, rather than the ones with lots and lots of different grains in them and stuff. Because I know that my kids are gonna eat the whole meal one. Whereas they don't always eat the ones with all the extra seeds and everything. And the whole meal one still has a really good amount of iron in it. There is also a wonderful white bread that's out these days, that's actually fortified with iron too. So if you are worried about iron, it's a good one. It's a really good one for teenage girls who are menstruating who need the extra but can't necessarily have lots of different extra calories and stuff because they don't have as high energy needs. But can be a good one too, if you want to. But I don't worry about it because it is quite expensive. And I already know that my kids are getting a lot of the iron they need from the snacks that I make each day.

Zinc is also really important. And so I always make sure that my kids have a good serve of pumpkin seeds normally each day. So normally that's through the snacks that I'm making. The other way also is making like a Parmesan that I make on pasture and stuff. So, I'm always really conscious especially because I have boys who have higher zinc needs. I always make sure that they have an extra set of pumpkin seeds each day to make sure getting enough zinc. Now calcium, I tend to use a fortified soy milk because it's the easiest way to make sure they're getting enough. My youngest loves to just drink soy milk plain. So he's pretty easy, whereas my eldest isn't such so keen on it. 

So, he tends to have it either in a smoothie or he'll have it, sometimes we do. And with Milo baking Milo, I tend to try to make sure he's having some soy milk each day as well. And I tend to use the Vitasoy Calci Plus because it has more calcium in it. Which is especially good for my oldest son who needs more, but he's not that keen on drinking it. Now, as I mentioned earlier, kids have really high energy needs. They need a lot of energy or calories depending on where you're from, in order to have enough to grow and develop and then also be able to learn and play and do all the things that they need to do as kids. 

So, it's really important that we're making sure that our kids are eating enough. So, I will always make sure that there's a healthy fat in with each of their meals. So that's for all of their, like breakfast, lunch and dinner, but also with their snacks as well. So, as I've said before, the snack recipes, they contain a lot of nuts and seeds a lot. And so they're normally really good, especially things like the protein balls and the muesli bars and stuff. They're really good for making sure that my kids are getting the healthy fats. Then in the other meals, I'll make sure we go through a lot of peanut butter. My kids love it. 

So, they'll often have peanut butter, they also love avocado so always make sure we've got avocado for them to have. Yogurt too is really popular in our house and hummus is another really good one too. They either have it on the side with some crackers or veggies, or they have it on sandwiches, too. Hummus and avocado is a very popular sandwich choice in our family. So that's the main nutrients and then when it comes to fruits and vegetables, there are three vitamins, vitamin K, vitamin C and vitamin A, which we can only get so we as vegan. 

This isn't for everyone but vegans can only get those vitamins from fruits and vegetables. So, I always make sure that I'm giving my kids the vegetables that are really high in those nutrients each day to make sure they're getting what they need. And then it means that I'm not as fussed about the rest of the vegetables, if they have more vegetables, it's awesome. If they don't, then at least they've met the minimum requirements for the day. So the first one vitamin K, now vitamin K for vegans, we really need to be getting it from greens. 

So if you've got fussy kids who might not be into vegetables, like my youngest. It's really important that you're making sure they're getting enough greens for their vitamin K. The best source of Vitamin K is kale. Most younger kids need one big leaf of kale every week, which is kind of crazy. Our body actually stores vitamin K, so we don't need to be having it every day. I tend to give my kids a vitamin kale and banana smoothie. The recipe will be in the Recipe Book. I do that every couple of days just to make sure that they're getting the vitamin K they need. 

Kale is also awesome for iron and other things too. But yeah, I really make sure they have that every few days just to make sure they're getting enough Vitamin K, Vitamin C. So vitamin C, they need to be having every day. Now, red capsicum is really high in vitamin C. Red peppers, I think if you're in the US, yeah, so those are ridiculously high in vitamin C. I think you need basically two or three strips each day will be a huge amount. So I always make sure that my kids have some of that each day to make sure that they're getting vitamin C. 

They do also have other fruit and everything they do like fruit but I just make sure that they're having the red capsicum because not all fruits are high in vitamin C only summer. So, I just do that to make sure that they're getting it basically and the last one is vitamin A. So vitamin A is another one of these that the body stores it so you don't have to have it every day. So the best source for vitamin A is sweet potato. It has a huge amount of vitamin A in it. So, I do try to get my kids to have sweet potato every couple of days to make sure they're getting it. 

But then I also do try to give them orange vegetables every day if I can. So carrots sweet potato, as I said and pumpkin as well, they're sort of the minimum vegetables that I do. And I really make sure that they're having those. And then I'm not as worried about vegetables, because I know they're getting what they need. I do also give my kids a vitamin B 12 supplement. So I do a spray one, that one I do every couple of days when I remember, because it doesn't need to be every day. It's quite a high dosage in the spray and then I also give an Omega 3 supplement as well. So yeah, they're really my non negotiables that I make sure my kids have every day so that I know that they're actually meeting them minimum nutrition requirements. 

As I said, obviously, when I'm not going through really stressful times and stuff, my kids have a far more varied sort of palette, they have a lot more foods. But this is just when we're tired and stressed and stuff. This is what we fall back on to make sure and then it means that I'm not as worried about what they're eating for the rest of their meals. So, as long as they're getting these foods, I know that they're eating whole grains. I know that they're getting some healthy snacks each day they're getting the zinc they need. I'm not so worried if they have plain pasta for dinner because I know that they're getting what they need from vegetables and everything. 

And Dena becomes kind of a just a way to fill their tummies up in order for them to sleep and stuff. So, I really hope that this helps you get an idea of what foods to focus on first and foremost, to make sure that your kids are getting enough nutrition. And when you know that your kids are getting the nutrition they need through these foods, then that means that you can relax a bit more around mealtimes and everything and save your energy for the other things in life that are causing you stress. 

So yeah, I hope that helps and I'll talk to you again next week.