Raising a vegetarian kiddo

In an omnivorous world, it can be challenging to raise a vegetarian child – especially one that loves food and trying new stuff.  Oh the woes of the ‘veggie options’ on a standard restaurant menu: grilled cheese, mac and cheese, cheese enchiladas… blah.

Expand your global restaurant borders

Vietnamese tofu sandwich

We live in Houston, which is a miraculously international city with more restaurants per capita than we know what to do with.  Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Mexican – take your stomach across the border to feed your hungry kiddos.

Some of our favorite global vegetarian eating out options:

  • Bánh mì sandwiches – tofu and veggie sandwiches with a kick of jalapeno and a dollop of homemade mayo
  • Vietnamese noodle bowls and and steaming bowls of pho – stick with veggies, soy protein or tofu and you’re golden
  • Falafel, lemon potatoes and spanakopita make a fantastic meal with cucumber salad and hummus
  • Aloo gobi, veggie curry, palak nameer – you’ll find loads of great veggie pals at your favorite Indian restaurants. Don’t forget the garlic naan.

Re-think your snacking life

Strawberry payload

The biggest changes happen in your fridge.  You’ll eat what you’ve got around you, so give your kiddo’s every opportunity to reach for fresh fruit, dried fruit, pita with nut butter, apple sauce and homemade food ready to snack on.

Make trips to your produce section and farmer’s markets an event to look forward to, let your kiddo select your fruit, learn about ripeness, color, flavor and kitchen purposes.  We started Ella early with berries, brussels sprouts, kale chips and anything else we could get into her.

Sure, there were days where food that was the color green gave her emotional breakdowns (sigh) – but these days we find ourselves sharing a table with a curious and eager eater.  Thank goodness!

Go veg, try raw, love thy veggies

Raw food for happy families

Since we’re always on the lookout for healthy and veggie-friendly restaurants, we get to try all sorts of new chefs takes on modern vegetarian cooking.  Sites like Yelp and HappyCow.net make finding specific cuisines and vegan options easy, no matter what city we are visiting.

Take advantage of mobile technology to guide you through seasonal farmer’s market shopping, deciphering global menu items for animal products and keeping your little veggie kid happy at the dinner table during long multi-course vegetarian meals with friends :)

Looking for vegetarian or vegan kid-friendly recipes?  Check out our hungrykatie recipe site!