cashew yoghurt

jasmine couldn't get enough of this one even though it was made for my husband and me!

• 2 cups of as raw as you can get cashews, soaked and drained
• 1/8tsp probiotics (i used some dairy free kids Inner Health stuff coz it has the least amount of taste and white in colour - the probiotics we normally take is Bioactive VIP and it has a strong flavour and brown in colour we didn't think it would make a nice yoghurt!)

blend cashews with a cup of water (or more if you want it runnier) until really smooth. 

stir through probiotics. 

leave in dehydrater at 40deg over night. 

in the morning it is ready to eat. 

keep in fridge.

we had this plain as oli doesn't sweeten anything but i would recommend flavouring it with vanilla, agave or fruit.

Packed Lunch for a toddler

i used to have to pack lunches for Zac on the days he went to childcare. i always found it hard not to include nuts as his diet  is normally very high in nuts as a good protein source. i also found it hard because we didn't normally have a lot of sandwiches but i wanted to make him feel like he had similar food to the other kids eating with him. i figured tahini sandwiches were great even though it took a lot of explaining to the carers that ist wasn't peanut butter! i also could pack him off with some homemade baked beans and he  often enjoyed eating leftovers from last night's dinner if it was easy enough for him to manage on a fork himself eg pasta or noodles. Nori rolls, sandwiches, salad vegies and dried fruits were the easiest finger foods to pack. here is an example of his lunch box:  this one is homemade brown rice and avocado nori rolls, tahini sandwich, vegie noodles, cucumber, tomato and lettuce, and a date.

he now is in a childcare centre that provides all meals. this has been easier than expected and the staff have really embraced experimenting with vegan meals. they have worked out how to substitute ingredients in their normal meals so zac's meal does not differ too much form the other kids. they also made one of the days in the week all kids get a vegan meal! this was usually mexican beans, rice and guacamole or a vegie pasta. they also tried some "chickpea bites" which i assume were small round patties but no-one, including zac, ate them so they came off the menu!

snow balls and snow penguins

this is a great one for your toddler to help cook! but be prepared for a lot of mess!

blend dried fruit  - i used medjool dates, figs, and apricots.
you may need a bit of water to assist the blending - i used some young coconut juice.
mix through quinoa puffs - or any puffs eg rice or buckwheat.
mix through almond meal or any nut butter/meal.
add as much quinoa puffs and nut meal to get your preferred consistency to roll balls of the mixture easily.
roll balls over desiccated coconut.
shape into snow men/animals or just eat the balls!

blended food mixes

we started with a green smoothie of

• lettuce, green algae powder (chlorella), soaked almonds, raw brown rice protein powder, chia seeds

then with some other blends based on what we had in the house and what i was cooking for myself and Zac that day

• young coconut flesh, banana, raw cashew
• bok choy, quinoa, beluga lentils, pumpkin, green capsicum
• bok choy, quinoa, red lentils, sweet potato, broccoli
• red lentil, sweet potato, avocado
• avocado, tahini, pumpkin
• zucchini chickpeas, pumpkin, tahini
• homemade baked beans (see earlier post ) and sweet potato

i often have soft steamed vege peieces like broccoli and pumpkin for jazz to have as finger food while spooning her the blends. even raw carrot sticks and celery sticks work a treat to give her something to gnaw on.

it's great to have a frozen stash of soaked and cooked legumes and quinoa so you can pop a chunk of them into the steamer with your vegies for the day's meal rather than having to cook a tiny amount each time.

jasmine's very first foods:

avocado mashed
banana mashed
young coconut flesh blended with some of the milk
sweet potato blended with a bit of filtered water
unhulled tahini

it's been so very very long since i have posted. i have given birth to our 2nd child and things have been too busy to manage my blog as well! please read through the recipes below!

it's been quite busy round here so i haven't been posting as often. we had the kitchen renovated, we did a few trips to sydney, i started work again (just 2 days a week) and Zac started childcare on those days. so we've gotten out of our homely routine!
in amongst this upheaval it hasn't been that difficult to manage healthy vegan meals for zac. there has been a few short cuts taken and variety has been a bit compromised. We were eating regular take away dahl and curry from Rainbow Dream Vegetarian Cafe, lots of bought avocado nori rolls and lot's of plain steamed vegies and tempeh pieces.
it was great to get back home and into the kitchen to do some cooking! i pulled out old favourites, not having the motivation to try something new to post!

vegie lentil casserole

these portions feed you and your baby. blend for younger babies of course. for babies used to finger food this is great as they can pick out the vegie pieces and shovel in a bit of the mushy bits with a spoon. tonight i mixed through some kamut penne as well.

1/2 cup dry green lentils (or any legume of your choice)
1/2 onion finely chopped
1/2 red capsicum cut into long slices
1/2 eggplant cut into long slices
1/2 carrot thinly sliced
2 tomatoes finely chopped
4 Tsp tomato paste (optional)
handful of fresh parsley finely chopped
2 handfuls of spinach leaves finely chopped
1/2 clove garlic crushed

soak lentils for the day. drain soak water and put in a pot covered generously with fresh water. bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins or until lentils are soft.
while lentils are cooking saute up the onions in a pan/pot with a dash of oil or just some water. once onions are soft add the capsicum and saute for a few minutes. then add eggplant and saute until soft. then add carrots and saute - they will soften more later. then add tomatoes, stir and cover to simmer for a few minutes. stir through tomato paste, spinach, parsley and garlic. remove from heat once spinach is soft. mix with the cooked lentils.
serve as is or blended. makes a great meal with quinoa, pasta or polenta.

purple salad

1 T finely diced tomato
1 T finely shaved cucumber
1 tsp finely chopped red cabbage
1 heaped tsp grated beetroot
2 T cooked green lentils
1 T tahini

steam beetroot after grating for a few minutes to soften it. you could also use a spoonful of a good quality beetroot dip if you wanted to cheat as i sometimes have! stir all ingredients together in a bowl and spoon feed or put in a wrap. blend for younger babies. zac preferred this meal spoon fed and didn't touch the wrap i also offered - weird as it is usually the other way round!

high fat all good mix

1 T avocado
1 T coconut milk
1 T ground pumpkin seeds
1 T macadamia butter
1 T cooked brown rice
1 T cooked lentils
1 T steamed vegie pieces (i used broccoli, sweet potato and peas)
1/2tsp golden kelp
optional: any herbs and spices your baby likes

mix all ingredients together in the bowl or blend for younger babies. Zac devoured this dish tonight along with his finder foods.

raw kale and tahini

1 bunch of kale, chopped as finely as you can (but not blended)
1/8tsp salt (you could choose to blanch the kale so there would be no need for salt but it is such a tiny amount for the huge amount of kale, and this makes about 10 baby servings so each serve has really not that much salt in the end)
3T tahini
juice of 1 lemon

chop up kale and put it in a bowl. sprinkle salt over kale and mix through with hands, squeezing clumps of kale as you go. you are aiming to squeeze the kale until it is dark green and moist. pour in lemon juice and squeeze clumps of kale a bit more to mix through the juice. mix through the tahini - adding more if you want it creamier.
i normally spoon out a bit for zac and do a second round of chopping on this spoonful. it sticks together with the tahini and you can get the kale leaves smaller with a second chop so it is easier for baby to eat. i serve the rest (without a second chop) to myself and my husband, oli, and mix it througb a garden salad for us. or you could divvy up the whole lot for baby by refrigerating or freezing small portions for later.
i use this for zac to be spoonfed, or spread it on a sandwich, or mixed it through some quinoa.

quinoa and (not)meatballs

this was meant to be spaghetti and meatballs but at the last minute i looked in the cupboard and there was no spaghetti! so out came the quinoa instead! the photo i took looks very professional with the white background - however the meal was just plonked on his white high chair tray and the white tray turned out to be quite an effective background for the shot!

you could follow the recipe for lentil balls on the 11/3/11 post and the tomato based pasta sauce recipe on the 5/2/11, however the following recipe i whizzed up a less complicated version.

1/2 C cooked green lentils
1-2 T protein powder (i use sun warrior raw brown rice protein powder) or flour
1/2 tsp golden kelp
1/4 C quinoa (or 25g spaghetti)
1/2 C boiling water
1/2 C tomato paste
1/2 C broccoli, kale and eggplant chopped
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 C water

mix the lentils and golden kelp with enough protein powder or flour to make a dough that will clump together easily into small balls. shape the balls and fry, grill or bake.
place quinoa with 1/2 C boiling water in a pot and cook covered on low heat until water is absorbed (normally takes 10-15mins).
add the remaining ingredients in a separate pot. cover and cook over medium heat for 10 mins (or until vegies are soft but brocolli hasn't lost it's bright green colour).
serve together on the high chair tray. blend quinoa, sauce and lentils (before making them into balls) for younger babies.
make larger proportions of this to share as dinner for the whole family.

a drizzle of tahini over this dish would make it even tastier i think.

chickpeas, quinoa and vegie pilaf

1/2 C cooked chickpeas, mashed with a fork
1/2 C cooked quinoa
3/4 C diced mixed vegies (i used corn, kale, green beans, green capsicum, broccoli)
handful of chopped fresh parsley, coriander, shallots
2 tsp tahini
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

stir all ingredients in a bowl and serve, or blend for younger babies. i make a bigger quantity of this so i can eat some for dinner too and keep some aside as fillings for wraps, pastry parcels, sandwiches, or to make into vegie burger patties (just add some quinoa flour and blended chia seeds with a bit of water)

fresh organic produce

i like to know zac is eating a colourful fresh flavoursome meal. i also want to make sure every mouthful i get into his mouth is full of nutrients rather than him filling up on low nutrient foods. i really believe that not only is fresh organic produce better nutritionally for our children and ourselves but it also makes the dishes taste so much better. i'm sure if you compare a dish made with fresh organic produce as opposed to the produce that you find in supermarkets you would definitely taste a difference. i think it is why a lot of people can't fathom how a vegan or vegetarian diet could be tasty and satisfying, or why a lot of us need to add salt and sugar to foods, because a lot of people are used to bland vegies with the animal products being the flavoursome key ingredient. i aim to make things for him that i would like to eat myself and steer away from foods that i would not eat (like baby rice cereal or jarred baby foods - i just can't see how the nutritional content of those foods would be very high as they were probably picked, cooked and packaged a long time ago and often have to be fortified with nutrients to make them seem worthwhile).
i think having meals that are fresh colourful and flavoursome has a lot to do with zac's willingness to eat the foods i offer him. i also think that it may have something to do with him not having "white" foods offered as his first foods - like rice cereal, yoghurt, white potato mash, white soft bread. he started on banana, green smoothies , avocado, tahini and steamed vegie finger food. of course the other influencing factor would be that i was eating a plant-based diet all through pregnancy and preconception, and now when i am still breastfeeding him. additionally, Zac goes shopping with us to the farmers market and food coop and he picks vegies with me from our garden which is all part of what i think is important for introducing our children to the wonders of fresh organic produce. oh and he loves to spin the lettuce!

lentil and quinoa vegie soup

1/2 C green lentils, soaked
1/4 quinoa
1 C diced vegies (pumpkin, sweet potato, zucchini, broccoli, kale, peas)
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp thyme or a fresh sprig if you have one
1/4 tsp rosemary or a fresh sprig if you have one
1/4 tsp margoram
1/2 clove garlic crushed
1/4 onion chopped

throw everything into a pot, add enough water to generously cover ingredients and simmer until lentils are just breaking up (about 15mins). spoon out some soup into a small bowl and stir in a pinch of golden kelp. blend for younger babies.

lentil balls

1 C cooked green lentils
1/4 onion finely chopped or grated
handful of fresh parsley and coriander finely chopped
1 tsp golden kelp
1/2 C quinoa flour
1 T protein powder (optional)
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1 T chia seed blended or 1 tsp egg substitute powder

add all ingredients in a bowl and mash together with a fork unitl well mixed. you can blend mixture for younger babies. mixture should be a soft dough but not too sticky. shape into balls and lightly fry, bake or grill until surface is crisped and browned.

vegan sheperds pie

1 1/2C vegies finely chopped (green beans, mushrooms, kale, eggplant, tomatoes onions)
1 cup cooked green of brown lentils
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
squeeze of lemon juice
1 T tomato paste
handful of finely chopped fresh parsley
2T ground pumpkin seeds
125g sweet potato
1/4 C polenta

steam sweet potato. simmer polenta with 1/4- 1/2 C water for 5 mins. mash potato and stir through polenta. cook vegies, lentils, tomato paste, herbs and lemon with 1/2 C water, covered over medium heat for 10mins. remove from heat and stir through pumpkin seeds. spoon vegie mixture into a bowl and top with sweet potato mix. blend 2 separate parts for younger babies. this will probably do more than one serve so just eat the rest yourself or freeze the rest - of course you can increase the amounts so it is enough for the family. you may want to spoon the parts into an oven dish and bake to brown the top but i find it is fine without baking.

nutritionist advice

when zac was 9mths old i took him to see my natropath, Robyn Chuter, in Sydney to double check i was feeding zac all the right stuff. there's only so much you can gather from internet and literature searches on baby vegans so it was good to talk to someone who knew a lot about the subject. basically i was reassured that i was covering all the nutritional stuff i needed to with his diet.
at his 12 mth health check i got an earful of judgemental attitudes towards his vegan diet from the ACT Health community nurses i was refered to the ACT Health dietician. i thought this was a great opportunity for more reassurance about the nutritional value of the food i was giving him. i took a 3 day food diary and the dietician looked through it. she was very happy with all the different types of healthy food he was eating and confirmed he was getting everything he needed and i had nothing to worry about with his diet. i'll probably go back to Robyn or the ACT Health dietician in the future just to make sure everything is still on track with meeting his nutritional needs. it feels good to get reassurance in a society that tends to shun vegan parenting.

yummy protein blend

1/2 red cup lentils
1 T protein powder (i use sun warrior raw vegan rice protein powder)
1/4 C ground pumpkin seeds
1/4 C tahini (unhulled gives a nuttier taste)
2 leaves of kale finely chopped
1 tsp golden kelp

simmer red lentils in 1 1/2 C water uncovered for 10mins. don't worry if it is still abit watery at the end the water will soak up the powder and seed blends. remove from heat and stir through kale so it softens with the hot lentils. add other ingredients and stir. you shouldn't need to blend this but you may want to. zac loves eating this from a spoon but i have also spread it on toast and sandwiches for him.

mushroom lentil sauce

1 small mushroom (not so small as a button mushroom)
handful of fresh parsley and coriander
1/2 cup of soaked puy lentils, preferably sprouted
1 T unhulled tahini
1/2 tsp golden kelp
1 T water
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 small avocado

steam mushroom and boil lentils until soft. blend all ingredients adding extra water if needed. spoon feed as is for younger babies or mix through pasta and steamed vegies (steamed chopped kale is especially good with this) and plonk on the high chair.