Healthy Plant-Based Meals for Young Families

the plant-based baby and toddler

The Plant-Based Baby and Toddler is a complete feeding guide for 6 months to 3 years, with over 60 simple recipes. This is your go-to source for evidence-based healthy eating for parents of young vegans, from two highly qualified nutritionists and registered dietitians.

Read info by dietitians on food allergens (they say the top 8 allergens of milk, eggs, soy, shellfish, fish, peanuts, tree nuts and wheat account for around 90% of all allergens, the others being mustard or sesame seeds).

Read our post on food safety for people and pets. Just bin allium scraps (onion, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives) and tomato/citrus/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures (they are okay to go in food waste bins, as this is made into biogas).

For tinned foods, rinse then remove lids (pop in cans) or pop ring-pulls back over holes. Pinch or flatten cans, to stop wildlife getting trapped.

In this book, the authors discuss:

  • The PB3 plate; a visual guide to creating nutritionally balanced meals: one third fruits/vegetables, one third legumes (avoiding nuts/seeds for children under 5) and one third grains/starches – easy to adapt for the entire family)
  • How to meet needs for critical nutrients like iron
  • A primer on traditional purees and baby-led weaning/feeding
  • Dealing with picky eaters
  • Sorting fact from fiction for formulas and non-dairy milks
  • Over 50 plant-based recipes (from first bites to age 3)

As dietitians and mothers, Whitney and Alex pored over nutrition journals and called on the experts to learn how to provide their babies with the best diet possible. They found that plant-based diets are associated with a reduced risk of obesity, decreased cholesterol levels, and increased fruit and vegetable intake. In short, if done well they are safe and healthy.

Choking Hazards for Children

Choking hazards should be avoided for children and people with swallowing difficulties (and allergies). Also keep small toys off the kitchen floor where toddlers and pets could find them.

Learn how to help someone who is choking. Foods to avoid include:

  • Nuts, Seeds & Nut/Seed Butters (avoid for under 5)
  • Chia seeds (soak in liquid first, if used)
  • Dry Bread, Crackers & Croutons
  • Crumbly Foods (pies & biscuits)
  • Peas, Grapes, Cherry Tomatoes, Cherries (even sliced)
  • Carrot Sticks
  • Sausages (slice lengthwise & again, for older children)
  • Foods with Seeds (raspberries etc)
  • Boiled Sweets
  • Sticky Foods (some cheese, marshmallow, mochi)
  • Tough Foods (steak, bacon, skin/bone/gristle)
  • Stringy Foods ((beans, rhubarb)
  • Floppy Foods (lettuce, cucumber, spinach)
  • Chia seeds (mix with water first, if using for others)

easy dinners for busy parents

Alexandra Caspero and Whitney English are American nutritionists and registered dieticians, who specialise in plant-based food for children. They are also authors of several e-books for pregnancy and children, including Easy Dinners for Busy Parents which contains 30 plant-based recipes, a 6-week meal plan (with grocery lists) and 20 bonus recipes.

Other e-books you can find on their site (along with many plant-based recipes for children and families) include:

The Nut-Free Lunch Box Book

nut-free lunch box book

The Nut-Free Lunch Box Book is written by two American plant-based dietitians (both mothers to plant-based children), which not only has 30 easy recipes, but information for navigating nut-free schools and playgrounds.

This is an e-book for instant download.

Some parents vegan children (and those with allergies or religious beliefs) want NHS Healthy Start Vouchers (for low incomes) to offer dairy-free milk and vegan vitamin D supplements (as well as fresh produce), especially as many African-American children  are lactose-intolerant.

Feed Me More Veggies (a plant-based family cookbook)

feed me more veggies

Feed Me More Veggies is a book by a new mum, who offers over 75 recipes for the family, to satisfy picky eaters. Find fuss-free recipes for busy weeknights and lazy weekends, along with comfort food classics. And you’ll also find handy weaning ideas and tips for little ones.

Recipes include:

  • Crispy Quinoa Patties
  • Indian Butter Chickpea Curry
  • Strawberry Matcha Pancakes.

Author Lucy Watson is a well-known vegan and animal welfare campaigner. She was one of the original stars of the reality show Made in Chelsea, about wealthy inhabitants of this London suburb.

Plant-powered Families (a book of wholefood recipes)

plant-powered families

Plant-Powered Families is a nice book by one of our favourite cookbook authors, who always uses fresh wholefood ingredients and uses a little oil and maple syrup (she’s Canadian!) with recipes that will appeal to most tastebuds. This book offers 100 easy-to-make and delicious recipes that everyone will love.

With tips for handling challenges for every age and stage (From toddler to teens), this book is the perfect book for parents raising ‘weegans’ or families looking to transition. As well as advice for helping picky eaters, there are tips on stocking a vegan pantry and making school lunches, plus dealing with challenging social situations. Includes nutritionist-approved references for dietary information.

This is a book you will use, whether you want a quick weeknight supper or a dish for a special occasion. From breakfasts to small bites to dinner and dessert, enjoy recipes for:

  • Pumpkin pie smoothie
  • Creamy breakfast rice pudding
  • Sunday morning pancakes
  • Potato-meets-egg salad
  • Creamy fettuccine
  • Sneaky chickpea burgers
  • Mild cheesy dip
  • Home fries
  • Lemon-kissed blondie bites
  • Banana butter ice cream
  • The great pumpkin pie!
  • ‘Milk’ chocolate fudge sauce

Dreena Burton is a Canadian self-taught chef, who has raised three vegan children with her husband. She is the author of several family-friendly wholefoods recipe books.

Wildly Tasty (plant-based meals for families)

wildly tasty

Although it’s good to cook food from scratch, life doesn’t always work like that. But if you look, there are far better alternatives to ready-made frozen nugget meals for children!

Wildly Tasty is a lovely company created by a professional chef, offering award-winning plant-based meals for children (and adults) that taste yummy and are packed with nutrients (and also low in salt). And a portion of profits helping a Surrey wildlife rescue charity.

Minimum order is £25 (free delivery over £50). And next day delivery, if orders are placed before midday Monday to Friday. Get 20% off off your first order, if you sign up to the newsletter, and share your unique referral link for £5 discount for you and friends/family.

Each kids’ meal serves two young children or one older child, depending on age and appetite. The family size miles serve 2 adults (or 1 adult and 2 children).

Just heat in the oven for a few minutes, or store in the freezer for up to a month (thaw overnight in the fridge then heat).

These meals are not for babies (check age guides on meals) under 1 year. While the ingredients are all allergen-free, they are made within a kitchen that handles all major allergens. 

Meals are delivered in recycled vegan insulated packaging and ice packs (keep dry ice away from children and pets). They can be stored in the freezer for 3 months. Recycle packaging at kerbside or supermarket bag bins.

Different Ways to Serve Wildly Tasty Meals

wildly tasty

This post has plenty of suggestions on how to serve the meals to bulk them up for both filling up tummies and affordability:  Examples are:

  • With jacket potatoes and salad
  • To fill up veggie burritos
  • With rice or pasta
  • As a jacket potato filling
  • With sweet potato wedges
  • With couscous or noodles
  • Reduce with water, to make soup

The range includes:

  • Mushroom and Lentil Bolognese
  • Apricot & Chickpea Tagine
  • Coconut and Sweet Potato Dahl
  • Yellow Thai Veggie Curry
  • Sweet Potato & Bean Chilli
  • Super Tomato and Five Veg Sauce

Quality Ingredients (veggies over carbs!)

One feature that is popular with parents is these meals are not ‘padded’ with carbs, so you can add your own carbs to meals, which gives children more nutrients and choice.

The company was founded by a mother of ‘two under two’ who was finding it a struggle to cook everything from scratch, but could not find meals to her health, taste and ethical standards in shops.

As she had 6 years of experience developing recipes for Mindful Chef, the solution was obvious!

The ingredients are top quality too. Vegetables and fruits are sourced from New Covent Garden, tomatoes from Italian farms and coconut milk from Biona (not just organic but guaranteed free from monkey slave harvesting).

The meals also include natural proteins like beans, lentils and chickpeas, alongside naturally dried apricots (to avoid sulphites). Even the oats are grown and milled on a British farm. And rather than palm oil, the company uses extra-virgin olive oil and virgin raw coconut oil for fats.

Approval from Kids Food & Drink Collective

Wildly Tasty has recently become approved by the Kids Food & Drink Collective, an organisation campaigning for better healthy food for young tummies, after discovering that 78% of ‘children’s foods’ in stores would be classed as ‘unhealthy’ by nutritionists. Recent nominees for its ‘Yucky Awards’ are:

  • A fast food chain for campaigning against councils trying to stop hot takeaway food being sold near schools.
  • A ‘Toddler Milk’ brand claiming nutritional benefits, of a drink that is similar to chocolate milkshake, and is against NHS guidance.
  • A baby rusk company promoting ‘reduced sugar’ benefits, but actually have a third more

Wildly Tasty also supports Dylan Strong Foundation, an organisation founded by the mother of a boy who outlived his cancer diagnosis by several months, due to her feeding him nutritious plant-based meals. The organisation now supplies (with the help of this company) healthy meals to child cancer patients, both at home and in hospitals.

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