Now that you know how we feed our kids a plant-based diet without losing our minds, I thought I would share some of the great transition/substitute foods we use/have used to ease the switch to a plant-based diet, for us and the kids!
Everybody has a different story of their journey to a plant-based lifestyle (here’s ours). Ours was part slow transition, part cold to-furkey switching. We cut out dairy first, then meat, then eggs, ending with honey over two years after making the initial step in the plant-based directions. Each time we cut something out, it was immediate, though. We didn’t go back and forth. When we stopped eating cheese, that was it. I didn’t buy it, we didn’t order it. Done. I found having immediate replacements for these products helped to keep us from waffling back and forth.
There are lots of great products out there now to help ease the transition from some of your favorite meat and dairy heavy foods. I’ll share some of our favorites that were super helpful and some that we still eat as treats every now and then!
For the kiddos, Daiya Mac n Cheeze is their absolute favorite! They like the yellow cheeze the best (even though I think they all taste the same). It smells a little funky, but my kids didn’t seem to notice. All they know is it comes out of a box and has a creamy cheez sauce and they are happy! We don’t buy this a ton, but we love it for a quick and easy meal! Plus, I have a great, kid and husband approved cashew cheese sauce recipe made entirely of veggies! That is our go to when we need a cheesy fix. But some days and weeks just call for an easy 10 minute box of macaroni!
Another great one for the kids was Gardein’s crispy chicken tenders. I even loved these when I was pregnant with Madi and craving a bbq chicken pizza! The boys couldn’t tell the difference between them and actual chicken nuggets! They also like tofu fingers dipped in ketchup to replace chicken nuggets. Basically, if you can dip it in ketchup, they are happy campers. Christian is also a huge fan of the Beyond Meat Beefy Crumbles. He can just eat those by the spoonful! We used them a lot in our tacos, nachos, and burritos. We still buy them occasionally if we want to switch things up, but mostly try whole food alternatives to taco meat (quinoa, rice, beans, lentils, etc.).
Black bean burgers are a god-send for quick lunches or cookout dinners. Our favorite are the Gardein Spicy Chipotle Black Bean burgers. You have to be careful when buying veggie burgers as a lot of them have eggs or cheese in them as binders. We had come to realize that the “burger flavor” really came from what you put ON your burger and not the actual burger itself. No matter what kind of veggie burger we make (sweet potato, chickpea, black bean) the flavor is all in the spices and condiments!
For my ranch lovers, I have the best vegan ranch recipe. I haven’t actually tried any others, but this is the one I use! It’s super easy to make; only requiring vegan mayo (I use Just Mayo), dairy free milk, garlic and onion powders and some cilantro or parsley! Super simple and tasty. It is Christian’s favorite condiment. It goes on everything. I don’t measure anything, I just scoop out some mayo, add enough almond milk to make it ranch consistency, then add in a little of each spice! That’s it!
All of these foods were super helpful when transitioning away from meat and dairy! Soon, I’ll be sharing soon a quick round-up of all our go-to recipes. We really like to keep things simple, because, 3 kids and life is crazy!
