Featured Author: Mercedes Decker

Hi, I’m Mercedes and these are my four kids – [Berkley, Cora, Sybil and Jake]. I’m going to share with you some tips and tricks to how to get your kids excited about plant-based eating.

We decided to become a plant-based family because it was nutritious. It ended up turning into more of an ethical reason because we started looking into animal agriculture. We didn’t want to take the baby cows away from the family. The moms, right? Just like us. There’s no difference from people or animals.

Tip #1: Get them in the kitchen

So one of the biggest tips I could give you to get your kids excited about cooking is to get them in the kitchen. Are you ready everybody? Yeah! Yeah! Let’s go! Pick your veggies!

Tip #2: teach them age appropriate tasks

A great tip to involve your kids in the kitchen is to teach them age appropriate tasks. Chopping. Peeling, licking – that’s not a task, is it?

Tip #3: Pair veggies with a favourite dip

Another tip to get your kids to eat their veggies is to pair them with their favourite dip. We like hummus. You can make your own or store bought is great. And then dressing or vinaigrette, we use this with salads or raw veggies.

Tip #4: Make smoothies with your kids

Another great tip is to make smoothies. Kids love going to the freezer, grabbing out their favourite frozen fruit. We eat a lot of blueberries. throwing it in the blender with some chia seeds or flax seeds. They like to add either soy milk or water to make it really sweet. You can add orange juice and they really like blending that up.

Tip #5: Turn leftover smoothies into popsicles

And the leftover smoothies can also be used for popsicles. If you have popsicle molds, throw the leftover smoothie in there, pop it in the freezer and the kids can enjoy it the next day for breakfast.

Tip #6: Use leftover jars to store dry produce

When we went plant-based, I decided to switch everything into jars so they were easy to see and the kids like coming and grabbing something for the smoothies, lids that the kids can get into too is an awesome thing. Your local thrift store has probably tons of jars.

Tip #7: Try baking with plant-based ingredients

Another easy win for us is baking in the kitchen. Kids love licking spoons. And a cheap and easy swap in baking is to add ground flax in to replace your eggs. What do you guys like to bake? Muffins, brownies, cakes, more muffins. Apple pies, cupcakes, brownies. Black bean brownies is another hit in the family because you kind of can hide the bean in there. And it’s a good protein boost.

Tip #8: Don’t get discouraged

Don’t get discouraged if your kids don’t like the veggies the first or second time they try. Sometimes it can take up to 15 attempts to get your kids to eat the veggies. Don’t give up and keep on persevering. They will try it eventually. I also like coming together and making food together. And it’s kind of just become a way to connect with your kids. And enjoy spending time with them.

If you’re interested in learning more after watching this video, you can find great resources on Vancouver Humane Society’s Plant University platform. And subscribe to get involved in Vancouver Humane Society’s work to help animals, people, and the planet.

Hope you guys learned some tips and tricks to get your kids excited about plant-based nutrition. Remember that it’s a journey, not a destination. So have fun. Good luck. Bye.

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