What vegan snacks do I feed my kids?

[kdescalzi]

Hi there,

I am in the middle of the transition from vegetarian to vegan and finding it hard to feed my lo's. they are 3 and 6 and even though meat free was easy....no "good" cheese is stumping me.....other vegan moms, what do your kids eat? Like?

Tia

[EloiseMM]

I'm not vegetarian or vegan but I saw this on New Posts.

Pancakes: 2 bananas, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of coconut milk (or more if the batter is too thick), 1/4 cup of flour of your choice (I like tapioca), a squeeze of lemon juice. You may choose to add chopped walnuts.
 

Whipped coconut milk with fruit.

Make tiny burritos with fillings of your choice and keep them in the fridge or the freezer; warm up as needed.

If you slice lots of vegetables and keep them in the fridge, you can just make a pita anytime for your 6 year old. Just fill pita with vegetables and pre-made hummus, or mustard for flavor.

Tutti frutti (fruit salad).

Bake lots of tiny winter squashes at once (those that are only as big as your hand), cut them in half, and keep in the fridge.

[Viola]

I'm not a vegan, but things my daughter likes are chunks of avocado, garbanzo beans right out of a can, black olives, nuts, artichoke hearts, pickles (oh my gosh, she loves pickles).  Fresh raw peas are tasty, but you can't get them now.  Cut up veggies and fruits...they'll eat a bunch if I cut them up and have them around.  Hummus and crackers or veggies.  I love guacamole served with slices of apples, and slices of apple with peanut butter is delicious too.

[chrisnjeri]

Yes to all of the pp suggestions - also, my LO loves hummus with veggie sticks, baba ganoush, frozen blueberries, and peanut butter/nut butters go with lots of stuff!  Avocado mixed with sunflower seeds is pretty yummy.

[sassyfirechick]

We're dairy-free so if I want a cheesy flavor I'll sprinkly nutritional yeast on roasted veggies or in mashed potatoes.  I found it super hard to replace cheese until my vegan friend introduced me to daiya - love that stuff!  I've made grilled "cheese" with it that could rival any cow cheese, and DD snatched some from my bean chili the other day and seemed to like it as well!

[veganmama44]

we eat a ton of fruit! avacado or guac on just about anything. refried beans in a tortilla. in a pinch (or on an especially "picky" day) ritz crackers with pb. tomato and pickle sandwiches are a big hit too. i just found a boxed dairy free mac and cheeze that my DD loooves (but she has no comparison) i thought it was icky also i almost always have a pot o veggie and bean stew kickin around. smoothies are a good snack that feel like a treat! HTH

[Ragana]

We're not vegan, but popcorn with your choice of butter substitute (olive oil works fine) & sprinkled with nutritional yeast is really good. My kids prefer this way of making popcorn.
 

[meemee]

we were not vegans when dd was your kids age but we didnt do too much dairy so we hardly ate any cheese. dd was allergic to too much wheat so we did mostly gluten free too.

i found i needed a little more protein with the fruit or veggies or dd would be famished in half an hour. i didnt really like processed food so did little of that. mostly made small bean burgers or bean balls or humus or even just boiled garbanzos - even just out of the can. i also gave her fun shaped pasta (mostly rice). dd also loved, loved plain rice with seaweed or rice spices.

but mostly she ate what others have already suggested.

even today at 10 she pretty much eats the same as before. not so much pasta as much as noodles.

[mumkimum]

vegan snacks we'll eat that the kids like:

rice cakes

bean dip (sometimes) with plain tortilla chips

applesauce (sometimes we'd dip crackers in this - like graham crackers)

pretty easy to do vegan cinnamon-sugar toast and we've liked the tofutti cream cheese (though the kids also like bagels plain - peanut butter on bagels is good too)

frozen fruit (any kind, still frozen)

beanballs, possibly with ketchup (plain cooked whole beans - like pinto beans - are a nice snack eaten with a toothpick and ketchup, also)

cubed tofu - sometimes with herb sprinkle, soy sauce, or lemon juice to dip it into

[erinmattsmom88]

We are not vegan, but love vegan-like snacks. Here's one that shocked me that my kids like... seaweed. I was at WF one day and saw organic seaweed in snack size packages. I picked up a few to try, and the whole house loves them!!!

I also found a recipe for homemade fruit roll-ups on Pinterest. Haven't tried it yet, but it looks easy and yummy!

[Ragana]

That seaweed is so good!

I thought of a couple more

Chia pudding - I usually make it with about a cup of soy milk (sub whatever you use - chocolate is good!) and a few tablespoons of chia seeds. Makes a tapioca-pudding-like texture.

Chocolate tofu pudding - http://chefinyou.com/2011/03/tofu-chocolate-pudding/

My SIL turned us on to this sorbet recipe that is fantastic - http://www.marthastewart.com/318691/raspberry-sorbet-with-fresh-whipped-crea (skip the whipped cream, or maybe try whipped coconut cream - http://ohsheglows.com/2012/08/30/coconut-whipped-cream-a-step-by-step-photo-tutorial/)

Getting hungry!!
 

[Ragana]

That seaweed is so good!

I thought of a couple more

Chia pudding - I usually make it with about a cup of soy milk (sub whatever you use - chocolate is good!) and a few tablespoons of chia seeds. Makes a tapioca-pudding-like texture.

Chocolate tofu pudding - http://chefinyou.com/2011/03/tofu-chocolate-pudding/

My SIL turned us on to this sorbet recipe that is fantastic - http://www.marthastewart.com/318691/raspberry-sorbet-with-fresh-whipped-crea (skip the whipped cream, or maybe try whipped coconut cream - http://ohsheglows.com/2012/08/30/coconut-whipped-cream-a-step-by-step-photo-tutorial/)

Getting hungry!!
 

PS Ooh, this has been on my to-try list for a long time: http://happyfoody.blogspot.com/2006/10/tofu-sticks.html

Even my hamburger-loving child will eat fried tofu (I usually fry in a little oil until browned without crumbs or anything) dipped in ketchup!

[erinmattsmom88]

I need to get some chia seeds. The more I read about it, the more intrigued I become. I need to make a homemade trail mix for snacks. This would be a good addition to the usual... coconut flakes, slivered almonds, sunflower/pumpkin seeds, raisins, dark chocolate pieces, etc.

[es1967]

Banana slices topped w nut butter (almond, cashew,peanut)- I then drizzle it w some coconut oil

Hummus and Pita

Sprouted Garbanzo beans

Vegan cheese slices

Chia pudding

Yogurt- (soy, coconut,almond)

Pistachio nuts

Smoothies

Dark Chocolate covered almonds

Goldfish (sometimes I get lazy and buy the whole wheat goldfish.  LOL)