Best cooking for kids books according to redditors

I went vegan sometime in November of last year, so I'm not really in the crop of new vegans you're talking about, but I hope you don't mind me sharing anyway!

My conversion involved very little outside influence. I had always had a bit of a haze in my head about the distinction between vegetarianism and veganism, and eventually I just decided to look up the definitions. After understanding the distinction that veganism makes about excluding anything that an animal produces, it seemed that that was a more consistent view than vegetarianism, and one that I could definitely get behind. Add a dash of "Do unto others..." logical deduction, and I decided to at least give veganism a try. After all, it could at worst be a mild inconvenience for me, which is nothing compared to the burden placed on animals by my then-current behavior.

After a week or two, and a few awesome recipe discoveries, I made it a permanent change! Most of my family has been amazingly supportive. My mother and sister colaboratively searched for a good vegan cookbook to get me that Christmas (this one). My grandmother likes cooking for everyone, and has casually mentioned a few times how hard it is to make stuff that I can have, but she still tries, and I appreciate it a ton (and I've also helped out by prepping vegan meals for the whole family, and nobody seems to mind). I've got the one cousin who texts me 'hilarious' comics about pigs being bacon-seeds and other such annoyances, but whatever.

One of the most unexpected pieces of awesome actually came from work! I had only told 1-2 people at work (trying to void being the pushy vegan lots of people seem to get an instant hate-boner for), so when they announced a cookout, I packed a lunch for that day. To my surprise, they had picked up some (unexpectedly delicious) vegan burgers for the one vegan in the 50 or so person workforce. I was blown away.

\ Note: I actually had a (staunchly omnivorous) family friend later confess that he only tried one of my vegan stuffed peppers out of a sense of politeness, being pretty convinced it would be terrible. He then went back for seconds, then thirds... and now he wants my three best recipes, and he plans to give then a try! He's a regular hunter, and he wants a selection of vegan recipes. Wonders never cease.

Anyway, to answer your questions:

• They've been super supportive (for details, see above), and their attitude hasn't changed much at all (the above mentioned cousin has always been a bit belligerent, so me going vegan really just gave him something new to aim at).
  
  
• The vegan chili from Mayim's Vegan Table is amazing (especially after I discovered how well it went with some slices of avocado). Also, most stuff I've tried from the Minimalist Baker has been pretty awesome (these stuffed peppers are one of my favs).
  
  
• I haven't really been asked about it much, but mostly because I don't mention it very often. Most people only seem mildly interested, so the questions are correspondingly mild.
  
  
• This sub has been a good source of encouragement. It's nice to have a group of like-minded people to "hang out" with, even if I don't post much. There's lots of subtly different interpretation of the "edge cases" of veganism that I don't think I would have thought much about without the provocative conversations I've seen in the threads here.
  
  
• For the first couple weeks, I allowed myself a few vegetarian-level slips when I've gone over to my grandparents for the weekend, then decided that the nice tasting food wasn't enough to make up for the mild pangs of guilt after each of those slips. (Especially when there's plenty of nice food that doesn't have that problem!) I miss doughnuts a ton, though.
  
  
• I have done a cursory glance at my current posessions, and haven't found anything obviously non-vegan. Even if I had, however, I think I would have kept it until it "wore out". There's enough waste in this country that I would feel just as bad contributing to it as I would consuming something non-vegan. (Actually, I suppose I could just donate whatever it was to Goodwill or something, and repurchase the vegan version. Hadn't thought of that before.)
  
  
• Not too much, but it has brought a sense of mental assurance. I think i may have always has a vague sense of unease about eating meat, if not other innocent-seeming substances like milk, and going vegan has given me a general feeling of ease. Sort of like, at the very least, this is one thing I can be pretty sure is the Right Choice.
  
  
• I think I would tell myself to be less hesitant to try new things! I didn't hit several awesome vegan recipes because they contained ingredients I had always thought were sort of icky, but never actually tried. (non-dairy butter? soy milk? tofu?!?)
  
  Thanks for reading this far. I have no idea how to tl;dr that mess, but if you read this far, you're an awesome person! (Even if you didn't you're still pretty cool. Not everyone has time for a wall of text that size.)

my sister once bought this book and made me things

http://www.amazon.ca/Deceptively-Delicious-Simple-Secrets-Eating/dp/006176793X

broccoli brownies are a good reason to kill yourself.

While I agree that there's more to this issue (see other comments), I'm going to try to answer some of your actual questions.

To deal with nutrients in general, you can pick up recipes from books like this and start sneaking stuff into his food. In my opinion, it's not a great strategy, as he's an adult and should be in charge of his own dietary health, but one that might help in the short term.

My husband is very picky, as well, but I have found some ways to make a couple of vegetables so that he'll eat it. For example, he hates tomatoes, but he'll eat cherry tomatoes if I "caramelize" them but putting them on the stovetop and letting them blacken and burst a bit. He'll eat vegetables in soups and stews, if they are soft. He'll eat peas, but only young, sweet peas. You get the idea... You might just have to keep trying different preparations until you figure out something he likes. The definition of a "weird" texture is different for everyone, so you have to figure out what textures he likes and work from there.

You can also try to modify his current diet with healthier alternatives. Will he eat chicken? That's healthier than steak, cheaper, and has endless preparations. Any kinds of fish? Will he eat pizza with a cauliflower crust? I just made my husband a "pizza" on a portobello mushroom cap (grilled in the toaster oven, so it was soft and warm) that I thought he'd hate (I was planning to eat it for lunch the next day), but he loved it! Other healthy alternatives could be greek yogurt instead of sour cream, almond/soy milk instead of cow's milk, etc...

It's great that you want to prepare meals for him - I'm like that, too, and totally get it - but there comes a point where you are going to sacrifice your own health and food happiness to cater to him (trust me, I've been there!). Maybe for some meals, make him his faves; for some, make something new for him to try (can be just a side dish, so it doesn't ruin the meal if he doesn't like it); for some just make some food for yourself and leave him to make his own choices.

I hope this helps a little!

Jerry Seinfeld's wife has a whole cookbook devoted to hiding vegetables in her kids' food. I haven't tried any of the recipes in Deceptively Delicious, but they might work for you.

I also find that kids who get involved in growing their own food, and preparing simple dishes often are more willing to eat those things. So if you have access to a garden plot, it might be helpful to plant a small garden with your child. And getting her to start making meals with you probably isn't a bad idea.

Good luck.

you forgot Jerry Seinfelds slag:
http://www.amazon.com/Deceptively-Delicious-Simple-Secrets-Eating/dp/006176793X

Mrs Seinfeld wrote a whole book about it too. There is some good stuff in here.

Heh, check out Jessica Seinfeld's book (Jerry Seinfeld's wife btw): "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food", written in 2008, has some great ideas in there (like the one you discovered).

You could check out the book Deceptively Delicious. Its a book full of kid friendly recipes (that should hopefully appeal to your preferences) that hide extra veggies inside.

My incredibly blunt advice would be to get over your dislike of chewing plant matter. Its the best thing for you. Start with some fruits and vegetables you can tolerate and think of others that are similar. Example: If you like mashed potatoes try adding mashed cauliflower to the potatoes. Hummus is definitely good (it reminds you of beans because it is beans, garbanzo beans), try it with some carrots or celery. Add those tomato slices, onions, and lettuce to your sandwiches. Avocado also goes well on sandwiches.

https://www.amazon.com/Deceptively-Delicious-Simple-Secrets-Eating/dp/006176793X

You should try the cookbooks Sneaky Chef or Deceptively Delicious.

I think it's true that while more exposure helps, seeing parents eat it helps, avoiding processed food helps, etc., sometimes kids are picky and irrational. And I'd rather be putting some vegetables in them than none at all.

Exactly.

The cookbook (Deceptively Deliecious)[http://www.amazon.com/Deceptively-Delicious-Simple-Secrets-Eating/dp/006176793X] has some good ideas for sneaking vegetables into kids; you might find something useful in it.

Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote a cookbook with recipes that have loads of hidden veggies.

[](Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food https://www.amazon.com/dp/006176793X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_2qUqybDDSC327)

You can do this kind of thing to a ton of foods kids like to make them more healthy. There's a good cookbook my wife has gotten a lot of use out of that shows how.

Do you know about this book? I have heard good things about it.

The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals

Jessica Seinfeld, (yup, Seinfeld) came up with a similar book, months later, which caused some controversy:

Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food

My four year old was like that. When he was a year old, he'd eat all sorts of things and then at about 2 years old, he got really picky. All he wanted to eat was eggs and and anything with cheese. He's still that way, but I offer him a wide variety of foods and insist that he at least try it. He also does that annoying gag thing (and he has thrown up when he doesn't like something) but he's starting to eat more things.

It sucks because you can't force them to eat, but you do kind of have to be a hard ass with them. Once, my I had my son eat some cauliflower. He hated how it looked and gagged a little when he took a bite but now he loves them.

What you should try is make his pasta soup, but also give a side of something that you guys are eating. Tell him that if he eats one bite of your food, then he can eat his food. This has worked with my son as well.

Its frustrating, but its just a phase. My son is slowly but surely getting out of it. So don't worry! Just make sure to give him a multivitamin. Oh, and don't try the hiding food in the food crap like this book suggests(like pureeing butternut squash into his soup) because he'll maybe one day see a butternut squash and not want to eat it, even though he's been eating it for years. (if that makes sense). He needs to know what he's eating.

As a different approach, try involving him in the food preparation process. Allow him to explore cleaning and preparing vegetables in various ways to help prepare food he'll be eating. Vegan food is fun to prepare because the taste-tests are always safe (no salmonella poisoning!) and delicious. See about growing plants with him or visiting a greenhouse, or looking up pictures of where food comes from online (I even do this sometimes, you would not believe how a cashew grows if you haven't seen it before). Also, it might be taste aversions, but it could be texture aversions too. Try a few different ways of cooking/preparing foods (e.g. peppers taste and feel way different depending if they're raw, stir fried, baked, etc) to see what he might like and talk to him about all of it so he can convey to you what his preferences are through his experiences.

If you want a vegan family-friendly cookbook, this is from Mayim Bialik. I haven't actually tried anything in it though...

Check out Deseptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.

You need this book! I got partner accustomed to vegetables slowly. I'd mash cauliflower into potatoes, then transitioned to just cauliflower. I'd puree various vegetables and add them into sauces (I still do that, because he wont eat some veggies still, and this way I know he's getting enough lol). My partner was raised on slimy canned veggies, and for some of them it helped just to have him try fresh or frozen ones that had been roasted or steamed.

You could try eating vegetables in creative ways, like puréed into a soup (cook either carrots, pumpkin, or broccoli in some butter with onions, then add chicken stock, cook til tender, and purée the whole batch), or shred zucchini and make zucchini brownies. This book has a bunch of creative ideas too.

When I was trying to up my fruit and vegetable intake, I would buy one new fruit or vegetable each time I was at the grocery store. I would try to find a specific recipe to use it, and would commit to at least trying it. One radish, one cucumber, one parsnip etc. shouldn't be too expensive, and you might find it becomes a fun experiment.

I have a problem with things like "Good Morning" because my brain just kinda says "Yes, it is" and it would be silly to say that every time someone said something that made sense to me. Most of the time i remember it's a salutation but it's caused some misunderstandings and yelled greetings. The song "Good Mornin' to You" from Singin' in the Rain helps me remember it's something directed at me. I would try "Good Morning to you!" I had to start with "I bid you a good morning." The first time i heard "What's up?" at 14 i responded with "Not a whole lot, what is it that is up with you?" Also, my age mates and i couldn't understand each other until about 3rd-4th grade. Their speech sounded like jibberish to me and i sounded like stereo/ikea furniture instructions to them. Keep practicing with and building confidence in her and with the other supports you mentioned i think you'll be pleasantly surprised. You mentioned her singing a lot, that's awesome! If it weren't for band and choir i probably would have gotten a lot less social/conversation practice. I'm not college educated but i think the part of your brain that processes the intervals in between musical notes is the same part that processes language. On top of that, a lot of conversational English is used in songs. As she gets older and more listening options become appropriate it'll be a good form for learning informal speech.

On the eating thing, as i am told my dad had to step in. Mom was overthinking everything and worrying herself sick and Dad had to say "Calm down, when she's hungry, she'll eat." Having the food i didn't like near me while eating a food i liked helped me get over some stuff, although i am admittedly very picky now. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious are good ways to start "sneaking" other veggies in. For example if she hates cauliflower i think one of those sources has a mac 'n' cheese recipe that uses it. I would make it for her one day, let her enjoy it. Ask if next time she wants to help make it. I thought i hated cabbage until i learned how to make egg rolls a couple years ago. If she likes pickles pickling things can be fairly easy. This is a Harvard lecture about fermentation and pickling (about 30-40 mins in they get to the pickling.) Maybe you two can make a hobby out of pickling new things and then trying them? I know it's not the best but my parents always knew their Hail Mary was to just batter it, fry it, and let me dip it in ketchup. When i was around 7 letting me add a drop or two of food coloring to a food i knew kinda made me more adventurous. If this tasty thing can look gross and still be tasty, maybe things that look gross can be tasty, too.

I don't have children, myself, so i am admittedly a bit ignorant on the bathroom thing. If i'm not mistaken i think the "Do you know why Mommy, Daddy, and Big Sis wear different underwear?" approach worked. I know i had bed wetting problems until 3rd-4th grade. If i get stressed out or really anxious i pee myself sometimes, still. I won't have to go badly i'll just start peeing the second i walk into a bathroom. Sometimes i don't notice i have to go until it's near critical. Normally not a big deal but if you're in a group of people you can look crazy shouting for a bathroom when we just passed one not 15 mins ago... When i was little i was afraid to be myself. That kept me out of the bathroom a lot, knowing i had to be alone in there. I tried to keep the door open so i could still hear other people. If i couldn't do that i would just be super fast. People actually comment often about how quick i "get my business" done. I don't know how to tell them it was totally cultivated by fear. I would try asking her is there is any reason she doesn't like the bathroom before it even comes up. You'll probably have to repeat to her that she's not in trouble. If i thought that at all i freaked out. Maybe a handheld mp3 player or walkie talkie. With a walkie talkie you're not just going poo, you're a secret agent evacuating prisoners and reporting back to headquarters! Receive the order to cease operations and clean up. I also had a Raggedy Ann doll that i took in there with me. It's just a doll but a buddy helped.

When i got discouraged my dad would remind me "Some people are gonna be faster, some people are gonna be slower. In some things you will be faster, in some things you will be slower. It's just a part of life. It's nothing to be ashamed of." He he, i freaking love my dad.

There is a lot of really great advice on here.
-give your kids choices
-have them help in shopping and preparation of meals
-giving them foods that they can dip into something else (a lot of kids love dipping their food)
-continuing to offer a variety of healthy foods.

I have the same problem. My three your old started doing this at the same age as your child, and it hasn't gotten any better. I definitely feel your pain. Something that has definitely helped me is the Deceptively Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. While I don't like all of the recipes in there, it has definitely inspired me to create more ways to get fruits and veggies into my kids. Here is an idea for your mac 'n cheese lover. Buy baby food jars of carrots, or carrots mixed with tomatoe, and add the entire jar to your box of mac 'n cheese. My kids never noticed the difference! Also, you can puree spinach and get away with putting about a 1/2 a cup into the box brownie mix.

Good luck!

We used this cookbook with our kids. Good food with hidden vegetables.

Check out Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. It's an awesome cookbook for hiding veggies and healthy food from kids, but it seems like it might work here as well. She's brilliant and the recipes are fantastic.

I saw this book promoted, but haven’t tried it myself. But might be worth checking out. https://www.amazon.com/dp/006176793X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_8WMJBbGJCMWZB

I found this book at a bargain store a few years ago, and it's pretty decent with recipes. Some are better than others though.

Jessica Seinfeld wrote a book called Deceptively Delicious that includes recipes with hidden vegetables. I’ve worked with a lot of kids with autism on expanding their eating, but I don’t think the techniques will work with your girlfriend and just cause tension. Does she take a multi-vitamin? Is there one vegetable she might hate a little less than others? You said she likes French fries, maybe make something similar using squash, sweet potato, cauliflower...?