What We Ate Today; Easy Vegan Meals {What Vegan Kids Eat}
In this article you will find what we ate in a day, myself and my 3 mostly vegan kids! So basically, what vegan kids eat! These meals and snacks are easy, cheap, and super quick to serve during our busy homeschool days!
Have you ever seen those YouTube videos where they show what they’ve eaten in a day?
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They can be a bit mesmerizing, am I right?
Well, I’ve been watching quite a few of them recently and it’s inspired me to share with you what my girls and I eat on a regular day.
Since this isn’t a video, for reference my kids are 15 months, 4 years, and 7 years old. And I am still breastfeeding my youngest on demand throughout the day.
*Please note that I am not a doctor or registered dietitian and am not liable for what you do with the information I provide. The following is for informational purposes only. If you or you child has a medical condition or you have concerns about raising vegan kids, please consult your pediatrician or a registered dietitian familiar with a vegan diet.
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Breakfast (An Easy Breakfast for Vegan Kids)
Before breakfast, I have a turmeric latte and 32 oz of water to start my day.
My 15 month old still starts her days off nice and easy (at 5am) by nursing.
Breakfast itself consisted of microwave oatmeal; but not in the sense you may think!
Our microwave oatmeal ingredients;
- ½ cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup soy milk
- ½ cup blueberries (we use frozen)
- 1 full mashed banana
- 1 tablespoon flaxmeal
The banana helps sweeten it, the riper the better!
Those measurements are for one bowl of oatmeal.
And, it takes less than 2 minutes in the microwave to make.
Simply add all ingredients to a large microwave-safe bowl, so it doesn’t make a huge mess, stir, and microwave on high for 1 minutes.
Stir again and then put in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir again and see if it needs more time in the microwave; if it does then 30 more seconds.
Don’t go over the 2 minutes total in the microwave.
Let cool when done!
My oldest daughter and myself can easily eat a full serving of this oatmeal. My younger two girls split one serving, the 4 year old obviously having more than the toddler.
We also had a bowl of fruit; watermelon, grapes, and then another half a banana each.
My 15 month old has been doing baby led weaning since she was about 8 months old, but I still make sure everything is cut up for her well, even the blueberries in the oatmeal. It gets a bit messy!
Morning Snack
This week we started homeschooling, so morning snacks were a vital part of our day; I don’t know what my girls would’ve done without it!
Making snacks is part of my weekly meal prep, so the two snacks below were made on the weekend and stored in the fridge all week.
I’m sure they would be fine in the freezer, too, but they’re always gone within the week so I don’t have to worry about them going bad! Just make sure to thaw thoroughly.
We had cranberry energy balls.
Same recipe as in the instagram post above, except I added in a ½ a cup of walnuts, as well, to up the omega-3 content in them!
And then…
We also had chickpea cookies, kind of like these ones, but not quite. I used dates in them and no chocolate chips, to make them a bit more plant based and full of goodness.
At this point in the morning I’m in need of a pick-me-up, so I make myself a frappuccino.
What Vegan Kids Eat for Lunch (Well, one thing they could eat, anyways!)
I meal prepped this, too!
For lunch today we had vegan mac and cheese.
That is our favorite vegan mac and cheese recipe, it generally lasts us 3 to 4 days with us all eating it.
I do make a few adjustments when I make it, though. I always take half of it once done, spread it in a baking dish, add breadcrumbs and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. That’s how I get my 7 year old to eat it, when she can be a bit of a picky eater.
I also sub in veggie broth in place of the oil.
My 15 month old and 4 year old also had some cherry tomatoes with lunch (from the tomato plant my girls have been growing all summer, it finally started to give them something in return for caring for it!).
I also served broccoli with it, except my 7 year old didn’t have any broccoli…
*I forgot to mention that we all have water that we drink all throughout the day whenever we get thirsty.
Afternoon Snack
We’re big on snacks here!
Little kids’ bellies aren’t that big, so that means they have to eat more often to keep their bellies satisfied.
First afternoon snack was my go to green smoothie.
The measurements I use now, for all 4 of us, is different from that recipe. I also now have a Vitamix that my husband bought me for our anniversary!! (After wanting one for almost 10 years.)
Now, I use;
- ~3 cups non-dairy milk
- ~3 bananas
And then I fill in the rest of the ingredients til the blender looks like there’s enough in it. I know, that’s not very helpful, but I usually just wing it unless I’m writing up a new recipe.
Oh, another new thing I’ve been putting in our smoothies is amla powder, which according to NutitionFacts.org (watch their video here) has one of the highest antioxidant levels there is!
I also add my girls liquid B12 vitamin right into their smoothie. Except for my 15 month old, she gets hers directly, because she ends up needing a bath after I give her a smoothie! (I also take my vitamin at this time, too.)
The smoothie isn’t prepped ahead of time, but it takes less than 5 minutes to make!
The other afternoon snacks my girls (4 and 7 year olds) have in the afternoons I don’t really keep track of because that’s when I finally have time to sit down and work, while my youngest naps or plays.
They’re quite independent when it comes to making food for themselves and knowing what their options are. They know they can have any of these for an afternoon snack while I work;
- Any trail mix they put together from nuts, seeds, and dried fruit
- Peanut butter (they’ll eat it by the spoonful)
- Any fruit (I prep fruit jars on the weekend so there’s no question to how much they can have)
- Any veggie (like cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrots)
- Any leftovers in the fridge
Today, I think they had peanut butter with some assortment of trail mix, and probably some soy milk.
Dinner for my Vegan Kids
Tonight we had split pea sweet potato soup, one of my 15 month olds favorite dinners!
Find the recipe from Hello Nutritarian HERE.
I love this recipe because it is so full of nutrients and my whole family, even my husband, will eat it anytime I make it…without complaints!
I probably make it once every 2 or 3 weeks and is gone within about 3 days for all 5 of us.
This is also prepped on the weekend, so I just have to heat it up. I only ‘cook’ dinner 2 to 4 times a week and have no plans on changing that!
After Dinner Snack
Some days we have a snack after dinner, some days we don’t. Today just happened to be a day we did; we had mango nice cream, just like in the instagram picture above.
This is simply blending together frozen banana chunks with mango and adding in just enough almond milk to get it to blend til it’s nice and smooth. Then top it with dried cranberries to make it even more fruity!
This is another thing I don’t prep ahead of time, well besides making sure there are still frozen banana chunks in the freezer. But again, it takes less than 5 minutes to make!
Easy Vegan Meals for the Day In Review
So, in total today we had:
- Homemade microwave oats
- Energy balls
- Chickpea cookies
- Vegan mac and cheese with broccoli and cherry tomatoes
- Green smoothie
- Trailmix
- Split pea soup
- Mango Nice Cream
Meal prepping on the weekend highly paid off for today’s meals and helping us get through another day of balancing homeschooling, working from home, and keeping our home running smoothly!
So, if you’re wondering…
- What can vegan kids eat?
- What do vegan toddlers eat?
- What do vegans really eat?
I hope I’ve given you some insight into that!
If you’re still not sure and need your question “Is a vegan diet OK for children?” answered more thoroughly, then I invite you to check out Dietary Guidelines For Kids: How Vegan Kids Get The Nutrients They Need!
That is part of the Ultimate Guide to Raising Vegan Kids Ebook I wrote.
You can get a free cheat sheet for feeding vegan kids below!!
How I could’ve planned a better day of meals…
Like everyone else in this world, I’m not perfect; therefore it’s difficult to plan and execute a ‘perfect’ day of meals and snacks for myself and family.
I like to follow Dr. Michael Gregers Daily Dozen to help me ensure we’re getting a balanced days worth of meals.
Obviously, with kids, the quantity of food he suggests just isn’t there, but the variation in foods still should be!
If I were to plan this day’s meals over again, I would want to try to incorporate 1 more type of bean, green leafy veggie, and whole grain into our day.
Right off the top of my head, the easiest way I could do this is make samosa and fill them with some type of bean, salsa, and then stuff in either spinach or kale and replace the second afternoon snack with them.
Or, replace that second afternoon snack with a hummus and spinach quesadilla.
Either way, it’s not that bad of a day in meals!
Need more meal plan ideas? Check out:
- My super simple and Cheap Vegan Meal Plan and grocery list
- 2 Week Vegan Meal Plan With Back Up Meals!
- Sample Vegan Meal Plan {Vegan Meal Plan PDF Available}
Wondering what you should eat in a day?
Take a look at The Top 10 Foods to Eat Daily for Better Health!