If you are a mum for whom the main responsibility of cooking dinner rests, you may well find organising your meals hard enough to navigate at the best of times. But imagine how difficult it gets if you have a completely different food requirement than the rest of your family. That is the issue many vegan mums are faced with.
If you’ve made the choice to go vegan, but your partner is still partial to a medium-rare steak, and the kids won’t touch tofu with a ten-foot pole, then you’ve got some challenges to overcome.
But luckily, with a bit of creativity, planning, and open conversation, it’s totally possible to keep everyone satisfied at the table - even when you’re eating different things. Here’s how.
One of the biggest challenges for any vegan mum is time. Between school runs, work, and trying to keep the fridge stocked, there’s not always space to whip up two separate dinners.
For this reason, it's a good idea to order vegan meals with Soulara, which are delivered ready-made to your door.
This company offers ready-made, plant-based meals that are chef-prepared, nutritious, and so convenient because you just have to heat them up. Their range includes everything from a hearty lentil curry to a nourishing grain bowl, and they are perfect for when you’re short on time but still want something satisfying.
Many meat-eaters hear the word ‘vegan’ and immediately switch off. But it is amazing how many don’t actually realise what it entails.
For this reason, it would be worth asking your family to try one fully vegan meal a week. They might say no initially, but if you explain your reasons why you would like to do this, namely, less cooking for you, and that you would like to embrace healthier and more sustainable eating, then they might be open to it.
While it might be a long shot, if you could even focus on introducing one vegan element to their plate every meal, that is a start. From there, you might be able to go to two or even three, then that would be more than half the battle won.
When cooking for different diets, there is a common misconception that you have to double the time you spend in the kitchen. But this is not true. The trick is to prepare meals that have a common base and can be built differently for each person.
For instance, taco nights are an excellent option because you can cook up a big pan of seasoned veggies and beans, and let the meat-eaters add chicken or beef if they want to. The same goes for Buddha bowls, pasta, stir-fries, and even homemade pizzas. Effectively, any dish that involves people adding their own toppings and proteins means you’re only making one meal.
The great thing about this approach is that it doesn’t isolate anyone. Instead, each person feels like they’re eating something they’ve chosen, and you’re not stuck making two completely separate dinners every night.
It is much easier to find something to cook if you have a well-stocked pantry. So, try to keep staples like lentils, chickpeas, black beans, tinned tomatoes, and whole grains on hand.
In addition, having plant-based milks, nutritional yeast, and good-quality olive oil at your disposal will ensure you’ll always be able to throw together a tasty vegan meal.
It also helps to keep a few plant-based meat alternatives in the freezer, such as vegan sausages, jackfruit products, and tofu options, which can be included in many different types of meals.
If you’re the main cook in the house, regardless of whether you are a vegan or not, anything that saves you time is worth its weight in gold. That is why batch cooking is such a terrific option.
It is a good idea to set aside a couple of hours on the weekend to make big pots of vegan staples, such as lentil Bolognese, soups, curries, or pasta sauces. Then you can portion them out into containers and pop them in the freezer.
During the week, you can defrost what you need, mix and match with whatever the rest of the family is eating, and take a bit of pressure off your shoulders. It also means you always have something plant-based ready for yourself, even on nights when you’re too tired to cook.
One of the best ways to get your family to try more plant-based food is to swap out some of their favourite dishes with vegan swaps.
For instance, mac and cheese and nachos could easily be made with vegan cheese and other plant-based ingredients without your family noticing any difference. Additionally, you can use oat milk in smoothies or coconut yoghurt for breakfast. Start slow, and let the taste do the talking.
If your family comments that they like the taste of something featuring a vegan swap, their resistance to plant-based diets will drop away. Here is a list of vegan and meat-free alternatives you could try to introduce into their diet.
Kids are more likely to try new things when they’ve had a hand in making them. So, the more you can get them involved in making meals, the better.
Let them build their own pizzas, roll veggie sushi, or help blend a smoothie. If they are really into it, pick a night each week where they choose a recipe and cook it together.
This not only encourages them to eat healthily but also creates positive associations with vegan food. Moreover, you wouldn’t just be feeding them but also teaching them a valuable life skill, too.
