Raising My Little Veggie!

From the age of 2 I have been a vegetarian and luckily for me have never found a vegetable I don’t like which I can tell you makes being a vegetarian A LOT easier. Growing up it was much more difficult than it is now to be a vegetarian as there were very few vegetarian products that could be bought unlike now when supermarkets even do their own brands too. Eating out when I was younger meant one of two dishes – cheese and tomato pizza or vegetarian lasagna which was often sold out as it was a popular dish with both veggies and meat eaters too! You may think  that I was railroaded into becoming a vegetarian because my mother made the decision for me when I was two. However, that’s not the case… my mum sat me down and told me what the food was and as a young child it made me upset to think that people were eating my barn yard favourites and as  I grew older and learnt more I made the decision myself to stay vegetarian. Now, I am also raising a vegetarian child and when she is older I will of course give her the option too. For now though, our focus is to encourage people to grow and eat vegetables. Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to get on my podium and preach to you that each and every person on the planet should be a vegetarian, it is everyone’s own choice, but what I might shout out loud about is that we should definitely be encouraging our young ones to create a healthy relationship with vegetables. So I have teamed up with Ella’s Kitchen and their campaign #VegForVictory ….

Whether you are a little bean like Alyssa or a big potato like me, it is always important to eat lots of vegetables. Now, Alyssa’s daddy has a major sweet tooth, as do I when the occasion arises, but I wanted to try and make sure that Alyssa was not going to be a fussy eater and that she enjoyed her veggies as much as she did her sweet. Being a first time mum, I did a lot of research and actually got a great weaning guide from my health visitor created by Ella’s Kitchen to help make sure kiddies are eating all the right food. Well, they’ve taken it one step further and created the #VegForVictory campaign which is geared towards “Planting a love for veg – starting weaning with yummy veggies helps little ones develop a lifelong taste for their greens!” I could not agree more – I started Alyssa on veggies only at the beginning and I am really fortunate that despite her having a sweet tooth she is also not a picky eater and enjoys all sorts of veggies.

As I said, Alyssa and I have decided to support the #VegForVictory campaign by taking their “Two-Week Veg Pledge” where we have to try at least one new scrummy veg a day and keep track of it all on our veg chart! Not only is this a great idea to encourage little ones to eat their veg but also great for me when I am trying to eat more healthily too – especially as one of my bad habits is to pick at Alyssa’s -plate when she is done! So, Ella’s Kitchen sent us this gorgeous sticker chart and stickers (which Alyssa got her hands on and rolled around with before mummy photographed it I might add!!!) so we could keep track of what veg we were eating and when. However, I also wrote it down too so I could share with you our veggie meals for the fortnight – we obviously had some veg in almost every meal but I decided to track our main ones for the two weeks…

Day 1 – Boiled new potatoes, Veggie sausages with Carrots and Peas (3 veg)

Day 2 – Jacket sweet potatoes with Cheese and Beans (1 veg)

Day 3 – Veggie Moussaka – with onion, potato, aubergine, courgette, pepper and tomatoes (5 veg 1 fruit!!)

Day 4 – Veggie Pasta – broccoli, onion, mushroom and tomato (3 veg 1 fruit)

Day 5 – Cauliflower Cheese with Green Beans (2 veg)

Day 6 – Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Crusty Bread (2 Veg as onion in soup) … randomly Alyssa loves soups!

Day 7 – Roast Dinner with Potatoes, Parsnips, Peas and Brussel Sprouts (4 veg)… yes she does like sprouts!

Day 8 – Mash Medley with Sweet Potato, Potato, Cauliflower, Parsnip, Swede, Carrot, Peas and Veggie Chicken Chunks (7 Veg)

Day 9 – Veggie Moussaka – a frozen portion from the previous week with Peas (6 veg 1 fruit)

Day 10 – Picky Lunch – Avocado slices, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrot Sticks, Cucumber Sticks, Cheese cubes and Crusty Bread (3 veg 1 fruit)

Day 11 – Minestrone Soup – Potato, Carrot, Parsnip, Onion, Butter Beans, Orzo Pasta, Spinach, Cabbage, Tomato (6 Veg 1  Fruit)

Day 12 – Roasted Root Vegeatbles – Potato, Sweet Potato, Carrot, Beetroot, Parsnip, Swede, Butternut Squash with Rosemary (7 veg)

Day 13 – Veggie Curry with Potato, Cauliflower, Peas, Onion, Spinach, Chickpeas, Veggie Chicken Chunks and Rice (5 veg)

Day 14 – Homemade Veggie Pizza with Mushroom, Sweetcorn, Onion and Pepper (4 veg)

Wow – I found it really interesting to see how many different vegetables I used at a time and never really thought about the fact that my Mash Medley and Moussaka had so many in them. Some people will probably be shocked that I give Alyssa pizza but it is fresh and homemade meaning I know what goes in it and I can ensure there is nothing hidden away – I even make the dough as I have balls of it frozen and ready to use. That’s another thing that makes dinner time a lot easier, is that I often batch cook and freeze portions ready for madam to have at a moments notice meaning that us adults can eat the same food but a bit later on.

Thanks so much to Ella’s Kitchen for asking us to be a part of their #VegForVictory campaign – I think it is so important to encourage our little ones to enjoy their veggies as much as we do, especially as they are such a healthy thing for them to enjoy. My mum turned our garden into a vegetable heaven last year and Alyssa and I will be helping her to do the same this year so that we can enjoy even more this summer.

If you’d like more information on the #VegForVictory campaign then head over to EllasKitchen.co.uk

If you have any veggie victories you’d like to share with us then why not show us over on Instagram…

Just tag @Mummyinatutu and @EllasKitchenUK

#VegForVictory

This is a collaborative post – all opinions are my own