Guest blog: how can you get kids to eat their greens?

When I launched the Friends of the Earth Falkirk Meat Free Monday campaign at the Friends of the Earth Scotland Local Groups Activists weekend I had an interesting conversation with Emilia, from the FoE staff. She explained one of the range of solutions she had to get her kid to eat his greens. I asked her to be the first guest on my blog and here is her article. I have had a few interesting discussions about why I became a vegan and I hope that some of theses discussions will turn into future blog posts. But for now here is Emilia's post:

"Green  Yogurt”

If you have bananas which are looking like they might be on the turn, a very neat trick to save them from ending up in the compost bin is to peel them, chop them, pop them in a tupperware and freeze. They will then be really yummy for use in smoothies, as a mature banana tends to be sweeter. Frozen bananas also become thick and creamy when blended. Don’t skip peeling the bananas before freezing, otherwise you’ll have a nightmare trying to get the skins off.

Here is a surprisingly simple and delicious way that I really enjoy frozen bananas and can get my 2 year old to gobble up loads of spinach without even realising how healthy he is being. This recipe is basically a sort of spinach ice-cream, and is sweet, gorgeous and healthy - my son Finn named it "green yoghurt" 

You will need:

a splash of soya milk (or oat milk or almond milk)

a big handful of spinach

a big handful of chopped, pre-frozen bananas

Blend all the ingredients in a hand-held blender or food processor, and serve! If you want more of a smoothie consistency, then add a bit more soya milk. If you want something thicker, hold back on the milk. You can also add a dollop of coconut butter for a tropical twist.

The sky is the limit with this one, you can replace the spinach with berries for a pink yoghurt, with mangoes for a yellow yoghurt - I’ve even added peas for a thicker, fuller flavour!

Enjoy.

Emilia Hanna

Air Pollution Campaigner

Friends of the Earth Scotland

www.foe-scotland.org.uk

Q.What do vegan's eat for Christmas Dinner?

A. If you are as lucky as me Christmas day does no to be a compromise this year. 

For the majority of my adult life my family Christmas meal would usually have more vegetarians than carnivores around the table. This year me and my mother was invited to my cousins with the offer of a vegan dinner in recognition of my change in diet. Even I was surprised to the lengths that Simon and Yvonne had went to accommodate my diet. 

The main course was Aduki Bean Pie (also known as Red Dragon Pie) with maple syrup roasted veg. The pie was just cooked to perfection and a very very festive centre piece to the table with it’s holly topping. 

Not to be outdone Simon’s wife, Yvonne made a very sweat Chocolate Tart made with coco powder, coconut oil, coconut and dates. The individual tarts toppled out of their ramekins looking, and importantly tasted, better than any shop bought puddings. To finish off the plate I had brought cashew nut vegan ice-cream.

Once again during my Vegan Adventure I was so appreciative of the lengths my family and friends have went to share the adventure.  

what do you eat?

Listen to the Benjamin Zephaniah poem which explain what Vegans Eat here

Will it not be difficult to find vegan food when you eat out?

The best response I have had to date was someone from work who said, "so you just don't want to be invited to any dinner parties again". Most people have been curious as to why I have decided to become a vegan now after being a vegetarian for so long. A number of people probably think I am just changing to impress my girlfriend and it will pass. For some people they thought being a vegetarian was enough of a restriction while eating out. 

Eating out in restaurants with my new diet has not been a problem so far. I enjoy eating out in a good Indian restaurant and most have a wide choice of vegetarian and vegan options. It has just made me speak to the staff more and I have had interesting discussions about what is actually in the dishes I am about to order. At the Sanam, my local Indian restaurant in Falkirk, the owners joked, "'there is no point in you looking at the menu now" after I told him I was now cutting out dairy. He then went on to explain that they would be happy to try and adapt any dish I wanted to meet my taste. 

In both Glasgow and Edinburgh there has been a few Mexican Street Food carry-outs open. This has been great for eating on the move. At Taco Mazama: Mexican Kitchen in Glasgow Central Train Station they even have a big poster in the window welcoming vegetarians and Vegans, offering to add more guacamole to replace cheese- which is a fair swap as far as I am concerned. 

In 2013 Glasgow was named as the most Vegan Friendly city in Europe. The reason given includes  two of my favourite pub/ venues- Mono and Stereo. Both have great vegan menus and Mono even has a record shop (where my friend Mark works). Mono was voted Best Restaurant for the second year running at the UK Vegfest Awards!

The best buffet I have had at a conference over the past few months was the catering at the Nourish conference in Glasgow in October where lunch on both days was predominately vegan with no need for any fanfare. 

What is next after Vegetarianism?

I am used to hearing from old vegetarians, that after many years they are now “almost vegetarian”, they just eat fish now or only eat organic chicken and beef. After 31 years of being a vegetarian I am changing my diet- I have moved on to being a vegan. 

When I first went vegetarian at 15 I had a friend who was a vegan and it just seemed like a step too far. I didn't think I would ever have the discipline to follow a vegan diet. When I first heard of Meat Free Mondays a few years ago I looked at it smugly thinking I am already doing my fair share for the planet. I thought about going vegan on a Monday and by doing so I was reminded just how much dairy I consume on a daily basis. To go vegan one day a week I had to prepare to cut out milk, butter, cheese and eggs. 

My reasons for going vegan are the same reasons I became a vegetarian all these years ago. I am concerned about the treatment of animals in the meat industry and I am concerned about the environmental destruction which is carried out to enable the world to eat cheap meat. Being a vegetarian I always secretly felt guilty about drinking milk but where do you draw the line? Over the past couple of years I have had a number of conversations with a friend, Simon, who I meet at environmental events and festivals. He tried to convince me to take the next step and go vegan by reminding me of everything I already knew about the dairy industry. If Simon was a catalyst the tipping point for me going vegan has to be meeting my girlfriend who I knew had been a vegan for many years. I decided at first to become a stricter vegetarian and cut out milk from my diet but once I cut out milk and cheese the only thing left was eggs, so why not go the whole way?

On my vegan Monday’s I had bought in soya milk but on becoming a vegan I started to drink Oat milk in my coffee and tea. If I had discovered oat milk years ago I might have became a vegan earlier. In hot drinks it is no substitute for milk, I actually prefer it as it tastes a bit creamier. Oats grown in the UK are more sustainable than imported soya, so it doesn’t just taste better it is better for the planet as well.

Becoming a vegan has required me to restrict my diet but with planning I don’t really miss anything except some cheese and cakes. My waistline should have benefited from a reduction in cakes and biscuits, pastries and cookies but becoming vegan did not required me to cut out Irn-Bru and beer, my remaining guilty pleasures. If you need to look about for a restaurant that serves a variety of vegan food you will probably find that such a restaurant is probably a better place to be. Glasgow was recently voted the most vegan friendly city in Europe and Edinburgh has a number of good choices so there is no reason being a vegan should restrict eating out. 

I shop less in supermarkets as there are more things I can’t eat than what I can.  I have had to shop more in small independent wholefood shops and now buy more local food and I cook more from scratch. My cooking skills had to increase from a very low base and I can now cook more than my three basic dishes. I love pizza but haven't found a decent pizza without cheese in a local shop so I have made my own with different flavours to offset the missing cheese. To date I have bought pizza bases so the next step is to make my own  and make pizza from scratch. 

If you are already a vegetarian why don’t you try being a vegan one day a week or simply reduce your milk and cheese consumption. It is not as restrictive as you would think.