Welcome back to MeatFreeMama.com! When I originally started this blog in 2016, I was a seasoned enough vegan, but a very new mom. I thought I would be sharing all things vegan pregnancy, baby, and motherhood. But as it turned out, I wasn’t ready for that. Pregnancy was hard, breastfeeding was hard, raising a baby – and then 2 more – also hard! Sleep deprivation and blogging… not a great combination for this meat free girl.
Along the way I also realized some important things. Although a vegan myself, I was not, and am not raising some picture-perfect vegan family. Those are out there and I commend them, but that wasn’t me, or us. My husband is not vegan, I don’t want to put a label on my kids, and while I have some influence over them, they are all autonomous beings that will ultimately make their own choices. Spoiler alert: for my 8 year old it turns out this means eating chicken nuggets. So raising a family and being vegan is simply not a simple journey for many of us.
What does this mean for me? Have I thrown in the towel and started cooking meat for my family? No. The family meals that I cook are meat free and vegan. In my Meat Free Kitchen I strive to create balanced, plant-based meals that we can all enjoy and feel nourished from. My kids (now 8, 6, and 4 years old) are now quite used to eating this way and are no strangers to plant-based proteins and dairy-free alternatives. We talk about the difference between vegan and non-vegan food. They know I eat vegan because I love animals, and that vegan food comes from plants! We continue to eat this way at home, and they have started to make their own informed food choices outside of the house. It’s a work in progress – but isn’t that how it goes for all of us, anyway?
The first time I launched this blog, I didn’t know how all of this would unravel, and I was unprepared to receive any criticism on how I feed my kids – from either the meat free or omnivore camp. And honestly, I’m still afraid of being criticized. But I know I know I’m doing my best, and eager to connect with others about these complex topics.
So, know that this is judgement-free zone, and I’d love to hear from you. Below are 2 polls. One about the kind of eater you consider yourself to be, and one about your family’s diet on as a whole – or not.
Question 1:
Question 2:
Please feel free to vote in these polls or leave a comment below! This will be useful and fun information to have handy as I present you with meat free meal ideas and recipes. Maybe like me you are a meat free parent with a family of varied eaters. Or maybe you’re a family of omnivores looking to reduce your meat consumption. Either way, we I would love to connect with you as we both do our best to feed our ourselves and our families.
Thanks for reading,
Meat Free Mama
