When I decided to go vegetarian last year around this time, we had just started the Veglatino site, we were about a month in a half into parenthood, and I did not know if I would last the year or break down and pass some kidney stones. Along the way I had encouragement from my partner and our Facebook group friends.

Ask your community about what to eat

I went from cooking with faux proteins and to researching what other natural sources of protein we could by instead of the processed health foods. I read information from sites such as Real Food Tastes Good and learned about cooking without those faux proteins. I also learned that I was missing out on leafy greens and other vegetables not found in our local supermarkets. If you visit Diane’s site, you will learn alot because she is a Holistic Nutrionist with awesome recipes.

I started searching for more information about local organic farmer’s and thanks to our friends at @IsasBread. She inspired us to head out to the local organic farmer’s market and buy greens. The bread she makes is also sold at this market and her vegetarian pizza parlor called Peace n’ Loaf  . When we buy bread from Stephanie every first or third Sunday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we make sure we savor every bite.

The number one motivator

When my daughter started to eat solids last year, I researched about whole foods and baby lead weaning. I was able to move her from purees to pieces of food thanks to information on sites like WholeSome Baby Food.  The site provided me with charts to print out in order to track what she ate and made me want to seek other grains, vegetables, and greens for her try as she developed last year. With the help from parent mentors such as Gabriel, Sandra, and Chenille, I was able to incorporate new foods at the appropriate times for Daniela.

Earlier this year, I came upon a movement called, WhiteOut by Dr. Allen Greene. This movement re-inforced the action we took of stopping rice cereal after it constipated Daniela when she was six months old during her first week of solids. We had given her sweet potato and rice cereal with breastmilk.

Our poor girl was crying after two days of being constipated. We researched the issue and stopped the rice cereal. We did do barley cereal and then I stopped doing that after about a month. The information that Dr. Greene provides gives new parents modern information about what you should be feeding your child as a first food and staying away from those cereals. You could say it is going back to beginning of time when the first humans had no blenders or baby cubes to put pureed food in.

Eager to learn more about food

The question you are dying to know is, Lucy did you pass any kidney stones since you stopped eating meat?

Yes, I did because I went on a grilled cheese fest for like a week. So I have cut back on cheese consumption but have not gone vegan. I don’t eat as much cheese as I did last year, but I will eat ice cream or cheese every once in a while.

I did not pay much attention to what I was eating or where my food was coming from until I had my daughter. She was one of the motivating factors to change the way I saw, bought, and prepared food. Now that she is almost fourteen months old, everything I put in my mouth she wants to try.  I don’t just cook latino inspired recipes for us; we have extended our cooking recipes to span other cultures such as Thai, Indian, Italian, and Japanese.

Since Raul has been moving towards veganism, I have learned how to cook with out butter and creams. I have learned how to substitute eggs for flaxseed and chia seeds. I have to tell you that I made a Vegan Banana Birthday cake and Vegan Lemon Cupcakes for Daniela’s birthday. Our family members enjoyed the cakes with out worrying about all the sugar in a store bought or bakery made cake. I have also made a Vegan Carrot Cake that is to die for Raul’s Uncle’s birthday.

I hope to continue eating as I have been for the last year and taking it one day at a time as I explore a new outlook on food.

Happy Vegetarian Birthday to Me!

Photo by marystonecypher