My fabulous niece Lia loves raw Kale Salad and Green Smoothies, but a piece of plain lettuce may be asking her for too much! How many kids have you seen do this exact same thing? Many! And there are even more who won’t even touch any kind of vegetable.
A few months ago, when Karen Ranzi came to speak at our local university, she was so excited to see my 4 year old son eat a Banana Lettuce Wrap (below) and exclaimed “Wow! We need to take a picture of that!” Unfortunately, as he grows up and gets more exposed to the Standard American Diet, his preference for unhealthy ‘normal American’ foods has escalated. Recently, he has exclaimed: “No more Green Salads for me! Only Green Smoothies!”
What’s a Mama to do?
I knew this wouldn’t be easy. So I have armed myself with new ways to get my little one to love eating unprocessed plant-based whole foods again. Here’s what I make sure we have:
1. A variety of fresh fruit in the house, for breakfast, snacks and/or pre-dinner munchies.
2. Lots of GREEN Smoothies in the house.
3. My niece Lia just discovered GREEN Smoothie Popsicles and loves them. We have loved them in the summer time too! Simply place leftover Green Smoothie into your popsicle molds and voila! another treat with nutritional benefits! By the way, we love our BPA free popsicle molds!
3. Get the JUICER out for GREEN Juices. If they won’t eat the salad, they can definitely drink them (as long as they are yummy!). For most kids, this means a mixture of fruit and vegetable juices. Although it is hard work, it is worth any Mama’s time: fresh green juices go directly into our cells and work their wonders.
4. Mix raw and cooked together for Half & Half! Yes, definitely the easier way to get the family to eat more fresh raw veggies.

Asparagus and Tomato Salad: cooked asparagus and raw tomatoes with Balsamic Vinaigrette (this is great with Broccoli and Tomatoes too!)

Vegetable Sushi: my family loves Avocado, we use raw untoasted Nori... and yes that's white rice, they prefer it that way... maybe because they feel it's more authentic?
5. Prepare more COOKED PLANT-BASED options at each meal so that the family doesn’t crave other SAD (Standard American Diet) Foods. This is important and something I often forget because I am so involved in making something Raw Vegan at each meal. As I add more home-cooked vegan options at every meal, my family craves less for the unhealthier cooked fare. Some of their Vegan faves: Japanese Vegetable Pancakes, Buckwheat Soba Noodles, Vegetable Sushi, Steamed Sweet Potato, Steamed Artichokes, Baked Potato Chips, Peanut (or Raw Almond) Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Pasta Alfredo, Pasta with a very simple Tomato Sauce, Chinese Dumplings, Sloppy Joes, Fajitas, Zucchini Bread… They don’t seem to like beans all that much.
6. Remind them that there are Raw Vegan Cookies and other Sweets too. While I prefer fresh foods, I do make some treats for my family occasionally as well.
Other Resources:
How To Transition The Family Into More Raw Vegan Foods
Top 10 Tips To Get Your Kids To Eat Fruits and Veggies
Top 12 Kid-Friendly Year-Round Raw Superfoods