Veggie Fueled Mama

My life as a mom raising vegan kids in the non-vegan Midwest

Welcome to Veggie Fueled Mama, my very own passion project: raising vegan children in a non-vegan town. Explore my site and all that I have to offer; perhaps Veggie Fueled Mama will ignite your own passions as well.

About The Blog

Truth be told, this blog was inspired by conversations with friends. I was inspired to document my journey as an older new mom, raising vegan kids in a very non-vegan world. I knew I would get and have questions, and I wanted a platform to share the answers for others who might be going through the same thing.

My goal is to share my experiences with authenticity and humor. I hope you enjoy it!

Explore The Blog

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veggiefueledmama

Nov 18, 2021
5 min

Learning A Different Different

Until now, we have not had to deal with food allergies or food issues (maybe this should be called food sensitivities/reactions?) in our home, but we recently discovered that my son has a few! Weirdly, he's allergic to a couple of foods he's never been given, other than maybe through cross contamination (or perhaps by accident at some point). I say "weirdly" because the allergist told me that the test usually detects allergens a person has been exposed to, and, to my knowledg

28 views1 comment

veggiefueledmama

Jun 29, 2020
6 min

She'll Have What You're Having

My daughter is starting to refuse the lunch I provide her from home because her buddies at daycare are having something different.

78 views1 comment

veggiefueledmama

Oct 9, 2019
3 min

Is It Because She's Vegan?

My daughter is 15 months old (on the date of this writing) and she's not quite walking on her own yet, though she has made many strides over the last few weeks. She likes to practice a lot by crib-, couch-, and coffee table-walking. She also likes to walk around with her little walking stroller. Typically, she will stand, clap and smile with glee about her standing, and then she will either launch herself into my arms like she's doing a forward trust fall or squat down and pr

102 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Aug 21, 2019
5 min

Movin' On Up!

Well, this is the time for milestones! A recent major one was celebrating our daughter's first birthday. Shortly after that celebration, our daughter began her transition to her new class at daycare, which is what this post is about. She was in the infant classroom for eight months, and we were genuinely sad to say goodbye to her teachers. They clearly loved her so much, and she clearly loved them so much. Thankfully, they are in the same building and are not too far away if

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Made It Through The First Vegan Birthday Party!

veggiefueledmama

Aug 2, 2019
5 min

Made It Through The First Vegan Birthday Party!

Almost a month ago at this point, we celebrated our daughter's first birthday. We had a very, very small party a few days before her actual birthday. While her party was tiny, there was still A LOT of planning that took place in my brain and through Pinterest. I am not really into planning events, though I would really like to be. I figured this would be a really good introduction for me to see if I could do it. And I did! The party was a success. Not only did it go off witho

125 views1 comment

veggiefueledmama

Apr 27, 2019
5 min

The Petting Zoo Pickle

As Easter was approaching, I was inspired to write this post because Easter provides many opportunities for people to connect with animals. I'm sure we've all seen people's pictures of their kids playing/posing with bunnies or chicks for Easter photos. And, for some reason, petting zoos are a thing for this holiday, too. On one hand, using animals as income is just a terrible idea because, oftentimes, people who profit off animals care little about the animals' well-being and

48 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Apr 7, 2019
4 min

Not Sweating The Small Stuff

This post was inspired by a text conversation I was having with one of my baby's daycare teachers, and I think it's a good follow-up to my last post, which was about not being a helicopter parent (read it here). I wrote to her and asked her if they make any art for Easter using real eggs. They make really cute art for most holidays, and I was sure they'd be making something for Easter. I figured it wouldn't involve real eggs at this point, but I wanted to confirm so I could b

36 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Mar 11, 2019
5 min

My Why: Celebrating Five Years Vegan

On March 5, 2014, I went vegan for Lent and thought I'd give it up on Easter. I wanted to see how difficult it was and how I felt not consuming any animal products. Here I am, a touch over 5 years later, still going, and I'm never, ever, ever looking back. I, like many others, have always dreamed of being vegan--I loved animals and wanted my lifestyle to reflect that--but I truly thought it was impossible unless one had a private chef. To be fair, when I first started thinkin

66 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Mar 2, 2019
8 min

Plant-Based Eating And Baby-Led Weaning

As I mentioned in my very first post, I knew if I had a child I would want to raise him or her as a vegan. Well, here we are, almost 8 months into my daughter's life, and she's a vegan! And, as I mentioned in my last post, I am 99% plant-based, 1% junk food vegan. For the time being, my baby girl will be part of that 99%. The food we provide our baby is from the earth, and it will be a while before we start offering her meat, dairy, and egg replacements, because she's just ge

50 views0 comments

If You Want To Dip Your Toe In The Vegan Water

veggiefueledmama

Feb 23, 2019
5 min

If You Want To Dip Your Toe In The Vegan Water

**Before I get too far into this post, I'll put this out there for anyone who doesn't know: there can be a huge difference between something that is vegan and something that is whole food, plant-based. Something that is plant-based is necessarily vegan, but something that is vegan is not necessarily plant-based. For example, you can eat Ritz crackers, Fritos, Oreos, and Swedish Fish and be eating vegan, but these things are obviously not plant-based. "Vegan" is also, for the

66 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Feb 16, 2019
6 min

The Influence Of Daycare

I knew from the beginning that I'd be going back to work after I had my baby. Even when I was on maternity leave and would get sad at the thought of leaving her, I knew I'd be going back. For us, that meant we'd be sending our baby to daycare. I never had any qualms about sending her to the place we chose. It's a wonderful place and the teachers there love our girl! However, always knowing that I'd be sending my baby to daycare came with also always knowing she'd most certain

59 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Feb 2, 2019
7 min

My Breastfeeding Rollercoaster

Not every mother wants to breastfeed, and not every mother is capable of breastfeeding. Then there are breastfeeding mothers who under produce, and there are breastfeeding mothers who over produce. Lip ties, tongue ties, bad latches, mastitis, clogs, thrush, babies who won’t take bottles and don’t give their moms any freedom, and pumping for some freedom for those babies who will take a bottle. These are just a few of the common complications breastfeeding mothers deal with e

94 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Jan 12, 2019
9 min

Maternity Leave is NOT a Vacation

When you're at the hospital, you have this wonderful option of allowing them to take your baby to the nursery so you can sleep. Not everyone takes advantage of this, but we did. They kept her there at night and brought her in when she needed to nurse. You can give them specific wishes such as “don’t bottle/formula feed” or however you want them to handle their awake time. After labor, you are SO exhausted, and getting the chance to catch up on some shut eye was something I wa

59 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Jan 5, 2019
8 min

Can Labor and Delivery be Pleasant?!

**I will preface this post by saying that I know no two labor and delivery experiences are alike. They are not always pleasant, and many (if not most) do not go as planned in some way. In fact, some end up downright traumatic for all involved. I realize that. There is no judgment here about the type of birth plan anyone chooses or has chosen for herself. This post is just about MY experience--how my labor and delivery went and how I felt about it.** The day before I went into

56 views2 comments

veggiefueledmama

Dec 29, 2018
4 min

CRAVINGS AND AVERSIONS

One of the typical questions you get when you’re pregnant is, “What are you craving?” And people will tell you their husbands drove to get them food in the middle of the night to satisfy their wildly weird needs. Not me. I was mildly disappointed that I didn't have any funky cravings, like the stereotypical ice cream and pickles combo. I barely even had any cravings, and I was disappointed about that, too. I should also mention that at no point did I ever, for a single second

38 views2 comments

veggiefueledmama

Dec 22, 2018
5 min

My Geriatric, Vegan Pregnancy

After the shock of being pregnant wore off (frankly, it never really did), I started mentally preparing myself for comments and inquiries from friends and family about whether I'd still be vegan during pregnancy. The answer, which was non-negotiable, was an emphatic "YES!" I mean, there was no question. To my surprise, I wasn't questioned AT ALL (other than my husband's 90-year-old grandmother innocently asking me if it's OK that I wasn't drinking milk, but, honestly, who cou

40 views0 comments

veggiefueledmama

Dec 15, 2018
4 min

What About Leather and Wool?

Before I get into the substance, I’ll start by saying there is a spectrum, like there is for so many circumstances we all deal with, for how vegans deal with and feel about use of animals in things other than food. Most won’t support zoos or circuses, many don’t support horseback riding, and a minority do not support service animals. But I would say a vast majority of vegans don’t wear clothing (including shoes) made of animal products like leather, wool, silk, or down, and t

44 views1 comment

veggiefueledmama

Dec 8, 2018
3 min

My Very Pleasant Surprise

I was pretty sure my husband and I weren't going to have kids; I thought that maybe that ship had sailed because I was already 39 and we were kind of getting settled into our life. On top of that, we thought our lives might be easier if we didn't have kids. Not because kids would be a burden on us, or anything like that. Rather, it was because the Midwest is not super vegan-friendly, and we had already decided we would raise any child we had as a vegan. We just figured it wou

69 views1 comment

veggiefueledmama

Dec 1, 2018
2 min

How We Handle Non-Vegan Guests

Plenty of homes have practices that might seem strange to guests. Some don’t allow shoes inside for cultural or religious reasons or just cleanliness purposes. Some don’t allow a couple who isn’t married to sleep in the same room for traditional purposes. When you visit someone else’s home, you respect these practices. Enforcing a strictly vegan household is becoming more common, but it’s still foreign to many people. Regardless, if your host requests that you not bring anima

57 views0 comments

When a Vegan and an Omnivore Get Married

veggiefueledmama

Nov 24, 2018
3 min

When a Vegan and an Omnivore Get Married

My husband and I met at work in 2008, when we were both living on the West Coast. I'm from there and he had moved there for college and stayed. We were working in different divisions of the same company, but we had a lot of interaction at work and got along right away. When we started dating, I was a pescatarian and he was an omnivore without even a slight interest in eating any other way. Not everyone does, but plenty of people live with their partners before they get marrie

112 views1 comment

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