Trials, Tribulations and Triumphs of Toddler-Friendly Takeaways.

Suggestions for breaking fast food barriers with vegan smalls.

My two young kids and I had enjoyed a great day together. But I was tired. Hubby was away for work and I was running on fumes. I decided to be 'Fun Mom', so I ordered kid-sized vegan Hell pizzas. I set up a pizza picnic in the lounge in front of the tele and excitedly unveiled our dinner. I was shocked to be met with mild horror and major hesitation. Very little pizza was consumed.

I realised we had dropped the ball on exposing the kids to takeaways. Yes, they were well familiar with a soy milk fluffy from a cafe, but not so much an actual meal. I felt like a right muppet, having trained my children to only eat food prepared for them at home. So my husband and I decided we wanted to deliberately expand what we could feed the kiddos in a pinch - specifically that wasn't from our own kitchen. For times we are on a road trip, arriving somewhere late on holiday or even just at home but out of willpower.

We live in regional New Zealand in a smallish town, so can only dream of an array of veg outlets serving a cornucopia of vegan delights and modern options. Our available choices include Hell and Domino's pizza, Subway, sushi, Jabies Doner Kebab, Burger King 'rebel' items and service station hot vegan pies and sausage rolls.

We employed a staged approach where we started by just talking about what was available when we drove past. Then moved on to highlighting said fast food in books or media (Eyeballing you, Bluey and Bingo delivering pizza). Next it was to cook a homemade version, ideally with child participation. Then, serve it family-style where we ate it too and were prepared for the kid to balk (they did). The final phase is to order some for yourself and nonchalantly eat it in front of them. Repeat all as necessary. It might seem bananas to go through all these steps, as aren't toddlers curious creatures? Yes, but their dislike of the unfamiliar trumps all.

The trouble with so much takeaway food is it can be... flavourful. And textural. And seasoned. And mostly, not what toddlers are expecting. According to my children, how dare this food have multi-layered taste! The smallest perceived offence can stop my offspring from eating something. The hummus the kebab place serves is 'too smooth'. The lettuce from Subway is 'cut funny'. The Domino's vegan pizza is 'cheesy wet'. The service station vegan sausage roll pastry is 'yucky crumbly'. It can be exhausting. But we kept trying, and we recently won big.

For almost two years my older child's favourite dinner was essentially sushi but strictly deconstructed. Everything was on the plate: rice, seaweed, tofu, capsicum, avocado, Angel Food cream cheese, cucumber, carrot and edamame beans, but it simply had to be separated. Every time I did the very step I am suggesting of involving the child in preparing the food, she would have a whale of a time gleefully helping me make the sushi rolls, then would flip-flop to instant disgust when presented with actually eating it. What sort of witchcraft trash was I dare offering her for dinner? It was very draining. But I kept at it. And eventually, it worked. We assembled it together. She ate it assembled. I had to employ extreme self-control not to kneecap the progress by reacting much. And now, she and I enjoy occasional Girls Lunch Dates where we go to our preferred sushi outlet and she mainlines avocado sushi and inari pockets as if it's a competitive eating event. Success! Meanwhile, her younger brother is very much still in the 'separation only' stage, but that's ok, it's a journey. He's on the train and we are headed to Integration Station.

Another small win was Subway. Miss 5 declared the veggie patty "spicy". Bummer. But what she does love is avocado. Order up, one 6-inch avocado sandwich with salt. She loves it. It is a complete meal? Not really. But that's not my benchmark for success here, plenty of other eating in the day to pack goodness in.

Annoyingly, Burger King is yay to the paper crown, but still nay to eating the actual protein component. Yes to the bun, yes to the pickle, yes to the fries, firm buzz off to the rebel patty. ("But you eat it at home!" I scream inside my head). So we persist. Back we will go again.

This reminds me, never forget the trusty base of any toddler food pyramid. As iconic Hobbit Samwise Gamgee says, po-tay-toes! Fries are your friend. As (possibly) distasteful as a fast food burger brand might be, they often have covered playgrounds. Which for parents on a road trip needing to run some kids ragged, let's just say I do see the 'golden arches' as a tad more heavenly these days.

I realise some have mixed feelings about supporting Big Fast Food, given a long history of serving cheap and not-cheerful animal products. But for me it's easy. I want to show brands that vegan options are in demand, are the future, and will be purchased. These outlets are businesses, not charities, and what sells is the language they speak. Even in a small bucolic pocket of Aotearoa, we want fast vegan options, please.

Have a chuckle imagining my oldest recently this summer, whizzing down a McDonald's slide in a t-shirt printed with "Vegan Power!" on the front. We were only eating fries. After all, a vegan-friendly apple pie is far too flavourful to be approved of.... yet!

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