| You need: |
But don’t like: |
Try this first: |
Then try this second: |
| Calcium |
Milk or calcium – fortified soymilk |
Calcium-fortified rice milk or juices (orange, apple, cranberry); greens (kale, collard, mustard greens, turnip greens); broccoli; tahini (sesame paste); figs, almonds; tofu made with calcium (read label); black-strap molasses; yogurt or cheese. |
Calcium supplements (you can mix powdered calcium supplements or powdered soymilk into baked goods and pancakes). |
| Protein |
Beans or tofu |
Hide beans by mashing them and adding them to soups. Use refried beans or hummus as a spread instead of mayo or mustard. Crumble tofu into spaghetti sauce. |
Other high protein foods, such as soy based veggie burgers, dogs, and other “fake meats”; seitan; soymilk; nut butters; high protein grains (such as millet, quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat). |
| Fibre and trace minerals |
Whole grains |
Use a mixture of white and whole-wheat flour when making baked goods. Try a new recipe. Your usual spaghetti sauce may taste weird with whole-wheat spaghetti, but if you try a whole new sauce, you won’t be comparing it to the old dish. |
Lots of fruits and veggies for fibre; nuts for trace minerals. |
| Iron |
Dark green leafy vegetables. |
Don’t just steam the greens; finely chop them and add a little to a favourite dish, like a stir-fry. |
Other iron-rich foods, like lentils and other cooked beans; seitan; dried fruits (raisins, apricots, figs). |
| Vitamin C
|
Fresh Fruit |
Use orange juice or strawberry juice as part of the liquid in pancake batter; freeze fruit and juice into fruit pops. |
Green peppers; potatoes; hot peppers. |
| Vitamin A |
Fresh Vegetables |
Cover vegetables with shredded cheese or home made cheese sauce. Chop vegetables and add to stews, soups, and casseroles. Add shredded veggies to sandwich fillings. Add grated vegetables to pancake batter, scrambled eggs, and baked treats. |
Red grapefruit; oranges. |
| Vitamin B12 |
Dairy products or eggs |
Fortified soy milk or rice milk; fortified breakfast cereals. |
Take a B12 supplement if you don’t consume B12 fortified foods regularly. |
| Folate (a.k.a. folic acid or folacin) |
Green leafy veggies |
Hide green veggies in recipes you like; drink orange juice; eat fortified grain foods and cereals. |
Oranges, peanuts, sunflower seeds. |
| Riboflavin
(vitamin B2)
|
Dairy products |
Fortified soy milk and fortified cereals. |
Broccoli, asparagus, turnip greens, spinach. |
| Magnesium |
Whole grains |
Beans such as black beans and navy beans, nuts, seeds. |
Green vegetables, avocados, berries, chocolate (really! But don’t overdo it …) |
| Zinc |
Whole grains or hard cheeses* |
Legumes (beans); almonds and other nuts; avocados. |
Fake meats that have zinc added. |
