How do you maintain a vegetarian diet when your husband and kids are die hard meat eaters?
Question: How do you maintain a vegetarian diet when your husband and kids are die hard meat eaters?
My husband and my son both think the world is going to come to an end if we don’t have meat daily. I just eliminated poultry out my diet, and I have been pork and red meat free for a few months now. I do plan on eating fish occassionally (I love fish anyway) but certainly not every day. Are there any vegetarian meals you can suggest? Or, does anyone know of a good vegetarian/pescatarian cookbook you can recommend?
Answer:
Answer by Kruger, Freddy Kruger
if you do the cooking it should be up to you what you cook, if they dont like it they can lump it, simple as that
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You just need to make lots of veggie side dishes (which would serve as your main dishes) with their meat products. My 11 year old is pretty much a vegetarian but eats lots of vegetables, the potatoes and applesauce or peaches or another fruit with dinner. I also prepare certain dishes (like a stir fry) where the meat and vegetables can be done separately and combined at the table so everyone is happy. Good luck and God Bless.
Since you are the only one who doesn’t eat meat, (also assuming you’re the cooker in the family), then you should try to cater to the desires of your family. If your husbands and kids are die hard meat eaters, let them have their meat (at least a small portion of every meal is best). I know if my mom tried to force me to be a vegetarian, I’d stop eating her food and consume other snacks in the house instead. No one likes to be forced to eat anything.
But, on the same note, if your husband cooks, he needs to keep YOU in mind. It would be inconsiderate of him to have an all meat meal and not offer you any alternatives.
The best thing to do, overall, is compromise. Accept that you have differences in eating, and find a way to get around those differences without sacrificing your family (or letting your family sacrifice you) what they want in their diet.
make dishes that cater to both… Spaghetti /w meat balls, cook the meat balls seperate and add them to the meat eaters meals but omit them from your own… Chicken primavera again meat cooked seperate and added to theirs.. things like that… If you try to cook two seperate meals it will end up breaking you down…
Here are a few ideas.
http://www.foodtv.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=86955
and http://www.foodtv.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=86970
Tell them to get their cholesterol checked. Especially your husband. If it’s even remotely on the high side and he’s young (30-45) tell him he’s probably on his way to living a lot shorter life if he keeps eating meat in ‘die hard’ quantities. Cut back on it and introduce some of the fake meat types of food like Quorn brand chicken cutlets, Boca burgers, etc. All that stuff is EXCELLENT and won’t increase the risks associated with eating like your knuckles drag.
Just substitute your meat portions for fake meat or beans. Whatever you make for them just replace the meat with beans and you can follow your diet and they can follow theirs.
pssst….if you eat fish, you’re not really a vegetarian.
Okay, so the only meat you eat is fish, but your family likes all sorts of meat. Easy. Cook vegetable side dishes vegetarian, cook your fish/tofu/tempeh/vegetarian main thing, cook the meat for the family, and you eat the stuff you cook for you, and they eat the other meat. Or you can ask your husband if he’ll cook the meat part, you’ll do the rest.
Try to ensure there are leftovers for one big reason.
If you do a casserole, you can either make two half portions, one with meat and one without, or you can use veggie crumbles in a chili or stew to fool them. If they don’t want that, they can have leftovers.