Blended Family
Posted by arvona on Jun 17, 2012 · Member since Jun 2012 · 1 posts
How do I blend a vegan/vegetarian diet with a husband who thinks it's not dinner without meat? I only have so much time and money... I have tried just doing one vegetarian night a week with little success. Maybe I wasn't really ready. I do feel much better when I eat vegetarian.
Thanks in advance!
Get him too cook his own meal?
I understand your dilema. My DD, now 20 and still at home for college, went vegetarian in junior high (read: only wanted to eat mac and cheese since she did not like veggies), I am lactose intolerant and DH and DS love their meat. It took a few years to get things to where we are working together on menue planning and actually making it work. I usually cook meat with leftovers 2-3 times a week and tell the guys "Hey, this meatloaf should be 4-6 servings. Don't eat it all tonight" or something simmilar with whatever I make for them. (I only buy grass fed beef from a local small farm and free range chickens) I make what works as a main dish for DD and me and a side for the guys. The other nights I cook either vegetarian or vegan and if the guys want to add in their leftovers, fine with me. It took a lot of trial and error to find things that are reasonably acceptable to everyone. DS18 is pretty flexible now in what he eats. DH not as much but is getting better. It helps that I am feeling much better physically than before and I can point to my lab work being better and my rotten family health history as reasons I "have to" eat the way I do.
When I started dating my boyfriend (now husband), neither of us were vegetarian, but both of us were interested in our health. Three years ago, after reading a few damning books, (The China Study) I decided to become vegetarian. DH wasn't totally on board at first, but since I do the cooking I just bought what I wanted.
DH and I both felt so much better and healthier, and I would also read him excerpts from pro-veg books to make my case. He still eats meat sometimes when we're at a restaurant or at his parents' house, but that's very rare.
My point - try to introduce him slowly to new foods and give him reasons to want to stop eating meat, and since you're probably the one doing the cooking, just make what you want! If my DH wants meat with his meal, he can buy/cook it himself!