Lone Vegetarian

[Jane_G]

I would love to become a vegetarian, (no red meat or poultry) but I don't like the thought of having to cook multiple meals.

My son medically cannot become vegetarian.

How do you go about planning meals that makes everyone happy? This is the biggest thing that keeps me from even trying it. I get tired just thinking about all the planning I would have to do.

I know that my husband and daughter would not want to embrace vegetarianism completely. So, what to do?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[PrayerWarrior]

[FONT=Georgia]I'm continually surprised at how many people think it would be such a daunting task! Of course it takes more thought then just boiling some hot dogs for everyone, but it really isn't much different.

When I became vegetarian, I was the only one in my immediate family. My mother didn't cook any differently, I just ate the green beans, Texas toast bread, and mac and cheese, skipping on the hamburgers or hot dogs (we were health nuts back then, can you tell?).

There was absolutely NO planning whatsoever for my mom, and if I wanted something different, I fixed it or asked for help.

Since then my mother has also gone vegetarian, and we're the kind that really do eat vegetables, now. The entire family has benefited from it, and eat much less meat, though no one else is vegetarian.

Hope this was more than just a unhelpful, jumbled mess!

Edit: I forgot to mention all the wonderful fake meats there are out there! When we fix them, my brothers (not vegetarians) can't even tell the difference! So no need to fear craving/missing meat.
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[Newpiggiemom]

I too worried about it before I made my decision. It does take some planning and thinking it out. But it's not as hard as I anticipated (yes, I'm the mom and do the cooking). Sometimes I cook vegetarian meals and discovered that if I cook a big pot of navy beans with a salad and good French bread my family loves it. Many pasta dishes don't need meat (if you're not trying to go vegan). I don't always cook a vegetarian meal and if I cook something that is a meat dish, I have some other quick side dishes on hand for me to substitute. I keep canned beans that I can warm up quickly and Uncle Ben's makes some delicious rices in a pouch that only need to be microwaved for 90 seconds. That way I eat the side dishes and veggies I fix for my family, skip the meat and replace it with something else. Works for me so far. When I cook spaghetti that would have meat, I just separate some sauce before I add the meat and cook it with Boca meatless ground beef or Morningstar Farms meal starters beef.

It can be done without too much hassle if you really set your mind to it.

[Susan9608]

Let me just enter a word of caution for you about relying simply on eating side dishes while the rest of your family eats a full meal. That's a sure fire way to leave the dinner table still hungry and start to rely on lots of snacks to get full. You can quickly develop very poor eating habits that way. It's also a good way to overindulge in starchy side items, like potatoes, rice, and bread, again for the fullness factor.

It is not always the easiest thing in the world to become vegetarian, particularly if the other members of your household are not also vegetarian. I would never want anyone to tell you otherwise, have you discover that it is not, in fact, easy, and then get discouraged or think that *you* are the one doing something wrong.

Being the lone vegetarian may take more meal planning to plan meals where meat can be added, rather than the focus. Pasta is often as easy way to start, because, as someone already stated, 2 different sauces usually aren't too difficult to make. Or things like meat balls can be added for those who want to eat meat.

I would look at this not so much as the fact that you have to go to considerable effort to make something different for yourself, but as an opportunity to improve the eating habits of your whole family. You said your son medically cannot be a vegetarian. It's really a very rare medical condition that requires that people eat meat with every single meal, so that gives you leeway to prepare vegetarian meals at least some of the time. And the rest of the time, a compromise of meals where meat can be added seems in order.

I'd invest in a good cookbook if I were you. There are lots of recipes here and recommendations of good books here; I'm sure you can find something that will satisfy the taste buds of everyone in your family without having to sacrifice anyone's health, including your own.

Good luck, and welcome to the dark side.

[VoodooJoint]

I'm a big fan of cooking large vegetarian entrees, freezing them in single serving sizes and simply defrosting and warming them as my main course at mealtimes. Doing it this way there is much less work each night. You cook one meal for the family. You simply forgo any meat served and instead enjoy your precooked entree with the side items.

[Jane_G]

Thank you for the replies and some great ideas. As for my son, he is on a feeding tube and is only able to eat a few foods. Chicken, rice, and some fruits are all he's passed in his food trials. Soy is a big no no right now for him. It is one of the biggest allergic foods out there.

I've never thought of making dinners in pieces and letting everyone add to their plate as they wish. That is something that I could try without it being too much work. I have enough trouble getting my son to eat regular food. He's always afraid that food will get him sick. It's very upsetting to us and I try not to make meal times too big of a deal.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I'll give it a try.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

I also try to stick to meals where meat is ADDED and not the entirety of the main dish. I rarely cook something like piece of beef. But I do make beef tacos, with soy crumbles or beans as an alternate filling.

Also, if you cook meat ahead of time and freeze it, you aren't spending as much time over the stove. Tonight I think I'm making enchiladas. I have pre-cooked meat filling with ground beef, tomatoes, onions etc in the freezer to defrost, and I happen to have a tupperware of rice and black beans in the fridge for my veg enchilada fillings. Enchiladas traditionally to take a while to make, but tonight all I'm making is a pot of sauce and rolling them up. Also, I make completely vegetarian meals sometimes. Just because someone is an omnivore doesn't mean they need meat with EVERY meal.

[Weatherlight]

Depending on why you're going vegetarian, you might want to refuse to unnecessarily cook up products of suffering so that your loved ones can fuel slaughterhouses. They (other than maybe the son) don't need meat with ANY meal. You can't control what they eat outside of your cooking? Great! They can eat misery all they want outside the home or if they get their own food.

Food intolerance can be tough, but it's very possible to be vegan with many food limitations. People associate veg*nism with soy now in this culture, but it's no more necessary than strawberries, lentils, or kale. At least one person was unable to eat many grains, soy, and a huge list of fruits and vegetables (including strawberries); it took some planning, but they figured out a healthy diet from what they could eat. How many foods have been ruled out for him? Rice and a few fruits aren't the healthiest things to eat as a sole source of nutrition, but the addition of chicken doesn't make for a healthy and balanced diet either. What types of other, "regular" foods do you encourage him to eat? How can he be afraid of getting sick if you're sticking to foods that are safe for him?

[Jane_G]

Weatherlight: He doesn't have food intolerances. He has an immune issue with the proteins in all foods. He was taken off all foods by mouth this past October for an entire month. He was fed a special formula through a tube in his nose.

The ONLY foods he "eats" is chicken, rice, grapes, watermelon. We are now trialing corn. For the rest of his nutrition he is on an elemental formula fed through the tube that has been inserted in his stomach. It gives him about 95% of his calories for the day. We can't just give him food to eat, we have to make sure he passes the trial. It has nothing to do with encouraging him. He wants to eat everything, but most things will make him sick.

As for the rest of the family, I recently tried a put your own dinner together. It went over quite well. We did a pasta, veggie, veggie crumble dish with tomato sauce. It was really good.

Thank you everyone for your ideas. It will be slowing going, but worth the effort.

[Weatherlight]

Oh, when you said you have enough trouble getting him to eat regular food, I thought you meant you encouraged him and he was against it. Do you know the medical name for this disease? I've never heard of it and it seems horrible. I keep learning about more nasty things that can happen to people :( Maybe there's a morbid part of me that's compelled to look them up >.<

Good luck to you and your family.