new vegetarian in a carnivorous family. Help

[100]

My Dr recommended that I become vegetarian because my body isn't processing the protein properly.  My family refuses to eat any of my creative dishes, which I think are amazing.  They won't eat tofu, beans, lentils, soy, etc and turn their noses up when there is no meat.  I can eat a limited amount of chicken and fish, but I'm running out of options.  Any suggestions?

[gerrymcd]

I've caught a few TV shows about homesteader in Alaska.  The raise cattle, chickens, etc. for meat.  When the time comes to slaughter them they treat the process with dignity and are always thankful for what the animal is contributing to their lives.  I respect that approach enormously. 

[Cassandrao]

I agree. As I said previously, I don't have an issue personally with animal
slaughter for food as long as it has been raised and killed humanely. Most
people won't pay or cant afford the premium price asked for these products
and don't have the room or wish to raise their own livestock but they can
afford chickpeas, nuts and beans. I think inadvertently I gave the
impression that I'm a vegetarian .
I'm not but I prefer to only occasionally eat animal products when I can be
sure of it's origins.

[steff]

Thanks guys!  I appreciate your insight.  I have tried to have a reasonable discussion with others about this topic and just got something akin to hysteria, accusations, and disdain.    I appreciate your beliefs and except for the tremdous use of hormones (used simply for growth) and antibiotics (given within the entire population instead in isolation for sick animals) in most final stage ranc/farming, I find that they are  very humane.   All of the farmers and ranchers I have known have high regard for their livestock in part, because they eat them and feed them to their family too.  The part of the chain that breaks down is when large operations (ie, meat packers and feed yards, etc) take over and warehouse the animals like they were potatoes, instead of living creatures.

[BartL]

@Steff: I wish I had the time and space to raise my own food. Would be fantastic to do so, you know what you eat and the taste is much better.

@Jogger: To come back to the original topic, I’m happy to eat a ‘vegetarian’ meal as long as it tastes good and that is where the trick is. If you normally eat plain boiled veg, potatoes and meat for supper there is no way you get your family across the line to replace the meat. The meat (gravy) flavours the rest of the meal and without that it can become pretty bland.

You first need to introduce tasty side dishes that in the end can be a meal on its own or used as a part of the meal with other non-meat dishes. Without diving straight away into the Asian kitchen which is not for every bodies taste buds have a look at the basic Italian and Spanish kitchen. There will be something that all (or most  ) will like. In the meantime you can eat more of the side dishes satisfying your Dr’s request to eat less meat.

Enjoy the search for tasty food! 

[CocoaChupacabra]

I saw weightsovrdates comment and I can't agree more about the quorn mince! Once it's all cooked up in sauce you can't even tell it's quorn! My stepdad is a massive carnivore and he's been eatting quorn mince for months without even noticing! The quorn chicken bits are great too, they really suck up the flavours of the sauce you cook them in so they're great in fajitas and stuff.

[Cassandrao]

I really like the snitzels as well. With the mince I make stuffed bell
peppers cooked in tomato passata and that's delicious as well, or I make
chilli con carne or cottage pie.

[MrsGriever42605]

I love having a plant based diet!  You're welcome to check out my blog for some meal ideas - http://tastebudimpaired.blogspot.com/

[Cottagegirl]

I think you should tell your family they're being selfish. You are embracing a healthy diet for medical reasons and you are doing your best to put creative meals on the table for your family. You may not win them over right away but I think you should talk with them and come up with some compromise. Perhaps they could support you Monday-Friday but weekends could be more of the traditional foods they are used to eating....remember, healthy eating is good for their health too!

[100]

You're right cottage girl. I have talked to them about it and I honestly think that my hubby didn't believe there was such a thing or was in denial. Well, I have been faithful in my vegetarian choices since January and last Saturday, we had our first date night in months. We decided on the Keg since it is our favourite restaurant and I had a steak. I didn't even get through 1/3 of it before it hit my system hard. My body has been in detox mode for a week and I haven't been able to eat anything until yesterday. I won't go into details, but it wasn't pretty. I think he now understands the severity of it all now and is a bit more supportive.

[LaTonya]

Sad to hear about your family's resistence. It might help if you ease them into new options by preparing foods that look like what they like. When I began eating a vegetarian diet, I weaned myself off meat with fake meat options like boca burgers, veggie chilli with beans, rice and/or corn.  Texture is an issue for many of us not just taste.  My guy experimented a lot with learning how to season our vegetarian dishes and he's pretty good at it. Use mushrooms, worchester sauce, steak sauce, soy sauce and cumin. You want seasonings that add the depth or complexity your meat eaters are accumstomed to. Eating vegetarian doesn't have to be bland or boring. I eat pretty well.

I'm lucky. My guy likes meat and loves his veggies so he isn't bothered by eating mostly vegetarian. He's also the cook. I'm appreciative that he is the cook. My feeling is this: if they really want to not eat the food that is better for your health, tell them to pick of the spoon and grab a pot and fend for themselves.

[LaTonya]

Steff,

I'm a pectarian (mostly veg/legumes). I'm not anti-meat. I prefer vegetarian dishes for taste so I don't want veggies to taste like meat. I like good, healthy, tasty food. I don't understand why many people mistakenly believe that because I don't eat meat that I want bland food. 🙂

I failed to suggest trying different ethnic foods. Indian is my favorite food. I also love middle eastern and different asian foods. These dishes aren't foods where you're eliminating the meat or adding faux meat. They are great main meals.

I no longer like the taste of meat and it was because of commercial practices and policies that I stopped eating meat. I have a problem with forcing a cow to eat grain and eating a chicken that falls over because its breast is too big. Under different circumstances, I wouldn't object to eating an animal that was fed a proper diet, raised to maturity naturally, slaughtered humanely (yes, I said humanely) and production wasn't harming the environment or community.

[BartL]

LaTonya,

Love your posts. It's indeed all about flavour. I don't need meat in a dish on a daily basis long as the dish has good flavour and is relatively healthy.

The Indian kitchen is fantastic for tasty veg food. The southern European cuisine can produce just as good veg dishes only more focussed on single flavours. This oposite to the most of the South East Asian kitchen like India, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.

Is your hubby on Fitbit as well? Being a home cook myself I wouldn’t mind exchanging a few recipes for flavourful dishes 🙂

Cheers, Bart.

[LaTonya]

Hi Bart,

Sadly, he is not. He is a walker and a great cook. He is not the social animal I am.  I'll ask for a few of his recipes.

I love going home expectant and excited to find out what's for dinner. Though lately, he's threatening to boycott. He wants me to cook. And I thinking to myself, Why when he's so good at it?" I'm going to try. Wish me luck.

[Caity]

I'm a vegetarian and my boyfriends not so what I usually did was make things for dinner that had components of both, that way I could figure out what recipes he liked while making sure he didn't go hungry.  Eventually I found recipes that he liked my veggie version of and would make those more often while still doing some half and half meals.

For example I would make tacos by roasting some sweet potatoes with Mexican seasoning and then mixing the potatoes into some black beans I had heated up for myself. I would then also cook up some sliced peppers and onions and set them aside then cook up some strips of chicken in the same pan with some of the same Mexican spices.  We would have tacos two ways with minimal extra work to make the meat.  I got my sweet potatos and some of the pepper mixture and he got basically fajitas.  I was able to convince him my sweet potato tacos were awesome and then make them more often without the meat option.  It’s an easy way to kind of trick people into liking the veggie option since they don’t realize you’re plotting to replace their meat in the future.

[scoobie57]

very shrewd and wise.  Good compromise.

[GI_Jane]

I haven't read all the replies. Some of these tips may have already been given. My family was a purely carnivorous family until 4 years ago. My daughter who was extremely overweight at 11 years old (the rest of us werent), was recommended to go to a Endocrinologist to see if she had something going on with her thyroid. Although the tests came back negative, the doctor was concerned about her weight. On her own, she decided she would go vegetarian (well...almost...she occasionally has fish and she does eat cheese and dairy). Through healthy eating (we don't call it a diet) and exercise, she has lost close to 50lbs and looks GREAT. It was difficult though. It became an endeavor for the entire family. Although the rest of us still have meat on occasion, here are some tips we followed that we really love! Imagine an entire Holiday Meal with meat as a side dish rather than the main attraction! Homemade stuffing---Yummy! Mushroom Gravy made with vegetable base! Roasted garlic mashed potatoes! Homemade noodles with vegetable broth and sometimes chicken substitute (Morningstar Chkn Strips) All the old-fashioned favorites of my family...we a meatless twist. Introducing new recipes didn't happen all at once. For each meal, I would offer recipes that I would "normally" make. But my daughter and I would try one new recipe that she could eat. Soon we were finding that with adaptation and trying new dishes that had ingredients that everyone liked increased our vegetarian intake as well. Vegetarian Chili is my families favorite! Nobody misses the meat. Other things my family has tried and loves include: Quinoa--rather than having rice. We also have this more often than pasta now. We often add vegetables or make it into a vegetable soup. Vegetable Base (Better than Bouilion) for anything that would have had chicken or beef broth. Chia--we add this to soups and stews. Trying different spices...Chipoltle spices are delicious on grilled or steamed veggies. Almost all of our favorite recipes we have been able to find substitutes for the meat. (using soy substitutes) or just leaving the meat out!

[JRzMom]

My husband has to have meat of some kind at every meal.  We have finally limited red meat to once a week and he noticed a big difference in the way his digestive system feels.  Whenever he eats red meat now, he notices how bloated he feels.  Never noticed it before because he was so used to feeling that way!  Maybe you can challenge them to go a week without meat.  Only one week and see how they feel when they go back to it.  It may convince them.

My husband also doesn't like many vegetables cooked, so I do a lot of raw or quickly sauted veggies so they retain their crispness.  

[Zacksmum]

My Husband is also very meat-n-potato. Since I cook, he eats what I cook. Lunches are all him. He'll go get a huge cheeseburger or whatever meat he wants during the workday, but as far as home is concerned, if he wants meat, he has to cook it! I'll treat him once in a while and make him a steak or something like that, but for the most part, he eats what I eat at home. He has found that he feels better and makes his body feel better... he didn't notice he felt bad until he started decreasing his meat intake! 

Maybe challenge your family to Meatless Monday, or a week of vegetarian food-they've got to bend a little out of respect and love for you! I used to make a veg dish for myself, then add meat to it after I'd taken out a portion for myself. I got tired of doing that after about a year. I just gradually stopped adding meat. They hardly noticed. Hope this helps, I'll say a prayer for you!

[Nosrepmodnar]

I feel your pain (literally)

I am now doing a whole foods diet (vegan, without the obsessive compassion for animals, i have compassion but im not throwing paint on anyone)

We slowly moved to this without telling anyone 😄

It is easier (there will always be rebellion) when you control the food.

Started out last January sugar blocking, then moved to a no processed, no gluten diet.

So that eliminated the pasta, no one seemed to think too much of it and when someone really wanted pasta we would have rice noodles.

Then we went to organic only, and organic meat, until we found out about industrial organics.

We found small local farmers and invested in a pig, and were shopping for a cow.

As the months wore on we started doing the Asian thing, the meat went along with the meal, it wasn't the meal. Instead of 4 chicken breast halves for 4 of us only 2, then just 1.

We joined a CSA, so weird exotic vegetables became our staple. and kale, lots and lots of kale.

In november we went vegan, the kids protest and we are still using up the pig and we buy form local famers for others meas, but they eat what we do, we'll just make them some meat with it when they remember to ask for it. 

Our kids have come far, one rarely eats meat and the other complais about whatever meat we make, so stop asking for it 😄

[JRzMom]

That sound slike the way to go.  Mkae changes gradually.  I know I will never change my husband...actually that is part of our success.  We don't try to change each other.  I can only change myself and he benefits in the long run.  Biggest problem we have is he is not a veggie lover.  Like most veggies raw (which is really better for you anyway) but I love sauted cabbage, steamed or stir fry broccoli and cauliflower.  He can't stand the smell of cooked cabbages.  Now that warmer weather is here, I can cook outside or just open all the windows.  

One thing I'd like to caution you about is iodine deficiency.  I was vegetarian for almost 20 years and also heeded the advice of the medical community to cut down on salt.  Never cooked with it or used it on the table.  I used a lot of soy products (this was before anyone knew what Monsanto had done to our soy) and combined with an iodine deficiency, I developed thyroid disease.  Hashimotos.  If I had known back then, I would have added some kelp to my diet or at least some kind of iodine supplement.  I thought I was doing everything healthy.