The KInd Life Community Forum

I am flirting with the idea of being vegan and maybe even becoming a superhero one day. My quesiton is: My husband is willing to try the diet, but says he won't give up meat, dairy, etc for good. How do we "share" the kitchen? And how can I buy him meat, since I am the grocery shopper, when I am against eating it?

Here is my advice. I also live in a mixed household. I went vegetarian about 1 year ago and am making the transition to vegan. My husband and children are not (at this point) willing to make that transition with me. I have come to the realization that I cannot force my choices on them but can lead by example and hopefully they will see the results and decide to make the same choice. I will stil buy and cook meat (which grosses me out) on occassion because I know if I push my views they will only rebel even more so. My husband has changed his eating habits over the last year (coincidence with my going veg? maybe) and eats a lot less meat-from daily to maybe 1 time per week. I have made it a point to cook good veggie meals that are still filling. Beans are great for that. Plus you can substitute vegan alternatives with traditional meals...he may not even know the difference. I feel guilty everytime I put a piece of meat in my cart, but remember Rome wasn't built in a day. My sister who is a meat and bigtime cheese eater suggested we do a vegan Superbowl party. Progress...

I have three kids and a husband who will never go veggy. I am just a flirt at this point. I have made it a priority to try one new recipe a week. There is usually alot of leftovers so on the nights I am making a meat meal, I just re-heat the veggy one. On other nights I will have a big salad and a small sample of the "main" meal because I believe that I am setting an example and need to participate in the meal as well.

i feel lucky that i dont have kids right now!!! lol. its just me and my husband. i am the only one who cooks. he is very supportive of me, but seems to be pretty hell bent against trying anything "weird"- tofu, tempeh, seitan- etc. he likes chick patties by morningstar farms and thats about it!! so i've been doing this for three weeks now, and im starting to get the hang of it. (im only flirting with being a vegan but have stopped eating meat entirely) I'll give you my meal plan for the week-
tonight- apple cider "beef" - an old favorite, made with veggie stock instead of beef. bought a small steak for him and seitan for me- will make them in different pots.

tomorrow- stir fry with tempeh for me, chicken for him (i buy the big bag of individually frozen chicken breasts- he only needs one at a time so it lasts forever) tuesday- burgers with caramelized onions and salad (veggie burger for me, chicken burger for him- purchased the chicken burgers at whole foods)

Wednesday- we always do "waffle wednesdays" he'll have some Jones all natural frozen sausage links and i bought the morningstar

Thursday- pasta

Friday- Leftovers

This seems to be working so far. we're kind of eating different things but not really. mealtimes have always been happy times for us, and i dont want to lose that. im finding some simple substitutions work, although i know i am relying on processed food probably too much, but im new!! today was the first day that i bought him a steak, and it was weird. i felt just sad standing in the aisle looking at all of the beef. it feels weird to be contributing my money towards something i dont agree with, but not as bad as i thought. i spent 2 dollars on a tiny steak, instead of spending tons of our grocery money on meat. i definitely feel like im still making a difference. dont know what we'll do when we have kids though!!! :)