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I really want to go vegan but don't know where to start...
Started
by padfoot3179
on January 26, 2013
Hello everyone,
I have been waffling about going vegan for a few months now. I have been an off and on vegetarian for two years but the thing that stops me is living with non vegetarians. My husband and stepdaughters are meat lovers and I do 90% of the cooking. They are willing to eat a plant based diet but only a few days a week. My husband is in law school at night and works full time during the day so I make him lunch and dinner to take with him everyday. The stepdaughters are here every other weekend so they are easier to feed vegetables to. We are moving in with his brother and fiancee next week and they are both vegan and my questions are:
Will it be easier to transition living with other vegans?
How should I start?
How can I keep my meat loving husband fed when I don't want to cook meat?
How do I handle criticism from family members about this?
Thank you for information!
First of all, congratulations on wanting to make the leap to veganism!! I think it will be easier to you when you live with vegans as I bet they will be a great resource for you! It is hard with family, I live with two non-vegans. The smells of fast food is sometimes disgusting and sometimes tempting, can't explain it... I have started cooking a lot for myself, but I do not have to cook for others and can only imagine what a challenge this must be for you. My suggestion would be to try to get them onto the more "flirty" foods, as Alicia calls them. These are the more fun, accessable foods. There are also a lot of more processed foods that you can serve. Many wheat and veggie pastas, tofu and other soy meat and cheese substitues are great treats (and don't even get me started on vegan "ice cream"), but you could use them heavily at first and wean everyone off of them as you transition with picky eaters. My local Whole Foods store has a pretty extensive vegan selection and even Wal-Mart is starting to carry some things. Then, just ease into more healthful, less processed meals over time. Again, this is just my suggestion and I am not in your shoes, but I hope this helps! Best of luck to you!!
I am vegan and live with my partner who is most of times as well but he does slip.
We also have three boys 23 - 19 - 17 and they have the choice of eating what I make or making their own food.
In the beginning I bought faux meat things like chicken nuggets etc... they did not go over well. What I have done is use meat crumbles in place of ground beef in chili, spaghetti, tacos etc... and they don't seem to notice in those dishes.
They also have no problem with the vegan "butter" or alternate milks I buy.
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