MN Jury

[Malachite]

Please can you help settle an argument between me and my husband. I am a vegetarian and he is a meat-eater. I don't mind us cooking separate meals or meaty/veggie versions of meals, but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask him to eat vegetarian meals some of the time, as much for cost reasons (meat is so expensive) as for the fact it would be nice to just cook one meal sometimes. AIBU?

YANBU. Neither me nor my DH are vegitarian but we don't eat meat every day..for health reasons as well as money!

Meat on a daily basis is not good for you.

I don't think YABU, but it seems that (most) meat eating men think there's something missing if they don't have meat on their plate.

My research is only based on men I know.

YANBU and it's a good idea, BUT, a person can't be forced to eat a veggie meal simply because it suit one particular person in the household. I'm not veggie myself, but I understand about only making one meal for the whole family.

Saying that, can you not do the same veggie dish for all eg, lentil/rice/bean dish and the only extra bit could be poached/roasted/grilled meat for your DH to go with the dish?

YANBU. DH and I have both cut down our meat consumption for 3 reasons: money, health and environment.

It's perfectly possible to have delicious meals without meat (I don't need to tell you that obviously!)

Do you really have separate meals every day? Does he cook his own stuff?

Of course YANBU. We mostly eat veggie meals, for the reasons given above. It's quite old school for men to think this way.

As a nation we consume far too much meat. It really isn't healthy.

And if it were me, with DH being difficult, I would cook a veggie meal and he can do whatever he likes.

YANBU - there was a programme on a few weeks ago with one of the top chefs cooking for the men in a firestation, they were eating badly and he showed them they could eat vegetarian meals that were fillling and not 'lacking' - it was interesting. IF I was less pants I'd remember the name of the chef.... HFW maybe??

YANBU!

We are omnivores, and eat meat meals, veggie meals, fish meals and vegan meals.
Food is food.

I have to keep the budget down and go for tasty meals, mainly homemade and a balanced diet.

Thanks for quick responses! Cymar, that's pretty much what we do at the moment, but he doesn't eat lentils/beans/tofu/quorn so I end up making most of a meal in one pan, then cooking meat in another pan and veggie protein in another pan. I'm sick of juggling multiple pans and the extra washing up!

I know I can't force him to eat veggie food though :(

YANBU. Neither myself nor DH are vegetarians, but we both frequently eat meals that are vegetarian. One of the best things I cook is a red kidney bean curry. Cheap and delicious!

YANBU at all. Just because something doesn't contain meat, it doesn't mean it's purely for the consumption of vegetarians. There must be loads of meat-free meals he eats - breakfast cereal, cheese sandwiches, etc. Point this out to him and see what he says.

Thankyou all! Responses are so fast here!

He wants me to say that he does cook meals for me that are meat free and separate ones for himself. He's never really liked vegetables that much but has improved since we've been living together.

(He's not a happy bunny now that you are all agreeing with me! Hehehe)

Mackerel, you would think that but this is the problem, there really aren't! He won't eat a sandwich without meat. He eats bacon sandwiches for breakfast on a friday and doesn't usually bother with it the rest of the week. He does occasionally have muesli, which is his only meat free meal!

'I don't think it's unreasonable to ask him to eat vegetarian meals some of the time,'..but he's not a veggie is he? Turn that sentence around... 'He doesn't think it's unreasonable to ask me to eat meals with meat some of the time'....

If the man is paying for his own food and doesn't want to eat tofu or other equally revolting veggie protein, then it's down to him.

I do all the cooking in my household and we have meat/fish every day.
YABU

Thing is you are seperating the 2. A veggie lasange for example is just that. Lasange made from veggies. Its a meal, one I make for non veggie DS and me because its healthy, tasty and as said above meat is expensive.

Pasta bake is another example - its meat free but is just a meal iyswim.

If your making a meal with a meat substitute though I can understand why your DH wants the meat (and I love qourn!).

Sorry but i think YABU

Malachite - if he eats that much meat I'd make him an appt to have his cholestral levels checked!

My DH is vegi and when I used to cook (long story but I stopped cooking meals for him 2 years ago) I used to cook vegetarian meals. It was (still is, really) rare for me to eat meat - maybe once a month.

Agree about not wanting to eat Quorn, soya mince, tofu etc. I've tried them and never again. If you're trying to get him to eat that then YABU.

I'm vegetarian, the rest of my family aren't and they eat what I flippin' well cook! I do cook free range meat for them, but they don't get it every day. YANBU

Honestly, it is nothing like asking vegetarians to eat meat some of the time. You eat everything except meat/fish. He basically only eats meat and carbs by the sound of things, so he needs to become the omnivore he's evolved to be and put up with the occasional meal without meat and with vegetables, otherwise he's going to end up with some truly unpleasant bowel problems I'd imagine.

yabu.

If you think it's reasonable that he should eat some vegetarian meals then it's only reasonable you should eat some meat. no? didn't think so.

I'm with scaryteacher for the reasons she posted.

Meat probably seems much more expensive because you don't buy it, but if you're the kind of person who enjoys the effects meat has on you, it's worth the money.

I'm not particularly keen on meat but DH is a rampant meat eater, so although I could easily go without meat I can understand why he doesn't want to, he's a big lad and can decide for himself.

It's a bit off to be using a face when you say you can't force him to eat veggie meals, there's nothing wrong with having food preferences, you have them yourself.

"he needs to become the omnivore he's evolved to be"

But surely you could apply that same argument to the OP?

Your dh is respecting your choices. Why can't you just respect his?

I don't get this.

Do other omnivores really eat meat with every meal?

I made a gorgeous butternut squash cannelloni the other week, and we often eat felafel, and bean chilli and pizza with veg toppings, and soups with no meat.

I don't think of them as veggie/vegan meals, just meals that taste good.

Vegetarians eat everything except meat and fish - e.g. vegetables, rice, eggs, nuts, pasta, fruit etc etc etc

Non-vegetarians eat all of the above plus meat and fish.

Therefore unless you are in a parallel universe where the normal human diet is meat only, then it's perfectly fair to expect him to eat from the other groups sometimes.