To become the only vegetarian of my family of 4? Help!

[marykitty]

So, after considering it for a long time, I have decided 2022 is the year and I want to give up meat products.
I am the main only cook of our family of 4 (DH, a toddler and a baby).
I am the only one giving up meat and this is creating more organization issues than i considered. I basically have to cook 2 different meals every single time...

AIBU to think I can manage to be vegetarian even if I am the only one in my family? Do you have any tips how to do it - meal prepping, recipes of else? I have a very busy lifestyle between kids, work and family chores.

Thanks a lot!

DD is a veggie. I can sometimes take or leave meat, DH will eat whatever but does love meat, The 2 boys are veg dodgers and love meat.

I do:

• cook 2 meals at the same time
• make extra of said meals and freeze portions eg make extra veggie bolagnaise so next time I only need to make a meat one or vice versa
• cook a veggie main but cook meat to add to it on the side.
• Cook meals eg sausages where i can cook both veggie and meat ones to suit everyone -cook meals with various components that go in the middle and everyone helps themselves.

• cook a roast as usual bit chuck a nut roast fillet in the oven for DD. (Red bisto is veggie oddly enought!)

Surely if you're cooking, you get to cook whatever you want to eat?

I eat mostly veggie and DP is a chicken addict. Despite this, we eat veggie most of the time. Otherwise I'll cook sides and 2 proteins: chicken for DP and Linda sausages for me. Simples.

Don't cook 4 different meals. Your DH isn't some kind of super-special being who needs to be sheltered from the realities of how food gets to the table so he can be involved too.

It's easy to batch-cook meat - various kinds can be roasted and small portions frozen. Then basically be a vegetarian cook and if DH wants a meat version he can pull out a portion of lamb or chicken or whatever from the freezer and chuck it in to his portion after you have served yours. Better to do it this way around as many nice vegetarian meals go a bit mushy if frozen and it's easier to adapt one portion of a veggie meal by adding meat than to adapt a portion of a meat meal to be veggie.

I would just cook vegetarian. Keep sausages, chicken breasts, individual fish portions etc in the freezer and if husband wants some he could prepare it or you could prepare it on the side as a favor (maybe once or twice a week) I would focus on just finding some really delicious vegetarian "go to" meals. If it's tasty enough I doubt anyone will complain! My family never says a word when I don't make meat to go with the meal.

@VikingNorthUtsire

That's a great post thank you *@Nookable*. We have a veggie DS and have learned all of those techniques through years of trial and error.

Same with us. I've been catering for vegetarians and/or vegans and/or meat eaters for ten years now. We've moved on from meat substitutes on the whole and my meat-eating middle child is more than happy to eat the very tasty vegetarian and vegan meals we have, because they're simply great tasting meals. The Feast magazine in the Saturday Guardian has great recipe ideas.

Thanks a lot everyone! I think the main issue for me was coming from being used to prepare "one pot" stuff including meat....stews, lasagna, bolognese sauce. I almost never cook meat separately.

I think I need to switch to veg main meals with meat "sides", as you suggested.
DH unfortunately hate lensils which is making things more difficults as well....

I don't want to switch my DC to full vegetarian diet right now because I have no experience and I expect i will scream up my macro balance a bit at the beginning

Thank you all for your tips and ideas!

Cook one meal for everyone - low salt & sugar and meat free

Lots of food can be vegetarian without you having to make any changes to it e.g. chips egg & beans, baked potato & cheese, cheese/beans on toast

Use lentils - green ones are my favourites

A friend has been in that position all her married life.
They basically cooked a vegetarian meal and added a chop, or sausages or whatever for the husband until the children came along. Then it was sausages for three.
But she was prepared to cook meat. Are you?
Now the kids have left home, they basically both eat vegetarian at least half the week, and husband cooks his own meat to go alongside on some nights.

I'm not that big on lentils either. Can I suggest the Green Roasting Tin book? That and one or two others are my bibles. They are mainly dishes "for two" but can be bulked out by cooking more veg on the side (e.g. steaming some broc/), and the brilliant thing is they are all based around being one dish meals in the oven.

If anyone can suggest a similar sort of "one pot" type book for curries and things on the stove please let me know!

My ds is a vegetarian, the rest of us eat meat.

Most of our meals are vegetarian now, but I also bought a triple slow cooker which is really useful as well, I use one side for meat, one for veggie stuff and the other for potatoes or whatever.

Green lentils aren't like the red ones. They are much tastier

www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/waitrose-lentils/029199-14247-14248?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PPCGShopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjvWbp7On9QIVNoBQBh1dwwpOEAQYAiABEgJWIPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Chickpeas are useful - add hummus to the unintentionally vege list

Eat lots of veg. Things like spring greens and carrots can be filling and they are healthy

Use tofu, mushrooms etc to make a stew more 'meaty'

I’m the only veggie.

Me, DD and I all eat different food 95% of the time. It’s not an issue.

I would definitely cook veggie family meals about 3-4 nights per week and then another 2 nights do meals where the veggie/meat element is easy to substitute then just once a week maybe different dinners.

E.g.
Mon: macaroni cheese with peas, carrots and broccoli
Tues: frittata with garlic bread and salad
Wed: spicy beans with corn, salsa and guac in tacos or wraps with salad
Thur: sausage and mash with fried onions, peas and beans (you have veggie sausages
Fri: smoky paprika risotto or paella with chick peas, butternit squash etc - with grilled chorizo on top for the family and grilled halloumi for you (They will probably want your halloumi)
Sat: oven baked fish and chips for them and jack fruit in breadcrumbs with sweet potato fries for you.
Sun: Big veggie curry with rice and baked tandoori chicken pieces cooked separately for them.

We do this sort of menu all the time as DS1 is veggie but the rest of us like meat and fish.

I tend to do ‘same bit different’ with things like burgers, pizza, sausages and mash, roasts etc and switch the meat out for veggie alternative.

We also have a veggie night at least once a week.

If you’re used to one pot cooking it can seem like a load of extra work, but once you get into the swing of it, it’s second nature.

Definitely bulk cooking makes life easier and sometimes all eating a veggie meal. However I don't think its fair to suddenly announce that if DH wants meat he has to cook his own unless the chores are split equally and you are willing to swap one. So for example if you cook and then he does all the clearing up, you both cook and both clear up iyswim

I’m vegetarian and my husband isn’t, and we eat together almost all of the time. We mostly eat food which is naturally vegetarian anyway (Meera Sodha’s most recent two cookbooks are all vegetarian and excellent), so I don’t think the add some meat at the end would work so well for that. Also if your meals are built around vegetables rather than a meat alternative, your family are far less likely to feel like they are missing out than if they are eating Quorn.

I wouldn’t bother making different meals every night for everyone, but then I have nearly not experience cooking meat, so it feels a bit daunting anyway. You don’t say how old your children are, but if your husband wants to eat meat based meals, he could prep them himself and the two of you could work out an arrangement for the kitchen.

Obviously if you do all the cooking cleaning etc, then not unreasonable to get him to cook his own

Thanks a LOT for the blogs and books suggestions!
I guess most of my struggles come from not having experience and not knowing a lot of dishes. I need to find my go to vegi meals.

Can I ask you also what is your classic cold meal (or super fast to cook). We eat almost all meals at home, lunch include.

@marykitty

Can I ask you also what is your classic cold meal (or super fast to cook). We eat almost all meals at home, lunch include.

Sandwiches or salads. Tonnes of options.

Quick to cook - pastas or stir fries. Jacket potatoes in the microwave.

I am the main cook in a partly vegetarian house, I cook vegetarian meals, occasionally I buy bacon for the meat eaters to either pep up a veggie meal or make bacon sarnies. I will not fall into the trap of making 2 meals, sod that. Eating less meat is good for us and we can eat meat out.

It sounds like perhaps you need to ease into vegetarianism a bit more slowly, if you're unsure about what to cook and whether your meals would be suitable for the kids.

My husband does eat fish, but doesn't eat any other meat, and I do most of the cooking in our house. I rarely make separate meals. Although I occasionally cook fish, most of our meals are vegetarian and we all just eat it. Just because I'm not vegetarian doesn't mean I have to have meat at every meal!

So there's no reason you can't just cook one meal for everyone, which happens to be vegetarian. But if you're lacking confidence in your vegetarian cooking you probably need to build that up first. In the past have you included meat with every meal? If so, why not start by just making one or two meals a week vegetarian, increasing your confidence without any concerns about your kids not getting adequate nutrition.

@marykitty

Can I ask you also what is your classic cold meal (or super fast to cook). We eat almost all meals at home, lunch include.

Eggs or beans on toast, omelettes.

Falafels, hummus, pittas, salads (just carrot, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, onions) or maybe tabouleh, Greek salad etc.