Is anyone a veggie and their husband not? How do you make it work?

[oliveoil]

Am thinking of going veggie again, or a half arsed version of - I like chicken and fish. Not sure what poncey mondern name they give people like me.

Anyway, just really gone off meat - bacon, sausage, mince, beef, gammon, lamb etc, all the lovely stuff we get from the farmer, not interested.

But dh is a meateater and looks in horror when I have dropped this into conversation. We sort of compromise anyway when he has steak [vomit emoticon] and I have grilled haloumi instead but the same potatoes and salad he has.

Anyone got any experience of this?

Ta.

xxxxx

I'm veggie; dh and dd are not.

We compromise a bit; he will eat the same as me a couple of nights a week (veg risottos, stuffed peppers or mushrooms, beany stews and things) but will have meat the rest of the time. I will cook meat (not too chuffed about it but will do it, because I can't foist vegetarianism onto him) which makes it a bit easier for him. When I cook something for him that's time-consuming I generally make a batch and freeze it, and have something simpler myself. I do the same in reverse too and freeze things for me so I don't always have to cook three separate meals in an evening. If I cook something time-consuming for me, he has a ready-meal, something from the freezer, or something that I can just bung in the oven and let take care of itself, like a casserole - which I then take a portion from to give to dd the following night, to save me having to do the separate meal thing again.

Sometimes it's a pain, and I find myself falling back on M&S butternut squash roast quite a lot when dh is having a lot of meat, but generally it's OK.

I'm Veggie but DP isn't -also to complicate things DS (2) is currently veggie but DD (6) isn't.

Generally our evening meal tends to be veggie although sometimes DP and DD will have meat with theirs if its that sort of meal. They also have meat/fish in their packed lunch most days.

At weekends DP tends to have a meaty lunch eg.big steak [vomit emoticon here too]if he feels he's not eaten enough meat during the week.

Any meat thats cooked is cooked by him -I've not eaten it for so long I'd probably cook it wrong and give everyone food-poisoning!

thanks

He is not averse to veggie meals, we eat well and cook from scratch etc but I think he thinks it will be a faff.

For instance, we make huge chillis and bologneses and freeze for the days when I work, so we would have to have 2 version of these.

dd1 seems to exist on cheese sandwiches and fresh air atm and dd2 likes and dislikes change daily (22 months so expected) so I am leaving them out of the equation for now!

I am carnivorous, but quite often share meals with veggies. Some of the things I do:

Stir-fries: fry the meat, tip it out of pan, wipe pan, fry veggies. Combine for those who want it combined. Obviously this can be hugely varied depending on what sauces, veggies, acompaniments etc you go for. Works for pasta dishes too. E.g. you could make carbonara by just stirring the egg and cheese mixture into the pasta, frying up some pancetta separately, and sprinkling it onto the meat-eater's portion.

Thai curries: make a veggie curry, shortly before it's done separate some out into a different pan and add bits of meat.

We have a fair number of mezze-type meals, with several salads etc, good bread, and people can add cheese/salami/chorizo/hummus as they like.

These are things I do to cater for frequent veggie visitors. If it was my partner, I would expect him to do quite a bit of the cooking in advance type stuff for himself too, so that you could have meals involving, say, rice and guacamole in common, with veggie chilli for you and meaty version for him. I personally see no reason for 'making it easier for him', poor little lamb (unless, WWB, your dp has some kind of disability that makes it impossible for him to cook, in which case I apologise).

would he do quorn mince oliveoil? as my dh (meaty) will have it when I cook a chilli, and says he can't tell the difference.
My dh tends to cook his own tea if he fancies meat - but I do cook meat cassroles etc for the kids and he will eat them.
In fact come to think of it - everyone else in my family do well out of my cooking apart from me!

Have not had quorn stuff, is it the same as TVP (textured veg protein) that I remember from about 1987?

honeyflower - he does all the cooking, hence his reticence!

Off out to lunch now, thanks for the tips, will be back in a bit.

Quorn is a micoprotein, from a mushroom-like source - so they flog it as more natural than TVP, which it is in a way although it's pretty highly processed. You can get it in chunks or as a mince, which you just throw into your recipe, or you can buy Quorn ready-meals or sausages. It's low-fat and high-fibre and doesn't have much of a taste, it picks up its taste from the things you cook it with. I don't like it, it has an odd texture and I'm not really into meat substitutes anyway.

My dh is a vegetarian (although he started eating fish about a year ago) and I am not.

Apart from the obvious easy things like bolognaise made with quorn mince etc, I find it a total pita. Plus I've found it really hard to think of veggie meals which can be cooked in bulk and frozen. Some nights I have cooked 3 separate meals; one for the children, one for me and one for dh. But after 13 years of eating veggie meals 6 days out of 7, I am putting a stop to this.

If it's fish or a veggie meal I like, I will do the cooking. Otherwise dh has to make his own dinner - or at least come up with an idea and help out.

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I'm a vegetarian and dp isn't. It doesnt really cause us too much trouble. Sometimes I will cook meat and fish for him so long as it doesn't involve me actually having to do much in the way of preparing and touching the stuff. We often have meals where he has something like sausages and i have quorn alternative. Sometimes he will cook for both of us if his meaty dish involves more preparation. Often we each cook our own dinner but so that we eat together.

Just saw your post, honeyflower - missed it before. I meant that it makes it easier for dh to be able to have meat, and not have to eat my food all the time; as I said, I don't want him to have to be veggie by default just because I am. I have no problem with cooking meat for him and can't see why he should have to cook his own food when I'm already in the kitchen cooking mine.

And no, he doesn't have a disability, just a job which means he's generally not at home in time to cook ... unless we want to eat at 10pm every night. Can't be doing with that, I'm afraid.

He eats what I cook him .....
I think like most people we do a half and half...chillis are made with veggie mince, I cook him the odd steak, he and ds share a steak pie, that kind of thing. I refuse to cook two (or even three) completely separate meals...

I am a meat eater but dh and all 5 of my kids are very strict vegetarians.

I very rarely cook anything meaty at home in the form of a joint or cut of meat for an evening meal but I do have tuna and ham which takes no prepping.

dh can be a bit naughty (imo) at times when he remarks on my choice of food. I think it's out of order yet he still does it, he can't help it.

My older kids aged 14, 12 and 10 turned veggie 3 years ago after being meat eaters up to that point. ds3 and ds4 are only 3.5 and 1.5 so are veggie through dh's choice - despite discussing it before they were born, anything meaty is not allowed. I resent this but go along with it for a queit life. I guess I am happy for them to make up their own minds when they reach an age at which they can make an informed choice.

I have learnt to adapt to cooking veggie stuff. I do lots of bolognese type things and lasagne using quorn mince. CVasseroles with quorn pieces are really nice too. Lentils and beany meals are good too. I find it easier to cook one veggie meal for everyone rather thatn spomething different for me - can't be doing with the hassle of doing meat for myself. dh hates the smell of it and turns his nose up at it so I don't bother now. dh doesn't do much cooking but would never do anything meaty for me even if he did.

I awlays have a meat dish when we eat out though. It can work but both parties need to be tolerant of each others tastyes.

But he could cook in advance and freeze WWB, which is what I suggested, and you could defrost his before he gets in.

Even better, you could then say 'I don't see why I should have to cook my food when he's already in the kitchen cooking his'! Sauce for the (quorn) goose, no?

It isn't a problem though ... it really isn't. The way we handle it isn't everyone's cup of tea but it works for us.

dh is veggie, I am not. Basically we solved this in out early days of being together by agreeing that he do most of the cooking which he does as I don't mind eating veggie but was finding planning and cooking it a real pain in the a**e. He very occasionally cooks me meat but we pretty much always eat vegetarian meals in the evening. If I am cooking it is generaly a meal he has planned so it is still veggie.

Ds and I eat meat though ds may decide to be veggie later. In the meantime, lunchtime and meals out are when I eat meat. In my opinion if dh wants to eat vegetarian he has to do the work involved but if he is willing to do that I am happy to eat the food - works for us.

yes I am veggie and dp is not. tbh as I do pretty much all of the cooking we have a mainly vegetarian diet. I do buy him meat occasionally and will do 2 cottage pies or will add some chicken into his pasta or soemthing.
Or else he will buy himself some meat and cook it himself and I'll do myself something

I'm a veggie and DH eats meat. DH seems to be absolutely fine with eating veggie now (its taken a few years to get him out of the 'must have meat in every meal' mind tho!).

Now, bizarrely, DH's favourite meal is Quorn pieces in a white sauce with fake bacon (bit like flavoured cardboard but ok if in sauce) instead of a traditional carbonara (sp.??).

I guess it works fine if both parties are ok with being flexible - I will cook meat (I do a mean chicken roast apparently - never tasted it!!) but DH will often opt for a veggie version, even if he's cooking.

I was a non-meat eater (ie: ate fish) for 15 years until pregnent with dd3 when a cold beef sandwich and the possibility of aneamia (again), called my name and I 'reverted'.

Spent years cooking Sunday Lunches without eating the meat or gravy (I still make veggie gravy as can't stomch the idea of greasy meat gravy) and had no problem there, (plenty of delicious roast veg or stuffing for me) but on the whole, life is a whole lot easier when you can make one meal that suits the whole family - having said that, my DH only eats with us at the weekend. He's not into chickpeas in the same way that I am either...

My kids still enjoy lentil sauce with their pasta and other vegetarian variations but the spectrum of possible meals has broadened now that i eat beef and chicken and the odd sausage. Still have a problem with lamb (too strong a taste) and don't fancy a plate of bacon either.

Do you always eat with your DH?

I'm veggie, dh is not. When he's cooking, often he does something like a stir-fry, curry or chilli, cooks the meat separately and adds it into his dish at the last minute, after serving mine. Or we eat veggie together. Or he cooks two dinners! If I'm cooking, it's veggie - it's enough of a bloody struggle to bring myself to cook meat or fish for ds, I'm not doing it for dh too.

Have not read this thread,.............but I need to ask a question..............

Why are so many Vegetarians so rude about their life style choice. ??

lgj, do you mean they are uber critical of meat eater's habits?

Out of order imo. Like having religion shoved down your throat when it's the last thing you want to hear. Same thing.

I was never a big meat eater but when i got pregnant with dd2 i developed a real phobia of it and even now it makes me heave to see it!
ok that could be read the wrong way
Dp eats meat but will happily eat quorn and now has come to a point when he doesnt miss it!

We had a community thing recently, the village hall was not well stocked, a meat eater used a cheese knife to cut something meaty, my friend the veggie tried to stop her, I pointed out that soap and water and some discreet vigilance (to ensure it was washed again) was all that was required.

FFS it is meat, not asbestos, lighten up, all you rude veggies.

I eat fish, dh is a 'proper' vegetarian. We eat veggie as a family, although I'll occasionally cook fish if feeding just me & ds, or if no-one can actually be arsed to cook from scratch ds & I might have breaded fish from the freezer & dh a couple of veggie burgers, then everyone has potatoes, peas, salad...

We do rely heavily on Quorn & eat a LOT of spag bol/chilli type stuff!

me, Oliveoil, my dh is mad about meat and I don't eat it (I have eaten fish for the last few years though).

used to it now - if he's cooking he makes me some yummy veg alternative and if I am, I do (though not as nice as his food). Kids usually have the meat version. Do wish we were a veggie family though... Maybe the children will be veggie when they're older but dh never will.