My sister and I just became vegetarians and our family is not being supportive.?!
My sister and I just became vegetarians and our family is not being supportive.?
She has a two year old daughter & severely obese husband who only want chicken and steak, I have a ten year old son who loves carbs (mac&cheese, bread, pasta) -- I am tired of listening to everyone complain as we are the ones who do the cooking for our respective families. How do we appease both?
Answers:
It's pretty common. I became a vegetarian ( a slacker veggie, mind you, I'm far from vegan) about thirteen years ago and my current health problems which have nothing to do with my diet- are being blamed on my diet by my family. A lot of people just don't get it, or say things like "well this only has a little meat in it" or "I don't care if you eat it, just cook it for me."
Well, the fact is that since you are parents, you will have to keep cooking meat for your kids. I'm not really in favor of making decisions like that for kids. We're omnivores by evolution, and have been pretty opportunistic eaters throughout our history. (it's how we stayed alive.) Let them decide for themselves as they grow up. Also, some people just don't have the physiology for being vegetarian. It has a lot to do with blood type. As for your sister's husband, well, he can cook his own blasted steak, right? She might talk him into grilling for him and her daughter, while she prepares the rest of the food. That way, meal preparation could be more of a together time anyway. It could strengthen the family.
As for your son loving carbs, how does this conflict with your veggie food choices? It seems you could make some pretty good meals like pasta dishes or veggie casseroles. If you find this takes too much time on a daily basis, it's a pretty common practice to do the cooking for the forseeable future and then freezing it for later reheating. This works great for things like chili. If you're not eating cheese, there's no need to take away your son's mac and cheese. It's easy to prepare and you can show him how if you don't want to deal with it yourself. If you ARE eating cheese, mac and cheese can be turned into some wonderful meat free dinnners with the addition of things like broccoli, or salsa, beans and soymeat crumbles.
You also might, if you can afford to, consider eating out with more frequency at places like buffets where you can all make your own decisions regarding what to eat or not to.
Anyway, good luck, stick to your guns, and may everyone in the situation be flexible and maybe eventually have fun with new and adventurous food choices.
well what my sister did was just became vegetarian didn't say a thing took the meat through it away when they weren't looking and now mom knows but she doesn't mind and it works slowly let them know after u began it awhile
Well your old enough, and u both have your own families. So, dont worry about them. They are done raising the both of you.
I went vegetarian for a bit, my wife and mother coulnt handle it, cuz they felt like fainting. Just make sure, that you are eating the right vegeies and fruits. U all still need your protein.
They have good receipes, of Vegetrain chili
soups, and so many others. Look online, theres a bunch, and of course, if u hadent , make sure everyone takes their vitamins!
Dont worry about ur family, just let them talk. Its not their bodies! Explain to them, that they do what they want, and you dont bug them !
WELL you need to be creative look up a bunch of on line recipes for vegetarians, its not a way to get people to loose weight if that what your thinking, you need to make sure you and your family are getting all the proper nutrition still protein is important helps build muscles among other things. just do research and be safe
you can't expect everyone to belive the same as you. get over it
A family friend is a vegetarian, but she still cooks meat dishes for her family. She doesn't eat the meat dishes.
She became a vegetarian, but isn't trying to force her family to follow suit, but it sounds like your friends are trying to "force" their families to become vegetarians. Thus, the complaining.
pasta pasta pasta. my sister and brother are strict vegans, i however love a good steak. so we compromise. there's so many great vegan options out there that you wouldnt even realize they werent meat. boca crumbles make pretty good tacos, sloppy joes, and pasta sauce. just dont tell them that it was vegan until after they tell you how good it was. if you go out to eat, suggest chinese or italian.
Why should anoyne else have to go veg just becasue you decided to. Cook them their meals and make your own.
I use meat substitutes in meals and nobody is the wiser. We make Tacos, Sloppy Joes, pot pies, stews, casseroles, chili, pasta, rice dishes etc. using Soy products or Quorn products. Take a look at the Boca and Quorn website for a lot of recipes.
If you do the cooking, then you are pretty much in charge. When my omnivore husband wants meat, he cooks it himself. I wont go against my beliefs for his craving.
I was recently reading an article in VegNews involving this. It's probably a good idea for you to buy some vegetarian cookbooks, first of all. Learn to cook yummy veg food, and tell your families that it is against your beliefs now to prepare meat, assuming that it is.Allow them to continue eating what they wish and don't pester them, just always provide them with a choice to eat some of your food and support them in whatever they do. If you support them then they should support your choices as well, after all.
And you can always provide them with veg meat or healthier versions of their favorite meals. There's no problem with eating carbs, as long as you are willing to eat other things as well (though perhaps you could make some versions of carb-y favorites in healthier ways, such as with fruits and veggies mixed in or something?
You really should NOT try to force YOUR lifestyle choices on other people. It would be akin to trying to get your whole family to start drinking alcohol or something!
If people want to (or not want to) eat a certain food, that's their prerogative. Your sister should try cooking more healthy foods for her hubby and incorporate more veggies and fewer carbs.
And carbs are fine...in moderation...AND they're usually vegetarian, so..... As long as people watch WHAT they eat and exercise, they're typically fine. Its over-consumption more than WHAT they eat that typically leads to obesity.
You, as the mother of the family, are in the best position to decide how your family eats, especially if you are doing the work. As for your kids, I believe in giving them facts about why you chose to become veggie, and letting them decide. Same for your hubby. For hubby, I would tell him that YOU are not going to prepare meat, but he is welcome to eat it out. As for your kids, that would be your decision. I gave my daughter the FACTS about meat when she was nine, and I told her she was entitled to make her own choices when she ate out, or at her grandparents or fathers house. She has been a die hard veggie for over three years-actually got sick when insensitive granny "snuck" meat into a casserole-my daughter started feeling bad about an hour after she ate, and when I went down to pick her up, I could tell my mother in law was guilty of something. I asked to see what she had fed my daughter, and it was easy for my well trained eye to spot the meat, but my daughter had no idea (making the point it wasnt a psycosematic response, she hadnt a clue). Not sure what your reasons are for becoming veggie-its usually health or animal cruelty issues-here is a different perspective for you, and might help in converting your kids and husband-it WILL at least make them think
http://www.goveg.com/contamination_bacte... Good luck to you
cook with the veggie meat and go to vegweb site to get recipes they may convert.
Maybe her husband should cook his and the two year old's meals himself then.....seriously though there are soooo many vegetarian options out there that are HEALTHY. Vegetarian chili, tacos, sloppy joe's, & spaghetti sauce all using crumbles. There is chicken and steak "strips" for chicken or steak w/ rice & cream of mushroom soup. There are vegetarian ribs, bean burritos as well as a ton of recipes on line--oodles of options! As far as pasta goes - switch to whole grain. The taste is the same and it's much healthier. I use only brown rice and whole grain spaghetti or other types of noodles. My kids (10 & 12 year old boys) specifically ask for my vegetarian tacos over their dad's cow tacos! And they are NOT vegetarians......try one dish at a time without telling them. gauge their reactions to the meal and then cook on!!
Good Luck!