Mixed families = veg/non veg

[Crystalyn]

Is there a thread somewhere for veg mommies and meat-lovin' daddies? Since I stay at home, I have meal duty and I'm often at a loss... especially because we're on a tight (and I need to make it tighter) budget.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, or giving me pointers!

[aikigypsy]

I would like a thread like that, too, but I'm the local-foods/gourmet/health-conscious carnivore and my husband is the junk-food vegetarian.

I'm looking for ways to make meat as a side dish, and how to do this without making separate dinners for everyone. We don't need meat every night, but I like to have it at least a couple of times a week. I'd rather cook & eat local/organic meat at home than do my meat-eating when we go out.

[Owen'nZoe]

I'm (mostly) veg (I do have fish a few times a year), and the rest of the family is not. It is a challenge cooking for everyone!

I just got a cookbook, The Flexitarian Table, which is perfect - it gives several different menus for each season, which incorporate vegetarian and meat dishes. I love the idea, and the recipes I've tried so far are tasty. Unfortunately, though, preparing the whole menu in a night is way more cooking than I have time for on weekday nights. I need a better solution for the days when I barely have time to cook.

[colemom]

If your dh wants meat on a daily basis, I would keep it simple: if you make pasta, cook up an italian sausage he can slice over his dish, keep chicken breasts or thighs handy and cook one for him to add to your veg dish, you can buy wild salmon frozen in individual filets and do the same thing. You can even add cooked meat to his soup. Meat doesn't have to be complicated or expensive, neither one of us are veg but this is how we mostly eat meat because of convenience and cost.

[mamadelbosque]

I was basicly a veg while pregnant with ds2 (just couldn't stomach most meat. It was *wierd*!)... and so I adapted

I realized I could make spaghetti & marainar sauce with meatballs on the side for dh/ds1, or penne w/ marinara & sausage/peppers on the side.

Or I'd do a stir fry of veggies and brown rice & stir fry some beef/chicken/shrimp on the side.

Or, do shish-ka-bobs, some with just meat, some with just veggies, and some a mix.

Serve tacos - all the fixings, and have beans but also taco meat.

Stuff like that, where the meat is optional.

[Adaline'sMama]

My DH is a meat eater. He eats veg food all the time, but he loves his meat 3-4 times per week. He usually gets his fix while he is at work (some gross food im sure), but he does want meat on a regular basis at home. We typically buy one piece of meat per week. For example, we will buy beef. Ill make hamburgers one day, speghettti with meat another day, and tacos the last day. If we buy chicken breasts, I will make chicken salad one day, broccoli and chicken pasta another day, and stirfry with chicken the last day. Usually, he has to have sliced roast beef in the fridge. I only buy one a week, its $3.00. SO totaly, in one month we probably spend about $50.00 on meat. But, I refuse to buy meat with hormones in it.