Vegan Mamas!

[abbylotus]

Does your family eat animal products? If so, do you cook it for them? I am the only one in my family that is vegan. I do the best I can for the kids but occasionally it slips and they eat dairy or meat. Especially when they go to their Grandparents house. I don't cook animal products for meals but will give my kids a slice of cheese if it happens to be in my refridgerator if they bipass fruit, nuts and veggies for snacking. Where do you draw the line? Or is it a case by case basis? My mother is coming in a couple of weeks for her 60th birthday. She is bringing a huge prime rib for DH to cook. I am so grossed out. I am compromising by making vegan sides.

[smallmama]

Yes, my family does. My husband is an omnivore and my son is a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I have a rule that I do not buy or cook meat. I do buy and serve DS eggs and dairy (at least that way they can be as hormone-free/organic/free range as possible - not ideal for me, but I had to compromise with DH). DH does (rarely) cook meat in our kitchen, but I make him use his own pans and tools and he has to do the dishes. But I know many vegan mamas would not be ok with having meat cooked in their kitchens. Would your mom be willing to go out to a steakhouse for her birthday? I don't know if that's any better, since then even all the sides would be non-vegan, but at least it wouldn't be in your kitchen if that's what matters most to you.

[nicolian]

Myself and my two boys are vegan - my DH is not. I will buy meat for him. I don't usually cook it though. When I first became vegan it was kind of a 'I just don't want to eat it, no biggie if someone else does.' And now it just really grosses me out to think of it, smell it, and see it.

Oh, and hi to the other vegan mamas! I'm new here.

[abbylotus]

Thanks for the insight, Mamas! I really don't care how others choose to eat. I do what works for me. I also don't mind if meat is cooked in my kitchen but it does gross me out; however, I can live with it . I just don't want much to do with it. I will not cook it. I have cooked it in the past but it really wasn't my thing. I never knew how to cook it properly. It wasn't a good fit for me. I do much better with veggies.

[Naturopath Mom]

Thankfully we are all vegan in the house! Dh will eat animal products on occassion, but thankfully they usually are not in the house and I never have to touch meat! (Sorry, but after 15 years veg I just hate seeing it! ) Kids never get anything that is not vegan, to the best of my knowledge as my family is very cooperative. We don't do wheat either, but that does end up on the plate on occassion.

The closest I ever get to meat is when feeding my cats. They eat all raw, so we feed them raw chicken and turkey usually. Usually dh will cut up the meat but sometimes he is too busy and I have to do it....yick. I use gloves and I still get close to being sick when doing it. Dead animals are just not my thing!

[katroshka]

We're all vegan in our house, too. I've had roommates before that were omnivores and it was not a big deal, but now living without meat in the fridge is awesome.

Naturopath mom, I hear ya! We are about to switch our dogs from a dehydrated raw diet to the Natural Balance vegan formula (because of cost, with our 3 dogs it was costing us over $200/ month, then we have two cats on similar food, ouch!), but will supplement a few days a week with some kind of meat. The dehydrated stuff just looks like a bunch of goop, but smells very meaty, I couldn't be near it during my first trimester. We sometimes fed them raw meat patties too, and those were sooooo gross.

[ShadowMoon]

We are all vegan in the house. Even if that were to change, I refuse to cook with animal products and have a no meat in the house rule. (Just my thing, and everyone knows it )

[somegirl99]

I am vegan, DH is not. I will reluctantly buy meat and dairy for him but do not cook it, he is good about cleaning up after himself and storing it away from my food.

We will start DS out vegan and let him choose for himself when he is old enough. I am not planning on cooking anything non-vegan for him.

One of my dogs eats Natural Balance vegetarian food and does great on it, the other used to but now has to be on a very expensive meat-based prescription diet because of health problems.