Does your whole household eat vegetarian/vegan?

[koru]

I'm new to the vegan way of eating & so far haven't found it too tricky to continue feeding my carnivorous & dairy lovin' family....but I anticipate this becoming more of a challenge (or irritation) at some point. Yes? No? Are you the only plant-based eater in your household? And if so, how does that work for you? 

[SandraMort]

I've got the opposite situation.  My dh and kids are ovolacto.  I'm not.
 

Originally Posted by koru 
Are you the only plant-based eater in your household? And if so, how does that work for you? 

[koru]

So you eat everything & they just eliminate meat? How does that work for your household?

And what's the difference between ovo-lacto & just plain vegetarian?? 

[SandraMort]

My family eats plant food plus dairy, eggs & honey, as well as gelatine in candy.  I eat meat.  Not sure what the "How does that work" means.

And what is "just plain vegetarian"?
 

Originally Posted by koru 

So you eat everything & they just eliminate meat? How does that work for your household?

And what's the difference between ovo-lacto & just plain vegetarian?? 

[koru]

Forgive me for not understanding all the lingo. Again, I'm new at this! (I have trouble interpreting the written word sometimes & you sound irritated).

Ovo-lacto means no animal products but yes to dairy & eggs, right? Hmmm, maybe I get it now. I was thinking it was the same as just "no meat" but I'm understanding the nuance of all the other foods that have animal products (gelatin, honey). 

And by "how does that work" I'm trying to understand how other families have meals together when eating different foods. It seems like it could get complicated!? Up until this point, we've all been eating the same foods. (I'm not that mother who'll make each kid a different breakfast, lunch & dinner!) But now, they have eggs & I have oatmeal & a green smoothie. They have beef stew & I have to make a separate veggie stew. It's fun & new, right now, but it seems like it might get ollllldddd.

[ShadowMoon]

My son's father, myself, and DS are all vegan. I have been vegan for over 12 years now, DS has been vegan since conception and his dad went vegan several years ago.

It definitely makes meal time much easier.

Don't worry about lingo. You are doing fine. :-)

Ovo-lacto veggies are people that eat dairy and eggs. (Which, in my opinion, is the definition of vegetarian). A vegan abstains from all animal products in their diet as well as wardrobe and any other products they use. (Like shampoos, etc).

[Ragana]

I can explain how it works for us. DD1 is ovo-lacto & DD2, DH and I are omnivores. DD1 likes spicy food and loves casseroles, soups, stuff mixed together, but doesn't like veggie meat replacements (tofu and beans are OK). DD2 likes plain protein/meat, plain starch, uncooked vegetables (except potatoes), everything separate. DH and I eat all of it.

Typical meals would be

* Tacos/tostadas - plain grilled chicken & beans, shells, choice of toppings. Everyone makes their own combo.

* Thai curry w/ tofu - DH, DD1 and I eat as-is. DD2 gets different protein (chicken maybe), plain rice, some of the veg raw with ranch dip. DH will have some chicken, too.

* Pasta w/ sauce - DH, DD1 and I eat as-is. DD2 eats it w/out sauce. Sometimes meatballs on the side, which DD1 skips.

Does that give you an idea?

[SandraMort]

No problem not understanding.  No, I'm not irritated.  Sorry if it comes across as such!

Ovo means eggs.  Lacto means milk.  Ovolactovegetarians eat milk and eggs.  See?  

How does it work?  Badly.  LOL!  In all seriousness, my issues were in place before I started eating meat.  I can't seem to eat until I'm somewhat relaxed, so if I'm dealing with kids at dinner, I rarely eat at the same time.  Usually everybody eats except me until after they're in bed and then I crash and hope I (or dh) has energy to throw something together for me.  But it's been like that since before I started eating meat.  It doesn't help when the kids look at me sadly and sigh and say "I wish you didn't have to eat meat."  I know, kid, so do I.
 

When I'm organized and thinking clearly, I try to make meals that are easy to add meat to later on.  

SO, for example, if I was making stew (your example) I'd cook the stew veggies until they were tender while beef was cooking in some stock in another pot.  After the stew was pretty much done, I'd pull out the vegetarian serving and add in the cooked beef & some broth made into gravy to turn the other pot into "beef stew".

If I was making something like Jamaican beef patties, I'd make lots of dough (which is vegetarian) and one pan of meat filling and one pan of vegetable filling.  Then I'd make the patties, vegetarian first so as to not contaminate them with meat, and make sure to use two different shapes to tell them apart when frozen.

Some of their favorite meals are really easy to convert so I can eat with them, if the toddler lets me :)  If they're doing make your own burritos, I can make rice, beans, cheese, veggies, etc... and just add some meat to mine.  If they're doing make your own pizza, same deal.  If I'm doing breakfast for dinner, I cook everybody else's food first and cook my breakfast meats last (and pray nobody wants more food because then I have to wash the pan etc).

Does that help any?

Originally Posted by koru 

Forgive me for not understanding all the lingo. Again, I'm new at this! (I have trouble interpreting the written word sometimes & you sound irritated).

Ovo-lacto means no animal products but yes to dairy & eggs, right? Hmmm, maybe I get it now. I was thinking it was the same as just "no meat" but I'm understanding the nuance of all the other foods that have animal products (gelatin, honey). 

And by "how does that work" I'm trying to understand how other families have meals together when eating different foods. It seems like it could get complicated!? Up until this point, we've all been eating the same foods. (I'm not that mother who'll make each kid a different breakfast, lunch & dinner!) But now, they have eggs & I have oatmeal & a green smoothie. They have beef stew & I have to make a separate veggie stew. It's fun & new, right now, but it seems like it might get ollllldddd.

[SandraMort]

However, I don't know if I could have handled preparing meat as a vegetarian.  I guess when you already have omni kids and are just changing yourself, it's a lot more complicated.  In the meantime, how about introducing them to some of your preferred vegan foods?  I mean, there's no reason they can't eat oatmeal when you do.  It's not like it's a weird new food that they're likely to balk at, right?

[catnip]

When my husband and I moved in together, he agreed to a meat free home, but still ate meat in restaurants and other meals away from home. Within six months, he'd decided to go veg. I was vegan for 3 years before my husband joined me, about that time my daughter also went vegan at age 5. Before that, they would eat egg and cheese at restaurants and potlucks, and sometimes add cheese or a fried egg to whatever I made - fried rice, tacos, baked potato, spaghetti, etc.

[nicolelynn]

Yeah, plain "vegetarian" would be lacto-ovo, vs vegan. Then there are other classifications, like most Hindu vegetarians are lacto-vegetarians...dairy but no eggs.

Anyways, I am (newly) mostly vegan (cheat once in a while when I'm out..which is maybe once per week). I am lucky that DH eats everything I make. He was sticking with his dairy and eggs but recently said as soon as his stockpile runs out he will try being vegan with me for a while. I am living in utopia very short term though, because soon we will have foster-adoptive children and who knows what their diets will consist of. I am trying not to dread coordinating all this too much, but I know I can't force vegan food on them right away.

I have a lot of ideas about how to make this work but know it won't be easy. I think I will make our usual vegan meals for DH and I, with enough for the kids..and always offer them what we eat. But if they are super picky just have something on the table they WILL eat, be it mac and cheese and carrot sticks or whatever. I don't know. Hopefully over time their tastes will change, and at least by adulthood maybe my veggie influence will count for something...maybe they'll decide to go veg then?

We'll see...

[katelove]

My husband is a lacto-ovo-vegetarian. Our 9 m.o. and I are omnivores. I eat a fair bit of vegetarian food. We try to mostly eat essentially the same meal. We feel it is more companionable as well as being easier to prepare. Most meals in our repertoire convert easily either way. So, if we are having a salad, we might cook a steak or a chop for me and mushrooms for DH. Or just give him a serve of chick peas for protein.

For stir frys, stews, curries, pasta dishes etc, sometimes we do two separate pots from the start and sometimes we divide them at the end and add the separately cooked meat. It depends on the dish and how much time we want to spend. Tonight, for example, DH made a pot of beef curry and a pot of vege curry and after dinner we had 3 serves each to go in the freezer.

For things like yoghurt and cheese we buy the vegetarian products and both eat them. Sometimes I get yoghurt which contains gelatine but it is always a flavoured yoghurt and DH only eats plain so it's easy to tell the difference.

[Shaki]

I'm lacto-ovo veg. DH and DD are omni. I do all the cooking so basically they eat what I make, which means they generally eat meat when out or at a friends house and veggie at home. I've been veg since I was 17 so have no clue how to cook meat anyway. There are 2 exceptions hot dogs and bacon. I cook hot dogs for DD pretty regularly and bacon on very special occasions for my DH. So that's how it works here. I find that satisfying my DD's more bland palate while cooking something we adults like for me and DH is more challenging than the meat/no meat issue. But that's probably because the "rules" of meat no meat have been long established and are a normal part of our day to day.

[SandraMort]

Saw this today and thought of you guys: http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2011/01/my-husband-is-not-a-vegerarian.html

[tank]

I am vegan and my partner is omni.  I do all the cooking so I make vegan meals and he eats them.  We actually have more of an issue with the vegetables we can both agree on more than the meat/ no meat thing.  Once in a while he will add something not vegan to the things I make.  If I make spaghetti (the only sauce we buy is vegan) he will put parm on it and I will put nutritional yeast on mine.  Sometimes he microwaves sausages and mixes it in but only when he is drunk lol.  If he wants something for himself he can make it but as far as our regular meal plan I cook so I choose what we eat.  He does always eat meat when we go out though.  Our babe isn't born yet but we have decided on a vegan lifestyle for him/her until they can make an informed decision for themselves.

The trick is to make such amazing vegan food that conforms to their taste buds so they won't even notice a change in their diet.