Vegetarians with Non-Veggie Spouses

MrsT_2009

I'm making a switch to pescetarianism (is that a word?!?), but my husband is definitely not interested in joining me. Any vegetarians out there with non-veggie spouses/families? I'm wondering how you make this work. Do you prepare meat for them?

aschr690

I dated a guy who wasn't vegetarian (for a long time) and pretty much did all the cooking. I basically said he could eat what I made or make his own thing (he usually just ate what I made haha). The only time I would make something non-vegetarian was if it was an easy sandwich or something, it's really up to your personal preference though and definitely should not be a huge problem!

UrbanRunner81

My husband wasn't a vegetarian until just last year. Well if he wanted meat he had to do it himself, cook, buy it or order it out when we went out for dinner. He was happy to eat my vegetarian meals as I didn't cook with meat at all.

NaomiLyn15

I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't really like meat. My husband lives it. So, I plan the meals around what I am going to eat to get the nutrition I need, and then throw a piece if meat on the grill for him. If I'm having fish, he just has fish with me. It has worked for four years now.

Timkerbelle

My bf is omni, and I'm vegan, but it works just fine. A lot of the time it's easy enough to have the same base food, and add little bits that you want to it. For instance, if I make a curry I make it vegan, and then throw in a few bits of chicken or sausage or something for him on days when he fancies meat (he is quite happy to eat vegetarian a lot of the time too), and maybe mushrooms in mine (something my bf would never eat)

It needs to be said though that my bf is wonderfully open to trying things, but then again I would never try to "make" him eat stuff he doesn't like. It's a lot about mutual respect - you respect that your husband wants to eat meat, and he respects that you don't. Lecturing on either part is never a good idea.

Food is one of the things you have more or less complete control over in your life, and if you have a conviction you should stick with it. He might get more open minded if he sees that you are being serious about your choice.

dennydifferent

My partner and I have been together 10 years, me veggie, him not. We simply cook different meals, and argue over who gets to go in the kitchen first! On special occasions or if I feel like it, I will prepare simple meat meals, but since I've been veggie since I was about 18 I haven't a clue how to cook meat, so it's usually just ham sandwiches!

Every now and then we cook a veggie meal together, often stew, or Quorn burgers and sweet potato fries, or some kind of pie.

basschick

I'm a pescatarian and I LOVE to cook! I cook dishes with meat in them all the time for my hubby. Sometimes I just eat the side dishes he eats and eat my own meatless main dish. I like to eat much earlier than he does and will often eat a light dinner (like a smoothie or some hummus with crackers and veggies) so sometimes I eat at 5:30 and then make a big meal for him at 7:30 or 8:00. He does like to eat seafood occasionally so once in a blue moon we actually eat the same thing for dinner.

tangledknot

I am a vegetarian working on becoming a vegan and my husband hunts and eats meat. The rule in our house is simple - if you want to eat meat - you fix it. I refuse to buy it, I will not cook it.
I think if you have children you should be very aware of their protein intake and make sure they are getting what they need but remember they dont have to get it from meat. there are plenty of other protein foods out there that are easier on the body.

meerkat70

My partner's a meat eater. He's happy to mostly eat with me and has meat a few times a week. He loves my cooking, which helps, and is a good cook himself, which also helps!

There's an old Australian book called 'Almost Vegetarian', which is probably a bit dated, but really useful for thinking through ways of cooking multi-purpose meat / vege meals.

I don't mind cooking meat for my partner or for guests, but he's also quite happy to cook it too. We just muddle by, depending on what's happening.

fridayjustleft04

I lived with my ex for three years. I'm a vegetarian and he hated vegetables of any kind. I'd usually cook, and if he didn't want/like what I was making, he was free to make whatever he wanted. I will say that he was open to trying my soy meats, and actually liked them, so I could make some of his favorite foods veg friendly (tacos, for example).

supertracylynn

My hub likes to eat out for a reason: i am not cooking 2 meals. Though I have made 2 meat options on multiple occasions, especially when we have guests over. For special days, like when he comes back from a weeklong underway, I'll make something like beef stroganoff and a. Huge salad for myself with a veggie burger cut up into it for protein.

MrsCon40

I am a vegan and my husband is totally meat-n-potatoes. I do all of the cooking at home so when he's at home he eats vegan. He's happy to do so because I am a really good cook - and he is now admitting publicly that he likes what I eat

Since he's such a good sport I occasionally cook a locally grown grass fed piece of beef to perfection for him. I don't have a problem with meat eating per se - just how a VAST MAJORITY is produced - but I still couldn't bring myself to eat it.

And pescatarian is totally a word

melaniecheeks

Not currently, but I was for a while, and my then hubbie was a meat eater.

This was pre weight loss days, so we'd eat out once a week, and have a takeaway once a week (so no issues with getting different meals there)

He'd eat the odd veggie meal (omelette say), and as someone said, it's pretty easy to slap a bit of meat on the grill to go alongside a vegetarian meal. Mix and match meals like salad, sandwiches, baked potatoes with a selection of toppings would cover another couple of nights, and there'd be evenings when we cooked for ourselves.

leahmolidor

My husband is a vegetarian but I am not. (I'm just a picky meat eater.) When we cook dinners for the two of us we cook vegetarian because it's just easier to. I could cook meat on the side for a few of our regular meals but I really don't mind not having the meat. A couple days a week we just cook dinner for ourselves and that's usually when I'll have meat or fish and of course any time we go out I have the option. It's working really well for us but the meat eater has to be willing to eat veggie in order for this to work. Here are some of the vegetarian meals we regularly prepare...
*Veggie Pot Pie
*Veggie chili
*Veggie manwich
*Stir fry
*Pasta with most sauces
*Enchiladas
*Tacos or taco salads
*Pad thai
*Bean burgers
*Eggs benedict
*Spinach lasagna

Hope it helps! It definitely took an adjustment period but I really like eating vegetarian most of the week now.