Being the only Vegan is not easy

I'm not vegan, but I do have friends who are either vegan or vegetarian where they do eat fish and eggs. I think it should be a process in which you incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your families diet and not restrict them on the meat. You might try to buy lean cuts and add vegetables into the meals.

I have three teenagers at home so I do understand the difficulty in getting them to eat healthy. My stepdaughters do live with me and in their mother's home where not used to eating any kind of vegetables (their mother would not give them any even when she herself ate them, she would tell them that they wouldn't like it. Yeah! I know what your thinking on that note!) So I had to go slowly with them on the fruits and vegetables. For example I make an omelet with 3 egg whites and one whole egg for one serving with sautéed spinach, onions, tomatoes and peppers. I add a little bit of spinach so as not to shock them too much with the taste. The onions, tomatoes and peppers I cut very tiny so they can't pick them out and since they taste good anyways they eat them. It's just they idea that their mom told them that they wouldn't like it, is stuck in their head but I've made progress, slowly but surely. They eat spinach now, but mixed in with the romaine lettuce. Green beans with a bit of salt or olive oil. Sweet peas. Broccoli, cauliflower, and squash with cheese or butter sauce. They don't eat a lot of fruits but they seem to like green apples, pears, strawberries, cherries and grapes. The only fruit that their mom bought were bananas and grapes, but they were limited with the grapes, they were for the other son, not for them (the mom has a son from her second marriage and has a lot of preference with him).

Don't try to make your family vegan just try to show them how to eat healthy with the same foods that they consume. You could try whole wheat white bread it has the same amount of fiber as regular whole wheat but what might bother them is the color I buy the whole wheat white and no one has complained (I don't think they've noticed). The ground beef, 97% lean, I mix it with lean turkey so there's a bit less of fat and they get used to the turkey taste since it's mixed with the regular ground.

These are just some of the things I do. There are others that there is no way to mask the change but since I do the cooking and I refuse to make different meals they kind of have to eat it. An example of that is the brown rice, at first no one liked it but I started tweaking it, a bit less water than the instructions, and I use coconut oil in it and that gives it a better taste. Now it's the only rice I make at home. Whole wheat pasta doesn't have a lot of difference in taste but you must boil it longer than it says in the instructions or else its too stiff not like regular pasta which softens up really fast.

Try tweaking here and there and they might surprise you by eating healthier if not vegan or vegetarian. They might try some vegan down the line I buy certain vegan foods and my kids do try them with me since they don't feel any pressure of changing their eating life style.

Ready to share that stuffed shells recipe?

I'm a vegetarian 10+ years, but being vegetarian certainly hasn't always meant eating healthy foods. You might try to merge the foods a bit more--make a side dish that is healthy that everyone can have so they cut back on their meat and processed-heavy main courses to try some of the side.

Maybe talk to your family about just eating more nutritionally in general. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about eating meat...I started out with cholesterol issues among a host of other health issues...I'm a big meat eater, but just balancing out my diet has put me into the normal range for everything and off my meds. I would be a miserable vegetarian or vegan, but eating a well balanced diet that is rich in nutrition is really easy.

I've been vegan/sometimes raw vegan for 13 years. I got kinda teased by family members at first, but I haven't been bothered or ridiculed by it ever. ...and I've lived in Missouri, Oklahoma, and now Texas too....:) I thought when I moved to Oregon that i would meet more vegans, but nope! I've met more people like me here in Houston more than anywhere else I've been. I'm an introvert though, so I don't get out much;) I've raised my two teen girls vegan and they are the healthiest kids we know. Their friends love to come over and try all of our different foods and think our lifestyle is pretty awesome...my 15 yr old's boyfriend just went vegetarian a month ago, but his twin sister has been that way for 6 yrs so it wasn't that hard for him. My hubby has been vegan for 2 weeks, but vegetarian for only a year. It was really hard on me for the past 12 years because I'm a staunch animal rights vegan. I don't go out there preaching to the masses about it though....I think people find it for themselves if they get sick enough. That's exactly what happened to him. His cholesterol went up, he had 3 really bad gallbladder attacks, and he got 70lbs overweight. He's a new person today:) He has only lost about 30lbs so far, but he feels way better. I had felt alone about veganism a lot in the early years, but as time has progressed, the people around me have adjusted and the restaurants have added more options. Glad there are some on this forum:)

I definitely agree that being the only vegan is not easy... It get's really annoying when people question you about your food choices when they don't really know anything about them...
Being vegan is healthy and, if you are a healthy vegan, there are a lot of nutrients! I wasn't always a 'healthy vegan', since I used to eat processed vegan foods like vegan cookies... But now I am eating more fruits and veggies and feel great! Eating healthy isn't hard and being vegan is not bad for your health... I just wish other people that are not vegan could understand that and not hate the vegan diet! Sorry just venting lol

I could have wrote this, too. :Sigh: I am newly vegan...it's been a little over a month. I was already eating primarily plant-based anyhow....and was vegan a couple months last year as well. My husband doesn't think I can continue it - or maybe doesn't want me to? Not sure. It's "inconvenient" since the entire family all eats meat. And he feeds the kids "bad" foods - lunchables, ramen, etc. on a regular basis. It's like he doesn't want to "fight" them on teh veggies, but I know they eat some.

Anyhow, would write more, but I'm headed out the door. Will come back later to read everyone's post.

I'm not vegan, but I do have friends who are either vegan or vegetarian where they do eat fish and eggs.

Despite what your friends tell you, vegetarians do not eat fish, chicken, beef, pork or anything with a face, really, although American vegetarians eat eggs. The friends that eat fish are pescatarians.

I only write this because I'm a vegetarian (I eat eggs and dairy) and I constantly hear, "Well, my [insert relative here] is a vegetarian but he eats fish and chicken." This is then followed by, "Well, you can have a little (fish, chicken, beef, pork, duck, snake, whatever) right?" sigh.

My kids decided to be meat eaters. I let them make the choice because they are the ones that have to live with the choice, so the compromise we made is this: If they want meat, they will have to prepare it, and I will make the vegetable dishes. They get their meat but I don't have to smell or see it cooking.

more power to you !! Serious,y I would love to have a healthier mindset and eat vegan or vegetarian , my step daughter go through phases of vegetarian then back to the norm , I completely respect her decision when she is " doing it " but at the same time , ( with her) I have to watch her food plan , because she will miss out on a lot of nutrients including protein ...only because she's picky on what veggies and fruit she will eat , so I supplement her with vitamins ... But as a kid she doesn't have the education and still needs a hand ( 15) my 3 yr old on the other hand , eats extremely healthy , we believe she is an old soul lol....mainly eating fruits and veggies and usually her meat left on her plate ???? Crazy . The only kid I know that won't finish a piece of cake !! No kidding ... So any vegan vegetarian haters are just misunderstanding . I'm not a vegan or vegetarian but can understand why people choose to eat in that way so go for it !

Thanks for the Stuffed Shells Recipe. It was awesome!