Help! Decided to go vegetarian but my husband hates veggies!

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jenniferhorn87
jenniferhorn87 Posts: 50 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I've recently made the decision to go vegetarian. It is something that I've been wanting to do for a while and finally made the move. My problem is that my husband hates most vegetables, especially cooked ones. This makes dinner at home pretty difficult. He does like some things: broccoli, carrots, green beans, asparagus, corn, and potatoes - but that's about it. He doesn't like tofu, any type of beans (except green beans), and most nuts. I'm looking for suggestions for vegetarian meals that he might actually like. Please help! Making separate dinners is fine sometimes, but I have a feeling that it's going to get old pretty quick...
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Replies

  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,671 Member
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    I don't have anything particularly helpful to say except to tell him that if he doesn't eat what you've prepared for dinner, he's on his own.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    So because you want to go vegetarian, your husband has to as well?

    Why can't he make his own meals?
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Have you talked to him about this?
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
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    Imo, either you need to prepare a dish he will eat at every meal, or he needs to cook his own meals.

    My hubby is similarly very picky....he eats canned green beans, broccoli, corn and potatoes. Fruit mmmaaayyybbbeee 1 piece a month (usually a banana but he will also eat red grapes and apples). He also wont eat tofu, pork or sea food of any kind, and will usually only eat chicken 1x a week. We eat beef at almost every meal.

    Its a PITA, but if im cooking- I make sure there is a dish of something he will eat.
  • NewMeSM75
    NewMeSM75 Posts: 971 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I tried vegetarian at one time but I still cooked meat for my family. I quit eating meat for a long time because I had ate some deer meat and the stuff grossed me out. It turned me off of meat for quite some time.

    Is your decision based on beliefs or strictly for diet reasons?

    Also, make sure you keep your protein up. There are more sources than just meat.

    Good luck to you!

  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
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    Make stuff where the meat goes in last.

    Make chili and brown the beef separately. Split the batch, add beef to half.

    Make pad Thai. Top his with stir fry chicken.

    This isn't all that hard.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Yeah, seems like a reason to cook separately, although it might be a pain. I don't think you can just decide that your husband has to eat vegetarian, and if you have a current break down of household chores where you cook dinner, you might need to change that up.

    I do vegetarian meals sometimes, but they usually have lots of veggies (green beans count as a veggie, though!): veggie stirfry, pasta with vegetable-based sauce (even a marinara with lots of veggies in it). I don't do those a lot these days, though, since I always used to add cheese to make the pasta filling (I'd now add tofu or meat to the stir fry), in that they are pretty low in protein for my preferences. Eggs are a possibility: how about a dinner omelet? Also maybe look at the millions of recipes for different sorts of vegetarian lasagna?

    I'm not big on the meat substitutes, but maybe try some of those?

    If you are an adventurous cook and he likes spice, maybe experiment with Indian cooking? I love Indian food and am perfectly happy eating vegetarian at an Indian restaurant (generally not diet friendly!), and have a really fun Indian cookbook called 660 Curries that I've been experimenting with from time to time.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    This is the first tofu recipe my meat-and-potatoes hubby could tolerate:
    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/361132463845704546/

    He hasn't signed on to meatless eating, has he? How about asking him to try one new thing a week and let him ease in to it? Are you fine with him storing single servings of meat in the freezer for himself?
  • NewMeSM75
    NewMeSM75 Posts: 971 Member
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    PeachyPlum wrote: »
    Make stuff where the meat goes in last.

    Make chili and brown the beef separately. Split the batch, add beef to half.

    Make pad Thai. Top his with stir fry chicken.

    This isn't all that hard.

    I did this, especially the chili. Or I would just cook mine some chicken or something simple to add to their meals. As this post states, it's really not that hard.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I find that people who aren't into tofu tend to like it okay when cut in small pieces and included as part of a stirfry or noodle dish.

    It always makes me laugh, though, because my dad likes to try new things (my mom is actually more of the meat and potatoes person in my family), and back in the early '80s when I was a kid he heard about this tofu thing and decided we should have it but had no idea how to use it. So he just pan fried some big chunks of it, as if it were a piece of meat and gave it to us with (probably) potatoes and veggies. Needless to say it was not a hit and we did not have it again.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Just curious what your reasoning is to become vegetarian? I'm guessing it's ethical. Do you have a problem with him eating meat on a moral basis?
  • jenniferhorn87
    jenniferhorn87 Posts: 50 Member
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    I honestly don't know why I never thought of making something where I can put the meat in last. I think that's a great compromise. He won't eat chili because he doesn't like beans, but something like a stir fry would be perfect. Thanks to everyone for suggestions!
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    jkwolly wrote: »
    So because you want to go vegetarian, your husband has to as well?

    Why can't he make his own meals?

    ^This

    Just because you decide to make a change (especially one like that) in your life doesn't mean everyone around you has to follow suit. If he wants to, then he will. Otherwise leave him alone about it.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    A few ideas that might help:

    potpie- split all the ingredients into two small loaf pans (I know its not round, but it will still taste the same), put chicken in his and extra veggies in yours

    spaghetti or pasta dished, make a nice veggie packed sauce and just cook a little ground beef or turkey or whatever meat choice for his and put it on top, he will mix it up when he eats it

    I tend to slow cook chicken in large batches, shred it, and freeze it, this might be helpful to you for your husband, then you have cooked chicken you can just throw into things for him but leave out of yours
  • gzus7freek
    gzus7freek Posts: 494 Member
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    Why make him eat veggies?
    I fix meals according to what my hubby and kids like and want then I make mine.
    Usually mine take the less time, so I am not forcing my healthy eating onto people that do not want to eat healthy! LOL
  • xmusicloverr
    xmusicloverr Posts: 100 Member
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    Lol guess he's gonna have to learn how to cook.
  • recoveringprincess
    recoveringprincess Posts: 2 Member
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    BinkyBonk wrote: »
    I don't have anything particularly helpful to say except to tell him that if he doesn't eat what you've prepared for dinner, he's on his own.

    ^^^
  • kaseyr1505
    kaseyr1505 Posts: 624 Member
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    If you make meal plans, I would just make things that are versatile (he could add meat if he wanted to), then cook your food. If he wants to add meat, or doesn't want it, he can make it himself.
  • 33Freya
    33Freya Posts: 468 Member
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    Cook meals that work both ways- stirfry can be cooked vegetarian style, and the meat cooked in a different pan and added to his plate. Spaghetti (squash) can be served with or without meatballs. Get creative and make dishes that work both ways.
  • aritter66
    aritter66 Posts: 6 Member
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    This may sound weird but it's not tofu. A few years ago a women I worked with brought in chili made with this "fake ground beef". I scruffed and grumbled but I tried it and it wasn't bad at all. No bad after taste like most "fake" stuff. You can buy it online and I think it comes in 1 pound or 2 pound increments. It looks like dried hamburger meat. She gave me some and it kept for a long time. The only reason I got rid of it was because the jar fell on the floor and broke. With a long hair dog I wasn't about to clean it up and reuse (yuck!).
    Anyway, my two cents worth, vegetarianism is a choice only you can make. You can't force it on anyone else. Do what you can to make it work. I try to not eat carbs like potatoes and rice but I still make it for my husband - I just don't eat those items. Just don't hide it from your family or your friends. I had a neighbor who invited a group of us over for authentic Mexican cooking; when we were done eating she informed us that she used tofu and organic flavoring. Out of 4 of us, 3 became greatly sick the next day (throwing up and massive migraines). I found out that I can't eat tofu - it messes up my stomach. The moral of the story is, be honest to everyone - including yourself.
    Good luck on your journey.

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