Help-How to Successfully Reduce animal products?

Nayfairy

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Reducing the animal products in meals that would still be satisfying for an omnivore?

Hey folks :)

So here's my dilemma... Throughout my life, I've mostly been vegetarian but have dipped in and out of veganism/plant-focused for a long time. I'm currently following a vegan diet. However, I've realised that by doing so I'm basically just canceling out (at least to some degree) the harm I cause with the food I prepare for my partner. Which I feel awful about. See before I came along it sounds like he ate much fewer quantities of animal products (though he was and is and probably always will be an omnivore). This is mostly because he didn't eat very much at all, or would make mostly very quick easy meals (like beans on toast or pot noodles). He is very picky with food, I highly doubt he would ever become vegan and I honestly wouldn't want to push it on him.

Any advice on how I can reduce the animal products I use in cooking in a way that would still be satisfying for an omnivore?

Any ideas/advice would be much appreciated 🤗
 
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I read that as your partner ate less animal product before you got together???
If he ate less, than why has that changed?
If you're the one who prepares meals it sounds like an easy remedy :up:
If you've been vegetarian most of your life I can't even imagine still being able to make animal stuff taste good! Take his likes into consideration and make what you'd eat. Simple
 
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I read that as your partner ate less animal product before you got together???
If he ate less, than why has that changed?
If you're the one who prepares meals it sounds like an easy remedy :up:
If you've been vegetarian most of your life I can't even imagine still being able to make animal stuff taste good! Take his likes into consideration and make what you'd eat. Simple
He was eating less because he wasn't eating much food at all as he lacks motivation when it comes to preparing food/eating in general.
 
welcome to the forum @Nayfairy

If you are in charge of making meals then just make things that are tasty and interesting and that don't include animal products.

Things like chili and corn chowders and soups that are full of flavour and goodness like beans and veggies etc.

It is hard to make suggestions when we don't know what you eat on a regular basis but watch some of the vegan youtubers and their "what I eat in a day" videos and go from there. Simnett Nutrition, High Carb Hannah, Sweet Simple Vegan and so many more!!

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
 
I agree with Emma and Silva.

Don't cook anything with animal products. In fact, don't buy anything with animal products. When you cook for yourself make enough for him. And if he isn't satisfied with it be sure to have the ingredients for beans on toast and pot noodles so he can make his own and not go hungry.

I've been vegan so long I'm not that interested in making meals that are reminiscent of eating meat - but there are hundreds of good recipes that do a good job with that. Also, Google can really help with that. Like for instance, if he likes meatloaf, you can just google "vegan meatloaf". That one is actually pretty easy. You can even buy a ready to eat vegan meatloaf at the grocery store.

We used to challenge ourselves to find a meal that we couldn't veganize - it's pretty hard.

But I like the idea to just make the things you like but taking what he likes into consideration. Before the pandemic, I occasionally cooked something for an omnivore. And nothing special like a veganized meatloaf. I made just delicious plant-based meals. I still get requests for my roasted butter nut squash soup.

But roasted butter nut squash soup is just for special occasions. its time consuming. But there are so many simple to make meals where a carnist would probably not even notice or miss the lack of animal protein.

stir fry or pasta - there are millions of recipes.
Eggplant dishes (lasagna and parmesan require a good cheese sub)
Cuban black beans over rice
Lentil vegetable stew over mashed potatoes.
I could go on. but you get the idea. You may want to borrow a vegan cookbook and look thru it. You could even ask hubby to look thru it and pick some stuff out.

Making a good stir fry and preparing tofu correctly are cooking skills that most of us didn't learn from our moms, so you might need to get a book or watch a video. but it isn't rocket science. I figured it out. Nowadays i do a tofu stir fry very frequently.

* I don't think that is heartless or cruel. If that was good enough for him then it's good enough for him now. BTW, I do all my own cooking and when I don't feel like cooking I will make beans on toast or pot noodles, too
:)
 
I agree with Emma and Silva.

Don't cook anything with animal products. In fact, don't buy anything with animal products. When you cook for yourself make enough for him. And if he isn't satisfied with it be sure to have the ingredients for beans on toast and pot noodles so he can make his own and not go hungry.

I've been vegan so long I'm not that interested in making meals that are reminiscent of eating meat - but there are hundreds of good recipes that do a good job with that. Also, Google can really help with that. Like for instance, if he likes meatloaf, you can just google "vegan meatloaf". That one is actually pretty easy. You can even buy a ready to eat vegan meatloaf at the grocery store.

We used to challenge ourselves to find a meal that we couldn't veganize - it's pretty hard.

But I like the idea to just make the things you like but taking what he likes into consideration. Before the pandemic, I occasionally cooked something for an omnivore. And nothing special like a veganized meatloaf. I made just delicious plant-based meals. I still get requests for my roasted butter nut squash soup.

But roasted butter nut squash soup is just for special occasions. its time consuming. But there are so many simple to make meals where a carnist would probably not even notice or miss the lack of animal protein.

stir fry or pasta - there are millions of recipes.
Eggplant dishes (lasagna and parmesan require a good cheese sub)
Cuban black beans over rice
Lentil vegetable stew over mashed potatoes.
I could go on. but you get the idea. You may want to borrow a vegan cookbook and look thru it. You could even ask hubby to look thru it and pick some stuff out.

Making a good stir fry and preparing tofu correctly are cooking skills that most of us didn't learn from our moms, so you might need to get a book or watch a video. but it isn't rocket science. I figured it out. Nowadays i do a tofu stir fry very frequently.

* I don't think that is heartless or cruel. If that was good enough for him then it's good enough for him now. BTW, I do all my own cooking and when I don't feel like cooking I will make beans on toast or pot noodles, too
:)
I agree with Emma and Silva.

Don't cook anything with animal products. In fact, don't buy anything with animal products. When you cook for yourself make enough for him. And if he isn't satisfied with it be sure to have the ingredients for beans on toast and pot noodles so he can make his own and not go hungry.

I've been vegan so long I'm not that interested in making meals that are reminiscent of eating meat - but there are hundreds of good recipes that do a good job with that. Also, Google can really help with that. Like for instance, if he likes meatloaf, you can just google "vegan meatloaf". That one is actually pretty easy. You can even buy a ready to eat vegan meatloaf at the grocery store.

We used to challenge ourselves to find a meal that we couldn't veganize - it's pretty hard.

But I like the idea to just make the things you like but taking what he likes into consideration. Before the pandemic, I occasionally cooked something for an omnivore. And nothing special like a veganized meatloaf. I made just delicious plant-based meals. I still get requests for my roasted butter nut squash soup.

But roasted butter nut squash soup is just for special occasions. its time consuming. But there are so many simple to make meals where a carnist would probably not even notice or miss the lack of animal protein.

stir fry or pasta - there are millions of recipes.
Eggplant dishes (lasagna and parmesan require a good cheese sub)
Cuban black beans over rice
Lentil vegetable stew over mashed potatoes.
I could go on. but you get the idea. You may want to borrow a vegan cookbook and look thru it. You could even ask hubby to look thru it and pick some stuff out.

Making a good stir fry and preparing tofu correctly are cooking skills that most of us didn't learn from our moms, so you might need to get a book or watch a video. but it isn't rocket science. I figured it out. Nowadays i do a tofu stir fry very frequently.

* I don't think that is heartless or cruel. If that was good enough for him then it's good enough for him now. BTW, I do all my own cooking and when I don't feel like cooking I will make beans on toast or pot noodles, too
:)
Thank you for your thoughtful response! There are so many plant based foods he doesn't like and he's very very particular (imo) about how he likes his food prepared. Another big factor is that he gives me the money for food shopping as he earns a lot more than me- so it's kind of an awkward situation where I don't feel like I can buy only vegan products if he wants other things. But I'm going to keep reducing the best I can and try to get creative with finding vegan meals he would like...
 
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Reducing the animal products in meals that would still be satisfying for an omnivore?

Hey folks :)

So here's my dilemma... Throughout my life, I've mostly been vegetarian but have dipped in and out of veganism/plant-focused for a long time. I'm currently following a vegan diet. However, I've realised that by doing so I'm basically just canceling out (at least to some degree) the harm I cause with the food I prepare for my partner. Which I feel awful about. See before I came along it sounds like he ate much fewer quantities of animal products (though he was and is and probably always will be an omnivore). This is mostly because he didn't eat very much at all, or would make mostly very quick easy meals (like beans on toast or pot noodles). He is very picky with food, I highly doubt he would ever become vegan and I honestly wouldn't want to push it on him.

Any advice on how I can reduce the animal products I use in cooking in a way that would still be satisfying for an omnivore?

Any ideas/advice would be much appreciated 🤗
Well, there are a lot of meat substitutes that even people who eat animals like. Some popular ones are listed here: VEGANavigate

Another really good meat substitute is seitan or just TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein).

If you don't want to use these, there are also fruits and vegetables people use to substitute meat very convincingly. Baked jackfruit with bbq sauce is popular to imitate pulled pork.

There are also a lot of dairy substitutes at stores. You can even make your own dairy-free products like cheese with cashews, mayo or ice cream with whipped garbanzo bean juice (called Aguafaba), or milk with soy beans.
 
Well, there are a lot of meat substitutes that even people who eat animals like. Some popular ones are listed here: VEGANavigate

Another really good meat substitute is seitan or just TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein).

If you don't want to use these, there are also fruits and vegetables people use to substitute meat very convincingly. Baked jackfruit with bbq sauce is popular to imitate pulled pork.

There are also a lot of dairy substitutes at stores. You can even make your own dairy-free products like cheese with cashews, mayo or ice cream with whipped garbanzo bean juice (called Aguafaba), or milk with soy beans.
Thank you for your thoughtful response! So I've learnt that for some reason, he doesn't like the idea of substitutes, like for dairy and meat- anything 'trying' to be like products he's used to. I made him a pasadana veg curry the other night, he liked the sauce but I forgot he's not so keen on cauliflower- there are lots of plant-based foods he doesn't like! Buuut, he told me he wouldn't mind it with tofu. I was so happy (and surprised-small wins) because at least that's one more ingredient I know I can use for him!
 
Reducing the animal products in meals that would still be satisfying for an omnivore?

Hey folks :)

So here's my dilemma... Throughout my life, I've mostly been vegetarian but have dipped in and out of veganism/plant-focused for a long time. I'm currently following a vegan diet. However, I've realised that by doing so I'm basically just canceling out (at least to some degree) the harm I cause with the food I prepare for my partner. Which I feel awful about. See before I came along it sounds like he ate much fewer quantities of animal products (though he was and is and probably always will be an omnivore). This is mostly because he didn't eat very much at all, or would make mostly very quick easy meals (like beans on toast or pot noodles). He is very picky with food, I highly doubt he would ever become vegan and I honestly wouldn't want to push it on him.

Any advice on how I can reduce the animal products I use in cooking in a way that would still be satisfying for an omnivore?

Any ideas/advice would be much appreciated 🤗
Just as an add on to this as I realised it's quite an important part: my partner gives me the money for the food shopping (as he earns a lot more money than me) so it's kind of a situation where I can't really buy only by vegan food if he's wanting me to get animal products. I am making progress though! His diet is kind of flexitarian now- much much less meat, and also around a couple of vegan meals a week. In an ideal situation, I would not be buying animal products for him- I really dislike doing so. But I'm trying my very best.
 
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So I've learnt that for some reason, he doesn't like the idea of substitutes, like for dairy and meat- anything 'trying' to be like products he's used to.
That seems to be a little irrational and maybe something you can explore further with him. Maybe by discussing his reasons you can find some wedge to exploit. or maybe he will volunteer some other things that you and him can try.
 
That seems to be a little irrational and maybe something you can explore further with him. Maybe by discussing his reasons you can find some wedge to exploit. or maybe he will volunteer some other things that you and him can try.
I still eat only vegan products myself just to clarify. He kind of explained why he doesn't like substitutes: he said it's because he has tasted some of them before and he knows he prefers the 'real thing'. So if I gave him a vegan burger for example (as I suggested to him because he tried some of mine before and he said he liked it) he would be thinking that he knows he would prefer 'the real thing'. So for him at the moment it just comes down to taste preference. That's why I was surprised when he said he wouldn't mind me using tofu in dishes because I would have assumed he would prefer the taste of mock meat over that. He just says he doesn't like anything that's trying to directly imitate animal products. I find it quite strange too! Although I kind of understand his perspective even obviously I don't think it's a good enough reason ethically.
 
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This afternoon a recipe popped up in my YouTube feed. And I thought of you. since your partner liked the Pasadena curry :) this might be good too. Instead of linking it to the video I found the recipe. I like recipes better than videos.


This is a very busy webpage. but if you scroll down you can find the recipe in a very basic format. and it also includes the video.

I usually don't like curry because its too spicy for my taste but she gives some tips to make it less spicy so I might try it.