Question How to make it work in the kitchen?

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Becky

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Hi,
I'm Becky. I'm 31 and I live in the UK with my husband and 2.5 year old son!
I want to go vegan. I have no real experience with this however, aside from a vegetarian year in my early 20s where I pretty much just lived off of pasta, cheese and hot sauce!
over the last few weeks I've been eating more vegan meals and I'm pretty sure I could make the jump to full time vegan quite soon. However my husband is really upset - he loves food and cooking for me. He highly values eating together, he gets very stressy about the prospect of us cooking separate meals, and thinks that we will not be able to afford to eat separately.
In my head I think that we will probably end up spending about the same as meat and cheese are really expensive, and we will be buying half as much, even though I will be eating more fruit and veg. But it's not like rice, pasta and beans are expensive?
I just wanted to know about your experiences of being vegan with an omnivore partner and if there's any way I can reassure him that it's not all going to be horrible and we can still enjoy cooking together etc.
And any reassurance on budgeting and cost of food shopping for a household with a vegan and a meat eater would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks everyone xx
 
Hello Becky, welcome to the forum!

One good way to cook is the Chinese way of cooking ... Cook a lot of small(ish) dishes so that everybody gets someing they like. My wife (who is Chinese, which helps) normally cooks a huge rice cooker full of rice, and some small vegetable dishes (e.g. Stir fry veggies and tofu) as main dishes and fries some fish or meat on the side for my son who is not vegan or vegetarian.

Another favourite is tortilla wraps ... Some vegetables, chili (sin carne), some salads and also some small meat dish so everyone can compose their wrap with the ingredients they like.

Pasta, of course, can easily be made both vegan and tasty.

Homemade pizza ... A veggie section and a non vegan section can easily coexist on one pizza pie (or several, of course). Make-your-own-burger with vegan and nonvegan ingredients...

Hope that helps a bit and don't be shy to sign up as "regular member" to get even more tips in discussions... :)
 
Hi,:wave:

I would buy a good vegan recipe book or look online for new recipes. I'm not sure what type of food you and your husband usually cook but you can veganise (is that a word?) omni dishes like roasted veg or soya mince lasagne or Indian, Mexican and Chinese dishes. Roast dinners could be a chickpea cutlet or nut roast, potatoes roasted in oil, lots of veggies, onion or red wine gravy.

I'm a UK vegan and my husband is omni but I only cook meat-free at home but I would think it is easier to do as Andy said and make meals that can be made up of different components so you can make them omni or vegan.

Lentils, chickpeas, beans and rice are relatively cheap (especially in the ethnic aisles at supermarkets) and can be made into lots of dishes.

You can get vegan lists from supermarkets and lots of foods are accidentally vegan so you can have treats like biscuits and cakes. Tesco does a very good dairy free section with dairy free cheeses, yoghurts, plant milks and they even do ice cream cones and vegan desserts.
 
Hi Becky! I think that even though you think that you could make the jump to veganism, you should try vegetarian first. When you go vegetarian you can eat more, it is easier to get the proper nutrition, and your husband will still get to cook for you and maybe even try making new tofu recipes! Maybe after a year or two of a vegetarian diet, you could make the jump and become a vegan. By then, you will know more about how to get the proper protein/nutrition without meat, and it will be easier for you because you will already be used to going without meat, fish, and possibly gelatin. Good luck!

Hazel:dog:
 
I'm a vegetarian, not vegan so it's not completely the same. But my boyfriend is a meat eater. Although I'm slowly trying to convert him it's taking a very long time and I really don't hold high hopes for him ever really wanting to be vegetarian. In the mean time I take solace in the fact that I do most of the cooking so at least one meat eater in the world is eating less meat then they would normally, and getting to try lots of really yummy veggie food!
 
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