Succesful family transition stories...

January 3, 2008

Hi Again folks! Well, it's like this...We're a family of four, I'm

50, my Wife is ever so slightly older than I am, an 18yo Daughter and

a 12yo Daughter. Like many others, I've tried getting us to go

Vegetarian/Vegan before and we never got everyone on board. Now I

think we're ready to do this thing and make it really stick. Sooo... I

wanted to ask if those of you in similar family sort of situations who

have succesfully transitioned and been able to stay that way could

please post your stories of how you did it? I think one of the main

reasons for having a problem is that we've been trained all our lives

to have meat as the center piece of the meal. Say you have an hour. No

problem (apologies if this nauseates or offends anyone, frankly it has

increasingly become that way for me) you go to the freezer, grab a bag

or chunk of meat, season it, cook it, throw on some frozen veggies and

pasta or something and you're good to go. When you transitioned, did

you change that mind set. Did you find grain or other patties or hardy

veggie dishes that filled the need for that texture and extra flavor

for a centerpiece? Did you do it gradually or take everything nonVegan

chuck it in the trash and go cold Tofurkey so to speak? As the stores

carry more and more increasingly nasty quality meat (no doubt produced

in increasingly nasty ways (and yes I'm quite aware now of hows this

is done at least here, who knows about China etc.)) My family has

grown away from it to the point where I believe they would pretty much

just as soon go Veggie. But if we don't do it right... :-( Anyway, any

stories of how y'all did it would be greatly appreciated and perhaps

in the future we can add our story and send people on the verge to

this thread for inspiration and help.

Thank Y'all Very Much!!

Paul Q

PS; still waiting for the presure cooker and Lorna Sass to arrive :-)

January 4, 2008

Hi, this is my first post here, but I wanted to respond to this one. I have

been vegetarian for 21 years now & raised all my kids as vegetarians from

birth & they all still are. (They are now 17, almost 16, 14 & 11.) When I

became veggie in January 1987, I started just cutting out red meat, then

white meat, then fish which gave my body & my mindset a chance to get used

to it. But I can't see any problem with being totally veggie from one day

either - whatever works for you :-)

I began a relationship with my now-husband 10 years ago & he was a big meat

eater. He still does eat meat if we go out to eat or in his packed lunch,

but for meals, all 6 of us eat the same, so he is eating mainly veggie. (My

Dad is the same. His second wife & child are both veggie, so he is also

mainly veggie.)

If you don't have the meaty ingredients in the house, you just use other

stuff. Get a couple of good veggie cookbooks, try out a few meals (or use

the recipes on the group!) & work out your favourites. If you feel a

meat-like item is needed, you can use tofu or TVP or Quorn. We have a Quorn

roast for Xmas dinner & it has a similar texture to turkey. If you buy

ready-made pies (like Linda McCartney's range in the UK), you can get

beef-like and chicken-like pies. I have fed people these before & they were

sure they were meat!! We have also had the kids' friends over for tea, the

sort of kids who expect meat with every meal, & they have eaten here without

complaint :-)

Hope things go well. I love veggie living & would definitely recommend it.

Karen (UK).

38 year old British mum to 4 children, 2 dogs & a cat :-)

-

" Paul " <fiveqs

Friday, January 04, 2008 12:49 AM

Succesful family transition stories...

> Hi Again folks! Well, it's like this...We're a family of four, I'm

> 50, my Wife is ever so slightly older than I am, an 18yo Daughter and

> a 12yo Daughter. Like many others, I've tried getting us to go

> Vegetarian/Vegan before and we never got everyone on board. Now I

> think we're ready to do this thing and make it really stick. Sooo... I

> wanted to ask if those of you in similar family sort of situations who

> have succesfully transitioned and been able to stay that way could

> please post your stories of how you did it? I think one of the main

> reasons for having a problem is that we've been trained all our lives

> to have meat as the center piece of the meal. Say you have an hour. No

> problem (apologies if this nauseates or offends anyone, frankly it has

> increasingly become that way for me) you go to the freezer, grab a bag

> or chunk of meat, season it, cook it, throw on some frozen veggies and

> pasta or something and you're good to go. When you transitioned, did

> you change that mind set. Did you find grain or other patties or hardy

> veggie dishes that filled the need for that texture and extra flavor

> for a centerpiece? Did you do it gradually or take everything nonVegan

> chuck it in the trash and go cold Tofurkey so to speak? As the stores

> carry more and more increasingly nasty quality meat (no doubt produced

> in increasingly nasty ways (and yes I'm quite aware now of hows this

> is done at least here, who knows about China etc.)) My family has

> grown away from it to the point where I believe they would pretty much

> just as soon go Veggie. But if we don't do it right... :-( Anyway, any

> stories of how y'all did it would be greatly appreciated and perhaps

> in the future we can add our story and send people on the verge to

> this thread for inspiration and help.

> Thank Y'all Very Much!!

> Paul Q

> PS; still waiting for the presure cooker and Lorna Sass to arrive :-)

>

January 4, 2008

Hi! Welcome! =) I only have a few seconds before Gymboree class, so I

will at least give you some of my time-saving tips. I have in my

family myself, my husband, my 12 year old son, and twin toddler girls

(2 years old). As I said yesterday, the mock meats have made it VERY

easy for me to cook for my children. I would be fine with or without

the meat substitutes, but with a houseful of kids, we definitely make

a lot of use of them. First, I use brown rice as the center of my

meals when I am crunched for time. I have a pressure cooker, and I

cook a large quantity at once; I refrigerate it in three decent-sized

containers. I will grab one of those containers, heat up a skillet,

and drop in the rice, some Morningstar or Bocca crumbles, and some

veggies. Or, Morningstar even has " chicken " and " steak " strips that

they call Starters - you can toss them in a pan with

onions/peppers/mushrooms and make wraps! YUM! Also, I keep a mock egg

salad (made just like conventional egg salad, but with finely chopped

tofu in lieu of the egg. With toast & the type of cheese or soy

cheese of your choice, it makes a fantastic melt , and a great dinner

coupled with oven fries!!! And, one other favorite time saver is to

reconstitute and cook up some TVP. (I just posted about using the

chunks; I am accustomed to the granules). I will cook a bunch of

stuff at once & freeze it. Typically, this includes a " meat " sauce

for pasta, stuffed cabbage, stuffed peppers, a container of taco

filling and burritos. I freeze dinner-sized servings for my family,

and it saves a TON of time. And, one last favorite before I run out

the door is keeping a few packs of veggie dogs on hand for quick

casserole of hot dogs, potatoes, onions & peppers, or some of the Yves

deli slices on hand for a quick toasted sub-style sandwich. Hope that

even one of these ideas will work for you! =)

, " Paul " <fiveqs wrote: