Introduction!

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone! I finally have enough time to introduce myself (and

my family) so I thought I'd better get to it. This will probably be

long. It will prepare you because every time I chime in it will

probably be long-winded, too!

 

My name is Cheri. I've been a vegetarian for most of the last 13

years. I made the choice to stop eating meat while I was 15 and in

high school. I'll have to share the story of why some time, because

while I'm happy that I made the change, it came about because of a

teacher's inappropriate (in my opinion) actions.

 

In any case, I've been married for five years. I'm proud to say that

the meat-devouring man I married has been a happy vegetarian for four

years now. We have two children together - 11 month old boy/girl

twins. They have never tasted meat and as much as I'm able to keep

things that way, I plan to do so. When they're older they'll be

permitted to make the choice of eating meat on their own, but I can

at least make my home a meat-free place. I have five stepchildren

between the ages of 9 and 18 that live with their mother. They are

meat-eaters in her home but eat vegetarian in our home (and have

never seemed to notice the lack of meat) without much complaint. Any

issues they have usually surround the huge variety of vegetables that

they've never been exposed to - at home they pretty much eat canned

corn, canned green beans and boxed mashed potatoes.

 

The babies have recently started transitioning over to soy milk in

place of their soy formula. Luckily, the dairy/milk thing was

decided for me by their sensitive tummies, so we've never had to deal

with judgement for choosing to keep them on soy. We still hear about

keeping their diet meat-free, but we're doing fine and they're very

healthy.

 

I made all of their baby food and they still eat a diet that consists

of 95% fresh fruits and vegetables, though I admit to occasionally

adding in a bit of processed " meat replacement " items to spice up

their diet. They absolutely love Quorn naked chicken and if I could

find something made locally, or at least in the US that is similar

I'd be a happy, happy woman. Suggestions are welcomed on that front!

 

They're probably some of the weirdest little kids I know - most of

the kids their age don't like a lot of foods but right now their

favorite things to eat are asparagus (our daughter in particular is

quite upset that they're out of season), pumpkin and anything with

pumpkin as an ingredient, sweet potatoes, mushrooms and lentil soup.

 

As a family, we're transitioning to a vegan diet but it's been very

slow and gradual. We still eat dairy and eggs if they are in a food

(hence the Quorn and I also bake bread that uses eggs) but we're

becoming more comfortable with the various replacements for these

items. As time goes on we'll likely remove more of these foods from

our diet, but when we do buy them we always buy from local farmers in

the area which while not an ideal solution, makes us feel better. My

husband is very opposed to giving up eggs as a breakfast food,

however, and I'm not sure he'll ever be 100% on board with a

replacement for his over easy eggs and toast. I'd rather have a bowl

of oatmeal, myself!

 

We have found Nava Atlas' Vegetarian Family Cookbook invaluable. As

comfort foods, I make her hidden tofu mac and cheese and her corn

chowder recipes and they kids absolutely love them.

 

I welcome any advice or comments, but more importantly I just wanted

to say hello to everyone!

 

~Cheri