The Husband is not a vegetarian.
In fact, I don’t even think his vernacular includes the word “vegetarian”. His dietary vocabulary does include foods such as: beef. potato. butter. chicken. milk. with a side of captain crunch and chocolate chip cookies.
I would love to start cooking less meat in our household, but to take meat out of the Husband’s diet would be blasphemous (even though we learned in Church yesterday that Daniel was a vegetarian). I don’t feel good cooking meat, and someday down the line we are going to have children – who, as I have explained before are going to be perfect… AND vegetarian.
But if I know one thing, I know the Husband will never become a vegetarian.
And so, I continue to buy deli meat (without nitrates), continue to buy chicken breast (all natural, but would love to buy local and organic), and continue to buy organic, grass fed beef. All for the sake of love.
If you’re wondering, yes – I do still buy Captain Crunch, but that’s vegetarian already, right?
So, I have one of two options.
The first option is explain to my very understanding husband how I want to start cooking less meat in our household. Not necessarily cut it out all together, but only buy local and organic, cooking it only a few times a week. He, of course, will embrace me and tell me just how lucky he is to have a wife that is not only looking out for the environment, but also his health and well-being. And then he will buy me an iced coffee as a reward.
Then I remember the Husband’s vocabulary.
Meat.
Potatoes.
Now.
Woman.
(all said in a lovingly, non-demanding way, of course)
Since the first option will happen when Hell freezes over, some days I just have to take matters into my own hands. Yesterday turned out to be a vegetarian day for the Husband. And you know what? He doesn’t even know. Shhhhh…
Yesterday was Sunday, which meant I wake up and make the Husband a big nice breakfast before church. On the menu yesterday was an omelet, toast, and a juicy ripe peach.
We snacked throughout the day, and it included more fruit, a protein smoothie, chips, and whatever else he could find while I was out lounging at the pool.
For dinner, I made brown rice pasta with veggies and marinara sauce. On the side he had garlic bread and topped everything with a hefty dose of parmesan cheese. In fact, at the end of the meal, he exclaimed that he was “so stuffed he couldn’t even finish his plate”. How’s that for a filling, vegetarian dinner?
As we were finishing dinner, I thought to myself how the Husband had eaten a vegetarian diet all day! I was tempted to tell him. I wanted to tell him. The words were almost out of my mouth until I shut it and decided not to say anything at all. Knowing the Husband, he would have asked for double the meat today to make up for his deprivation yesterday.
So for now, the Husband will be an “accidental vegetarian” on some days. Accidental because he has no idea. Not accidental because I plot in advance.
You say I’m crazy? That’s okay. I embrace the crazy.
Question: If you eat meat, are you an “accidental vegetarian” some days? If you are a vegetarian, how do you deal with meat eating family members?
{ 63 comments… read them below or add one }
Hahhaahha I love it. I love seeing more about your other half! Not gonna lie, that sounds like a delicious day, and you two are beautiful together <3 Don't worry my boy has a very similar demeanor ahaha
First I want to say the husband is a cutie! I know he doesn’t make regular appearances so I loved seeing pictures of you two together. My husband is a very meaty guy too and he has never in all his days had an accidental vegetarian day.
I love this post. At least your husband notices that you’re trying to watch out for the environment. There are days though, where my husband is a vegetarian, but like you said, the moment I tell him, he wants to go get a whopped to make up for that. I’d really like to start cooking less me, too, but it’s so hard to make that switch! Especially when I’m living with my parents and brother. My dad and husband are BOTH meat and potatoes men. My dad is worse than my husband. It’s not a meal without meat according to dad. Maybe once we move out I could focus on that more.
The environment thing was definitely sarcasm - he could care less! haha! Good luck on cooking more meatless meals for your family!
I cook my husband meat very rarely. I basically told him he could eat what I fixed for dinner or make his own. He never makes his own. He still eats all the “whatever he wants” at lunch and when we eat dinner out, but lately he’s said that he feels better when he doesn’t eat dairy or meat.
Good thinking Jackie!
Hunni was the meat, potatoes and junk food guy when I met him. He had plenty of accidental healthy days and then accidental vegetarian days. He despised the word vegetarian and vegan.
When I broke down and told him he hadn’t eaten meat in a week he was shocked. But what about the chili? and the burgers? and the lasagna? All veggie.
Now he doesn’t care as long as he eats stuff that tastes good. He gets some meat when we eat out but we don’t buy it at home.
Oh Cynthia, you are an inspiration!
I’m almost always an accidental vegetarian! I’m too scared to give myself the vegetarian title, but I hardly ever eat meat. It actually kind of grosses me out now. We won’t judge you if you plan his “accidental vegetarian” days
Oh, how lovely it would be if my husband gave up meat! It would make my life and dinner preparations so much easier! But, not eating meat is MY decision and I have to remember that. In the mean time I eat bean burgers while he eats beef. But many days he is an ‘accidental vegetarian’ too!
At first I bought meat for my boyfriend when he came over but I quickly kicked that to the curb because turns out he is very open to eat vegetarian meals? Which is really nice! Not to say that, “Meat, potatoes, now, woman, ” aren’t in his vocabulary…they are. It’s just usually directed at his mother! Basically when I prepare a meal it is a vegetarian so who ever it is has to deal:) But I of course try to make awesome vegetarian meals to prove how great it is! I also plan on raising my future children as vegetarians:)
I applaud you for being such a good wife
I’m honestly not sure if I’d be able to handle meat if I had to cook it for a husband/boyfriend… I went vegetarian before I learned how to cook meat, so I’m kind of afraid that I’d end up poisoning someone lol. Either that or I’d burn it to a crisp to make sure it was well done. I guess I’ll have to learn one day, though, because the chances of finding a veg-head guy are pretty slim!
as a “meat and potatoes” kind of GAL.. I’ve found that day when I am an “accidental vegetarian” are slightly refreshing and a nice break from all of that protein! Just spoonfeed of pasta every night
Just because I eat meat regularly doesn’t mean I eat meat everyday. I’m most definitely an “accidental vegetarian” on a lot of days out of the week, but that might mainly be because I’m kind of a carbivore
I loooove my pastas!!
How cool! my dad is the same way. My family eats meat, but we have 2 vegetarian days a week. Sometimes I will be an accidental vegetarian all day and not even realize
Haha I love it! You go girl! I am definitely an accidental vegetarian sometimes- but I know about it, and I like it!
hahahaha do you not LOVE when things like that happen! sometimes i’ll go a few days not even realizing that meat was not consumed but thats mainly in the winter when i could eat eggs for 12 meals a day haha. love that you accidently tricked the hubby! we won’t tell
Mine isn’t vegetarian either but he has drastically decreased his meat intake since marrying me. I would LOVE to buy him only all natural and 100% organic but he would leave me if he knew how much money I was spending on his food. Compromises!
I think we spend a relatively small amount of money on food over here - I don’t think he would be opposed!
I am loving the new design, what fun! yey for accidental vegetarianness!
I will never be a true vegetarian either but I do love eating meat only when I really crave it!
yes! I am quite a bit now that my views on food have changed. in the past, i thought i had to eat meat to get enough protein. not anymore!
Plus, eating vegetarian is much cheaper!
It sure is!
I’m not a vegetarian, but there are plenty of days that go by where I don’t eat meat!
My husband I are not vegetarians but we try to eat healthy and have tried eatinf meatless at least once a week which my oldest son hates. I fix our food and then either make him a pb&j or a grilled cheese but I dont tell him he’s just eaten a meatless meal. He thinks he’s gotten his own way and I know I’ve got mine.
I have numerous days that I end up not eating meat but I’m still not a vegetarian. It’s fun doing more meatless. And Peter just goes with the flow. If he doesn’t have to cook he’s good.
hey my boyfriend used to be a meat eater until he moved in with me! now he’s a a pescatarian!
Haha, this is funny.
I am in a huge meat eater family, so ya…I usually just make my own meals and do my own thing.
I normally eat a Vegan diet, but make the exception for fish 1-2 times a month. I come from a family of meat eaters, so I make all my own things. When we do family get togethers I have my stuff and they have theirs. Some have tried my meatless things-especially my one grandmother. She’s loved several of the meals and doesn’t mind being meatless sometimes .
Your husband sound a lot like my boyfriend, except his vocabulary includes roast beef, fish, Ovaltine, and Grape Nuts. I made him accidentally gluten-free one day (I’m convinced he’s sensitive), but I’m pretty sure if he knew I vegetarian-ed him he’d ensure I heard about all the meat he ate for the next week. We don’t live together but I do keep tuna/mayo, cream cheese, and a couple other things here for him. Though I’m leaning towards not, being a vegan and not really being comfortable buying them. Oh, the things we do for love!
You crack.me.up! I eat meat, but there are many days that I’m an accidental vegetarian, and it’s not bad! I just couldn’t do it ALL the time
So funny you posted this because on your anniversary post I was going to comment how I could see y’all in the rocking chairs with green monsters and kale chips between you and that he had probably by then far figured out your cereal swap trickery (I remember) but I couldn’t be clever enough.
I just wanted to say that you would win him over, just by virtue that good food tastes good.
Any move away from the SAD diet (standard american diet) is worth applause. Maybe one day he will appreciate the effects on the environment and economy and health and animals he made by doing a one-day. Until then?
Let men be men. It’s all good.
ps- you husband reminds me so much of my ex…it’s uncanny.
I’m not sure he ever realized how hard it was for me to cook meat for him.
Oh the things we do for boys, huh?
love it! I’ve actually become an accidental vegetarian myself, mainly because meat is expensive, and I much prefer blowing my money on things like nut butters and kombucha.
I was veggie for about two years and mostly veggie before that, now I eat meat but there are days or weeks that I go without eating meat and/or dairy. My husband eats meat, meat, and sometimes spinach.
Spinach!?!? You lucky girl!
So funny! There have been several days where both my husband and I have been accidental vegetarians. It happens more often for me than it does for him.
I recently found your blog and am loving it! I used to worry about cutting back on meat for fear that my boyfriend (now husband) would feel deprived. But we have both grown more conscious of our nutrition/the environment together, and now he doesn’t mind having vegetarian days or weeks at all. On the occasion that we do buy meat, we always get it at the farmers market. It’s expensive but we don’t eat it all the time, so it evens out. And there are so many great filling vegetarian options out there, especially when beans are involved!!
The Coach is a hard-core carnivore, but whenever he comes to visit, he understands that he’ll be eating vegetarian as long as I’m cooking (it’s cool with me if he wants to make himself a chicken breast or whatnot), and whenever I come to visit him I somehow con him into mostly vegetarian meals! Funny how that works…and so encouraging to see that two vastly different dietary styles can be together harmoniously!
I am an accidental vegetarian MOST days…. it’s not intentional but I just don’t crave meat anymore…. Good luck with the husband! He loves you, he’ll understand!
meat.potatoes.now.woman. <-haha! how awesome that your husband was completely satisfied eating veggie for a day! and hilarious that he didn't notice. i was a vegetarian for a full year before my fiance decided to join me, and it was totally his choice. we ate together quite often (this was 3'ish years ago, before we lived together), and he enjoyed everything i made, so he decided to stop eating meat altogether. i would not be able to cook him meat now and am so grateful that he decided to go veg as well, but i know that everyone is different and i would have kept loving him no matter what!
This reminds me of the ravioli commercial where the Mom goes crazy when the sample woman at the grocery store tries to tell her child that the ravioli now has veggies! haha
haha! I love that commercial!
This makes me smile
My husband sounds just like yours. We’ve both learned to make sacrifices. I eat more chicken and when he grills a burger, I have a veggie burger. Then, after a few nights of burgers, he’s content with a meatless meal (usually pasta)! It’s still tricky sometimes to make two meals all the time.
Haha, this post made me laugh!
I’m a vegetarian, but my husband and 2 children are not. However I don’t cook meat for them. At home, we eat meat-free 95% of the time. They’ll eat meat when they’re out (indeed Liam will normally order steak to make up for his lack of meat at home!!) and Liam cooks meat himself maybe once a fortnight when I’m out.
It works great. Daughter’s favourite meal is roast vegetable lasagne, and even my previously meat-loving mcdonalds-going husband claims to enjoy all my cooking (I think it helps that I’m a better cook than his mother, shhh, don’t tell her!!!) and has even been converted to loving all of Mama Pea’s quinoa recipes!!
Keep going with the “accidental vegetarian” days…who knows, one day he might decide he prefers them??!!
Love this and just wrote a post this morning about eating less meat and a more plant-based diet! Just got Mama Pea’s cookbook and can’t wait to try some new recipes!
Love this
My husband is 100% Vegan right now, but only because we are doing the Engine 2 Challenge. He tells me everyday that when it is over, he is going out to have a burger topped with cheese, chicken, and more burger. 
loveeeee it! my sister has been a vegetarian forever, would cook her fiance (now husband) organic meat similar to you, and then one day he came home from work where he watched one of those animal videos and had decided to be a vegetarian. no persuasion from my sister what-so-ever! my boyfriend always claims I can’t be full because I’m a vegetarian so I love these tricks…
I eat meat, but very regularly have ‘accidental vegetarian’ days (about 3 a week).
I love tricking my boyfriend into accidental vegetarian days! I dont tell him either because then he will have SOMETHING to complain about
SO funny and I Love the new blog layout design!
My husband and I aren’t vegetarians, but we both agree that we only want to eat meat a few times a week. I aim for no more than 3 days a week. We’ve never been huge meat eaters so it’s not a problem for us!
Hahaha your husband sounds exactly like my family - they don’t consider something a meal unless it has meat in it.
Although I do eat meat, I definitely don’t like to eat it as much as they do, so it’s been a bit frustrating for me to live at home this summer. I’ve realized I can’t change their habits, so I deal with it by cooking for myself a few times a week
There are some days when I am an accidental vegetarian. When I don’t have leftovers from the night before, I usually just end up with a big salad for lunch and snacks throughout the day. However, my honey wants meat and potatoes all the time. I’m all for cooking and eating it, but it is more expensive and makes the dinner-making process take that much longer. I’ve fed him some good vegetarian meals, but he always notices and says he wants meat!!
Oh my! This sounds oh so familiar to me! My hubby is similar, in that he would never become a vegetarian…or at least not until the day hell freezes over
But I have been explaining to him it’s important what KIND of meat we buy, that can be more healthy. Since I know he’s not going to go meatless anytime soon, I’ve decided I’m not going to push it, but instead I’m going to do the best I can do with what he will eat. This means, he knows I’m not going to buy any cheap old block of ground beef. Neiter will I buy things like doritos or pringles. If he wants chips, we can buy a different kind, with cleaner, more natural ingredients. Same with bread. He knows there is NO WAY I will buy the nasty white wonder bread that he grew up on. I’m going to buy wholesome bread, and he’s going to like it!!!! lol And….yes, he has learned to like it! I’m also lucky that he LOVES fruit, as well as *likes* veggies. He will eat them if I cook them, which is nice. I basically buy what he likes, but in brands that use wholesome ingredients (instead of the added preservatives, sugar, salt and fat).
A lot of my meals are meatless but I don’t want to slap a label on my diet. If I occassionally want some meat, I will eat it. If I’m craving something meatless, then I will eat that!
I do make sure to buy nitrate free lunch meat and chicken that doesn’t have antibiotics/hormones/etc. Like you, I would really like to learn more about buying organic, local meat!
First, before I forget - I ADORE the new blog look. It’s beautiful!!
I’ve found people are way more receptive to things before they know it’s good for them. I mean, I know people aren’t dumb and probably think I’m not going to feed them anything that’s got 5 sticks of butter and half a cow - but I’m not just going to say “I made dinner! It’s almost vegan and good for you! and, Oh, have a vegan cupcake for dessert!” haha.
I wish my family ate less meat, or at least paid more attention to where it came from. I think it’s awesome that you get the husband all organic, humanely raised beef and chicken! I really don’t have any problem with that fact that most people do eat meat. I just have a problem with where the majority of it comes from, and how much of it is consumed. *le sigh.* I could so easily go on a tangent about this, but I’ll just let it be, lol.
cute post! my fiance (husband in ONE MONTH!) is a hunter and im a veggie, so it makes for interesting meals! But I’ve actually made tofu a number of times and heard him mumble that it was “pretty good”. I love sneaking the veg diet on him too and most of the time, he barely notices!
hilarious post! And so relevant - not just for meaties vs veggies, but for health-foodies vs. non-health-foodies. My hubbs and I both eat meat, but I like to eat whole, unprocessed foods and he likes…well, Captain Crunch (among other things, heh). So even though we both eat meat, there’s still lots of room for compromise! It’s an ongoing process, but I like to think that I help him eat a *tad* healthier than he would otherwise….and sometimes his ways will rub off and I find myself ordering a Sonic Slush at the drive-up. We can’t all be perfect, right? : )
That sounds like my life! My partner is a meat lover. If she could eat a double bacon cheeseburger all day, every day, I’m sure she would! But since living with me, she’s become a “part time vegan.” Basically, we split the groceries, and I refuse to buy expensive meat that I’m not eating, so she’ll eat whatever I make. And when we go out together, that’s when she indulges and gets something meaty and delicious. She’s become so much healthier and beautiful since I’ve snuck in the vegan lifestyle, and I love hearing you’re being such a positive influence to your hubby as well!
Ahhh, such newlywed love. The husband eats what I make or makes his own. Sorry honey. There have been too many times when I have gone out of my way to make meat for him to have him not eat it, or only it some of it-then the rest gets wasted, which I can’t stand. So, I rarely cook meat. I call myself a flexitarian- I eat very little meat, but occassionally will make some chicken (the kiddos love it!) or maybe some shrimp or fishsticks. I do that about every 2-3 weeks.
Most days I’m an accidental vegetarian!!! Meat is just so expensive and for me it’s easier just to eat other sources of protein.
I started cooking a mostly vegetarian diet at home and my husband loves it. He used to be just like your husband. meat and potatoes all the way. Since I do most of the cooking, he doesn’t have too much wiggle room to complain. But he has no reason to. I introduced him to vegetarian burrito bowls at Chipotles and he begs me to bring him there and to make homemade ones on a weekly basis. He also loves all the lentil filled foods I have been making, among many other meals. Once in a while he wants a big meat filled meal and so he gets cooking, but most days he doesn’t even miss it. While we were home visiting our families he was the one bragging to everyone about all the tasty vegetarian meals he’s been eating. I almost dropped to the floor
Ah I’ve always thought about what a challenge it will be whenever I get married to balance my desires with my boyfriend’s (assuming we’ll get married). Though recently I’ve noticed that he actually eats a lot of vegetarian meals. I’ve decided that he’ll just always have to cook his beef himself when he wants it. (And I know he won’t mind) I’m a poultry and seafood eater, so no trouble there.
I think I have accidently become a vegetarian. There was no strange grossness to meat. No I’m going to save the world one animal at a time epiphony. Not even an I’m going to stop eating meat to be healthier moment. I literally just stopped wanting meat. So I stopped eating it Stopped buying it and haven’t been cooking it. There is still meat in my freezer. It has been 2 weeks that I haven’t eaten meat. I think my husband and kids have had it once in this period of time. there was really no adjusting to the new diet I just bought more fruits and veggies to replace the meat we wern’t eating. I have not bought vegetarian anything no tofu or veggie burgers etc because I don’t see the point of pretending to eat something I don’t want to actually eat I suppose if I need to have a hamburger I probably will just have a hamburger. I have noticed alot of changes since I stopped eating meat. my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore, I can breathe through my nose, my stomache has gone compleately flat, and my grocery bill is smaller. now having made no defined plan or negative ideas about not eating meat., just no longer wanting to eat it and no longer eating it have I acidentally turned vegetarian? Am I a vegetarian at all?