There is a funny memory I like to tell from a couple of years ago: I had been dating my boyfriend for about a year. I had recently stopped eating factory farm meat, and my parents came to visit us. My boyfriend is a sweet, charming guy; who is also loud and full of personality. I am the complete opposite; I am soft-spoken and, I do not talk nearly as much. My parents came and took us both out to lunch. As we sat and chatted, my mom asked “but how are you going to deal with it in marriage”. I quickly retorted “earplugs.” I thought she meant how I was going to deal with us being so different. This had everyone at the table roaring with laughter. Of course, I won’t actually use earplugs as a solution, but it was funny and made everyone laugh. After she stopped laughing, she said: “No, I meant how are you going to avoid meat while he still eats it. Are you guys going to have to cook two separate meals?” The answer to that is no. There are plenty of dishes that you can cook and easily change by just not adding meat to half or adding a meat substitute. Here are some options: 

​

• Lasagna 

• Pizza 

• Soup (add more veggies or potatoes to make up for lack of meat or just make an already vegetarian soup like mushroom or leek soup)  

• Stir-fry (add egg, cashews or peanut butter to still get protein) 

• BLT Sandwiches (use Morning Star meatless bacon for a very similar flavor, bonus the fake bacon won’t splash and hurt you while cooking) 

• Omelets 

• Shepard's Pie (just skip the meat and it is still enough to fill you up or add a fried egg) 

• Chicken Fingers (you can always get meatless chicken fingers from the store OR it is a little more difficult, but when I am craving chicken fingers and honey mustard, I boil eggs than slice them into disks, bread them and bake them. They are crunchy and great for dipping sauce) 

• Tacos (add seasoned jack fruit, veggie crumble, or just a bunch of non-meat toppings) 

• Alfredo or other pasta 

• Stuffed Peppers (replaces the meat with more rice, fried eggs or bread crumbs) 

• Egg rolls 

• Burgers (why not sauté up a portabella mushroom in steak rub and make it into a burger) 

 

I don’t mind if my food touches meat or is in the same pan because to me it is not about not ingesting any animal products, it's about not buying and creating more of a demand for the market. If you mind your food touching meat most of these dishes can be made together until the very end where you can split it in half and put meat in one dish and not the other. I hope these ideas help. Eat up and enjoy.