[Sca-cooks] Aenia's questions - trying to live with vegetarians

[Suey]

>> 1. We currently have a vegetarian living with us.? We're serious carnivores,?
>>     
>
> The all-important first question: is this person an ovo-lacto
> vegetarian (who will eat dairy and eggs), or a vegan (who will not eat
> any animal products)?  If the former, then things like pasta and
> cheese or omelettes are still "on the table", so to speak
>
>  
> She actually will eat chicken on occasion, says chicken broth as a base is acceptable, and does eat dairy.  The main issue is that she was raised vegetarian, so her body can't process other meats, or at least not comfortably.
>   
Fortunately, my children were not raised as vegetarians but a science 
professor in junior high convinced them to save the world =-O ! but not 
their mother!  For me cooking for vegetarians is twice the work cause 
meat normally is easy but the balanced diet of a vegetarian is at least 
two dishes so we have the pasta or dried beans like lentils, chickpeas, 
broad beans, whatever and a plate full of veggies and then of course we 
have to pay for the vitamin supplement. . .  As a working Mom, it got to 
the point that I told them they had to cook the noonday dinner one of 
the two days we were home on week-ends. Supper is a sandwich or whatever 
- up to each individual.  After that my kids started to cool it.

Now the oldest lives with a mate who adores meat and brings it home 
every payday. The other, when in boarding school, someone offered him 
buffalo wings. He crashed with joy!

The first time I went to see my eldest and companion in the new home I 
gave them a pressure cooker as a house present which has a steamer 
basket. They are totally thrilled as they can cook their dried beans 
during lunch hour when before they burned the beans if they left them 
cooking between breakfast and noonday dinner. Of course the steamer 
basket is a delight. While one chops the greens, the other reads from a 
book - their cultural life. They love it!

Personally, I cannot stand picky eaters. My parents had no money when 
growing up. My first husband had none and never has had any so the name 
of the game for me is to eat whatever.  If a cow was paid in kind we ate 
cow for a month. . . That's how we survived between meat and dandelions.

Anyway I think that someone is willing to cook for a vegetarian is a 
saint. Personally I would tell the vegetarian to add her or his items to 
the grocery list and to cook them him or herself, diplomatically of 
course - like 'we are dying to know and share your recipe . . .'
Suey