Hi Dawn,
I can only speak from my experience of living with my boyfriend - who is
also a meat and potatoes kind of guy (he claims it is because he was raised
vegan at an early early age ... :) ) Anyway, instead of suggesting you
need to see a marriage counselor (which I find inappropriate - no offense
to the people who said it, please!) and instead of analyzing your email
word for word, I would rather suggest meals that I make to make life easier
on both of us:
1. Stir fry - I use frozen oriental veggie mixes from the grocery store
and add extra pea pods and water chestnuts and "stir fry" these with soy
sauce and a Vietnamese (I think) red hot sauce (in a bottle with a rooster
on it ...) and any other interesting sauces I find in the grocery store ...
On the side, I cook him some sliced chicken in soy and hot sauce ... and I
also cook some rice. Then, he can eat the chicken, rice, and the veggies
he likes out of my stir fry (he hates broccoli) and I can eat my veggie meal.
2. Tacos - I cook his meat on the side - really easy with taco sauce and
taco seasoning, and I cook fat free refried beans ... then serve with taco
shells (or fat free tortillas or whatever ...) with fresh lettuce,
tomatoes, fat free cheese (my boyfriend will eat that!!), salsa, etc ...
3. Fat Free Grilled Cheese - If he won't eat fat free, use regular on his
... sometimes, if I am in a good mood :), I will throw a piece of fat
free/ low fat ham on his ....
4. Spaghetti - my boyfriend eats regular sauce (ff) or alfredo (not ff)
... if your's has to have meat, you (or he) can cook it on the side ...
5. Noodle soup - I use maggie veggie broth mix and add noodles and
sometimes carrots and a few peas ... once, when he was sick, I added some
cooked chicken in his bowl ... however, normally, he eats it plain ... I
have to say, I think it's one of his favorite meals ... all fat free!!
6. Hamburgers- I use BetterNBurgers on the grill, and he makes his own
meat patties ... when he makes a steak, I have veggie kabobs with onions,
tomatoes, red/ yellow pepper marinated in cilantro and lemon juice and some
kind of mild ff Italian dressing, and also fresh pineapple ... usually he
eats quite a few of the kebabs, too ... YUM YUM!
Anyway, I don't think either of you has to change your eating habits to
have a successful relationship or marriage - nor should you ... Life is
full of compromises ... there is no reason why you can't prepare a meal
that is easily adaptable to either lifestyle.
And, yes, I am the primary cook in the house, not because I have to be, but
because I enjoy cooking. And I cook his meat on the side every once in a
while, not because I have to, but because I like doing that for my SO ....
and you will be surprised when you get home late one night to find supper
already made ... purely vegetarian ... just like I was when I came home to
FF Bean Burritos ... (and no recipe to follow!!) :)
One other thing: Lately, my SO has been eating bigger lunches at work ..
so when we get home at night, we don't cook dinner ... He will just make a
salad and I will eat whatever my mood dictates .. who says you have to cook
at all? I am happy with cereal!!! :)
Good luck! Sorry for the long post ...
Natasha
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