How to Cook Plant-Based Meals for Meat Eaters (and a taco recipe)

I have received a few emails from readers asking for my best tips on making vegetarian and plant-based (or vegan) meals for meat-eaters. After posing the question to our Facebook community, it definitely sounds like this is an area many of you are interested in learning more about. And, since I’m in a “mixed eating” relationship myself, I’m always curious about how other couples manage different eating preferences. So, here goes!

First, let’s start with a little background on this: I’ve been with my partner, Ashley for seven years. Ashley was/is a meat eater and when we first met, was a huge skeptic of anything known as a vegetable. When we began dating, I was also a meat eater, but was working my way towards a healthier diet without processed foods. 

A year into the relationship, I began cutting meat and animal products out of my life as well as processed foods and refined sugars. I started eating a greater variety of vegetables, more whole grains, and a variety of legumes. shley was completely supportive of my decision to change my diet and we soon began to find new places to eat out together that could accommodate both of our eating styles. We both discovered that we preferred veggie burgers to the real thing and that there were a variety of plant-based meals that were able to satisfy us both. Even though Ashley was supportive of my dietary changes, she clearly told me that she had no intentions of changing her diet. I strongly believe that the food we chose to eat is a personal choice so although I wished Ashley ate a little healthier, I tried my hardest to respect her food choices.

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Roasted Vegetables with Lentils

If we were sitting down for lunch together I’d tell you about how I’m a little stressed out this week. I’d confess that by 9 am I already had two cups of green tea when I probably should have had chamomile. At least I started my day with a green juice, right?

If we were sitting down for lunch together I’d tell you about how I’m in the middle of moving… again.  Even though we just moved a few months ago, we got this great opportunity to take over my partner’s brother’s house because he and his wife are moving out of the country. So, in the last two and a half weeks, we broke the news to our landlord and found someone to take over our apartment lease.  The only catch is that the person taking over our lease needed to move in right away so that means we are moving this week. Moving into a house where myself, my partner, her brother, and his wife will be living together for the next month and a half until they move out of the country. Let’s hope they like green smoothies and cats.

If we were sitting down for lunch together I’d take a deep breath, tell you how good it is to see you, and then serve you some roasted vegetables with lentils. After all, it's always good to see you. And I'm really excited for lunch. 

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Marinated Onions

I think it's the little things that make all the difference in life.  It's the call from a friend, the smile from a stranger in the street, and the unexpected sunny afternoons that make life worth living.  These moments make it easier to deal with bad news, angry drivers, and the unexpected bill that arrives in the mail.  

The bottom line is this:  Life is short... so live it up.  Hug those you love.  Love often.  Make every moment count in this game of life.

And make marinated onions.

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