How old is she??

Not old enough for this shit.

30 years with wife. TVP is a surprisingly good sub in chili and ragout, but other than that, I got nothing.

A well-meaning friend recommended a pea based protein powder and I could have told everyone that wasn’t going to work out.

I genuinely love peas and the words “pea-based” are troubling even to me

At one point I ended up with a free jug of pea protein when that was a thing for me and friend I threw it out on day two.

The only thing I want to eat that is “pea-based” are foods where someone incorporated peas that were whole when they began.

This is how you wind up speaking mushy peas into existence, Cleric.

Smack Bam Pey Wet

mf said bam All wet, no pey

Did someone say WIGAN KEBAB?!?

Babbyzshed

Now that you speak of it, Ladyfriend is supposed to be making vegan Kiwi meat pies soon.

The good: Heaps finally opened a brick and mortar Kiwi pie shop in Decatur/Avondale-ish. The bad: We moved from that side of town a month or two after he finally opened, and they stopped selling them at Three Taverns. The mixed: They do have them at Grant Park Farmers Market on Sundays

(If anyone is still reading this far down, while the original beef and cheddar is fantastic, the chana masala and green Thai chicken curry pies are phenomenal).

... I am cautiously intrigued...

I just looked up what this was and now I’m afraid of people seeing it in my search history.

Have you never watched the glory of the video of the guy trying a Wigan kebab?

I haven’t. But now I feel as if I have no choice. Maybe it’ll be better than this helpful chart that I found.

I will need to look at this chart on my real computer. But find the main YouTube video for Wigan kebab. It's a little weird, but it's absolutely delightful and even kind of wholesome.

believe it’s this one www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_oI...

We worked ourselves into a shoot on this one.

I’m not saying I will eat anything under this criteria. It’s just the MINIMUM criteria.

Have you tried yelling at her?

Just adopt Ladyfriend's shithead father's attitude towards this development: "Spit out the chewy bits."

My sister went through this phase, and once it became clear her idea of vegetarianism was “cheese fries and pizza” I started referring to her as a “vegematarian.” Like six months later she asked me to grill her a steak.

Been vegetarian since the mid 90s when this shit was way harder so if there's any questions or advice I can offer please let me know

Sorry, man. That sounds really hard.

Lifelong vegetarian here. Happy to answer questions, etc.

You should be patient with her. Give her time to figure it out. Allow her to make mistakes. Maybe she doesn’t eat enough protein. Help her track if she feels tired those days. Help her track her macros and analyze that data. Experiment with recipes as a family. Maybe you find a new dish you love.

I became a vegetarian for nearly a decade when I was 16ish. (No longer one.) That’s when I really learned how to cook. It’s not super-easy, though if you are eating differently than the family. My mom made me go talk with a nutritionist, and I was responsible for my own cooking. Possible, though.

hey-o bsky.app/profile/make...

Being a vegetarian in the US means being in a food desert amid processed food a-plenty. Kinda like being on a lifeboat after your ship sank; water everywhere but none to drink

So cheese pizza and Gatorade for every meal?

wait until she tries vegan... it passes...

my kids would philosophically like to be vegetarians but they’ve also rejected every impossible et al product so 🤷

a good hack is to use falafel like meatballs worked well for me when I dated a vegetarian

so i did this too and my mom’s reaction was cool let’s buy a cookbook and you’re in charge of cooking for yourself but meal plans have to be approved for reasonableness

mi esposa is a vegetarian, which is great and fine. making two dinners, i don’t love it.

The girl who hates beans and doesn’t eat eggs is not setting herself up for success.

Yeah, L doesn't do eggs (she'll eat them in something just not straight up), but you almost have to do beans if you're going that way. Mushrooms are a big thing too if she'll eat that. If you're looking for some ideas for replacements let me know.

Lot of options for protein though with stuff like Seitan, tofu (super firm is great if soft tofu texture isn't her thing, and it's a good blank slate), or tempeh (not my favorite, but I'll eat it). There's also a lot of good subs out there made by gardein that isn't the impossible/beyond stuff.

Gardein's crumbles and chik'n strips are actually really good and easy to try substitutes for someone who's on the pickier side but still pushing hard.

Soyrizo is awesome for tacos

Haven't used it, but gardein crumbles and regular gringo taco seasoning packet are surprisingly close in taste and texture to Del Taco.

Similar flavor/texture, maybe a little wetter (but not in a bad way)

it’s actually a little better than actual chorizo imo at least for ease of use. trader joe’s is quite good

That's the one I use!

Dairy?? Sneaking beans in hummus form?

Ooh nut butters 😍

We are already on the nut butter train thanks to their early peanut intolerance. Hummus and roast chickpeas is about the best we are going to do.

Good luck 😭😭😭 My nephew is just the pickiest eater on the planet and I know it’s no fun. Speaking of meat, we went with The Ranch for our gift card and that going away is tonight!

Hell yes! I hope they enjoy it.

The funnest part is he is SO THRIFTY so it’s like HAHA you have no choice but to splurge on celebrating together. It’s a major move for sure. We wrapped it in a box covered in ooooold company reports we had to do in this dinosaur excel file. A thing of beauty. 😂

Ooof. I love tempeh if that’s something available to y’all and amenable to her.

homie if you’re a vegetarian and don’t eat eggs or beans you are in for a rough fucking life

We have told her she has to hit a protein goal if she wants to keep this shit up and if she doesn’t she’s just going to have to donate to the world wildlife fund and wait to be vegetarian until after she moves out.

The Asian supermarket is your new friend. They sell some fried tofu that looks about like this that is great. share.google/qkRDLUFho5up...

And Iron, B12, and likely calcium. you can do veggie but shit dawg…eat a bean/lentil.

Could I interest you in an entirely carb-based vegan diet?

I see you met Madame's grad school roommate. Nothing but buttered noodles and cheese pizza.

My early teaching yeras roommate had an entirely noodle-based diet out of sheer laziness. He got scurvy (1).

Oh my God

For six weeks we thought he had brain cancer. Nope. Just scurvy. After that he conducted a brief experiment with the all-fruit diet which his digestive system was not in any way prepared for.

the cackling going on currently

Vegetarian, not vegan, obviously. The veganism happened later. Then she got cured.

Maybe for the rest of the class but I can’t…I’ve tried. I’m an obligate omnivore. I can’t do keto, need the carbs and veggies. Looked good on paper but I broke. Tried vegetarian and made it ~ month then went ham (pun intended) on left over pork chops. The lack of unctuous fats was a deal breaker.

what i’ve learned from being married to a vegetarian is that it doesn’t have to just be tofu. catherine rarely eats tofu, but you have to get protein somewhere. and that’s where the homie beans comes in.

wife has been a vegetarian since she was fourteen years old so it’s right around twenty five years and it’s only possible because she fucking dominates like three eggs every morning like clockwork

She liked the tofu we threw in stir fry at the end of dinner prep on Thursday, trying to see if the Panda Express tofu and eggplant thing works since we got a sitter tonight.

i’m making a nice teriyaki tofu stir fry tonight. tofu is great because it’ll absorb whatever marinate you toss it in. i got really into making tofu crumble tacos in my air fryer a few months ago. extra firm tofu plus taco seasoning and nutritional yeast baked until crispy. not a bad substitute.

she’s up at 5:30 every morning and i’m still in bed and when i get up at 6:30 three eggs have been scrambled and cooked and destroyed.

Hopefully she likes tofu??

Luckily tofu is a blank slate

I really need to try some tofu dishes

Just add lots of sauce or other sources of flavor. Will pick it up

you gonna eat the air?

You cannot turn yourself into a carb

My sister-in-law was(is?) a vegetarian. She came to stay with us before the wedding, and I was all excited to try recipes. Turns out, all she wanted was fake meat frozen nuggets and mac and cheese. I was so disappointed

ok but the frozen veggie nuggets are _great_

It isn't that I'd never eat them, it is that she only ate them. Like, I was all excited to make falafel and veggie curry and etc., and they were all "no thanks" - it was summer, I was still teaching, I had fresh from my garden, and nothing...

Oh I get it. Learning to cook new stuff is fun! And what a shame to not get to do that! In the early days of mine and maroongal’s relationship she was veggie and the learning was really enjoyable those nuggets are awesome though

So, is this allowed?

She good with dairy, at least?

keeping a food diary is good idea