meat eaters

[RawMistress]

Do you cook for your family?
I cook for my DH and I find myself drooling over what I cook.
I am trying to cook things I dont like. My DH is a MEAT and rice eater and not much else, but I also have to cook for my father and he is not so easy to please.
How do you handle it?

[eachpeachpearplum]

At first this was very hard for me. The "just this one bite" was my downfall. . .twice!

Two things that have helped are buying the precooked chickens. Also ANY meat I cook - although it's not as much now; I have my husband cut and serve. I can do the cooking but not the after. I slowly gravetated to cooking non meat specific meals. Not nessasarily veggie meals but just not steak & rice meals.

Cheers,

EPPP

[DavidZaneMason]

Go ahead and drool. The real power of eating well is to identify YOUR goals and keep them. The passion of your goals will outweigh any motivation you might feel for old habits - if they are not part of your long term goals.....and eating well is a NECESSITY for them. Do you have such goals? This is the only thing that will give you power in the face of 'temptation'. Just my opinions.

-Practically: Eat your healthy foods....and eat till you are very full. Do this either with your husband or before you prepare his foods. Just a suggestion.

-David Z. Mason

[sekhmut]

My SO cooks his own food... :D

[subbacultcha]

I cook for my brother...bacon sandwiches, toasted cheese sandwiches, pizza, that's all he eats!

Having been veggie since age 12 I have no desire for the bacon..it just repulses me :p

I've only been vegan for 6 months or so and the cheese is becoming less and less attractive.

I promise, if you stick it out for a while you won't even think of it as food anymore ;)

[crystalmoon]

Hi there, I have to cook for a whole household of meat eaters & find it is actually the smells of the herbs & other seasonings that call to me rather than the content of their meals so I try to use similar raw seasonings in my evening meal so I get the same pleasurable smell as them ;)

I also use a slow cooker alot for making them meat based stews so my involvement with the meal is minimal - buy the meat ready chopped into stew size pieces (im getting less & less able to touch meat), prepare the veggies, chuck it all in the pot, put the lid on, switch on & walk away :)
6-12 hours later their meal is ready & they can serve themselves from the pot

I have also found that the more I read about the reality of how meat, dairy, eggs & other standard foods are produced the less I want to be anywhere near them :eek: I have just read a book called 'Mad Cowboy' written by an ex cattle rancher who now doesnt eat meat due to the disgusting way it is raised these days (sorry cant remember authors name & have passed book on to someone else to spread the word :D ).

When my 18 year old son goes away to University this autumn I will be able to cook alot more vegan & vegetarian meals as my youngest son likes the vegan 'meat' replacements. Not ideal as it would be better if he went raw but at least a start in the right direction.

[Raspberry4]

I too cook for meat eaters. I agree to use a crock pot as often as you can.

I also ask my husband to serve it when I am feeling tempted.

I do have to say that recently the thought of eating a chicken or turkey or steak repulses me - the thought of biting into something that was once walking (and had a parent) and could see and feel makes me sick to my stomach!

Good luck and hang in there. I also like to try to eat before I serve the sad food. It is difficult at times, but very doable. I focus on how my food makes me feel and the wonderful smell and taste of raw. :)

[RawMistress]

Thanks everyone!
I agree the crock pot is a awesome idea!
I need to get my "game plan" in order so I can do this right!
I think its also a good idea to eat before I make DH's food!
Your awesome!
:D

[RawHeaven]

I promise, if you stick it out for a while you won't even think of it as food anymore ;)

I'm finding the same thing is true for me. My housemate eats very SAD and you're so right I don't think of it as food anymore.

[mel_s12]

I used to boycot cooking for my boyfriend but he just wasnt eating anymore, and when he was eating it was bad food like pizza or fast food. So, every morning I make him a green smoothie when I make mine, and whenever I eat something I offer some to him too.
As for dinner, now I cook for him to make him something decently healthy but SAD. I'm slowly converting him to a vegetarian/vegan and he doesn't know it yet.lol. When I do cook meat I try to buy organic free range as much as I can and when I cook veggies and grains, I cook on the lowest heat possible and always make him salad to start off so he has atleast some enzymes. I'd rather be tempted during cooking than have the love of my life be eating crap.

[Zaphirah]

don't knwoow how long you've been raw, but after the first few months, it's just the way it is around here, ya know? I have found that I can now cook to smell, rather than cook to taste. If it smells "right" 9 out of 10 times my dh says it's perfect and I don't need to add a thing.

Like someone else said-it's just not FOOD to me anymore. The other day I had a very brief surreal exp. I was walking thru the grocery store and I ONLY buy things in the produce and frozen fruit sections which are many aisles away from each other. So I was walking from the produce to the frozen aisle and I noticed all these people in the aisles picking up shiny boxes of prepackaged foods and that seemed SO WEIRD to me. They all seem either 1. confused about what to buy or 2. on auto pilot just grabbing card board box after cardboard box and filling their carts. Then the feeling was gone, but it was then how SAD I realized that they all looked.

anyway-that's why sad food isn't food at all, at least to me. :p

[Bananna]

A Crock pot...I'm going to steal that one!....I already figured out the pre-cooked chicken thing last week.
I just try not to let myself get too hungry or thirsty as either will send me craving everything. Or bored with my food.
I made scalloped potatoes last night and really wanted some, but I decided that I could make something equivelant from raw if I wanted. So, it's more about delaying the urge long enough, to produce something raw that will meet your needs. ...and honestly, that urge isn't even there anymore anyway. But if it was, I know I can find something raw that reminds me of scalloped potatoes.

So ya, don't deprive yourself of liquid, calories or tastes or colours and there just won't BE anything TO crave.

But, sometimes that's easier said than done...so a little foresight is in order?

[Anastazia]

I'd rather be tempted during cooking than have the love of my life be eating crap.

Wow.:eek:

This says it all!!!

Mind if I use it?:D

~Anastazia~

[c'estlaviebelle]

Like someone else said-it's just not FOOD to me anymore. The other day I had a very brief surreal exp. I was walking thru the grocery store and I ONLY buy things in the produce and frozen fruit sections which are many aisles away from each other. So I was walking from the produce to the frozen aisle and I noticed all these people in the aisles picking up shiny boxes of prepackaged foods and that seemed SO WEIRD to me. They all seem either 1. confused about what to buy or 2. on auto pilot just grabbing card board box after cardboard box and filling their carts. Then the feeling was gone, but it was then how SAD I realized that they all looked.

anyway-that's why sad food isn't food at all, at least to me. :p

Wow, Zaphirah! This is exactly how I felt at the supermarket the other day too! I've only been raw for about 2 weeks, but I was never a big supermarket shopper anyway (even non-raw I mostly shopped at Trader Joe's). Anyway, my bf and I had to go to a big supermarket for some paper goods he needed, and it was sooo weird walking around and seeing aisles and aisles of junk processed food. I always feel so proud of my supermarket cart now, that the only thing in it is fruits and veggies (and the occasional larabar). :)

I cook for my bf sometimes, but he is really the better cook anyway. However, I always share my raw food with him (he loves the nut pate), and he is even thinking of starting to eat primarily raw with me (although he does like to eat meat when we go out to a restaurant).

These days the food he eats does not look particularly appealing to me, especially since I start thinking "if I *did* eat this, my stomach acid would go up to process it, and then I'd eat raw food and the combination would tear my stomach apart, and I'd feel like junk". Those thoughts keep me away from his foods. The only thing I have a hard time with is when he eats chocolate... I need to find a good chocolate substitute.

[raweater]

Do you cook for your family?
I cook for my DH and I find myself drooling over what I cook.
I am trying to cook things I dont like. My DH is a MEAT and rice eater and not much else, but I also have to cook for my father and he is not so easy to please.
How do you handle it?

Did you try to get them raw? Meat is one of the most unhealthy and deadliest foods we can eat, especially when it's cooked and/or not organic. Just one portion of meat per week doubles the occurence of most cancers, twice a week quadruples it, more than twice a week almost garantees a cancer and/or heart disease. I think you really have to not understand the dangers of meat to eat it.

Not to mention raising animal is the #1-3 leading cause of global warming.

[rawfoodmommy#1]

The only thing I have a hard time with is when he eats chocolate... I need to find a good chocolate substitute.[/QUOTE]
Have you tried making desert with raw cocoa powder? you can get it online or in health food stores such as whole foods.
I used to crave chocolate all the time until I found raw cocoa powder and that solved my problem but please, do not over eat on it because it might make you feel not so good.
Take it easy

[c'estlaviebelle]

The only thing I have a hard time with is when he eats chocolate... I need to find a good chocolate substitute.
Have you tried making desert with raw cocoa powder? you can get it online or in health food stores such as whole foods.
I used to crave chocolate all the time until I found raw cocoa powder and that solved my problem but please, do not over eat on it because it might make you feel not so good.
Take it easy[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip! Actually, I was going to go get some today or tomorrow. There is a place semi- near by which I think sells it. I've heard it is awesome. I plan to get a dehydrator soon and then I can make chocolate cookies! :)

[kaybee]

c'estlaviebelle--

even better than chocolate powder, and about the same price per pound, are these raw chocolate chunks that you can get from Natural Zing mail order. they are raw, compressed cacao, and they actually melt. theres nothing added so theyre a bit bitter on their own but you can stick em in a bowl in your dehydrator, or maybe even in a jar in hot water and theyll melt and then you can add flavoring and agave and let them reharden.

[StarFire]

OMG... YOU WANT CHOCOLATE... check out Alissa's store! she had some samples at the last class... the Chocolate sauce was hands down the most wonderful decadent lip smackin yummy thing EVER!!! and the chocolate truffle... soooo rawkin awesome!

now as far as meat -- are you craving the meat when you are cooking it? If so -- then watching some of the videos on YOU TUBE about the horrors of what really goes on at those animal slaughter houses... Most people that see those videos - never want to eat meat, chicken or turkey again!

At least that's how it affected me! But Mel is right -- I would rather fix my dh something healthy rather than have him loading up on crap...

My dh is still eating meat occassionally. (range fed - organic beef or chicken)... which is better than food out of a can or frozen I suppose... and he mostly cooks for himself (thankfully!)... but occassionally I do have to cook for him - and since raw foods are my choice - I dont try to push my LIFEstyle on him. He is eating more and more raw though - and that's cool!

good luck!

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/sun.gif

[Carlsbad]

Raw chocolate is amazing, and to me it tastes just like cooked dark chocolate, but better. You can get it a lot of places, and I know Alissa sells raw chocolate truffles and raw chocolate sauce in her online store. I ate some raw chocolate sauce for breakfast the other day. It was awesome. Just don't eat it late at night--it's potent stuff!

[Eveleaf]

Did you try to get them raw? Meat is one of the most unhealthy and deadliest foods we can eat, especially when it's cooked and/or not organic. Just one portion of meat per week doubles the occurence of most cancers, twice a week quadruples it, more than twice a week almost garantees a cancer and/or heart disease. I think you really have to not understand the dangers of meat to eat it.

Not to mention raising animal is the #1-3 leading cause of global warming.

Where are you getting your information? I absolutely agree with you that eating meat is unhealthy and not economically sustainable. However, your statistics appear to be a leeetle bit on the extreme side? Most Americans eat meat every single day and we don't *all* have heart disease and cancer. You could be right, but if so I'd really like to read the research and data that backs this up.

Eve