Happy Easter!
We are having a fun time at the in-laws. :) They have the coolest antiques and things to take pictures of!
Sketchie has been reunited with the other cats!
I always shoot dinner a few minutes before hand so the camera isn’t in the way and flashing during dinner!
We had salad (they had Caesar and I had mine with a homemade dressing). The salad was made of romaine, cherry tomatoes, and avocado. The dressing I made consisted of 3 parts balsamic vinaigrette, 1 part olive oil, a dash of dry mustard, salt, and maple syrup. Deelish!
Some red wine…and a huge delicious stir-fry:
They had chicken and cream sauce in theirs, but the chicken + cream was put in after I took my veggies out.
Their stir-fry after my veggies were taken out:
Dessert–my vegan marshmallow treats which were a HUGE hit! The plate was empty in a few minutes. So fluffy and YUM! I had two squares and some fresh fruit shared with Eric.
Then we played couple’s scrabble!
Eric and I were an EPIC FAIL and came in last. haha. It was still fun though!
Today’s question- How do you handle eating with family? Do you ever ask for modifications or things to be made a certain way?
I am still getting over my anxiety and guilt when I ask for modifications…even after knowing my in-laws for 10 years now! I still feel badly when I ask for something meat or dairy free. I am much better at it now though and I do agree with my MIL in that there is usually no harm in just saying what you want. I am lucky that most of my family understands that I am a vegan, but it would be really hard if they didn’t. Two things I always try to do are: 1) Bring a dish for the main or dessert and 2) Help prepare dinner (and clean up), which the cook appreciates.
We are about to have a big Easter breakfast soon so I better get going. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
I bring something with me that I know I will like, and LOAD up on veggies. Its easier with my family than it is with my boyfriends family thats for sure. They totally dont get it, and his grandma is the “oh you need more than that” type. If you can see plate, shes going to insist you take more food. That always makes it harder.
That sounds like a great dinner!!! My family isn’t too difficult to work around with how I eat. They respect that I don’t eat red meat and pork and so we always have plenty of side dishes. I always bring a side dish and dessert :)
Ugh… I feel like such a pain in the butt on holidays. Today was a bit of a disaster. Oh well… It was still fun to have an adult Easter egg hunt!
What an awesome house…all those cool antiques! Looks like a great dinner too. I used to have huge anxiety when I first went veggie. I would sometimes stay home because I didn’t want to ask for meat free stuff or have the eyes on me. I’m way better now and I just bring my own thing or ask if I can take the veggies out before the meat and dairy get added. It has taken me a long time but now I know myself better now. I think it is better to say what you want but also it helps the cook if you say what they made looks fabulous!
I feel totally comfortable when going to my MIL’s… She knows that as soon as I get into town, I head over to Trader Joe’s and load up on my “rabbit food”. She actually gets a real kick out of seeing what I’m going to eat. No one really gives me a hard time, but I also try not to ask anyone to stock things for me. I feel weird asking a host to buy things he/ she wouldn’t normally, so I either bring stuff or go shopping like at MIL’s.
I def feel lucky to have such an understanding fam :)
-Mary
My husband and I just started eating a vegan diet a few weeks ago and Easter was the first time we had to deal with eating out with family and eating at family’s house. When I first started dating my husband, I would bring my own sald or something healthy to eat to his family’s house because everything was either fried or smothered in cheese. So they are kind of used to me eating my own way…but they aren’t used to their son doing it, too. I made a corn & black bean salad for Easter dinner and it was a hit! My MIL asked me later very quietly if it was healthy and if it would be good for my FIL (who is very overweight). She wrote down the recipe and I sent leftovers home with her. I was shocked that no one gave us a hard time. His grandmother did try to convince me that I could eat green beans that were cooked in butter & bacon, though! But, they made baked potatoes and lots of veggies without butter and left out the meat in the beans for us. I was thrilled/shocked at how accomodating they were to us.
Eating out was a little intimidating because I hate being picky or quizzing the waiters about what’s in everything, especially when I’m out with other people. I ended up accidentally eating some things that I thought were vegan that weren’t. I guess I’ll have to learn to speak up.
Overall, though, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Success!
Eating with family is fine. It is easier at my mom’s house because my mom eats a very much plant based diet. My MIL’s house was better this year at the holidays, but it is brand new. A work in progress. I at least feel more comfortable about it.