Question for Savvy Vegetarian:

I was wondering if you have vegetarian recipes you can recommend that we can make a big batch of ahead of time and freeze or store to eat as quick meals when we’re rushed for time? I’m not a big fan of eating the same thing day after day, so vegetarian meals that can be changed up to make new things would also be appreciated.

My husband and I became vegetarian a couple weeks ago. We really appreciate all the delicious recipes and advice! It’s been a real help as we’ve made our transition to a healthier lifestyle. Thanks so much! Sarah P.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi Sarah! Many of our vegetarian recipes can be made ahead in big batches and frozen or fridged!  That strategy is a big part of my vegetarian meal planning. I absolutely depend on having pre-cooked foods in my fridge for quick vegetarian meals: several kinds of beans, batches of bean soups, mung dhal, dosa mix, cooked brown rice and quinoa, leftover oatmeal, applesauce, etc. You can even make up big batches of dry pancake or muffin mixes. Muffins, quick breads and cookies freeze well too.

Please check out the Savvy Vegetarian soup recipes, grains and bean recipes, where you’ll find the most likely candidates for big batch vegetarian cooking. Vegetarian Chili is a good example. You can also cook beans and grains separately in large batches to freeze or fridge in small containers and use as needed for soups, stews, casseroles and salads.

Making quick vegetarian meals is a lot easier if you have what you need on hand. Keep your fridge and cupboards stocked with basic ingredients you’ll use often.

Here are some examples:

• Canned beans, tomato paste, tomato sauce, olives, coconut milk, veggie bouillon cubes
• Braggs Liquid Aminos or soy sauce, various cooking and salad oils, vinegars and condiments like mayo, mustard, ketchup, barbecue sauce, hummus, nut butters, miso
• A full range of herbs and spices you like, and spice mixes like masalas and curry paste. Store in tightly sealed glass jars to keep them fresh.
• For veggies, keep your fridge stocked with carrots and other root veg, green veg like broccoli and kale, celery, yams, sweet potatoes, peppers, potatoes, garlic, onion, squashes, salad fixings, parsley, and frozen veg like peas, beans and corn
• Have a variety of fresh and frozen fruit on hand for snacks, lunches, desserts, smoothies. Don’t forget avocados!
• Various flours and baking supplies like baking powder, baking soda, sugar, dried fruit, salt, etc.
• A variety of raw beans, grains (e.g. rolled oats, quinoa, rice, barley), lentils, nuts and seeds, noodles and pasta
• Packaged tortillas and breads to make sandwiches and wraps
• Eggs and dairy if you eat them, tofu, tempeh, seitan, non-dairy milks, yogurts, sour cream etc

Keep a list of things you need posted on the fridge, and shop once a week to restock your fridge and cupboards.  Running to the store every day is a huge time waster.  Shop local and seasonal for variety and freshness. Fruit and veg in season are often cheapest, and most nutritious. Shop at your local farmers market or join a CSA if possible. Make up possible menus on the fly according to what’s available.

Here are a few examples of quick and easy vegetarian meals you can make using what’s in your fridge & cupboards:

If you have black beans in the cupboard or freezer, and some cooked quinoa on hand, you can quickly make up a big batch of quinoa black bean salad, which you can eat for several meals, or just enough for one meal, as you prefer. Or you can whip up some quinoa black bean stew. Add a tortilla, hummus, guacamole, and you’ve got a satisfying meal.

Make a big batch of mung dhal soup using celery and yam or winter squash. Freeze what you don’t eat in amounts big enough for a meal for both of you. Add rice and steamed veggies or salad for a quick meal. Frozen soups heat up quickly in the microwave or on the stove top.

Make a veggie wrap, burrito, or quesadilla using refried beans, hummus, quacamole, salad fixings, leftover cooked veg, eggs, shredded cheese, sour cream, or whatever you like.

Make a quick veggie stir fry, adding beans, tofu, tempeh or seitan, coconut milk, nuts and seeds or whatever you like and serve sauced or un-sauced over quick cooking noodles or rice.

Thanks for writing! All the best, Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

Question for Savvy Vegetarian:

First of all, let me thank you for your website! I’m a vegetarian college student (veg for almost 4 years now) and I want to thank you for this enormous resource. I’ve learned how to cook quinoa, how to prepare shopping lists, what to buy at the grocery store, how to deal with obnoxious carnivores and all sorts of great veggie things.

But here’s my question: what is a polite way to firmly and clearly say that I’m not interested in debating vegetarianism? This is my choice and no one else’s business. Too often, I feel assaulted by strangers, family members, dates…the list goes on!

I’ve tried a simple “I just don’t like meat”, the more aggressive “Actually, I don’t understand how you can eat meat!”, vaguely mentioning the environment, ethics and health… Nothing works.

How can I make it clear that my personal choice of a vegetarian diet is not up for debate, without seeming like a B-I-T-C-H?

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

I’m so glad that Savvy Vegetarian has been helpful for you!

You’re right that you don’t owe anybody an explanation about what you choose to eat. The fact that people expect one continues to flabbergast me 40+ years down the vegetarian road.

I think what you said, “This is my choice and no one else’s business” is your cue. All you have to say is “It’s a personal choice, and not something I want to discuss”. When pressed by the rude and clueless, you could say something like, “It’s your choice what you eat, and none of my business. Right?” Wait for emphatic affirmation. “And that works both ways, right?” Wait for reluctant agreement. Then say “Thank you!” and change the subject.

This is why I don’t urge people to go vegetarian, I don’t harangue them about animal rights or ethics or the environment or their health. Even though (of course) I feel that a vegetarian diet is the best, it’s not my right to tell people what they should eat, only to give encouragement and support if they decide to go veg. I’m counting on the hundredth monkey effect!

Speaking of which  – one thing to keep in mind is that sometimes people just want to improve their diets and be healthier. They may have heard that vegetarian diet is a good way to do that. When they see happy healthy vegetarian you, they want to know your secrets and be just like you. In that case, feel free to refer them to Savvy Vegetarian! :-)

As for the rest, don’t worry too much about being a B-I-T-C-H if all else fails. 

Thanks for writing! All the best, Judith Kingsbury

Let me start by saying I am not a vegetarian, however my 20 month old daughter is allergic to dairy, eggs, and all nuts. I am concerned that there are several key nutrients she may be either low on or not getting, among them protein.

Her doctor recently suggested I add tofu to her diet…is this enough? We already eat soy yogurt and soynut butter and soymilk. I have removed all allergens from the house…what other foods can I use to replace those she’s allergic to? I want to make sure she has as healthy a start as possible.

Thank you – Rebecca S.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi Rebecca, thanks for writing! Kids love tofu, and it’s high in protein. There are lots of great tofu recipes on Savvy Veg. Some kid favorites are tofu burgers, pasta, tofu & veggies, tofu quiche, and fried tofu.

But rather than focus exclusively on soy foods, you could add beans and lentils, mashed to make them easier to digest and also to disguise them, to her diet. Or cooked in veggie soups and stews, until very soft. Crockpot lima bean stew and mung dhal veggie soup are two easily digested examples.

Kids, even as young as 20 months, usually like mild hummus.  ( if you make the recipe on Savvy Veg , omit the garlic). Lentil burgers or black bean burgers might also appeal to her – something she can eat with her hands. Check our bean recipes for these and other recipes to try.

I’m assuming she can eat sunflower, sesame or pumpkin seeds, chia seeds or flax seeds, ground up and added to other foods or made into a paste? Remember too that all veggies and most fruits have some protein, which adds up over the course of the day.  A one cup serving of avocado, for example, has 3 grams of protein, and a medium potato with skin has 4 grams. And whole grains like quinoa, brown rice and oatmeal have significant amounts of protein in each serving.

From what I’ve read, and my own experience, giving her lots of those foods should also help the food allergy situation by making her diet more alkaline and adding a wide variety of vitamins and minerals not found in non-plant foods.

I know that this is a challenge but here’s the upside: This will encourage the whole family to move toward a healthier diet!

By the way, it might be helpful to check out our article on Vegan Baking Substitutions.

All the best, Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

My 8 year old daughter became a vegetarian two months ago. My husband and I who are not vegetarian are trying our best to support her choice.

She is also an avid dancer training two to three hours a day. This is HER choice, we are NOT pushing this on her. (I have 4 daughters and K. truly is her own unique little person) ;-)

We also homeschool so before she started she had to do her own research and decide what level she would be – lacto-ovo vegetarian.

I am concerned about her not getting enough calories. She has lost a few pounds and doesn’t have them to lose. How can I make sure that she is getting enough calories with her growth and her intense dance schedule? She will be training even more next year.

I’m sure we are going to be regular visitors to your site. We had the quinoa black bean salad for lunch today. Yummy!!!

Thank you for your help. Smiles, J. H.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi J.H., 

It’s not easy to keep active, growing vegetarian children from being skinny. They’ll plump out, then shoot up and get skinny again and so on. At least that was my experience. But losing weight isn’t so great!

My advice is to go heavy on the carbs and fats – no more than 50% whole grains, oatmeal and rice are good – lots of nuts and seeds, dried fruit, beans in whatever form she likes them. She should be eating a kid vegetarian diet, not a grown-up vegetarian diet.

Things my kids loved to eat (over & over): refried beans & hummus in burritos, quesadillas, wraps, sandwiches or as dips, vegetarian chili, pasta tofu & veggies, tofu burgers, pizza bagels, mac’n'cheese, endless bowls of cereal, scrambled eggs, toast & nut butter, blanched almonds, tons of fresh fruit, juice, yogurt, pancakes, muffins, chips, cookies (I made healthy ones, preferably with oatmeal – the only way I could get them to eat it without a fight. That and granola. Moms have to be pro-active!).

They ate veggies of course. Potatoes were always good, carrot salad, broccoli & carrots, peas, green beans, baked yams & winter squash, raw veggies & dip often. They weren’t fond of leafy greens, but I could sneak them into soups, quiche, stir fries.

A childrens multivitamin is a good idea, imo. Rainbow Light makes a good one – Vita Cost has the best prices.

Here are links to a few articles and advice letters which might be helpful:

9 yr old goes veg, Mom worried 

Veg Protein Sample Menus

A Week of Menus for Vegetarian Kid-Friendly Meals

I highly recommend the book “Becoming Vegetarian” as a 1st class vegetarian nutrition guide. It has an excellent chapter on child veg nutrition.

All the best, Judith Kingsbury

Message for Savvy Vegetarian:

I’m really bothered by the fact that you keep telling people to go to Anne Collins’ website. I had to search for quite a few minutes to find her credentials and, to my surprise, she is not a Registered Dietitian.

I believe only a Registered Dietitian specialized in vegetarian diets should give advice to vegetarians. On weight loss, weight gain, pregnancy, teen diet, disease etc.

They are trained, they undergo an examination to be “registered”…, they get a lot of hours of practice in different settings and continue to learn to keep themselves informed in their area of expertise.

I cannot call myself a doctor if I read a few anatomy and physiology books, can I? Thank you for your time – A. H.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi A. H. Thanks for writing about this issue. Much appreciated!

After reviewing her site again, and reading a lot of reviews, some con, mostly pro, and looking at the options, I stand behind my recommendation of Anne Collins vegetarian weight loss program for several reasons:

1. It’s true that MDs and RDs get years of training, and keep up the required continuing education throughout their careers. But just because someone can add Dr. or RD after his/her name is no reason to assume that person knows much about weight loss or vegetarian diet.

2. I know of just a handful of publicly available RDs who specialize in vegetarian nutrition. Many of these are vegan, which is a small percentage of the already small vegetarian niche. Plus, there is a great deal more to successful weight loss than the medical and nutritional aspects – self-esteem, family, culture, food addiction, body type, exercise etc.  

3. Which means that being an RD isn’t necessarily a qualification for running an online weight loss support program. There are many NON-RDs writing books and running support sites on diet and weight loss – including me. My expertise is based on over 40 years experience as a vegetarian, and extensive self-education. I regularly consult qualified vegetarian or vegan RDs, either in person or by reading their books and sites. I have a hunch that Anne Collins also stays informed, and she is clearly knowledgeable about weight loss.

4. Even though she isn’t a Registered Dietitian, I’m satisfied that the Anne Collins weight loss programs are sound. There aren’t so many sensible options in low cost vegetarian weight loss programs and support groups available for people wanting to lose weight through a vegetarian diet, and Anne Collins is one of the best rated options. The fact that she isn’t a vegetarian herself, and doesn’t specialize in vegetarian nutrition is a minor point, in my opinion, compared to what she offers for $19.95 per year.

I recommend books and websites from the following officially qualified people, who address the topic of vegetarian weight loss: Vesanto Melina, Brenda Davis, Dina Aronson, Virginia Messina, Dr. Dean Ornish. I’m sure there are more, but their names escape me – my apologies for leaving out anybody important.

And here are 100 weight loss tips from Top Dietitians of the American Dietetic Association – they’ll work whether or not you’re vegetarian.

Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

More Posts About Vegetarian Weight Loss:
Busy Vegetarian Wants To Lose Weight, Get Fit Without Exercise
Healthy 60 Year Old Vegetarian Wants To Lose Weight
Overweight Mom Wants to Lose Weight
Vegetarian Weight Loss and Heart Health Success Story
Will vegetarian diet help me lose weight and get healthy?

Hello, I have a set of six month old twins that are just beginning their transition to solid foods.

They have been on soy milk formula and breast milk to date and I would like to raise them on a vegetarian diet.

Do you have any advice, articles, recipes, or good web sites I can check out? It seems like there is mostly junk out there which tells you to still give them dairy. I would appreciate it! – J.K.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Congratulations on becoming the mother of twins! Double the joy – and double the work. Hope you’re managing to get some sleep!

It boggles my mind that medical people still tell Moms to give their babies dairy milk, and I also get pretty exercised about the low level of support for breastfeeding! But that’s a whole ‘nother topic!

As far as baby food recipes go, Homemade Baby Food Recipes has some good ones, and they also sell baby food mills. Those are Mom’s best friend, because then your babies can eat what you eat. For older babies, just mash things up with a fork, or give them finger foods.

Generally, bland food, non-acidic, is best for babies – you could start them off with potato, sweet potato or butternut squash, for example. Avocado or banana is usually a hit, or cream of rice cereal with breast milk or non-dairy milk.

Babies are pretty decided in what they like to eat, actually. I recommend Cathe Olson’s website, Simply Natural Books, about feeding your vegetarian kids. She has a baby food recipe book, and there are two of her articles in the list below.

I also highly recommend the vegetarian nutrition bibles, ‘Becoming Vegan’, or ‘Becoming Vegetarian’, by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis. They cover the topic of child vegetarian nutrition pretty thoroughly. As an intro to vegetarian nutrition, download the Savvy Vegetarian nutrition report. 

Savvy Veg Articles and advice, related to your question:

How to Get Enough Protein in Your Vegetarian Diet
Vegetarian Protein Sample Menus
Feeding a Lactose Intolerant Child
Eight Ways to Get Your Family to Eat Vegetables
Feeding Your Independent Toddler
Going Veg With a 4 Year Old

All the best, Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

I love the vegetarian options out there, and now that I’m done with university, I have more time to cook healthy and interesting meals. There is a big part of me that wants to go vegetarian – I have vegetarian and vegan friends who have very convincing arguments and points to make. I have watched movies like Food, Inc. and read Fast Food Nation (the latter was my motivation to go vegetarian the second time), and I have seen videos of slaughterhouses and heard horror stories from my father who was a medic at a slaughterhouse for a while and saw what the workers – and the animals – experienced. There are SO many good reasons to become vegetarian, and I think I want to give it another stab.

Like I said, cutting out beef, pork, and chicken has not been too hard. My biggest challenge now is seafood. I love seafood. I know that the oceans are overfished. I know there are, again, so many reasons to not eat it.  But I LOVE the taste. I don’t know what to do to overcome this. I tried being a “pescetarian” in the past, but eventually just eating fish and no other meat got the better of me, and I decided to just go back to eating meat. And there are other things I love – now that summers have rolled around again, I’m excited about hamburgers and chicken grilled at barbecues.

I guess my question is – how do you get over liking the taste of meat and wanting to eat it just because you like the taste?

I tried to post this on another discussion board for vegetarians once and was literally harassed and told I was a horrible person who should stop being ruled by their taste buds, basically, and that I should get some  conviction. I feel like your website is a safe and respectful place to voice my question. I really look forward to hearing from you. Thank you! – V. R.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Thank you, V.R.! Going vegetarian can take a little or a long time, depending on many factors, like age, health, body-type, socio-economics – it’s a very individual & personal thing. In Western society, the cultural pressures NOT to be vegetarian are strong, and it’s not surprising that many people have trouble swimming against the stream, even if their desire to go veg is strong. It’s excellent that you’re moving in the “right” direction!

Your commitment level will catch up with your intellectual understanding over time. Vegetarian or vegan diets are very life-supporting, and the more that you eat a high quality vegetarian diet, the more that your body will come to prefer it. One day you might wake up and have an “ah-ha!” experience, or just gradually realize that you can never again eat anything with a face.

But since you’re not there yet, instead of focusing on your vegetarian shortcomings, and having guilt attacks, accept that you aren’t quite ready to go all the way vegetarian. I think your best approach would be to eat the most TASTY, healthy, organic, vegetable-rich, whole grain kind-to-animals diet that you can manage, and not worry about the times when you can’t.

One reason why new veggies crave meat is that the veg food they’re getting isn’t satisfying. If your vegetarian food is tasty and nutritious, then you’ll be less likely to crave meat. Be sure that when you do eat veg, you’re getting the nutrients you need to replace those that you get from meat. Take a multivitamin, plus separate B12 and Omega 3 supplements. It could be helpful to read the veggie nutrition bible, “Becoming Vegetarian”,  by Melina & Davis. And try tofu burgers on the grill, they hold up quite well, and are VERY tasty & nutritious :-)

All the best, Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

Hello. After a lot of back and forth, I have finally settled in to my vegetarian lifestyle. I am having trouble finding things to eat, however. I fine myself constantly eating the same meals, and it gets a little bland and boring after a while.

Recently I went to a restaurant and tried a meal using tempeh and absolutely loved the flavor and texture. After going out and buying lots of it, I discovered that I have NO IDEA how to cook it! When I tried it, it tasted like burnt cardboard. Also, I am terrible at cooking tofu. It always comes out a sloppy mess.

I am a decent cook, but I cannot seem to get the hang of this! Any advice on how to cook tempeh, or tofu? – K. Y.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi K. Y. Tempeh should first be steamed for 20 minutes (less if you cut it up), for food safety reasons, as it’s a raw fermented food. After that, you can fry, barbecue or bake it, add it to stir fries, sandwiches, wraps, sloppy joes, casseroles, stews or whatever you want. The only tempeh recipe we have on Savvy Veg is Barbecue Tempeh Sandwich from the 30 Minute Vegan cookbook, but barbecued tempeh has a lot of uses. Tempeh can also stand in for many of the tofu recipes on Savvy Vegetarian, or you can use it in place of beans. After all, tempeh is made with soybeans.

As for tofu, a lot depends on the firmness of the tofu. Most recipes seem to need firm or even extra firm tofu, and the firmness varies a lot with the brand. You have to try out a few brands available in your area, and see what works best for you. Try some of our tasty tofu recipes, then you’ll be an expert tofu cook. Start with our basic tofu directions, and go from there.

About the lack of variety in your diet: Get yourself a few vegetarian cookbooks that appeal to you, and try a new recipe once a week, with at least one unfamiliar ingredient.  Here’s a list of good cookbooks to choose from. After 52 weeks, your vegetarian recipe repertoire will be greatly expanded.

On the other hand: After umpteen years as a vegetarian, and coming up with new recipes for Savvy Veg all the time, I still tend to make the same six basic recipes, with variations, constantly. Let’s face it, cooking is faster and easier that way. It’s the many possible variations that save my vegetarian diet from dullness.

All the best, Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

I have been a pesco/ovo-vegetarian for several years.  I had my first child  last summer, who is a healthy, thriving nine-month-old now.  It is my  intent to raise her as a pesco/lacto/ovo-vegetarian.

However,  at her nine-month check up, my pediatrician said that she needed to eat meat now, and that there was no exception.  He even said she wouldn’t be getting complete nourishment without the complete proteins that were integral to her development right now.  He said that she can eat fish after age one,  but between now and then, she needed to be getting some meat in her diet.

I expressed my sincere desire for her to not eat meat, but I would never do anything to impede her development.  I have been researching complete  proteins, and combining her foods to try and ensure she is getting  complete proteins in every meal.  Can you please let me know if there is a way around feeding her meat, if her health really will be impacted if I don’t feed her meat, and if you have any advice, etc.

Thank you SO much! This is an issue of GREAT concern for me as a new-ish mommy. – R. S.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi, R. S.! I’m not sure I understand why your pediatrician says you shouldn’t give your baby fish until after age 1 yr, but that you should give her meat at 9 months! Is he concerned about mercury in fish? Or does he just think that only meat has complete protein? Iron could also be a concern, as there’s little iron in breastmilk.

Maybe he isn’t aware that eating meat isn’t the only way for infants to get complete protein, besides breast milk. If you’ve breastfed your baby, and are planning to continue past 1 year, that’s one good source of protein, plus all the other nutrients that only breastmilk provides. Vit. B12 is a concern, plus Vit. D, iron, and fats, for vegetarian children.

Your pediatrician also may not know that, according to the most recent research, it isn’t considered necessary for vegetarians to combine foods to get complete protein at every meal. Amino acids are stored in the body, and your body will mix and match over the course of a day to make complete proteins. That may also apply to babies.

My own 3 children were raised mostly vegetarian. My daughter and many other young women I know have raised healthy children as vegetarians – so I know it can be done pretty easily.  One of my daughters is vegan, and her two children are vegan. They’re healthy kids. But she had to do a bunch of research on vegetarian nutrition and give it to her doctor before he stopped insisting that her baby had to eat meat.

This is just my personal feeling, based on my own experience, but it seems awkward to offer your baby meat if it’s not something that you ever eat yourself. It makes more sense to introduce her to the diet you intend to feed her for the long term. Of course you should make sure that it meets all of her nutritional needs.

Please understand that I’m not a dietitian, nutritionist or any kind of medical professional, so I can’t give you specific dietary recommendations for your baby that go against your pediatrician’s advice.

However, when it comes down to it, you’re the one who is responsible for your baby’s health and well being. It’s a big responsibility, and not one that you can just hand over to a doctor who doesn’t know you or your baby very well, doesn’t know much about nutrition – nothing about vegetarian nutrition, and doesn’t respect your lifestyle choices.

There are some doctors out there who are more knowledgeable and open to different dietary options. And other health professionals like naturopaths or dietitians who could be more helpful to you in making decisions about what to feed your baby.

I highly recommend the vegetarian nutrition bible, ‘Becoming Vegetarian’, by Melina and Davis – they are highly qualified and experienced RDs, specializing in vegetarian and vegan nutrition. Their book has an excellent section on nutrition for vegetarian (and vegan) babies and toddlers, that I think you’d find extremely helpful.

There’s also the book, ‘Simple Natural Baby Food’ by Cathe Olson, which is a very good baby food recipe book.

Hello, I discovered this website researching about veganism, since I have recently decided to go vegan;  formerly being an ovo-lacto-vegetarian for about a year, when I was 16.  I’m now 17.

I have a huge problem, and wanted to ask for advice:  When I told my mother of my meaning to not eat meat, she reacted very badly (which of course grieved me). As weeks or months passed, I suppose she grew accustomed, for she stopped telling me stuff about meat was unhealthy and religious matters (my family and I are catholic), as well.

The point is that, now that I have decided to keep a strict vegetarian diet, my family is ignorant of this. So, I am very, very much scared of my mother’s reaction if I tell her, and I don’t really want to tell her, for the same reason. But I am feeling depressed, because I feel as if I’m deceiving my family and concealing such an important matter as this. I know their reaction will be awful.

I hope that you’ ll help me! I send my thanks beforehand. P. Z.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi P. Z., What a miserable situation for you! Becoming vegan isn’t the hard part - you can get a good book on vegan nutrition (e.g. ‘Becoming Vegan‘ by Melina & Davis), and share that info with your mother. But hearing information and accepting it are two different things! She may not easily let go of her fears.

What is it exactly about your going vegan that would be so awful to your family? And why do you dread their reaction so much? Knowing the answers to those questions would take you a long way toward solving your problem.

It says a lot about your good heart and character that you don’t want to hurt your mother, and disrupt your family life. At the same time, I don’t think that you owe your family complete conformity to their world view at the expense of your own development.

It might be a good idea for you to meet with a counselor, maybe someone in your faith, to talk this through and help you figure out how to approach your family and gain their support or at least their co-operation, or mediate between you and your family. A neutral 3rd party can be extremely helpful in family conflicts – if everybody involved is willing to talk.

A possible compromise would be to delay going vegan until you leave home for university or work, and have more control over your life (including what you eat). I strongly recommend that you plan on taking that step - living on your own or with roommates for a while – and not jump straight into a relationship or other situation where you have the same problem.

These are just my opinions, and may be foreign to you, or don’t fit with your culture. But I hope this helps.

Remember, you’re not alone! Here are a few letters from people in similar situations:
14 Year Old New Vegetarian Has Parental Obstacles
Teen Vegan Suspected of Being Anorexic and Superior
Miss Vegetarian Asks for Help
Mom Is An Obstacle To Going Vegetarian

All the best, Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian