An Herbivore Among Meat Eaters

I recently celebrated a birthday and my gift to myself was a vegetarian diet.  (Shh!!!)  Vegetarianism is a concept I have been admiring and courting for a long time, and I am very excited to venture into this new, healthier way of nourishing my body!  So far so good, except that I am now a plant eater among meat eaters.  So I am giving it a shot for one year and then I will reassess, based on how I feel.  I have been told that I will feel much better, have more energy, and I am aware of the health benefits which is the engine which is powering this locomotive of change.

Vegetarianism is an unspeakable phenomenon to the rest of my family.  If my husband had his way a meal would consist of brisket and a hamburger (hold the veggies) with a side of ribs and ham with bacon crumbles for dessert.  Vegetables for him are beans, pasta and potatoes.  To complicate matters further, I have four boys and when I serve a meatless meal I get questions and worried looks from at least two of them.  My husband just scavenges the refrigerator for animal products to add to the meal.  He could make a burrito out of baked ziti using slices of roast beef.  But my son eyes a casserole with fearful curiosity.  If there's no meat, it is ruined for him.  He'll ask, "Does that have meat in it!?!" with an energetic combination of discontent and doubt, foreshadowing a potential emotional meltdown.  Then he will proceed to eat the meal in a very dejected manner.

So as a vegetarian among a meat-eating family, I am left with only one realistic choice: serve meat!  But to satisfy my new dietary desires, I am adding a lot more veggie dishes to the tableside spread, along with the meat, which I now quietly avoid.  Hopefully this will result in my boys eating more vegetables, too.  I have not yet told them that I am opting out of their carnivorous ways.  That information in itself would have them categorize me into another clan, an outsider of sorts.  So for now I will just continue with business as usual at mealtime and discreetly opt out of partaking of the meat offering at the dinner table.  Oh, and I am going to continue eating seafood, so I will cook it more often.  Maybe that will confuse everyone and secure my cover...