Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [56]
Keep a separate set of cutting boards for nonvegan use. Color-coding is easiest, because no one will be able to claim confusion as to which board is used for cutting chicken. Use red cutting boards for meat and green cutting boards for vegan foods. Alternatively, you can keep wooden cutting boards and write the words “vegan” or “veggie” on some and “meat,” “fish,” or “dairy” on others in the corner with permanent ink.
Label vegan-only areas of the refrigerator so that meat isn’t placed next to the vegetables. This reduces the risk of crossover contamination from flesh-borne bacteria and illnesses.
Reserve a special glass in your cupboard for the cow’s milk drinker if you dislike the idea of sipping your hemp milk from the same cup.
Label chef’s knives for different purposes. You can use a similar process that you do for the cutting boards. Or you can buy one good-quality chef’s knife just for the vegan and ask that it not be used to cut meat, poultry, fish, or dairy products.
Consider buying mixed sets of Fiesta dishes with two colors. One color can be used for the vegans and the other color for the meat eaters. These colorful sets are nice because you can mix and match to go with whatever color scheme you have chosen for your kitchen or dining room.
Work out rules for the stove and for the pots and pans. If sharing the stove top becomes too contentious, or if you don’t have the space to keep or the money to buy an extra set of pots and pans just for meat preparation, ask the meat eater to prepare his flesh foods outside on a meat-only grill. This compromise keeps the meat smell out of the kitchen and provides a safe haven for their cooking.
Use nonconfrontational humor to deflect minor issues at home. Rather than turning every slight refrigerator indiscretion into World War III, tell your friend, husband, wife, or child to “Mooooooove your cow’s milk over to the dairy side of the fridge, please!” or “EGGs-cuse me! There are eggs on top of my tofu salad.” Respect the fact that your humor and grace will lead to widening acceptance for your dietary choices — after all, no one wants to convert to a militant, humorless lifestyle.
Many families and roommates are able to “agree to disagree” and try to keep the dinner duels out of the house completely. The meat eater or cheese lover agrees to keep those foods out of the house and live vegan with their friend or loved one. When they eat outside the home, however, all bets are off and they can order whatever they want. This plan works pretty well for most people. The whole family can be vegan at home, and the omnivore can eat whatever he desires at work, school, or out for dinner. Just remember to keep the lines of communication open — the last thing loved ones need is to stress each other out about food.
To get some support and ask questions of other vegans who have gone down this mixed-household path before, join www.veggieboards.com, which is a huge online community that allows you to post questions and read experiences from others.
Keeping Everyone Healthy and Happy
In a majority of households in the United States, the woman does the cooking . . . and the cleaning and the windows and the childcare, but that’s another book (Feminism in the 21st Century For Dummies, anyone?). If the goddess in your kitchen has gone vegan, and no one else has bought a ticket for that bus ride yet, it may be up to her to organize the menus, choose healthy ingredients, plan the cooking schedule, and ensure a wide variety of satisfying meals that keep everyone happy.
The vegan and the carnivore: Eating out on date night
For obvious reasons, when a mixed, vegan-carnivore couple goes out to eat, they may have trouble choosing a menu