My poor husband is having a crisis. He met with the dietician on Tuesday to help him with his meal planning. He was nervous before the meeting. He kept referring to her as The Vegan High Priestess who was coming to get him.

He wanted me to be there to protect him. I’m not sure how I was supposed to do that. It turns out that I sat off to the side and sewed so I didn’t make eye contact with anyone. I did this because the dietician told him everything I had told him. He was realizing this too and he wasn’t happy. It is bad enough when your spouse is right, let alone when she is right about what you don’t want to hear.

He could have one of the easiest vegetarian/vegan transitions ever. He lives with a long time vegetarian who likes to cook. I’ve offered to cook for him but he is fighting that. I think he knows that it will be definitely healthy with no cheating if he agrees. When she gave him a list of pantry staples he read off a few unfamiliar things.

“Ground flaxseed”
Me – “In the refrigerator.”
“Nutritional yeast”
“Beside the stove.”

“I think I’ve only had tofu in soup.”

“You’ve had it blended into more things than you realize.”

“Oh…. um, I did not realize that.”  (In a hopeful voice) “We don’t have a pressure cooker!”

“It’s in the basement.  I don’t use it much.”

He was unamused but she was cracking up.  He started referring to her as my evil emissary.

She was pretty firm with him that because of his multiple health problems and his desire to lose a significant amount of weight that cutting all animal products would be best.  He was willing to go vegetarian but he is not at all happy with that advice.  I think he knows she’s right and that’s why it is upsetting him so much.  If he didn’t believe her he’d just blow it off.

Most of my recipes are on my iPad now but I pulled a few old cookbooks out of the cupboard and put them in the bathrooms.  (That’s the best place to put things that you want to be looked at.)  I told him to pick a few recipes that sounded good to him and I’d make them.  He told me that he couldn’t use ANYTHING in the one book because it was vegetarian and not vegan.  I told him to find something he liked and I’d make it work.  So far he hasn’t told me anything.  He’s still pouting.

After she left he defiantly ate a few spoonfuls of tapioca pudding he had from the deli.  I think he expected me to yell at him but I just told him that he was free to do what he wants with the information he had.  I think that ruined it for him so he put it back.

I’m making napoleons tonight for dinner.  They are portabello mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinegar and then broiled topped with roasted peppers, mashed potatoes, and a balsamic reduction.  He’s had it before.  He likes it.  It is vegan.  Poor baby.  I’ve already told him that we are having minestrone soup, cornbread, and salad on Saturday so he could see just how he was going to suffer and be deprived.

I also pointed out that I’ve now lost 10 lbs in the last three weeks eating like this.  He huffed.  I think he’ll like it once his body starts to adapt and especially if he starts losing weight.  He is an all or nothing kind of person.  He wants foods to be either totally off limits or he is allowed to eat it all.  A plant based diet is good for that.  He can have all the vegetables he wants.  There isn’t any calorie counting or portion sizes.  If he can break the habit of pouring vast quantities of parmesan cheese on everything then he will be home free.