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I'm new to this part of CD and thought maybe I throw this out there for some help.
For about 2 years now, I haven't eaten meat or poultry. I do eat fish on rare occasions, but that's mostly just for convenience when eating out. (Honestly think it's been at least 3 months since I've even had fish.) Don't even like eggs or milk. Cheese is starting to bother me. If I took the plunge, I don't think I'd miss anything by actually going vegan (instead of this quasi-pescatarian/whatever the heck label it is). You know that "slippery slope" that so many folks go thru ~ start off giving up red meat, then chicken/fish, slow down on the dairy products, stop buying leather, etc. etc.? Yeah, that's kinda me. I'm sooooooo close, I need to just do it!
Here's the part I need help with. I'm the only one in my household who eats this way. My husband and sons are major carnivores, my 2 little girls will eat just about anything that's served to them but they're not crazy about most of the "meat alternatives" I use, and my 14yod does like chicken (tho she can't tolerate beef, pork, seafood). And although my family is supportive of my choices, it's just plain difficult to cook something for the family and then something different for me (and sometimes my 14yod). So what happens? I end up just popping an Amy's meal in the micro or something like that. And I'm really starting to feel like CRUD, because I'm not eating right. PLUS, I've put on about 15-20 lbs. in these past 2 years and I hate that! This morning I even had a split second thought of "maybe I should just start eating chicken again, maybe then I'd feel better". But just the thought of eating chicken made my think "yuck!" And no way could I eat beef/pork, even have to turn my head when those stupid Outback or Applebee's commercials come on TV.
Has anyone else ever done this ~ sort of end up in a rut and need to get back to basics, kinda like going back to "Vegetarian Eating 101"? And how do others who live with folks who don't eat the same do it? Also, what have been your best resources for recipes? I've read quite a few rec's on here for VegWeb (and I think I've been on there before), I have the Skinny B***h book and cookbook ~ tho the recipes in there are ingredient intensive.
For the first year of our engagement and for the very first few months of our marriage - my husband was eating meat.
I would make dinner, chicken, grilled or steamed veggies, rice and I would just have a "faux" peice of chicken instead of the real stuff.
Now that hubby is 99.9% vegetarian (in the past year I think he has had fish twice, but change from eating meat twice a DAY!) I cook many, many different things.
Why not try a yummy soup in a bread bowl? That is hearty and something that I think kids would like to eat. Black bean soup, cauliflower soup, vegetable soup etc.
How about rice, tofu and sauteed veggies with soy sauce - you can all use chopsticks.
Try fun and different meals that are EASY, perhaps nobody will miss the meat. Maybe then you can cut down on the Amy's?
I would consider making all dishes but one vegetarian. That way you can eat everything but the meat dish. Of course you need to make one of the vegetarian dishes a protein substitute if you're not eating meat.
Cooking vegetarian and meat heavy at the same usually just doesn't work out. In my humble experience the key for a balanced and satisfying veg diet was to change the way of cooking. Vegetarin cusine is not about lack of meat or substituting it with some industrially textured artifically flavored soy-based something, it's just a different style of cuisine.
Generally the focus is shifted from meat to grain, lentils, beans, and veggies (which are the most obvious, but by far not the most important thing about veggie cuisine). Spicing becomes more important, i.e. look at indian cusine, where a curry dish is mainly based on and defined by having a spiced "sauce", if you put in meat afterwards or not is not really important.
The "traditional" style my mum always goes for is like meal = meat+ side of veg1 + side of veg2. It just never worked for me to follow this with a veggie "spin", like eating just two veg or trying to enjoy some "tofu steaks" etc.
Staples im my kitchen are i.e. pasta+a sauce based on veg1, a casserole with potato+veg1+veg2, rice+veggies+asian style sauce, veggie stews and indian staples like dals etc.
And though it's probably rude and presumptous to say after reading only this sinlge post of yours, I can't help to think that either your family really ain't that supportive or you kinda suppressing yourself way too much. You spend all this time in the kitchen to cook for your loved ones and than it's always something that you won't even touch?
There's no way there has to be meat for lunch/dinner every day in a partly vegetarian household. I think there should be something on the table everyone can enjoy at least a couple of times a week. There's a zillion of vegetarian italian staples for example that I think most ppl can enjoy, pizza, risottos, eggplant parmesan, a zillion different pasta dishes etc.
Maybe you can accustom them to eating vegetarian a couple of times a week and than step by step expand your repertoire to somewhat more "exotic" fields that die-hard canivores might be more skeptical of, like tofu dishes etc.
Besides that you obviously also would want to have some more "flexible" staples i.e. you can make steaks for your carnivores and grain and/or veggie patties/dumplings etc. of all sorts for yourself. Still, it most probably won't be perfect since you might not want to eat your veggie dumplings with gravy nor would it be feasible to make several different sauces all the time.
However it might be ok as a compromise if it's only 1 or 2 times a week and not 24-7 that you have to settle for a maybe not so perfect meal.
When my children were living at home, my rule was I cook it, you don't like it, you cook your own (and shop for it). Same as being a guest in someone's house - you eat what they serve or you don't go.
I love tofu stir-fry meals. You can buy baked tofu in various flavors or you can make your own. Good for sandwiches. Can of soup with a few chunks of tofu. Tofu in almost any suce for chicken. Lots of ways to do it right.
When my children were living at home, my rule was I cook it, you don't like it, you cook your own (and shop for it). Same as being a guest in someone's house - you eat what they serve or you don't go.
This is great! Good for you SouthernBelle - We had the same rule in our house when we were growing up - if you don't like it, cook your own (didn't have to shop, though). And if someone whined too much, well, we got "eat it anyway." Luckily, mom was a great cook!
Look for recipes that are great on their own, but can easily incorporate strips of meat cooked on the side. Also, create a big veggie meal once or twice a week and then eat leftovers the rest of the week. Cut up your favorite salad veggies and fruit so that you can easily make salads up quick.
Thanx so much everyone! "Kudos" all around! Some great hints (and LOVE the cookbook recs!).
Damage Control Freak ~ no worries, it wasn't rude or presumptuous to wonder about how "supportive" my family is, especially considering my post! What I didn't make clear (for sake of brevity) is that my husband actually does a large chunk of the cooking and grocery shopping (probably even more than me). He's always careful to plan and cook something that I'll like. It's when I'm the one that's cooking for the night that I get lazy and just pop an Amy's in the nuker. (And I really like how you said that vegetarian is basically just a different style of cuisine! Totally makes sense!)
A lot of times we'll do something like spagetti, with one pot of "meat sauce" and one pot of veggie sauce. Or haystacks (that's what we call taco salad), and I just don't add the taco meat. Plus, my kids actually really like tofu/veggie stir-fry, and we do have an entirely vegetarian meal usually at least once a week, sometimes more. Those nights it's much easier.
For awhile, I was steam/stir-frying a huge batch of fresh veggies each night and that was dinner for the night and lunch the next day. Need to get back to that. It took a little time, but was really yummy and I felt so much better.
OH! And SouthernBelleInUtah ~ that's kinda the same philosophy we've always had, and it's a sort of unspoken rule around here. Little hard for 6 and 9 year olds, tho ('pecially the shopping for it part! LOL!). Fortunately, they complain rarely, if ever.
Jules,
Sorry I'm late. It looks like everyone already covered it pretty well.
I've fallen inton that rut myself (nukiing Amy's stuff, etc) but it was my omni wife who bailed me out by making some fanstastic whole foods based veggie dishes...and in the process becoming very nearly veggie herself. I think she's had meat about 2-3 times per month since last summer and there is almost no meat in our freezer (and none in the fridge).
What facilitated this was that I took a more active role in our grocery shopping and load up on lots of produce each week. It seems much easier to cook great veggie meals when there is lots of broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, zucchini, squash, etc available in the kitchen.
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But just the thought of eating chicken made my think "yuck!" And no way could I eat beef/pork, even have to turn my head when those stupid Outback or Applebee's commercials come on TV.
Luckily, mom was a great cook!
Some great hints (and LOVE the cookbook recs!). 
