The question remains: can vegans and carnivores ever truly coexist? If you're a meat-loving animal eater and you're dating a food-sensitive vegan, it might be wearing you thin after several meals together, and now your food time is practically segregated. However, understanding your differences is half the battle, and our simple food guide below will help a man like you learn the basics of the vegan lifestyle to overcome the dietary hurdles of your vegan loved ones. This is not to say all vegans are healthy, but they're definitely eating off a different menu.
You: Eat bacon and eggs for breakfast.
Vegans: Eat oatmeal with fresh organic fruit (berries and bananas mostly).
While many love the delicious taste and aroma of a fresh plate of bacon and eggs, a bowl of oatmeal and fresh fruit creates the same excitement for vegans. Not that vegan bacon doesn't exist, but most will agree that it's worse than the food served in prison. Apparently the trick to good vegan bacon is buckwheat and beans, but that doesn't sound much better.
You: Eat steak for iron.
Vegans: Eat dried beans, hummus & leafy greens for iron (and kale, watermelon & chickpeas, too).
If you're anemic, many people think the only cure is a juicy steak, but in actuality you can get iron from fresh meatless foods, too. Dried beans are one of the big helpers, making hummus both a snack and iron-serving delight. Dark leafy greens do a number of things for the body and adding iron is just one of them.
You: Eat chicken for protein
Vegans: Eat peanut butter, almonds, quinoa and spinach for most of their protein.
Chicken is a solid source of protein, but anyone who gets a little queasy at the sight of raw chicken might better enjoy spinach and quinoa in a bowl of fresh veggies. Fun trick to any quinoa bowl: add fresh avocado and mango. Nuts are good sources of protein too, so almonds and almond butter, peanuts and peanut butter are right up there as well.
You: Eat fish for essential fatty acids.
Vegans: Eat tofu, flaxseed and walnuts for essential fatty acids.
All those numbered omega fatty acids are essential, and you don't have to catch a fish to get them. Besides the fact that overfishing is haunting our planet, you can get that fatty goodness from flaxseed and its oil, as well as tofu and walnuts. Notice how vegans have several options when it comes to supplementing their nutrients.
You: Put sugar in your coffee, honey in your tea.
Vegans: Put pure maple syrup or Stevia in their drinks.
Most of the world's sugar comes from sugar cane, which is whitened using charcoal from cow bones. And honey comes from bees so that's a no-no. Beet sugar is a better source of unrefined sugar. Words like "beet," "raw" and "USDA organic" are words to look for to please a vegan and avoid the cow bone powder in your sugar.
You: Pound a tub of Rocky Road ice cream.
Vegans: Enjoy a light helping of non-dairy ice cream (with nuts and berries, perhaps).
Dairy comes from cows. Ice cream is dairy. Ipso facto, ice cream is not vegan friendly. But the good news is that dairy-free ice cream is both light and delicious, especially when made with coconut, so you can enjoy more of it.
You: Buy jelly.
Vegans: Buy jam.
Typically, jelly is not vegan friendly as it contains gelatin, which comes from beef bones, pork skin and hides. But preserves, or jams, are all-natural that have pectin and sugar added, both of which can be vegan friendly all natural additives to the preserved fruit.
You: Eat cheese by the brick (and order extra on your pizza).
Vegans: Eat avocados by the truckload (and order cheese-free pizza).
You know a vegan, or even a vegetarian, they're just sucking down avocados all day. Although they're high in calories, they make a great guacamole dip, whereas cheese and cheese dip fall under the "no dairy" rule.
You: Cook with butter
Vegans: Cook with coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil or veggie broth.
Again with the no dairy, the extra virgin olive oils just make food healthier and even taste better. Never tried coconut oil? It'll make any dish taste like a dream, although many try to be moderate with it since it's high in cholesterol.
You: Put milk in your cereal.
Vegans: Put soy milk or almond milk in cereal.
You might think milk is the only way to enjoy a bowl of cereal, but almond milk is one of life's great delicacies. And the best part about it is that you can make it yourself without jerking the udder of a poor, defenseless cow. Okay, maybe that's not the best part, but they're delicious and they come sweetened and unsweetened and sometimes in vanilla and chocolate flavors, too.
You: Order chicken noodle soup.
Vegans: Order lentil soup.
Chicken noodle soup may have been a classic staple in your younger years, but don't knock a good lentil soup, as it's one of the best sources of protein, aids in digestion (especially if you're diabetic) and helps with weight loss. There's also a wondrous variety of lentil to choose from.
You: Eat potato chips as a snack
Vegans: Eat kale chips and edamame as a snack.
If you're tired of greasy fingers, a good fresh kale chip might be your guide. Not only are they healthy, but they're easy and quick to make and they taste amazing. And you can pretty much eat as much as you want without worrying about getting tubby or staining your shirt in grease.
You: Dip everything in ranch.
Vegans: Dip everything in guacamole.
Yes, ranch tastes amazing, but nothing holds a candle to a great guacamole dip. Packed with fresh avocado, tomato, garlic and other fresh goodies, you can have a bowl without feeling like a glutton. Plus, ranch is one of the most unhealthy things to put on your food, however great it may taste to you. And you can have a little fun with your guac by making it spicy with a little cayenne or jalapeño, too.
You: Order white bread.
Vegans: Order rice.
The white versus wheat isn't such a debate for vegans, as not all vegans are necessarily healthy, but many vegans do go for whole grains. However, many breads have eggs in them, so vegans tend to put their food on a plate of rice instead of a starchy loaf.
You: Don't look at the menu before you go to the restaurant.
Vegans: Do.
A lot of stress can be avoided if you hop on your phone or computer to make sure that restaurants carry a large enough selection of foods that your vegan counterpart can enjoy. If that's not the case, keep looking or save the bad spots for a dirty night out with your meat lover friends. Otherwise you really might end up eating in the bathroom.