Your Fiance's a Vegan, Too? Right?

My fiance, Mathew, and I have been together for eight wonderfully long years. We just recently became engaged this past January 22!  When we met I had already been a vegetarian for a number of years.  Mathew is your all American meat and potatoes type of guy.  Dinner just isn't a meal if there is no meat or fish on his plate.  He's a man — he needs his meat — his protein!  (*Chuckle*Chuckle*) Preparing meals was never really too much of an issue when I was a vegetarian.  All I had to do was make sure that if I made a dish, such a Chicken Pasta Alfredo, was to omit the chicken from my plate.  No big deal.  If we ordered pizza half would just be cheese the other half a meat lover's combo.  But then...

I chose to be a vegan.  What have I gone and done?!  I was no longer preparing one meal for dinner but rather two meals (this also meant more dishes - ugh).  I do the majority of cooking in our household so I am the one who gets to handle, slice, dice, and chop all of the meat.  This is a dream come true for any vegan — NOT!  This process grosses me out.  The feel of the skinned/plucked dead animal (and let's be honest that's what it really is, a dead animal) is icky and the smell is unpleasant to me.  The worst part is when I get nasty bits of animal material stuck underneath my nails.  Now, I know some of you can relate to this.  Is it not gross? I think I need to invest in some plastic disposable gloves!

Do I lecture, admonish, or preach to my fiance about his carnivorous eating habits?  When he is eating a hamburger do I tell him in graphic detail the horrors that occur in factory farms/meat processing plants?  Do I mumble under my breath "Animal Killer" when he is nibbling on chicken wings?

Nope! No lecturing or anything along those lines.  I respect his choices when it comes to what he wants to eat just as he respects my choices when it comes to what I will not eat.  Do I have hope that maybe one day he will decide to become a vegetarian?  Of course I do.  I asked him no too long ago if we (as in he) could do Meatless Mondays.  He just shook his head and said "No!  Me man!  Me need meat!"

Okay, just kidding, all he said was "No!" I wasn't going to give up that easily.  I then suggested Meatless Tuesdays - he just shook his head no.  I suggested Meatless Wednesdays - he just shook his head no.  By now you probably know where this is going - let's just say I ended up back to Monday.  Can't blame me for trying.  I may have lost this battle but I am determined to win the war!