Hi All!

I'm a newbie vegetarian (lacto-ovo veggie, although my lactose intolerance limits my milk intake) and I'm still working out my how to supplement my diet properly without meat.
The reason I'm writing this post is because I will be visiting my parents soon, who are not aware of my decision of vecoming veggie and obviously will be shocked when I tell them what I eat and what I don't eat.
My mother use to cook me a lot of food back in the old days, but she is not vegetarian. I don't want to be rude but what options can I give her of food? She has never cooked vegetarian food before, no tofu and almost no leggumes. Should I just cook my own food and stock the fridge with my own stuff? That will look a little bit selfish but the short amount of time I will be there.
Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Hello Soldemar.

While this reply comes 2 months after the initial post but wanted to let you know to keep at it and hope that your family gathering went well. And trust me I can sypathize with your situation.

I married into a full Cuban family and welcoming a strict vegetarian daughter to their clan was shocking. It has been 11 years and they are still pretty clueless. They mean well and as they years go by they make more efforts to accomodate me but it's never usually successful.

Some tips for attending non-veg gatherings:
1. Eat before you go. You can always politely explain why you are not eating and save them the embarrassment for sitting there hungry.
2. Bring your own food. There's no shame in this and it can start a conversation about what foods you eat.
3. If the host is open discuss preparing certain dishes tha are veg friendly. My brother in law always asks me for items that he can prepare for me at his dinners.
4. If you forsee a fight or disaster just don't go.

Keep it up...eating vegetarian is super easy.