Chapter 1: What prompted the discussion about going vegan?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance. Now, I'm joined in the studio by Mary McCarthy because with warmer days and brighter skies, our appetites can change too. So maybe it's a good opportunity to consider new ways to eat. Perhaps a time to try to reduce the amount of meat that your family consumes. Well, that's what Mary did. Calmness with the Irish Independent.
You're very welcome, Mary.
Hi Clare, how are you?
So you've convinced the family to go vegan twice a week.
Yes.
How did you do that?
It was hard. It does take effort, right? But I was feeling just quite frustrated with our dinners. I was kind of in a rush. Do you know the way you kind of, you go the...
Monday lasagna, Tuesday the curry and you kind of get in that rush and I really wanted to get more like adventurous and like just for various reasons like meat is actually just getting really expensive you know so it was cost but also environmental and then just health-wise like there's so much you read about like you should be like munching 30 like different fruit and vegetables a week and beans apparently they're like superfood or the fiber it's like
So anyway, I was like, I wanted to do it for a while. And then it was actually other people that kind of prompted me into it. So my brother-in-law was doing vegan twice a week and he's got young kids. And I was like, oh, he can do it. And then my mom started doing it. She was sick and she's great now, but she got advised as a dietitian to, a dietitian told her to quit. more beans.
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Chapter 2: How did Mary convince her family to try vegan meals?
Because we had a vegan, vegan or vegetarian, anyway, meat free day last week. And the lads were starving. Yeah. To be honest with you. That's the response that I got.
Yeah. So at the start, it was like, I'm not eating that. Like, where's my dinner? You know, like there was one occasion I had made this really nice butter bean and roasted tomato stew. It's an otolenghi one, I think it is. And they eat it now. But the first time I made it, like my husband actually rang for Greek kebabs, donor kebabs, rang the takeaway.
So like there is a bit of heartache involved because you can be then, I was the one eating then, the stew for the next six days, no one would eat it. But it's like with a child, like I think if you give a child a food 10 times, I think that's it, 10 or 15 times. But I felt like, I think on the third occasion they ate, they were like, okay, grand.
So you kept making it, you kept producing it.
Dog it, just kept making it. I'd have something on the side, so I'd have a Greek salad or something and I'd like pimp it up with a nice bit of sourdough. So they wouldn't go starving. But, I just kept trying. And then I also found like presentation, if you make it look really nice. So I put like a bowl in the middle of the table and I was like, look, you can help yourself.
Try a little bit and see. And that actually changed the game. And like, I know with younger kids, you can't really do that because they'll just be like...
you know it's just too messy but like my youngest is nine now and I have this kind of fantasy of you know the big bowls in the middle of the table how Greeks were like you pass around the bowls it's not like you're handed a chop and like a potato and a bit of carrots so I was like this is my fantasy and actually I think that psychologically makes a difference because they're in control they can be like okay I'll try a bit of this and then to my surprise I'd be like oh
They're actually helping themselves, like second courses.
So is that butter bean concoction now? Is that on once a week, once a fortnight?
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Mary face when introducing vegan meals?
And then you're on to hummus and then... So I'm not like, like my family still, like, you know, 50% of my family will not eat tofu. So I'm not there yet. But I definitely been doing this for about a year.
So it's two days a week? Two days a week. No meat.
Yeah. And I tend to front load it because I think as you get near the weekend, you know, there's a mutiny. If you've got your, I do this tandoori chickpea dish. It's like an otolingi one. Again, you can find them online. And that is great. But if that's there on a Friday night, there's a bit of like...
It's not really a Friday dinner, is it?
It's not really a Friday. So I kind of front load and I try and get in Monday, Tuesday. I smuggle the beans in then, you know. So, yeah, I think that's a bit easier.
And so you're conscious, are you, of getting the protein in that a growing family needs to have? And you're getting that from the ingredients you've described anyway.
Absolutely. Like you get all that protein. So my 17 year old was like, I need the, where is the chicken fillets? Where is the 40 grams of protein? So I was like, you know what? Go on TikTok and have a look there at all the beans and have a read. And then he's like, you know, he's actually loves the chickpea stew that I make because he's read about it and he's like, actually, there is protein.
You don't need like, you know, you don't need this massive amount of protein. Like fiber is, you know, it's really, really good for you. That's like really important. So you can get the protein. And maybe to relax a bit, I think maybe I was a little bit like they need the meat, you know, they need the meat. I think we all feel that, don't we?
That's just how we were brought up.
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Chapter 4: How did the family initially react to vegan dishes?
So it's very hard to break that.
It is hard to break that. But you actually, you know, and I have nothing against meat. My family, I cook the meat, but you don't need it every day, you know, and like it can make a difference to your environmental footprint. It's cheaper, just more tasty, you know.
Well, I think the cost for a lot of people is probably a motivator now, isn't it?
Yeah, absolutely. Like to make like a stew, like it just, it does, if you want to buy, it's like you can, if you want to buy decent meat, like it does cost. Although actually I live in Brussels, Clare, and it's much more expensive meat over there. I think people complain here about food prices, but actually it is much more expensive.
Like when I go back now, I'll be bringing back a few steaks in the suitcase. From little lovely Irish steaks. So it is cheaper here, but it's still expensive. If you're doing that every day, like it's, you know, it does definitely cost a lot of money.
All right, well, Mary, thank you very much for the tips. Yeah, thanks for having me on. We'll try and do that. Try and follow on Mary's great example. That's Mary McCarthy, their columnist with the Irish Independent.
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