My family is coming to stay 5 days at the end of the month. Our kids are small so we will be eating a lot of meals in. I'm a hostess at heart, so no matter what any of you say, I will give my best shot at making everyone happy and comfortable. I would love any ideas on how to structure meals around these 4 difficult eaters:
My mother is gluten free (sensitive not intolerant)
My sister is went vegan (strict)
her small son is allergic to dairy
and BIL is from the mid west, and likes a very limited cuisine (meat and potatoes type) not into healthy, fruit, no fruits in salads, no mango with with meat, no thai food.....)
I'm thinking along the lines of foods you assemble yourself. thai steak salad (bil can leave out the mango, sister can leave off the meat, mother can leave off the noodles......
So help, me here, every meal is like a puzzle to figure out.
thx
Keep it coming. Thanks so much. funny thing is that its the meat and potatoes eater that really throughs me for a loop. I cook mostly vegetarian, so its not a huge stretch to accommodate one restrictive eater, but 4!
Hi Jane,
Here is a link that I have used. The recipes are vegan and gluten free. It will give some good ideas that you can modify for the meat eater.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/gluten-free-recipes/
Hope this helps,
S.
First let me say,"Bless You for even trying"! I myself am a gluten, dairy, corn and peanut free vegan. (vegan by choice- that was first, and then developed allergies to the rest!) My husband is all protein, protein, meat, dairy, protein body builder. My oldest is all meat and potatoes and the younger one could care less about meat unless it is processed. Thankfully they have no real allergies that we know of..... But meal times are a....well you can imagine.
Two sites that are a godsend to me are www.vegweb.com has a whole section of gluten free, dairy free...and www.glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com which has a whole section of vegetarian and vegan recipes as well. www.livingwithout.com is another great one, their magazine is awesome! Hope that helps! Feel free to message me if you need more help!
Ask them to send you a list of stuff they can eat and their usual meals. One of my grandsons is allergic to milk and his mom can list the safe foods off the top of her head which saves me the trouble of reading labels in the store (of course I read the safe food ones anyway in case they've changed something from the last time I purchased it).
Nori Rolls
You can get seaweed rolls or rice paper rolls and everyone can make their own. Offer lots of condiments and sauces to go with them:
rice w/ a little vinegar to make it sticky
chicken, beef, fish
uilienne sliced carrots and cucumbers
cheese
avocado
sprouts
plum sauce
peanut sauce
soy sauce
miso-ginger dressing
sriacha hot sauce
I have searved this at my house many times for the same sort of guests you describe above.
5 days of buffets! Those are the best way to go, that way everyone can take what they want and you have left overs for the next meal.
You can prepare most of it in advance too. Have it all handy so they can choose what they want. You do not need to be too fancy, just make a variety and let every one choose.
Cut veggies: carrots, cucumbers, broccoli etc
Fruit: **Best for digestion before a meal
Soups: vegetable soup, minestrone, butternut squash,
Salads: potato, coleslaw, tossed, Caesar,
Sides: Quinoa, couscous, rice (can be eaten hot or cold), bakes potato etc
Meats: (pls note I am vegetarian so you will have to do your own thinking here)
Desserts/snacks: Granola and Yogurt, muffins, cheese and crackers
Themes: taco night, pasta night, etc.
Jane, as a vegetarian I am VERY aware of what my host/ess has to do for me when I am eating at someone else's place. I am very accommodating and very helpful with setting her up for success, ASK your family for help and suggestions. Trust me, you may be surprised at how much they want to help you to "teach" you their ways. Have fun with it!
B.
Family Success Coach
Try the cookbook Vegan with a Vengence. GL!
Oh dear...bless you! ;) I think you're on the right track. You could do taco/Mexican night b/c that can easily be veggie and gluten free (corn tortillas). Roasting peppers in the oven is WAY easy and would be a nice addition to a taco salad for your vegan sister. Plus, you can buy some Boca crumbles that are like meat and perfect for taco night for her to get some protein. You can also use the crumbles on top of spaghetti, which is another easy meal. You can make pasta, sauce, a salad, a veggie, and some bread and people can eat what they like.
Baked potato bar would be another easy option. Make sure you have some margarine on hand for both your sis and her son and you can top with broccoli, bacon, whatever!
Make veggie pizza! Buy gluten free crust, then add veggies, leave the cheese off 1/2 for your nephew, add pepperoni for your BIL.
Done :)
Even my meat man husband eats veggie pizza ;)
Stuff to add: shredded mozzarella, feta, artichokes, baby spinach, olives, and tomatoes. Like I said, ditch the veggies and use pepperoni if need be. Cheap, and it feeds a lot!
tostadas??? Make sure the corn tortilla shells are gf and the beans vegan. Guests can add what they want: lettuce, cheese, salsa, tomatos, sour cream, you can even have some shredded beef for your bro. Or maybe a large flour tortilla to make a burrito. Although I do think you are nuts for catering to everyone it is certainly a very nice thing to do. I wish you luck!
Try a lasagna with gluten-free noodles and tofu in place of the meat and cheese. Sounds wierd, but the tofu absorbs the seasonings from the sauce and is really quite good. For the BIL have soup and sandwich makings available if he doen't like the featured entree.
This sounds like my family! My son has Crohns and is on a very strict gluten-free diet (among other restrictions), can't tolerate corn in any form, and can't digest most vegetables, either cooked or raw. My daughter is ovo-lacto vegitarian, allergic to most meats, can't digest most fatty foods, and has a severe peanut allergy; and my husband has oral allergy syndrome and can't eat most fresh fruits. I'm also gluten sensitive.
One thing you should know is that most gluten-free foods on the market really aren't as they can be made with grains that contain low concentrations of gluten. My son and I make virtually all gluten-free baked items like bread, dough, pie crust, etc. from scratch using a combination of rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch. Bean flours can be used too, and a wonderful pie crust can be made with a mix of rice flour and ground almonds. There are a lot of good recipies available on the internet these days -- hunt around. Make sure to include a small amount of guar gum or xanthum gum into your doughs, which will help to replace some of the stretchiness you lose by not having a glutinous flour, but don't use too much as they can be somewhat constipating (you can buy these at markets like Whole Foods and Sprouts).
I think your build-it-yourself salad is a terrific idea. If you want a hot dish, consider something similar by making a Vietnamese Pho. Supply pretty much any kind of bean, lentils, and tofu as protein alternatives for the vegan. Stay away from most vegetarian "cheeses" as they contain some milk (there are rich cheeses available, but they can be hard to find), and read the lables on most commercial veggie burgers as they're primarily made from wheat gluten. The same goes for seitan. If your vegan can handle gluten though, go for it. Morning Star makes a good line of vegan "meats", such as chicken nuggets and patties, veggie rib cutlets (my daughter LOVES these), hot wings and chicken drumettes, but check carefully as some do contain dairy. (An easy thing to do is look for the kosher symbol on foods. Anything with a U in a circle, a K in a triangle or star, KSA, etc (there are about 2500 different symbols!) that also says it's pareve, or which is not followed by a D will be dairy-free.)
Annies makes a line of gluten-free rice-based burgers that are OK with lots of condiments on top ;-), and Tofurkey and FieldRoast make some really good varieties of sausages, such as apple sausage, bratwurst, and italian (these are NOT gluten free, however). These can be sliced and very lightly sauteed, then added to pasta for a very satisfying dish. We like to make it with a vodka sauce (no vodka -- just a mix of tomato sauce with a white sauce of some kind, but then it would be dairy. You can always make a couple of different jarred sauces and let people mix and match their own.) There are a variety of pastas made from brown rice flour, jerusalem artichoke flower, or quinoa flour that are fairly indistinguishable from semolina pastas. Also, if your gluten-sensitive person can handle corn, there's a guy who sells fresh gluten-free pastas which are a bit pricey but very good at the Oceanside Thursday morning farmer's market (maybe at the evening one, too. I've only been once). If you go, find the lady who sells Bitchin' Sauce and buy a bunch for dips. These are awesome sauces and are based on ground almonds. I'm heading to San Diego for a conference midFebruary and plan to stop in Oceanside on the way home to stock up on these, since they're not available in L.A.!
Desserts can be the most difficult to manage. We usually go for things like baked apples, flourless chocolate souffles, or tofu- or rice-based "ice creams." Some of these are pretty good, and some are a bit of an acquired taste.
Good luck -- this can be a definite challenge, but one that can actually be a lot of fun to figure out.
Side dish of quinoa salad along with a side dish of potatoes?
Gluten free homemade pizza dough as well as regular pizza dough. Let everyone make their own pizzas. The dairy free child just puts on no cheese
They make quinoa pasta and rice pasta for gluten free dinners. You could have a spaghetti night with both regular pasta and gluten free pasta.
Add your own "healthy" foods on to salads - like a salad bar
Thai lettuce wraps...with or without chicken...with a peanut sauce. A side of steamed rice. The BIL who hates Thai food can just eat rice with chicken and veggies on it...but come on! Who does not love peanut sauce?
For breakfast just do make your own and have difference cereals, bagels, yogurt and granola, fruit. Maybe a fritata one morning. Those who eat cheese can add some on top after that take a slice. You could make breakfast sausages to please the BIL.
For lunches you can do soup (butternut squash soup made with stock, apples and sauteed onoins), sandwiches (for those who eat them), lettuce wraps for those who do not.
Hamburgers and veggie burgers one night. Ask your vegan sister which brand is yummy. The gluten free mom can eat no bun. A side of beans and a veggie and a salad.
A crockpot vegetarian chile. Then brown some ground beef and those who want can add it to their chile. A side of gluten free corn bread if that is possible??? A corn casserole side dish?
Taco night. Beans in the taco for the vegan sister. Can your mom eat taco shells? Lots of taco fixings and let everyone make their own.
Good luck! I am like you - I like the challenge and like to serve foods my guests can eat!
