In cooking vegetarian meals when I have a meat eating guest coming to stay?

[confusedpixie]

DP's mate is coming to stay at the end of the month for a week. We eat a vegetarian diet because I am vegetarian and it makes it easier for DP and I when cooking (we share the cooking 50/50 as we both enjoy it) but DP knows I'm happy for him to eat meat and happy to cook it.

DP has asked his mate if he particularly wants us to get meat in for when he stays and he says he's not fussed (he's somebody who doesn't like speaking up about things though), but my housemate has said it'll be really unreasonable of me to not cook meat for this guy. Housemate is currently on a faddy diet of meat and sauce with nothing else twice a day so I'm not sure whether he's just being close-minded as usual about this or not!

So WIBU to just not bother with cooking meat when DPs friend is here? I know DP won't bother as he finds it hard to concentrate on more than one meal going at once, whereas I'm capable of it with a couple of burnt bits but just can't be arsed to do it!

Ok that makes more sense seeker. No longer confused.

Glad to be of service! My father explained it to me like that 45 years ago!

Not in terms of grammar noq. Sorry, I am a right pedant.

If it's 'for' or 'to', it's always 'me' not 'I'. You wouldn't say, 'it makes it easier for he and we', would you, you'd say 'it makes it easier for us'.

Ahhh, too slow, sorry, seeker beat me.

I need to get earlier in the pedant queue.

Ive got it now. Completely clear in my head. Thank you

YANBU - plenty of meals you could cook where your guest wouldn't even think about lack of meat.

Yanbu, I've had many delicious veggie meals, no need to cook meat :)

It's too late for grammatical discussions for me, I thought I understood the "DP and I" "Me and DP" scenarios but will have to re-educate myself on that topic it seems!

I spent ages memorising affect/effect after the first time I posted on here I mixed them up

A resounding I ANBU, I feel good about that Thank you all!

LRD: My flatmate is extremely peculiar. He's going through a lot of fads at the moment (mid-30's, had just broke up with long term girlfriend when he moved here so having an early mid-life crisis I think!) He frequently asks how I have survived so long as a vegetarian, thinks I should be really ill after reading a couple of sites about it
Ironically, the children I look after are on a very similar diet to him for health reasons so I know quite a lot about the ideal diet he's preaching but he's struggling to grasp the need for vegetables still. Hopefully this fad of his will finish soon for the sake of his guts!

I am a very confirmed meat eater, and if I went to the house where the host was veggie, I would not expect meat.

I would be very happy with a veggie lasagne or a macaroni cheese

I would just give your guest what your having. If you can produce tasty veggie meals he should be quite happy with that. Veggies don't eat meat at any meal; non-veggies do not have to eat meat at every meal.

It's weird when people think you have to cook meat just cos someone eats it. If I had a friend over that liked eg tomatos and I didn't like tomatos I wouldn't make a tomato dish would I? I'd make something we all liked. Your flatmate is odd, Yanbu

I'm veggie, DD is veggie, DS and DH aren't but eat veggie at home because I cook veggie.

If people come round for dinner, they eat veggie. If I do a buffet type meal, I do put meat on so that people can have a choice, but if we eat together, then we eat together.

And what CecilyP said is right - Veggies = never eat meat; non-veggie = does eat meat, not has to at every meal, at all costs, or else!

I agree with CecilyP. I would be very surprised if meat eaters eat meat at every single meal anyway. The joy of catering for them is that you don't have to alter your usual habits - they can eat anything.

YANBU. We have masses of friends/family who are veggie and vegan. Like many people these days we do eat meat, but try very hard to only get high welfare meat, and probably eat veggie about 50/60% of the time. A week of eating veggie is no hardship at all. You are probably only talking about six or seven evening meals, as let's face it, most breakfasts and lunches can be veggie anyway without even thinking about it. I would never dream of asking a veggie household to cook meat for us.

I'd also suggest that both of you are given a break too, and you make arrangements to either eat out or get a takeaway for at least one evening - most houseguests would be delighted to pay for that and it would give him a chance to munch a dead thing if desperate, on neutral territory so to speak.

Ignore flatmate.

Actually a week of really nice veggie food might be the catalyst for guest to think about eating less meat himself.

I eat meat but also have a couple of vegetarian days a week as well. I am sure YANBU especially as you are used to it and will offer up a variety of nutritious meals.

If it were me i would plsm for veggie mains but get some bacon and ham in as well. That way friend and DH can have brekkie bacon rolls / ham sandwiches for lunch if they fancy it. Is a good compromise.

SIL is veggie, but cooks meat for her (small) ds.

I would never expect meat to be served when I visit her. Same as I wouldn't serve a meat dish when she visits me.

If you're worried, plan a takeaway and a meal out into the visit so everyone has a choice!

If the housemate isn't your partner why is he involved in the discussion on what your boyfriend's friend eats when he stays with you?
I would never expect a vegetarian to cook meat, but agree with others that as he's your boyfriend's friend he should be catering for him not you. Would you expect your boyfriend to do the cooking if you had a friend round? I presume you aren't a housewife if you share a flat with strangers.

Thanks for the replies, I will menu plan some takeouts too, I didn't think of take outs :)

2rebecca: I'll likely be in charge of two of the meals whilst his mate is here, as dp generally cooks on days that I work but will probably cook my two meals with him as he enjoys cooking together. Being honest I wouldn't mind cooking for then both the whole week as I've only cooked twice in the past month! Dp has been really into it since finishing his term at uni! Not that I'm going to tell him that if anything it's dp who does most if the stereo typical housewife duties as I have to do them at work and can't be bothered to clean up all the time at home.

And with the house mate I just wasn't sure if he was saying it as a meat eater or if it was sure to his own particular diet! He does make me doubt myself on how reasonable most people are sometimes!

I would expect to eat veggie only when staying with veggie friends (it would be odd for them to buy/ cook meat for me IMO).

If they cam to stay with me i would also cook veggie only but might also cook some meat if I could be bothered.

What pisses me off is when veggies refuse to eat the veggie food I've cooked lovingly in case I've contaminated it with meat. The one friend who does that now gets M&S ready meals at my house and I cook for everyone else.

He said he isn't fussed so he wont be expecting meat. Just cook what you normally would and don't worry too much.

Oh, and ignore your housemate, it is nothing to do with him!

I'm a meat eater and I'd expect to only eat veggie when staying with you. In fact, I'd be delighted to have the chance to test out some veggie dishes so I could ask for the recipe of any I liked and cook them for myself.

Most meat-eaters enjoy a bit of forced vegetarianism now and they. They get to eat something totally different, and they get some anecdotes to make to their carnivorous friends. Just make some good veggie fare and if your guest is reasonable he will enjoy unreservedly.