Catering for vegans

[PieandPotatoes]

We have friends who come and stay regularly. One is a vegan. They never bring any food with them. It takes me ages to do the food shopping (checking labels for ingredients). We spend loads on oatmilk, vegan cheese/yoghurt etc and we end up cooking two dishes at mealtimes as my husband refuses to eat anything without meat. I think that they should at least bring some vegan food with them. What do you think?

Why is it expensive? Surely it is more expensive to eat meat/fish than vegan. Just don't buy the ultre processed fake stuff, buy real food. You can cook some dhal, a filling salad with some grains and seeds, a casserole or curry with celeriac and mushrooms for example. Why do you buy vegan cheese, which is ultraprocessed and really bad?

I don't understand the fake vegan food. We are going to have a problem if lots of people are going vegan but what they are eating is fake food. You can be vegan and eat proper healthy food. And it is cheap.

Just stock up on frozen chips and mushy peas.
And serve that alongside whatever meal the rest of your are eating.
I'm sure she will get the hint after a few times

Personal they aren't your friends if your having to ask other people for advice.

If this was one of my friends before I even thought of asking others I'd address the person of whome it concerns.

And if I was the person of concern I'd be hurt that my friend has wrote a status involving are friendship rather than asking actually talking to me.

Over all talk to your friend or ask them to bring some ingredients or even they could do the cooking some times

I would hope that your 'friends' come for your company & not for free food/meals. When you stay with them do they provide non vegan food inline with your dietary requirements?
Also, so you all have a break from cooking maybe suggest a meal out when they stay. Most restaurants cater for different food choices nowadays.

Our vegan friends offered to bring their own food, but as I invited them, I felt it incumbent on me to provide the food. I also like a challenge. I think if it had been for a stay over a few days, that would have been too much for my meat-eating husband and I'd have had to hide the dog!

This! You don't need to go over the top. Vegan cheese is something many vegans dislike and avoid as too synthetic. Chickpeas are wonderful, hummus, rice with veggies. Vegan crackers if there's wine etc etc..
Also asking people to bring something isn't at all rude, it can be like a fun thing to do bring your favourite dish or something like that

I'm veggie but eat a lot of vegan meals. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 5 vegan meals. People who aren't veggie or vegan seems to have difficulty making something that everyone likes. I don't expect someone to cater to me and would show up with my own milk and cheese but I agree with one person here who said your issue is with the friendship, not the meal preparation. BBC good food has dozens of great recipes that you can add meat to for your other half 🤷🏻‍♀️

Never too late just ask.

Also, your husband could be a bit more helpful and flexible and eat a meat-free meal just once in a while!

I don't think they would provide meat etc because they wouldn't buy/store/cook meat for any reason themselves or others.
Seems to be a complete lack of understanding of what being a vegan is about on a lot of this thread.

When you stay with them do they provide non vegan food inline with your dietary requirements?

Why do people unable to think critically always come on and ask ridiculous questions like this ^^?

What's wrong with the question?

Tell them to bring their own expensive vegan stuff then, sausages, milk, cheese, as you don't want to be left with stuff you won't eat, thats fair enough.

Then cook stuff that works both ways, sausage and mash, just split it and add their vegan butter/cheese/milk to theirs and your butter/cheese/milk etc to yours.

All sorts of things that start with minced beef you could do the minced beef seperately and then split the veggie/tomatoey/oniony base and add the browned mince to your portion. As all those things tend to simmer for a while yours will still taste just fine and you can throw a handful of dry lentils into theirs.

If they object - tell them not to bother coming, in hindsight you're too busy/tired/just can't be arsed.

If they fail to bring with them what they need then they'll just have to have whatever the base meal is, without the meat/meat substitute.

They do sound like absolute dicks though so I think I'd tell them I'm away that weekend.. for the next decade at least. It's nothing to do with them being vegan, it's entirely to do with them being twats.

I’m not a vegan, I happily eat meat but I think you’re being too simplistic.

Eating a certain way becomes a way of life. It would be cruel to deny someone that.

Hence why prisons have to cater to vegetarians etc.

My daughter has a husband and a child who have dietary issues and she always brings appropriate food for them.

My exes family were like this. After several stays I waited until they arrived and said to my ex sister-in-law that we needed to go shopping for her stuff as obviously she knows what she can buy/eat. I got 2 baskets and gave her one for her stuff. She had no choice but to pay for her own stuff, but really they'd been cheeky expecting it for nothing on all the other visits.

@PieandPotatoes YABU

Vegan food can be so simple.

Just do a bean casserole and serve it with ciabbatta.

You can then use exactly the same recipe and put sausages in it for your husband.

@WendyA22 " I got 2 baskets and gave her one for her stuff. She had no choice but to pay for her own stuff, but really they'd been cheeky expecting it for nothing on all the other visits."

Well, I expect to get my dinner for free if I go to someone's house! Very odd to expect a guest to pay!

Dinner for free yes, special dietery requirements no!

I think you’re going wrong by trying to buy food labelled as vegan rather than just getting things that happen to be vegan. For breakfast things like bread, peanut butter, jam, baked beans, fruit, margarine.

for meals try think of things where you can have one meal with a meat and vegan alternative: pasta with two different sauce options, tacos with a selection of different fillings (build your own style), curry’s, roast with something out of the vegan freezer to replace the meat.

For desert, fruit and sorbet

i don’t think they should need to bring their own food

Or when they visit order a takeaway/ go out for a meal

i don’t think they should need to bring their own food

Have you missed that OP doesn’t invite these so called friends, they just invite themselves?

Which they will likely expect OP to pay for.

Then the op needs to tell them otherwise. Or why doesn’t the op invite herself to their house sometimes aswell

People would visit each other a lot less if you always need to wait for an official invite rather than asking when works. They don’t just say they are coming they ask when works, the op can also say they are busy and it doesn’t or she can say how about we come to yours this time.