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?

It's just you who seems to be struggling.

Nole
Indeed it's a chouce. An ethical choice. To avoid any exploitation of animals including killing them, eating them for our own benefit, using them for furniture or testing for products, using them for their own products ( honey) , interfering with their normal cycle of fertility/ breeding ( chickens, milking cows) avoiding cruelty from the consumer industry, not using them for entertainment purposes ( zoos, racing etc)
More recently also shown to be better for the environment

It can be an ethical choice but it isn't always.

I think you don't understand human nature at all.

No, it's an ethical choice extending to not buying any animal products wherever possible. The point of this is to eliminate cruelty by removing demand - McDonalds would go vegan overnight if they thought it would be profitable enough. Diet just follows from that. There's no ethical reason not to eat roadkill or buy, say, a used car with leather seats.

The basic ethical principle is this:

"If it's unnecessary and involves cruelty, avoid it, otherwise no need to avoid"

Hence taking essential animal-based or tested medication is OK, whereas buying a hat with feathers in it is not OK.

Ethics aside, meat and dairy is making a large contribution to climate change (about the same as all transport, would you believe?) and is unsustainable. Changing to a plant-based diet would reduce this dramatically and free over 70% of land currently used for agriculture.

@Nolegusta "It's just you who seems to be struggling"

Would you mind trying again one more time, please?

Veganism is an ethical choice.

Plant based diet is just that - a dietary choice.

Veganism can be an ethical choice.
It isn't always an ethical choice.

I suggest reading through the existing posts. It's all explained in fairly simple terms.

Do any of use understand the breadth of human nature at all?

People might think they're making ethical choices, which aren't actually ethical choices at all.

Bosh! is a great vegan cookbook. It can be adapted to include dairy and meat in the recipes if you want, but the food is fab. My parents, both in their 80s, enjoyed the crispy fried tofu with sweet and sour sauce. First time they'd had it. Probably won't cook it again for themselves, but they definitely eat it at mine, with some fried rice.

I would only go so far as to buy in a substitute for milk. I wouldn't buy vegan cheese, but would stick with curries, risotto, chilli, etc - meals that can easily and cheaply be made and meat added if necessary.

Give your guests the left-over oat milk to take home. Or you can use it to make (Bird's) custard, and no-one would know the difference.

Exactly.

Friend of mine is vegan
Her husband and kids eat meat
They all cook for each other
It's a perfectly valid question
Surely you understand that not everyone is the same?

No one is denying anyone anything.
Way of life..... that they have chosen.
It's a choice

I suspect that they are the exception. I don't know any vegetarians or vegans who would handle or cook meat.

My Uni friend was a strict vegetarian but she cooked chicken for her partner.
I'm mostly vegetarian but cook meat for my family.

I'm a ' strict' vegan. My family buy ready cooked meat etc if they want it which isn't v often and put it in the other fridge but I'm the only cook and my fridge / freezer is vegan.

However quite a lot of my vegan friends won't eat in a cafe or restaurant that serves meat - though I do it wouldn't be a steakhouse or anything very meat - orientated.

And as the years have gone by the pans are kept separate. I just do stews/ chilli's/ curries eg. But if anyone fries eggs etc there are separate pans. We don't ever have raw meat or fish. Except for Christmas Day and we use separate tray / oven.

That's quite extreme. Do they have separate plates and cutlery as well?

DD is vegetarian, and we eat mainly vegetarian food while she is home, but on the odd occasion we have meat I will obviously use separate pans and utensils to avoid cross contamination while I am cooking, but once they are washed DD will use any pan I have used for cooking.

We keep all food that needs refrigerating in the one and only fridge that we own.

Well I've been vegan for many years now , one child was vegan one veggie one changing in and out but all adults.
Frying pans can stay quite eggy and it's really mainly that I have a vegan stew pan ( picture)
Veggie bhuna

Just fed a vegan, 2 vegetarians and 3 omnivores on roast vegetables and chickpeas with Romesco sauce, rocket and pea salad with balsamic dressing and apple pie. No UHP. No extra shopping. No complex cooking. Everyone well fed and happy. Really don't understand the fuss.

That sounds delicious @CurlewKate

My favourite vegan meal is Yotam Ottolenghi's confit tandoori chickpeas. There is a long running thread about it on MN.

What is Romesco sauce?

I mean if that's to your taste then great.
It's not to mine.
You can understand that we all have different tastes, likes and preferences, right?