Help! Vegan relative coming to stay.

[EvilTwins]

Not with me, actually, but with my parents. She is 18 years old, American and the step-daughter of my Mum's younger brother. She is coming to stay with my parents as part of a whistle-stop tour of "relatives" in England before going to study in Berlin for a year. She's vegan, and my mum is panicking because she has no idea of what she can cook.

Any ideas would be hugely appreciated. Thank you!

I would get your Mum to pop to the library and she will find lots of recipe books.

veggie curry & rice
Veggie stew and pots
Lentils/beans etc
Roasted vegs and couscous type salad things.
Pasta

How long is she staying for?

She's only staying for three nights, but Mum has only met her twice, and is keen to make her stay as comfortable as possible. This has kind of been landed on them - they're happy to have her, but my Uncle kind of made the arrangements, assuming that his sister and other two brothers would go along with it, and now my parents are keen to ensure that they look after her well - this is her first trip abroad on her own.

Cook anything you know is vegetarian (if you want meat alternatives, they could use things like soya mince in a meat-free bolognese). However, also ensure that any fat used is vegan (most margarines are), use soya milk in sauces, use veg stock and your parents should be fine.

Our family are meat-eaters, but when I cook veggie meals, they often end up being vegan as DD has dairy intolerance.

you need to be careful with meat alternatives as most have egg in

Breakfasts: Simple cereals (eg branflakes, cornflakes) as long as they don't contain honey and non milk-powdered muesli with soymilk or rice milk /Fresh fruit salad/beans on toast/ toast and nut butters/vegan marg/marmite/marmalade/Scrambled tofu

Lunches: Homemade veggie soup - a good mix of roasted veg/fresh veg or simply grilled peppers and canned toms with garlic, whizzed with a blender.
Pea and garlic and mint also a nice soup, made up with veg stock. Serve with wholegrain bread or crackers.
Hummus sarnies with spinach/tomato, kettle chips, salady bits
Linda mccartney sausage sarnies

Dinners:
Stuffed peppers/marrows/butternuts with bulgar wheat or rice, garlic, onion, lentils, spices.
Vegan pizza - just homemade pizza without the cheese but with loads of other veg toppings
Lentil daal with rice and chappatis
Veg curry with naan bread
Canellini bean goulash
Pasta and roasted veg and bean bake
Tofu stirfry and rice or non-egg noodles
Baked tofu and dressed pasta
Falafel and pitta
Nut roasts with all the roastie sides

Puddings:
Baked fruit such as apples/peaches/plums/figs with cinnamon and some vanilla sugar. Serve with a sprinkling of roasted nuts or a soya cream alternative. (such as alpro)
Crumble made with vegan marge
Vegan ice cream (can get it in most health food shops and larger supermarkets)
Dark chocolate melted and served over bananas with chopped dried figs and hazlenuts. Yum.
Most cakes can be baked with soya milk and vegan marg. It's quite amazing how little it affects the taste, too.

and cakes need egg too. not that you can't make a delicious vegan cake, cos you can, but you need a decent alternative for egg

fry's sausages are THE best vegan sausages. (linda mc= Bleugghhh). All their products are fab. try Holland and barratt, or goodness direct for online.

Frozen nut cutlets with baked potato and salad.

lentil soup

flapjacks

Sorry - yes forgot to mention the replacemnet for egg. You can use that orgran egg replacer. It's basically a blend of different natural starches like xanthan gum etc. So it works to leaven and bind the same as egg.

mashed banana/applesauce is also a good egg replacer

Peanut butter is a good standby.

Soya yoghurts in the fridge.

Oatly 'milk' or similar.

Lentil bolognese made with red split lentils instead of mince.

Stir-fry with green pepper, onion, bean sprouts and carrots and tofu, seasoned with soy or black bean sauce.

Just to point out that most pasta contains egg and most vegetarian curries contain milk/ cream.

Asian food is normally very good for vegans.

Why don't they get he email address and ask her what sort of thing she likes to eat? I'm a vegan but those soya desserts make me go bleurrrgh, but if someone bought them in for me specially I'd feel as though I had to eat them!

i agree with sally about e-mailing her

but not about the pasta! virtually all dried pasta is egg-free

and if you;re making curry yourself you just wouldn't use any dairy would you?

I know you can get both without but it's always better to check these things- wouldn't want op's parents to blithely go out and buy special fresh pasta and readymade curries!

Thank you all! Really helpful. Mum has emailed her - she said that she really likes porridge. Great, so that's breakfast sorted... My Dad prefers soya milk and yogurts to dairy, so those are always in anyway. I'll pass on your brilliant suggestions to mum- I'm sue she'll go with some of yours - smash. Mum and Dad will want to cook things they can all eat together, so there won't be an issue with buying ready meals specially - I think it's more likely that Mum will cook, so the suggestions about good alternatives are great.

Thanks again!

Aagh, my computer's not workign properly so I can't link the recipe for you. But my fave veggie recipe is on The Guardian website. Search for "Allegra McEvedy curry sweet potato lentil". Hopefully it should work - I think it's called a 'winter-warming' curry. Takes an hour to make and is bloody fabulous - though you might like to use less chilli - as she says she's rather 'butch' with the chillies!

Bruschetta, soup, chili, salad, stir fried veggies over skinny pasta or rice.
Cut up tomatoes,(or canned) with chopped onions and garlic, add optional cut up peppers and mushrooms, served over pasta.
An assortment of fresh fruit.
Probably good for your mother to e-mail her again, and ask if there are any foods she doesn't like. And confirm no egg or dairy, some people say they are vegan but will use egg or dairy.

"And confirm no egg or dairy, some people say they are vegan but will use egg or dairy."

But how does that work, automatic Q's when you're a vegan, is What is a vegan and what do you eat.

So Q1 - What is a vegan, A - It's a very strict vegetarian who as well as not eating meat, also doesn't eat eggs or dairy. Oh but I do. - So you're not a vegan then......

Ain't never heard of a 'vegan' who ate egg & dairy.

Must be the same as e a 'vegatarian' who eats chicken and fish.

tbh, I wouldn't email her again. It gets very tiring having to constantly answer Q about wht you will or won't eat. Don't get me wrong, I think you and your parents are being very kind, considerate and thoughtful. I just think the lack of Q would also be appreciated. I agree with Sally that some of these processed offerings are yuk, but if your mum is a willing and competant cook, there are plenty of easy possibilities out there (like the baked fruit) without having to buy processed stuff.

What about fried mushrooms on toast (yum)
Veg chilli & rice
Wraps
Don't forget chips :)

She is going to have fun in Germany for a year if she's vegan.....

nc - yup, that's what we think - Germany and Vegan don't tend to be words that go together naturally...

Thanks for the suggestions. That gives us loads to go on. She's definitely vegan - Mum knows no eggs or dairy and is keen to do it properly (my Aunt, who is also hosting, has a vegan daughter-in-law, and has told Mum it's easy - you just don't mention the fact that things have egg in. Mum and I are both about that)

there is a lovely vegan thread on here that will give you lots of ideas of where to look online/books to borrow from library

Recipe ideas here: www.veganparent.com/?q=node/9

just suggest you check she eats vegetables - I know some young vegetarians who don't like most vegetables. Makes mealtimes a little tricky

Our ds decided he wanted to be veggie. He was a bit fussy. We told him he could be fussy, OR he could be veggie, but he couldn't be a fussy veggie.