Menu plan for foreign exchange students

[Stowickthevast]

Help! Dd1 has got 2 foreign exchange students coming to stay for a week. We'll be having to cater for 6 of us every evening and do packed lunches each day for the students.

One of them doesn't eat spicy food and the other one doesn't eat pork and needs halal food. Dd1 doesn't eat beef.

So please help me with some menu ideas. Of our general weekly meals, I think only satay chicken with rice & veg chilli (with no spice) would fit the bill. Oh and pasta & pesto but that seems a bit too basic for guests!

Ask them what meals they typically eat

Basic is good for foreign teens. Where are they from? If Italy or France avoid anything spicy / currries etc they hate that.

pesto pasta
lasagne
pizza
toad in hole maybe with veggie sausages for the halal one
chicken stew with cous cous
fish and chips they all want to try that

I put the food in the middle of the table and let them help themselves its stressful having a huge plate of food plonked in front of you as a young guest

Sunday roast
Stir fry with sweet and sour sauce
Ratatouille
Sausages chips and peas
Jacket potato with choice of fillings - beans, cheese, tuna etc

Yeah I'd do basic.

Chicken nuggets and chips
Pasta
Pizza
Jacket potato.

A lot of teens like simple stuff

When I was catering for a large number of children with different needs and likes, I used to have various dishes of meat, veg and sauces on the table for them to make up their own wraps.
They used to say that apart from a roast dinner, it was their favourite meal.

Roast (halal) chicken, roast potatoes and veg
Salmon and broccoli pasta (not that basic!)
Aubergine parmigiana
Fish, chips, and mushy peas
Chicken (halal) and mushroom risotto
Omelette Arnold Bennet
Spanish omelette and salad
Minestrone soup and garlic bread

I'd try to do some stereotypical meals. With

Bangers and mash
Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings
Fish and chips

Then some meals that are popular such as
Macaroni cheese and Nando's style chicken
Fajitas

Risottos, fish pie, lasagne made with quorn mince and lentils, salmon and asparagus in a creamy sauce with linguini, definitely fish and chips and a Sunday roast.
For lunches, cheese and biscuits, tuna and sweetcorn/cucumber, cheese, egg sandwiches, salads, falafel balls in a wrap.

It's worth keeping in mind that a lot of pestos will not be halal unless they are vegetarian also.

I would suggest pescatarian style dinners with fish or even vegetarian some nights, would mean having to cook less variety?

Halal chicken is available in Tescos/Asda I believe. Could you make veg tray bake style meals with meat cooked separately? It would be worth checking whether the guest who eats halal only is okay with eating food cooked in the same oven etc as non halal.

I don't observe halal or kosher myself but have cooked for mixed dietary requirements in the past.

Pizza

Typically British foods such as fish & chips, roast chicken (halal) dinner, toad in the hole with vegetarian sausages, vegetarian shepherds pie, chicken pie.

Other ideas...Frittata, paella, Chinese takeaway, vegetarian spaghetti bolognaise or lasagna.
Fruit crumble or pie & custard, fruit fool, strawberries & cream, rice pudding, egg custard tart, Eton Mess, trifle, Victoria sponge, Scones with cream & jam.

I agree with PP that 'traditional' or stereotypical British food is probably the way to go - surely that's all part of the experience? I'd also keep it fairly simple. So maybe:

Fish and chips with mushy peas
Toad in the hole (or just bangers - either veggie sausages or chicken/turkey versions?), mash and veg
Roast (chicken) dinner is surely a must!
Shepherd's pie with quorn/soya mince
Scotch egg (veggie shop bought) with chips and salad
Fish pie

And some that aren't necessarily traditional but are definitely typical British meals!

Quiche with chips and salad
Jacket potatoes with a selection of fillings (tuna mayo, cheese, beans, chilli (spice optional), coleslaw etc)
Fajitas (spice optional)
Some kind of pasta, maybe quorn lasagne? Though maybe not if they're Italian!
Pizza with a choice of toppings (as above re pasta 😆)

For lunches I'd play it safe (for dinners if they really can't stomach any meal there would be alternatives presumably but you don't want them hungry at lunch!). I'd just stick to the usual sandwiches/wraps, fruit, snack bar, crisps etc. Check what fillings they like or if there's anything they hate!

I agree, go traditional & veggie!
But please look at offering some side dish with each meal.

Example: veggie lasagne with salad & garlic bread. Just in case they don't like the main event... it can be awkward for the teenagers.

Depending on what country they are from, they will be used to Just having some bread or salad with a meal!

Some great suggestions here, thanks!

They're German, so I guess used to meat & potatoes? A roast is a great call and I'd forgotten about baked potatoes which are nice and easy with different fillings. There's quite a few halal butchers near us as large Muslim population round here so shouldn't have a problem there - I guess we'll all just eat halal meat for the week or veggie/fish.

Takeaway fish & chips one day is a good shout and yes to lots of variety.

Not aubergines! I hosted foreign students for 11 years and so many of them said they hated aubergines. My own teens both hate them too.

Dont bother with a takeaway they are happy with supermarket shove in oven fish and chips

If they are Dutch they will eat curry etc but not the Italians.

Never met a teen that didn’t like toad in the hole and they don’t have it so quite a good one. Custard is seen as a famous English thing they like so give them that.