Easy afternoon flexible catering range of dietary requirements

[CharlieChaplin99]

Some family members are coming to visit next weekend to see DD who has a birthday. I want them all to feel welcome, well catered for whilst minimising my stress levels on the day.

One member is coeliac, one is a very restricted eater but does like pizza and is veggie, one eats high protein, low calorie and low carb (always on a diet/fitness kick), a couple of others have very big attitudes, MIL (is staying with us) is a picker and if I do a buffet she will wind me up touching it and picking at it (encouraging others to do the same so half of it has vanished before I have even finished prepping it). My DM may also drop in and I want her to feel welcome and not feel like she is interrupting but she may only stay for a cup of tea.

So a couple may just drop in for a quick visit to drop off a present and a quick five minute chat, a couple may drop in for tea/coffee and birthday cake, others may stay for an extended period of time either around late breakfast/brunch time and stay until mid afternoon. As half of them are DH’s family and don’t like to pre plan be tied to a time, staying in a hotel over night its always hard to tell whether some will turn up between 10am and 11am and may head home after an hour or whether they may stay well into the afternoon expecting to be fed and watered before heading home.

DH thinks get some frozen pizza in and thats it job done. But we can only cook three pizzas at a time and I will feel like I haven’t made much effort. Another option is to make a big chilli in the slow cooker and have it ready on the side so anyone who wants it can help themselves. If any left I can freeze it. But then a faff messing about with rice and bread. Or baked potatoes might work better. Any suggestions please?

Thank you if you read all that. I just want to be organised and have food in and have things ready so that I am not too stressed and fraught on the day as also suffer hot flushes so being too close to the heat of the kitchen for too long doesn’t help.

In an ideal world I would love to say drop in between X time and Y time. But DH’s family don’t like to be restricted so just over complicates everything.

I dont think its the range of requirements that makes this difficult, its the timings

Yes you could have a vat of some curry or chilli or whatever on the side but for how long? And the potatoes, good idea, easier to keep warm than rice or bread and less faffing, but they dont stay warm all day

Isnt there even a ball park figure of when people would want to eat?

I would be tempted to do the buffet thing and leave it out but then I dont mind food left out all day, other people are aghast at that and want things left in the fridge. I cant stand cold food and i like to pick all day

Cant you say that lunch is at x time so if anyone wants a chance at eating, then be around then. And outside of that time, its nuts, crisps, crackers, cheeses, hams, chicken, salad on the worktop for people to help themselves

Do you need to keep everything separate for the coeliac?

Well Pizza is not good for the coeliac.

I was going to suggest something like a chilli in the slow cooker and potatoes in the oven.

Do you have a second sc or could you borrow one? So you could have one vegi and one meat.

Fish in passata with herbs and spices works well in a slow cooker.

Put out a few other buffet things, cheese board, salad maybe garlic bread?

So vegetarian, high protein, non-buffet that can be kept warm for a decent period? No clue re coeliac. It sounds stressful...people are so particular these days (apart from the coeliac of course).

Vegetable lasagne and a salad? And do a roast chicken too so people can chose according to their diet? Both of those things are pretty forgiving and a chicken is fine warm or cold.

Or soup that you can heat up as needed. You could do a chicken and rice one and a vegetarian one like mushroom or tomato.

Thanks if every one lived locally I would say drop in at X time or between X time and Y time. But as they are travelling and DH’s family it compounds things. In the past they have given me an ETA when asked and have been two hours late or just eaten and or aren’t hungry when I have spent a fortune and hours prepping. DS is home from Uni and him and DH are always hungry and won’t want to not eat between breakfast and mid afternoon.

I am the coeliac but will be lucky if I get the chance to eat anything so not a problem unless MIL tries to dunk bread in the chilli etc.

Thought about doing both a veg and a meat stew coeliac friendly but don’t want to faff about with all veg and accompaniments and have a formal sit down and it will be awkward for my DM and godmum if they pop in mid meal.

I quite like this Wild by Tart tomato and harrissa tart with oat crust. Can you open the link? Its on their insta too.

The beauty of this one is that it can be eaten at any temperature and is pretty substantial and decently filling. Its really easy and quick and it also tastes lovely. My sons love it and they are mad on meat so I feel it must be good! You could have it with new potatoes or not. Definitely a simple salad.

Roast tomato and harissa tart with an oat crust

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/baking-and-desserts/pies-and-tarts/roast-tomato-harissa-tart-oat-crust-recipe/

I'd make soup for midday - butternut squash and lentil is my favourite and would suit all palates? Then I would do two big chillis, con and sin carne, and dial a pizza for the picky eater if they won't eat the chilli. Get in a load of microwave rice so you can quickly prep it when people want to eat.

Well in that case my vote is 2 slow cookers, one meat dish, one veggie dish. Jacket potatoes kept warm in the oven, they'll shrivel up but no matter

Keep bread or pizza out of it

You could also have a big vat of soup on standby, lentil and veggie, different flavours to the slow cooker dish for variety

Some shredded roast chicken for the meat eaters to pop into their bowls of soup if they wish

All of the above just sits on the worktop/hob for people take as and when and its freezable for left overs and should be cheaper than buying buffet bits than wont keep

I suppose you'll have to have something to serve with the soup though, so perhaps do have some rolls on the side ready if you can keep away from them

Then crisps, nuts, olives, cheese sticks, fruits.

People wont starve.

So a roast of sorts, accompaniments, a pizza (for the restrictive eater) and some other bits and bats that won’t take up much oven space (any good suggestions). I suppose the weather is still cool so won’t matter too much.

Jacket potatoes done in the oven, then kept warm in a slow cooker.
Second slow cooker (of you have one, or can borrow) veggie chilli.
Grated cheese/ salad/ soured cream in the fridge & offered when folk are eating.

Sounds like a right old pain in the arse.

I think I’d have two big pans of chilli, curry or casserole which I’d save until most people were there and serve with bread/rice and salad as appropriate. People who come later could warm it up.

For anybody else, I’d probably just offer cakes and cheese/crackers.

Big birthday cake to be cut when most are there.

Olives/crisps kept in packaging and opened as needed.

My love, good enough is.... Good enough. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Your MIL is staying so she will pick anyway at anything and you will be annoyed. Let that one go.

Have you a microwave? Have a pile of microwave rices in. Not perfect, but good enough. Do the chilli beforehand.

Pre cook the pizza and cut it up. The picky person can eat that.

Decide when you'll cut the cake and text that to people.

Can you have somewhere else to be some of the day so you're not sitting around waiting for people to turn up so you can wait on them, catering-wise? That would do my head in and I'd feel resentful before they'd even arrived.

I think you can do anything, but include plenty of protein. Then the carbs can be avoided by some. Roast veggies or/and salad.

With respect, I wouldn't give a second bought to the high protein/low carb person.

I'd literally just do olives and crisps as someone's suggested (on a couple of trays sort of dotted about) and then have one thing - lowest common denominator says a veggie soup, chilli or curry in the slow cooker.

You could keep baked potatoes in the oven on low, and you wouldn't have the temperature issues that you get with rice. Or chapattis/flatbreads, with some gf ones available.

A pizza for the picky eater is easy enough but obvs keep away from the potatoes.

Then again, as a pp says, I'd cut the cake when the most people are there.

Godspeed!

I couldnt even be bothered to do the rice with all that faff to be honest, microwave or not, thats why I would go for the jackets, keep them warm, stuff them with the chilli or bolognese or whatever comes out of the slow cooker.

That is terrible behaviour from your MIL, I'd have stopped it the first time I saw it.

Apart from the menu, can't you get DH to keep his DM well away from the food until you say it's OK ?

I think the soup idea is good. Maybe two different ones.

A couple large frittatas would be fine on protein/carbs/veggie.

Then a bowl of roast potatoes (pre prep and just roast off when people arrive) or new potatoes (again I’d pre do them and just heat through when people turn up.

and maybe a salad or a plate or crudités.

Thanks all.

@oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends my MIL is very elderly now and thinks she can do and say exactly as she likes and does so frequently (she has been told many times).

Think I will do a chilli in advance veg and meat some grated cheese and serve it with jackets for anyone hungry and have some pizza and picky bits on the side but not loads for anyone peckish who wants them and let everyone know I will do birthday cake at 2 (I’ll serve food at 1 and let DS and DH know to get stuck in and it might prompt others to do the same, jackets are cheap so if they don’t get eaten its fine). I won’t do any bread then MIL can’t try my patience by dunking it in something. I won’t be eating birthday cake.

For this a curry or chilli will work beat as can bw kept warm in slow cooker wnd rice and ve cooked in a rice cooker and kept warm there.

I’m rubbish at this. I just wanted to say DH’s family sound like a PITA.

If you're coeliac and hosting make it all GF. Chances are the muggles won't actually notice and you won't be stressed about people contaminating the food. What about loaded wedges? Could make it load your own so people can have meat or veggie, less/more etc. Pre bagged salad to go with it?

I’d probably do nothing as this sounds super annoying.

but I would consider doing a couple soups in a slow cooker with a small buffet of bread, cheese, etc. I’d have a serving of each set aside for the coeliac and let the picky eater figure it out for themselves as you can’t possibly expect to be catered if you only eat pizza.

id likely do something like beef and potato and then this fab butternut squash lentil soup my husband makes that everyone always likes.