Share your tips for feeding a family with different dietary requirements with Flora

[AbbiCMumsnet]

Cooking a meal for the family can be hard at the best of times, so having family members with different dietary requirements can throw an extra spanner in the works. Whether it’s because of allergies and intolerances, or due to environmental, ethical or health concerns, we know that a lot of households have to think and prepare carefully to make sure their mealtimes cater to everyone around the table.

Because we think mealtimes can be tricky when you have to cater to different dietary requirements for family members, Flora would like to hear about your experiences and how you navigate through this.

Here’s what Flora has to say: “Health and wellbeing has never been so important to consumers, people care more about what goes into the products they are feeding themselves and their families, but they are not prepared to compromise on taste – and they shouldn’t have to. With a great new recipe making FLORA more delicious than ever, our new 100% Plant Goodness range can be enjoyed by the whole family.”

How does your family cater for those who have different dietary requirements when it comes to mealtimes? How can your family make sure everyone’s requirements are met without spending too much extra time, money, or effort on preparation? Has your family adapted well to managing emerging dietary requirements, or have there been any hiccups on the way?

Whatever your tips and tricks are on making these mealtimes a success, post them on the thread below and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where 1 MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight Terms and Conditions apply

My husband is vegetarian but the rest of us aren’t so I cook the base of the meal pasta sauce or curry etc then add the meat or Quorn at the end that way I don’t have to make two meals

Most of the time I just cook things that don't contain certain allergens so everyone has dairy and soy free alternatives.

Occasionally I will batch cook meals other meals.

It doesn't seem much of a chore to me; it's our normal 🤷‍♀️

Choosing to cook mainly dishes that can be easily tweaked to suit all four of us.
Having a stock of frozen portions of everybody’s favourite dish, so that if particular requirements cannot be accommodated into a recipe, then the person has an alternative that they really enjoy.

When my daughter was dairy/egg free we used an allergy cookbook as the basis for most things and would add in things we liked that she couldn't have as needed. As the book also excluded 6 other common allergies many of the recipes were suitable for her friends with other allergies too.

We have 4 extremely different diets! I'm veggie, DH eats meat but not fish, DD1 is allergic to milk, DD2 is allergic to milk, eggs, nuts and sesame and is going off meat! I either cook separate meals or i have created meals with variations so we have basically the same thing with add-ins! It's been a long process but i think it now kind of works! Due to the allergies I tend to have to visit multiple shops for different safe items, but i plan weekly and try to stick with it. Everything is homemade, and i will cook and freeze foods for days when I'm working.

i think it's harder for people when we visit as they're not used to it, so i will always provide pudding or any difficult to source item.

Grammar, I can understand that. Maybe if you want something new, try this five vegetable tagine — it's lovely on its own, but sometimes I serve it almost mezze style with thin turkey steaks for the meat eaters, feta, flat bread, tabbouleh, pistachios and pomegranate seeds etc. and let people mix and match.

I'm a frustrated coconut lover! I nearly cried when he cancelled his weekend away one month, I'd been fantasising about a Thai curry and a dark chocolate Bounty...

We've got two vegans in the house and have adapted by mostly all eating vegan food. It's easy to add some cheese or meat to a meal that's already been prepared if people are unhappy with it not having any in. People can also choose to eat a meaty or cheesy kind of meal at work or college if they want to. If all the non-vegans want something spectacularly non-vegan (eg pizza delivery) I suggest they eat out that night, or wait until a night when the vegans are doing something else. It makes life a lot easier than trying to cook 4 different meals every night.

I am veggie, everyone else is not. I normally cook things where we end up having mostly the same but I have a veggie version. As long as the core of the meal is the same it's not a particular problem

The hubby is coeliac, but it doesn't stop us eating as a family. Certain meals like lasagne we all eat gluten free and bolognese I make two different pastas.

My son has multiple food allergies. I mainly cook family food that's safe for him, and then if anyone wants to add cheese or mayonnaise (for instance) they can do afterwards. I tend to stick to the mantra 'one family one meal' but recognise we're lucky in only having to deal with 5 allergies, no sensory issues.

I only bake safe cakes/ biscuits etc - we do use the Flora dairy free when it's on offer.

All our basics in the house - bread/ wraps/ crumpets/ spread are safe for DS so everyone eats the same. That way he's not made to feel different.

DS used to have a milk allergy, we'd cook Dairy Free (usually something in a red sauce) then when he took his portion, we'd grate cheese over everyone else's.
Or he'd have homous with potato wedges while we had Sour Cream with ours.

DS2 is an exceptionally fussy eater, no sauces or gravy on ANYTHING, DS1 is lactose intolerant, so it's a bit of a juggling act managing the two, easy for dinners, breakfasts are harder. The internet gives be great ideas for lactose free meals which we can all eat, I have separate coloured dinner plates when serving (red green yellow and blue) they not only make my dinner table look lovely, but there are no mistakes or screaming abdabs when I serve dinner.

My husband, daughter and myself are all vegan but my mum who lives with us is vegetarian. She is happy for us to do the shopping and cooking so she eats what we have. She just has a small separate fridge for cows milk as I can't stand the smell of it.

For different tastes in the house we tend to cook meals everyone likes or cook a basic meal but tweak it a bit for different people e.g. sausage casserole, mash and veg for everyone except my daughter who will have mash, veg abd a separate sausage.

Dd is dairy free, with allergies to chicken and potatoes. She's a bit of a nightmare to feed so I tend to eat the same as her and cook the equivalent for dh and ds

Tonight we had carbonara so the boys had it with cream and Parmesan and we had soya cream and goats cheese

It's harder when you are out though and need snacks or lunch.

We use flora buttery for a lot of things - dd baked herself a dairy free cake yesterday and made buttercream with flora which was way nicer than I thought it would be! She's 7

My son has loads of allergies so we have banded together as a family to make family meals of what he can eat. I try to batch cook where possible as making food he can eat can be very time consuming

DS has allergies to dairy, egg, soya and gluten. I try to cook only one meal whenever I can, and often use non-dairy substitutes etc. Sometimes it's easy - gluten free pasta for him, dairy free cheese, banana pancakes. But there are some meals we just don't eat, full stop (like quiche!). We're lucky to have an excellent vegan bakery locally who will also make the cakes soya and gluten free, as I haven't cracked making cakes without any of their core ingredients!

I just wish allergy friendly food wasn't so expensive! Fish fingers are £2.50 vs 60p for basic ones, cheese is £2.40 for a small amount, biscuits are £1.60 for a pack of 12.

Unfortunately DS is too young to understand what he can't eat so I have to only let his preschool age sister eat allergy friendly snack foods too in case it's left within reach and he scoffs it. Dinner is much easier to manage as they are both in high chairs.

But thank heavens for the vegans and coeliacs, who have paved the way, for making it much easier to buy food off the shelf than it would have been a few years ago!

I do have to cook separate meals for different family members as we have both dietary restrictions and sensory issues and there are very few things that everyone can or will eat.

I find the easiest thing is to have a “theme”. So one night will be fish. I do breaded haddock, chips and peas but replace my haddock with a tuna steak, ds3’s chips with crusty bread and the peas will a frozen steam bag of mixed vegetables for ds2. It means that with a few minor alterations we can all have a meal.

My son has coeliac disease and I found adapting to GF really difficult initially. Really quickly realised though that there is so much he can eat if I just use naturally gf foods rather than thinking about all the things he can't eat.
I also have a teeny tiny kitchen with no workspace which makes avoiding cross contamination really hard so in the main we all eat gluten free, apart from bread for packed lunches (as most gf bread is rubbish, and also it would cost a fortune to feed us all with GF bread). We eat a lot more rice based meals rather than pasta or meals which are just meat/veg.
Most of the time it's straightforward and I only remember how tricky I used to find it, when I try and brief someone else on how to cater for him!!

Oh and we're also a nut free household, I'm so used to that now that I don't even think about it! But it does sometimes make GF baking harder as most recipes substitute wheat flour for nut flour, which isn't an option for us.

cooking in batches and freezing is a great help

We have very restricted diets....
DD1-allergic to all nuts, tomatoes and citrus
DD2- allergic to tomatoes, fruits, plus has Coeliacs Disease
DS1-hates mushrooms, dislikes aubergine and courgette but will eat them in a stew if in small pieces! Or will pick them out without complaining 😊
DH-no allergies but won't eat curry/chilli, etc. anything spicy.
Me- allergic to: Eggs, Fish, Shellfish, Tomatoes.

I batch cook large quantities of tomato-free sauce to replace tinned tomatoes and to use as a base for bolognaise, chilli, stews, etc. and freeze in portions in reusable plastic containers. I also batch cook bolognaise etc. I roast two chickens at a time and strip the meat off the bones and freeze to use in sauce or for sandwiches. I slice and freeze onions and peppers and freeze ready to use later and also anything that might not get used up in time I freeze.
I also use my slow cooker frequently and freeze all of the ingredients for a slow cooker meal in xl freezer bags then, all I have to do then is dump the contents into my slow cooker in the morning.
I tend to make a lot of 'help yourself' meals where I lay everything out on the table and everyone chooses what the fancy and what is safe for them...I find that this way nobody feels left out.
I substitute egg based sauces for creme fraiche or plain yoghurt and make my own coleslaw and potato salad and pasta sauces. And homemade nut, egg and gluten free pesto in the freezer.

I think for me, the key is being organised and labelling everything! I use Sharpies and write on allergens/dates so that I know exactly what I'm cooking with, and, make a list of what/how many portions are in the freezer to make cooking and shopping easier.

And for 'emergencies' I always have gluten free pasta in the cupboard and gluten free bread in the freezer...plus a pizza for my son if he's getting fed up with allergy safe meals!

I have food intolerances, my daughter and I are both allergic to Quorn, we are both vegetarian too. The rest of our family are meat eaters. My oldest son follows a strict low carb, high protein diet. My youngest son can’t eat food colourings (so we all just avoid them).
I write a list of what everyone wants from shopping - they all have to tell me on a Friday evening at the same time. From that I try and meal plan and batch cook. I have a slow cooker I use when I can. Then then can all kind of help themselves. I really want to improve our diet so I am always looking for more tips all the time!

My kid db recently came to stay. He was briefly vegan but has now settled on being a vegetarian. When he came for an extended stay I was slightly dreading feeding him, my carnivore dh and fussy dc. So I just made family favourites like chicken curry and fajitas substituting chicken for roasted veg. My youngest dc just likes plain chicken with no curry sauce or seasoning so that was fried up separate first too. It was surprisingly easy and meant we could enjoy a meal together.

I'm pescatarian while my partner is omnivore (but doesn't eat fish) and our 2 year old eats a bit of everything! I tend to do most cooking but make vegetarian food using 'fake meat' like quorn and Linda McCartney. The new vegan burgers in Iceland are a firm favourite too! I have fish every once in a while and my partner has meat when he fancies it, so it works fine for us.