Vegan Easy

A while back I posed a question about how families cope with members who have special eating requirements. This is one in a series of reports.

Hi Claire.  I am a journalist myself (13 books in print, mainly write for Military Officer and Today’s Officer magazine.)

I do have an experience of accommodating vegans and others.

Shortly after my son got married, they moved in with us.  Here’s the scenario:  Kimber the daughter in law was allergic to all forms of animal protein except eggs, milk, lamb and  shellfish.  Daughter Celeste was completely and strictly vegan except she would eat honey. Husband Dan was on a high-protein low carb diet for pre-diabetic condition– also a heart patient so low-fat wherever possible.  I was eating a Mediterranean diet except for my allergies to cultured foods (cheese, yogurt, etc.)  Son Ryan was omnivorous.

So what did I cook?  Always a vegan main dish (usually dried legumes cooked with lots of spices or stir-fried tofu), big salads with all the “add-ons” on the side, home-made dressings (usually made with balsamic vinegar and/or tofu), a meat main dish, breads and vegan margarine, plenty of side dishes of vegetables such as green beans, corn, broccoli, greens, etc.

I collected lots of “crowd-pleaser” foods like tofu chocolate pudding, pancakes made without eggs or milk, and other recipes.  Wherever possible I tried to stay away from processed vegan “meats” except for ground beef substitutes.

Whew.  Thank goodness they all moved out except Dan!  And we’re all doing well!

Latayne

Tags:   Balsamic vinegar · Cook · Ground beef · Home · Low-carbohydrate diet · Side dish · Tofu · VeganismNo Comments