Ready made veggie finger food from supermarkets ?

Edwardia

My vegetarian mother is coming for Christmas. I've got a brazil nut roast and a nut wellington on order with Abel & Cole and I gave my mother all the stuff for an organic veggie Christmas pud.

I haven't been a veggie since 1995 so I am now clueless as to what's out there that's good for a buffet supper. My mother is a bit of a purist so she wouldn't want to eat sliced Quorn that looks like ham or chicken.

So far I'm thinking cold nut roast and Wellington plus organic salad stuff and veggie organic quiche.

Are there any veggie things that aren't fake meat stuff that I could buy frozen/freeze now and dish up ? Veggie vol au vents or goujons or mini stuff ??

Sorry, ex chef though I am, was never a pastry chef so I won't be rustling up baked goods anytime soon

My nearest supermarkets are ASDA, Sainsbury's, Lidl, Morrisons and Iceland with Tesco, Aldi and Waitrose a bus ride away. There's also a Holland & Barrett and I can get deliveries from Ocado.

In this instance the taste is more important than the price cos it's my mother and Christmas but I'm happy to trundle anywhere and OH can trundle round London.

Hopefully this thread will help other people catering for veggies at Christmas so please feel free to post any other veggies-at-Christmas problems as well !!:D

parsonswife8

I've seen veggie mozarella thingies and veggie springrolls and samosas online at various supermarkets.

What about making small yorkshire puddings with bits of veggie sausage and veggie gravy or mini spinach and veggie cheese muffins?

I'm not a veggie but used to look after some veggie children at one time.

SUESMITH_2

how about nice dips like hummous and salsa? served with crudites and bread sticks. good bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip in it.

a cheeseboard with good crackers, celery or to go with the bread if you buy that

Indian snacks that are veggie, nice pakoras and bhaji type things. be careful with thai things as lots of it has fish sauce in so not suitable for her.

it's nice not to have too much pastry if possible or too many things that are deep fried

jeanmd

Red pepper hummus is so yummy. Most supermarkets do a tripple hummous in small size pots. If you input 'vegetarian' into the search bar on asda etc. it brings up a lot of items also try 'free from' hth

Edwardia

Ooh Mozzarella thingies sound worth investigating. ASDA might do something like that ??

I didn't think of houmous though I make my own in summer I have organic chick peas and some supposedly 100% natural Lebanese tahina so that's an option depending on how much room there is in the fridge. Or I could buy some, I know Sainsbury's does organic houmous that tastes good.

My mother wouldn't eat samosas etc though she did on vacation in India, She's just not that into spicy.. am wondering why we're doing a Middle Eastern cookery day next year now OH will eat curry but not samosas and bhajiis.. I'm finding out how fussy my nearest are here !

Got Jacob's cracker selection and organic grissini, need to check whether veggie. I looked at the ingredients list of a Heinz tinned chocolate sponge pudding once and it included fish oil :eek: so I will check ingredients for her.

Haven't bought cheese yet but have got pickled quail's eggs, vacuum-packed organic beetroot and will get organic celery and bread - my mother lurves bread. Got balsamic vinegar yes and organic Extra Virgin olive oil plus sunflower seeds, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds. Oh and got organic Medjoul dates from Oxfam. Also got monkey nuts.

It's a bit haphazard..

Eliza_2

How long is she staying for? Sounds as if you have enough to feed an army already!!!

I was in Aldi today and they have lots of party nibbles etc if you want to chuck some in the freezer now - incl the standard brie and cranberry thingies which are always nice if horrendously fattening. They've got the V on them as suitable for veggies.

I have a veggie diabetic coming for Xmas so reading this with interest.

franskies

What about falafel? It can be as mild as you like if you make them.
Quiche? Get some ready rolled pastry if thats easier or I'm sure sainsburys used to do mini quiches round about this time of year.

tajk321

http://cauldronfoods.co.uk/ do a lovely range of food. Tesco stock some of the range.

Edwardia

How long she stays depends on the weather. She lives in the depths of the country miles and miles from a motorway and can get snowed in so we agreed if the weather looks dodgy she will come and stay beforehand or stay on afterwards or I guess even both !

Got a quiche on order from Abel & Cole. I adore falafel but they're too carby for me however Cauldron Foods used to do veggie falafel and I thing Waitrose does too in the Delicatezze range.

I'm making a list of things to look out for..:T

kittycatface

edwardia in my local medium size ts they have recently expanded their frozen world food section, and amongst the ready made meat kebab is paneer poppers (paneer cheese in breadcrumbs).

£1.39 for small box that feeds 2 of us and a "party mix" of samosas bhajis and spring rolls which is £1. can confirm that they have pleased 2 very fussy veggys.

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=paneer+poppers&sc_cmp=tescohp_sws-1_paneer+poppers

looks like they are only on offer until 2/12 then go back up to 2-£2.50. the brand is cofresh which is also sold at a lot of asian supermarkets if you want to go hunting:) hth

sorry just read update about samosas and bhajis being a no no: paneer poppers are completely without spice.

i was also quite excited by this new dipping mix from egypt called dukkah: not sure if some of them may also be a bit spicy but black pepper and pistach one looked stomachable. http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/?pid=50716

there is also an aubergine paste on approved food for £1.50, if you spread that, or veg pate, or tapenade on nice crusty bread might work.

Edwardia

First off, quite a few people with diabetes hate the term diabetic in the same way that people with cerebral palsy don't like being called !!!!!!.

There are many people with diabetes, like me, who didn't develop diabetes because we were eating five loaves of toast and a kilo of chocolate a day but because that's the stereotype, we don't like admitting that we have diabetes to strangers and don't want to be treated differently. Not every one with diabetes is fat either.

If your guest has Type 1 diabetes they will be on insulin. Some people may be on insulin pumps which monitor their blood glucose constantly and dose them with insulin automatically if necessary. But that's not common in the UK.

People who have to inject insulin before and after meals may be fine about doing that in front of other people or they may wish to do so privately. Likewise anyone testing their blood glucose.

There are two injectable drugs for people with Type 2 diabetes and one oral medication to be taken before meals and if you say lunch will be ready in 15 mins and have to delay for an hour because the turkey isn't done that can cause them problems. So check the food first before announcing. If you forget and this happens I suggest offering them a snack.

When it comes to food and diabetes there are two camps, the Low Carb camp and the Normal Food camp.

The Low Carbers believe that if they eat fewer carbs they are lightening the load on their not terribly efficient pancreas so their blood glucose will be more stable.

The Normal Diet people believe that as long as they take the prescribed medication they can eat what they want.

If the guest is a low carber they will be steering clear of mince pies, Christmas pudding, custard, ice cream, trifle, milk chocolate, pasta, rice, bread, pastry, crisps, potatoes, parsnips or else want teeny portions.

If you can find biscuits, coleslaw, mayo etc under 10g carbs per 100g that's low carb and you can stuff them with cheese, sliced meats, cream, creme fraiche, clotted cream, basically protein and fats and it won't make them feel unwell.

For veggie low carbers The Low Carb Vegetarian Cookbook by Rose Elliot is your friend as well as anything veggie that's 10g carbs per 100g or under.

The normal diet camp are the ones who may well try and eat as much as anyone else of all the carby food and may become unwell. The low carbers who ate more carbs than they normally eat.to try and fit in might also become unwell.

Generally the dizzy faint stuff will go away after an hour or two. People who don't eat many carbs can er throw up but once they have they will start to feel a bit better.

If the blood glucose meter is more than 12 mmol/L then a caring host/ess would probably suggest callling NHS Direct or whatever it calls itself now and get medical advice. If it's 20 don't ask call out of hours doctor service yourself because the person with diabetes might be a bit high and they need some medical advice and possibly intervention.

Alcohol makes blood glucose drop and when it gets very low the person with diabetes might just appear to be drunk. Don't leave them, ask if they have tested their blood glucose lately. " Four is the floor" and they need to have orange juice if not allergic and something like a jam sandwich so you should call out of hours doctor service for advice. If they drop below 4 they could go into a diabetic coma. So 4 is serious, they need glucose tablets or sugared water or OJ pronto so get hold of out of hours doctors service ASAP and ask if you can give them the drink and food.

People with type 1 diabetes can up their insulin levels to cover whatever they eat so the only problem you're likely to get is the alcohol one or feeling unwell if they misjudge the insulin dosage which won't happen with an insulin pump.

Most people will be fine, I'd say 99.9% of them. The problems will come usually from those who don't control their diabetes and who will be tempted to stuff everything in sight or have too much alcohol and act recklessly about their blood glucose.

To reiterate most people will be fine, blood glucose of 4 or 20 get medical advice suggest it to someone with BG over 12, don't assume a person is drunk, low carbers want to keep it under 10g per 100g and veggies Rose Elliot is the one to go to.

HTH