Bring your own food

[Anonymous]

Is this an acceptable response to a family whose kids are extremely picky eaters and their mom with intestinal issues can only eat certain things. "Thanks for offering. I have tenderloin, scalloped potatoes and carrots. If none of that works, bring something you and your family can eat."

[Anonymous]

Totally fine. We have a couple of food issues in my family and a lot of the time we bring our own food.

[Anonymous]

I have Celiac Disease and have turned down dinner invitations if I know there will be no gluten free options for me. It isn't the host's responsibility to cater to my medical needs.

[Anonymous]

Are you cooking for lots of other people too? If so it is fine. If you are just having them over for dinner then it is rude to not try to accommodate the mom unless it means hunting up really weird ingredients. Picky kids can eat bread and whatever you serve for munchies. I would not cater dinner to them but to avoid having hungry kid meltdowns I would have something (bread, pretzels and fruit before, anything easy that others will also be eating ) that they can fill up on.

[Anonymous]

If you invite someone to your home, you need to prepare so ring they can eat. Otherwise, why invite them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you invite someone to your home, you need to prepare so ring they can eat. Otherwise, why invite them?

This. If they are main guests, find out what they can eat. More do for the mom with medical issues than the picky kids. If you're having a big gathering, I guess what you wrote is ok, although personally is go out my way to make sure I made something they could eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you invite someone to your home, you need to prepare so ring they can eat. Otherwise, why invite them?

This. If they are main guests, find out what they can eat. More do for the mom with medical issues than the picky kids. If you're having a big gathering, I guess what you wrote is ok, although personally is go out my way to make sure I made something they could eat.

This. I try to accominidate. We have a picky eater and I am too. I might agree once but the next time want to go out to eat.

[Anonymous]

Totally fine. We eat around whatever is served. I hope you don't feel badly if we don't eat the ham, though. because we don't.

~ peanut allergy and non-pork eating family.

[Anonymous]

If I'm inviting guests for a meal, I want them to ... you know - be able to eat the meal. So I would ask what kinds of basic things they can eat and figure out a way to incorporate those items into the meal I want to make. Maybe in addition to scalloped potatoes I also make two or three baked potatoes for the picky kids, or something like that. It's no big deal. I want everyone to feel welcomed and comfortable when they're at my house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this an acceptable response to a family whose kids are extremely picky eaters and their mom with intestinal issues can only eat certain things. "Thanks for offering. I have tenderloin, scalloped potatoes and carrots. If none of that works, bring something you and your family can eat."

Celiac here. I would probably (nicely!) turn down the invitation because I hate feeling like a freak eating my yogurt or whatever when everyone else is rating their meal.

Having said that, I can usually find enough to eat in what's served, as long as it isn't just pasta or pizza, and if the host is patient enough to tell me the ingredients in everything. It hasn't been an issue due to the fact that all my friends are really nice.

[Anonymous]

Definitely need more details here, OP. Your menu sounds like fare for a relatively small group - in which case, I think you need to accommodate the adult by preparing something she can eat in addition to or as an adjustment to your planned dishes. A baked potato, as PP suggested, is too easy not to do. Pork, as a rule, is risky.

Actually, even if you've invited a huge group, you should provide some options that will allow everyone to fill up. Fruit, a mini salad bar (greens with extras in separate bowls), crudite, bread, a steamed vegetable.

I had an open house once where the only thing one woman (friend of a friend) would eat was the steamed broccoli, because she was vegan, nondairy and unbelievably picky. Fortunately, there was steamed broccoli on the table.

[Anonymous]

If I invite you, your family digestive and food issues are not my problem. If you can't eat what I cooked either stay home or bring your own.

My sister is a strict vegetarian. We aren't. She brings her own food because she knows I won't fix anything special for her. My friend had a gastric bypass. Everything I cooked she'd say I can't eat that. I quit inviting her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely need more details here, OP. Your menu sounds like fare for a relatively small group - in which case, I think you need to accommodate the adult by preparing something she can eat in addition to or as an adjustment to your planned dishes. A baked potato, as PP suggested, is too easy not to do. Pork, as a rule, is risky.

Actually, even if you've invited a huge group, you should provide some options that will allow everyone to fill up. Fruit, a mini salad bar (greens with extras in separate bowls), crudite, bread, a steamed vegetable.

I had an open house once where the only thing one woman (friend of a friend) would eat was the steamed broccoli, because she was vegan, nondairy and unbelievably picky. Fortunately, there was steamed broccoli on the table.

I find this even more rude. All you could manage to come up with was some steamed broccoli?

[Anonymous]

I have celiac and I have no problem bringing food for me and my family. If I knew my kids were not going to eat the meal I would absolutely bring something they would eat.

My biggest problem is when people insist on trying to accommodate me only to fail miserably which leaves me with little to eat. Yes, there is gluten in soy sauce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I invite you, your family digestive and food issues are not my problem. If you can't eat what I cooked either stay home or bring your own.

My sister is a strict vegetarian. We aren't. She brings her own food because she knows I won't fix anything special for her. My friend had a gastric bypass. Everything I cooked she'd say I can't eat that. I quit inviting her.

Something tells me that your former friends don't miss you much.