low fat / fat free diet

[myraandjim]

Late on Sunday evening my husbands relatives phoned to say they were coming for the day on Monday. Because we live in a rural setting I didn't have the option to rush to the shops, so had to make do with what food was in the house - panic stations! Anyway I managed to provide a salad with cold meat assortment and various cheeses and a pork pie, and stayed up most of the night making cakes and a clootie dumpling (Scottish delight with suet, flour, suet, black treacle, spice and fruit).

When they arrived shock horror - told me he is on a fat free diet due to gall bladder problems and could not eat anything I had prepared except for the salad which he is not partial to! I was so embarrassed that I had not provided them with an adequate meal, so need to be prepared for next time if there is one.

Is it just the animal fat that is bad? could I have used vegetarian suet in the dumpling, would a fat free sponge cake have been ok? Is all meat bad for him or just the ham, corned beef types.

We try to maintain a healthy diet, but I am out of my depth with this one - can anyone tell me what food I should have prepared. He ended up eating bead with no butter or spread and home made marmalade for his lunch, and I ended up mortified!!!

[millielilac]

There is no reason for you to be mortified...

It was remiss of your guests to alert you to the fact that they had special dietary requirements .....you are not expected to be a mind reader.

FFR if these guests do ask to visit again then just say politely that you are aware now of their special dietary requirements and will be happy to accommodate them with some advance notice......

[ilove2patch]

Well in my opinion they should have told you about his fat free diet when they phoned. Did they think you were a mind reader. You put on a lovely spread & surely he could have had the cold meat & salad. Don't beat yourself up about it. It's inconsiderate on their part not to have told you.

[myraandjim]

thank you for your kind words, I will happily accommodate any special requirements from visitors, but in this case I don't have a clue what I should be providing!! Wouldn't have minded if it was my folks, but husbands relatives don't know me very well and I never feel totally at ease with them anyway, now this has to happen, really need a few suggestions for future meals!

[chickengrandma-2008]

My daughter has been on a fat free diet for years.  She eats mainly fruit and veg although she can eat a little chicken breast.  I sometimes make her a fat free sponge because she can have 2 eggs a week, spread out, so there's only a little egg per slice.  For desert she eats meringue and fruit and fat free yoghurt.  She eats bread with jam or marmite etc.  The thing she has most often is beans on dry toast or soup such as lentil or tomato.

Yes I agree, they should have told you well in advance, so it's their fault, but even so, if you had salad and bread he didn't go completely hungry, which would have been his fault if he had!!

[stan3502]

I agree you put on a wonderful spread at very short notice and short of being a magician with a crystal ball you were a perfect host.

As you say now you know you can alter things for next time but I do think that as a one off this time he could have accepted your offering with good grace whilst mentioning discretely what his dietary requirements have altered so that you have plenty of time to prepare for the next visit

[chips-and-brown-gravy]

I agree with the other posters, you have nothing to feel bad about, it was them being inconsiderate in not telling you/ expecting you to cater for a special diet on such short notice.

Sounds a bit like OH's relations who turned up one Sunday afternoon out of the blue and moaned because we didn't have any baby food (they knew we had no children).  Some people!

I love the sound of the clootie dumplings.

[captainbovine]

well hopefully by the time they visit again, he should of had his gallbladder out, so he can eat the wonderful spread you will put on again....that was very rude of them, especially when food is the price it is.

oh btw....have you the recipe for a clooty dumpling  sounds lovely.

[**towery**]

good grief , what a pair

shouldnt the whole thing of ringing to say they wer coming have been that he was only able to eat certain things

are they normally that ill mannered

have they previously menrioned his new diet - either by letter, email or chatting you your OH?

men can hear thngs and not comprehend

if they wer really bthered abut food they should have packed him a picnic

[saasher2012]

Very selfish & rude of them, I'll eat it sounds lovely!

[leoleoleo123]

quite agree... tell them to bring their own!
Its not healthy to be on a totally fat free diet anyway... everyone needs a little, but of course, there are 'Good" and "bad" fats... balance is the key!

[carolyorkie2010]

It once happened to me when guests just turned up mid afternoon! Luckily I had salad things in (it was a Sunday, we weren't near the shops) so that had to suffice. The next time they gave me some notice, so I put on a nice  buffet for them.

[alisonsvintagechicboutique]

You have my sympathy Op.  My ex's Dad and partner used to spend the whole time at my house asking at meals 'is it organic'? about every single item on the table.

They had tried some organic meat somewhere out and because I cook a lot of fresh foods and use freerange meat and eggs thought I would immediately start to buy everything organic at their whim for their visits.  

I do buy organic produce but not all the time as can't afford to.  Yet we used to go to another relatives house and watch them happily tucking into Iceland quiche, cheap sausages and the like.  

Another relative seemed aghast that I did not have her choice of herbal tea.  

Another time a couple that we know came for dinner and I cooked mussels along with some other choices.  The woman said she could not eat mussels as they made her sick.  I offerered the alternatives but she said that she would eat the mussels and hope she would be ok.  Next day got a call from the husband saying she had been up all night puking her guts up.  

Clootie dumpling is delicious by the way - I have made it before when I worked in Scotland.  

[saasher2012]

I cannot understand the rudeness of some people! I would never ,ever do that to anyone if someone had kindly gone to all that trouble to make me a meal & make me feel welcome I'd bloody well eat it & blow the consequences, it won't kill ya for one day!
& to actually ask if the food is Organic, well I might get slapped if I answered that one, they don't deserve your welcoming food or your time & effort, save it for the real friends & family who come to you're house.

[myraandjim]

Can't believe the experiences of some on here with guests - maybe we need a whole new thread about ill mannered guests? I feel so much better reading some of the comments as I must admit I felt pretty upset by it all. I think part of it is that I have never felt really accepted by my husbands family, I'm just someone who looks after him (and them when they visit) but apart from that a lot of them ignore me, plus they are mostly larger than life but I am pretty quiet. I will post the clootie dumpling recipe, but most people have a family recipe and each is different so some may not think it authentic - but it works for me. It is a source of amusement that I cook a dumpling which is strictly Scottish but I am English!

[myraandjim]

Clootie Dumpling

2lbs S.R. flour

1lb sugar (any will do)

small pot mixed spice

1.5 lb sultanas ( or mixed  fruit if your prefer)

2 large tablespoons black treacle

1/2lb atora suet

milk to mix

mix all dry ingredients together, add the treacle and enough milk to mix to a soft consistency

place mixture into a muslin cloth (or old pillow case if you have no muslin) and boil for approx 4 hours.

Remove from cloth (I use 2 plates, put it on one plate and unwrap then put another plate on top and reverse it so you can get the cloth off the bottom of the dumpling) then pop it into a warm oven for a few minutes to dry off.

Half of the above mixture makes a good sized dumpling, the above makes a huge one!!!!

I have seen it sliced and eaten hot or cold on its own or with golden syrup, and also sliced and fried with egg and bacon, but I can't comment on that as I don't like it.