Don’t stress about cooking for your guests

Cooking a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings can be stressful for some. Plus, you might be worrying because you have a guest who is coeliac or who is vegan and you haven’t a clue what to give them. But don’t stress. Here are some ideas.

For example you might be worried about the stuffing for your coeliac guest. You could make your own stuffing using gluten free bread and crumbing it yourself. Or cook Artisan Grains gluten free cranberry nut roast and crumble it to make a very tasty stuffing. You don’t even have to worry about gravy as you can get a gluten free one which tastes great.

For dessert you can get a gluten free pudding or cake from The Foods of Athenry Merry Christmas range. They’re very tasty. Or you could make your own. Patrick at the shop made a delicious gluten free and vegan pudding for our festive tasting. He said it was easy to make and the recipe got the thumbs up from customers.

The main thing if you’re not used to having a guest who is coeliac is to keep all the food, utensils, and equipment separate. While it’s not a life threatening condition, a person with coeliac disease could be very sick if their food is contaminated with foods containing gluten.

Your vegan guest will be easier to please than you think.

You’ll find plant based roast turkey, Torforky, in the freezer at your local health store it’s made from plant based foods. A nut roast is easy to make, or choose a readymade one made by Thank Goodness, also in the freezer.

Use a dairy free butter in your stuffing. You could cook a separate tray of roast potatoes in vegetable oil if you prefer duck fat yourself. For dessert there are amazing vegan chocolates and ice-cream available.

You can make a delicious cream for desserts made from tinned coconut milk. There’s even vegan jelly available.

Clair Whitty is a Bach Flower Practitioner, a Nutritional Health Coach accredited with Thought Leader Natural Health 2018 and a Vega Food Intolerance Tester at The Natural Health Store, 24 North Main Street, Wexford 053 9121613 | clairm1@eircom.net | www.naturalhealthstore.ie