Planning a vegetarian-friendly pregnancy-safe picnic lunch with people who don't know we're pregnant

pblge · September 2014

Maybe I'm over-thinking this or just being thick, but the doctor I saw yesterday gave a pretty stern lecture on increased susceptibility to food-borne illnesses from deli-type dishes, and specifically mentioned warm weather picnic lunches as dangerous. Then I get an email from my MIL (we're flying to see them on Friday) asking about a picnic lunch menu. Aside from fruit (which I can never eat these days) and chips (which YUM, but not so healthy), anyone got good ideas for foods that would be good choices and wouldn't raise suspicions? We'll be telling them while we're there, but I don't want to ruin the surprise by email. I'm having a hard time coming up with anything that sounds good to eat during my regular meals, and I'm drawing a near-total blank here.

TIA!

pblge · September 2014

PS. This pregnancy is after years of infertility treatments and multiple miscarriages, so my risk tolerance is a LOT lower than many of the other women here. Just keep that in mind, thanks.

lindsayanne14 · September 2014

Cheese and crackers, Pasta salad (non-mayo), hummus and veggies or pitas. I would put chips on the menu for sure! I guess I would make some bland suggestions you are comfortable with, excluding the deli meats and mayo based salads. If none of it is appetizing at picnic time you could always spill the beans...at least it would be in person!

somewheresublime86 · September 2014

I second hummus and pita bread. Maybe toss in some olives? What about pasta salad?

CES&HAA · September 2014

a cold pasta salad with a italian dressing base and lots of veggies would be a great choice.

AMShark · September 2014

I brought this herbed potato salad to a picnic a couple of weeks ago, and I got lots of compliments. It was easy, and I sort of fudged the herbs and just used what looked best from my garden (sage instead of tarragon).

I also like a corn & bean salad, or, as ppl have mentioned, hummus.

Cheese & crackers or a baguette are also good. Just make sure to stay away from soft cheeses, and just stick with hard domestic cheeses made from pasteurized milk to be safe.

If regular fruit is not your thing these days, what about dried fruit like figs or dates? I could eat dried figs all day long. =P~

AMShark · September 2014

Ohh! I just remembered another one. I brought this to a "picnic" on a sailboat for my sister's b-day a few years ago. This is one of my favorite recipes from Joy of Cooking. It's a savory zucchini bread with buttermilk and cheddar cheese. I like to make it as biscuits, by just dropping the batter in greased muffin tins, and cutting the baking time down to about 20 minutes for 24 "muffins."

Don't have Joy of Cooking? No worries. Some fabulous blogger posted the recipe on-line.

greenie333 · September 2014

Texas Caviar? I remember a recipe with a can of shoe peg corn, a can of black beans (rinsed), a can of rotel tomatoes, and a packet of wishbone italian dressing. You can add avocado too I think, and some other things if you want. You could google it. It's really good with corn chips and filling because of the black beans. Just a thought. Good luck!!

ally3242 · September 2014

Dips with veggies, crackers, etc. just tell her you don't want a cold cut sandwich.

pblge · September 2014

All great options! Unfortunately, I won't be able to cook anything for it, and it feels weird to ask her to, but I'm totally keeping these recipe ideas for later!

Kath1083 · September 2014

Pb and j. It's easy and she can make it.

somewheresublime86 · September 2014

KateRN08 said:

pblge said:
PS. This pregnancy is after years of infertility treatments and multiple miscarriages, so my risk tolerance is a LOT lower than many of the other women here. Just keep that in mind, thanks.
This comment kind of rubs me the wrong way. Regardless of history, I think we are all trying to avoid risks as much as possible.

I get your point, but I don't think the poster was trying to rub anyone the wrong way, just trying to indicate that she was extra risk-averse.

heatherwhite1984 · September 2014

Maybe suggest doing take-out to the picnic? Choose a restaurant and look up the menu online. Let her know what you'd like, many more options and less obvious that way?

AMShark · September 2014

pblge said:

All great options! Unfortunately, I won't be able to cook anything for it, and it feels weird to ask her to, but I'm totally keeping these recipe ideas for later!

That does put a wrinkle in it. You said MiL sent an email asking about a picnic menu - What did she ask? If she left it open ended, I think its ok to make suggestions such as a non-dairy potato salad, or hummus and pita. I wouldn't send recipes, but if she's asking for ideas, then she must be open to suggestions.

bowman958 · September 2014

My grocery store deli counter has amazing pre-made picnic foods like broccoli salad, quinoa salad, etc. Could your MIL check out something like that?

nycitygirl1 · September 2014

KateRN08 said:

PS. This pregnancy is after years of infertility treatments and multiple miscarriages, so my risk tolerance is a LOT lower than many of the other women here. Just keep that in mind, thanks.
This comment kind of rubs me the wrong way. Regardless of history, I think we are all trying to avoid risks as much as possible.

KateRN08: I don't think OP meant to be offensive or suggest other people were making bad choices, but rather wanted to point out she is hyper-sensitive to being careful during her pregnancy given what she went through to get PG.

You may also be very diligent about following the rules to the "t" but some people are more blase about following doctor's orders when it comes to things like eating cold cuts and mayo-based deli dishes. On my last BMB there were girls who still ate the occasional sushi dish, had turkey sandwiches all the time, and had a glass or two of wine during 3rd tri. OP was just trying to ask people to suggest things that were 100% safe which I think is fair.

38restonfirsttimer · September 2014

Maybe suggest Snap Pea Crisps in addition as an alternative to chips? You get some nutrition and satisfy the crunchy.

fro88 · September 2014

Maybe a pasta salad that uses an oil and vinegar dressing instead of mayo? You could load it up with veggies!

Or a quinoa salad (I make one with almonds, blueberries and lots of fresh herbs)

3 bean salad is delicious and has no mayo or scary stuff. I use pinto, black bean and chick peas and make a chipotle vinaigrette for it.

fro88 · September 2014

Just saw that you aren't cooking.
Not sure what your thoughts are but what about a rotiserie chicken? they usually have them ready to go, hot and fresh at delis?

pblge · September 2014

Thanks, ladies! As @souptin pointed out, this is a picnic that came and went (I suggested cheese, hummus, and crackers, as that sounded easy. Hummus still makes me want to puke, but I pigged out on the cheese and crackers.). We made our announcement during lunch so that no one would worry too much about what I was and was not eating.

And @fjt908 - rotisserie chickens are generally not good vegetarian choices (see thread title). ;-)

fro88 · September 2014

pblge! I'm just going to go close my eyes and maybe when I wake up I will be a functional member of society again lol! Sorry!

pblge · September 2014

@fjt908 - LOL! Just blame it on pregnancy brain. ;-)

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