My parents want me to serve meat at my birthday party. (I'm a vegetarian...)?!

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Wow I'm surprised at the answers some omnivores gave you that you NEED to give your guest meat to be "polite." That just shows how much they really don't get it. Heck no, its your party and you can have whatever you want. If you're a vegetarian for ethical reason, why in the world would you want to forget about your core values just to please these people by supporting an industry you're against for you b-day. Who cares if they're not vegetarians, its not like they don't already eat vegetarian food. They're not going to die by going without meat for a couple of hours. Anyone can enjoy a delicious vegetarian meal. They might not even notice its meatless! Its your birthday and they should be considerate of your wishes. If it was their party, they would serve whatever they wanted but its your party.

You are not being selfish like some stated here lmbo. Your choices reflect that you actually care about other sentient beings.

Try serving a vegetarian chili. There are lots of good recipes online and you could substitute textured soy protein crumbles into it. Most everyone would not even notice the difference.

I have pasted one such link below. Try it. It is really easy to make and you could tweak the ingredients to suit your individual taste.

Good luck.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Ve…

Wow thats really rude to you! Its your birthday! And everyone likes a good vegetarian lasagna.

If I were you id have no party at all.

Or if possible, do the meatless option, if your going to be the one cooking. I tink if you do this, then your parents will feel silly when it turns out to be a success.

its your party i say serve them your favorite dish ...maybe a tofu dish or something that they would normally shy away from and show them how good food can be without meat .

and remember your parents wont be mad forever they will forget all about it a week later anyways

I agree with you..I attend parties where they don't serve meat free dishes. Non-vegs can live for a few hours without eating some sort of meat product. Have your party and serve meatless dishes, your parents can't stay mad for long.

Serve vegetarian food along with beer and they'll be happy and content. GUARANTEED!!!!

It is your party. Do what you want. They can eat what ever they want after they leave. Do not put meat into the menu.I am vegetarian also and if it was my party I would keep everything vegetarian. I do not care other people want to eat meat. Your parents do not know what it means to be a vegetarian. I believe that one day the whole world will become vegetarian. Tell your parents that you are old enough to order what ever you want to. You are not a child anymore, they cannot chose for you. Your family members could starve if they do not want to eat meatless food. It is your party do what you want. I think your parents are being very unfair to you. Or do not have the party at all.

Good luck, and happy early birthday.

This is your party, and your values are valid. No one NEEDS to eat meat, vegetarian lasagna sounds delicious and filling. There is absolutely no excuse for making you serve something you don't agree with at your party when there are tons of healthy filling alternatives. This is much more of a matter of consideration for you than for them, especially since they make no effort to cater to your vegetarian lifestyle. Your parents need to learn to respect you. Personally I would tell them either you are allowed to serve food you want to, or there is no party.

I hate when people act like just because they eat meat, they can't go one meal without it. Even my boyfriend doesn't understand that train of thought, and he's an omnivore! I went through this for my birthday party, too. I had the meet-up at a vegetarian restaurant despite the moans and groans of my family. Guess what? Everyone had a good time.

You're allowed to get what you want for one day out of the year. Serve that veggie lasagna!

That's a good question, and as I see it there isn't a clear right and wrong to it. I was a vegetarian for a long time, dealing with some of the same kinds of issues you're wrestling with now. Personally I prefer cheese lasagna over meat lasagna anyway, so I don't see what your parents are unhappy about... But anyway...I think in this case the difference comes down to who's doing the food preparation. If your parents and others are going to prepare the lasagna, I'd say let them go ahead, and just make sure there's some veggie-safe food for you to enjoy. If you're preparing all the food, then it's just up to guests to deal with what you have to offer.

it's your party, it's not unreasonable to think that they would let choose what you want for you meal. i'm sure everyone would like the lasagna and probably wouldn't even notice much. if worse came to worse i would cancel but if you're making the food anyways just make it the way you want. yeah, you're parents might be mad but tell them to calm down,that you want to have a nice birthday and nobody else even cares. it will also show them that you're serious.

You are not eating it so what values are you really sacrificing? When you share a table with your meat eating parents, do you huff and puff about sacrificing your values by having meat on the table? I understand it's your party and you want to be "boss" but there are others who coming to the party and it's not going to kill you to show them some consideration.

When I invite guests to dinner, I make sure everyones dietary needs and wants are met, not just my own. But that's only my opinion and it's still your party. If you want to make a stand, then do so. You don't need a consensus from complete strangers on the Internet to tell you what to do. You want to act like grown up, good. Then stop this childish tantrum and face the problem like a grown up should.

Well i hear ya ,

IF you also didnt attend THEIR parties I would say yes you should BUT considering you attend THEIR parties and they dont do a THING to cater in any way to you (no side dishes you can eat ?) .then id say you have every right to have no meat .

Pizza , veg lasag, side dishes like pasta salad , nothing wrong with it . theyll live for 2 hours with just cheese and vegetable topping , wont kill the babies .


but let me warn you , when it comes time for your wedding , these people are going to give you money, youre going to have another argument coming , get ready . i ended up just giving in and ordered two meatless entrees for me and my husband .

You have to understand that you are the minority.
You will always be the minority.
Only about 2% of people are vegetarian, so most people don't even know what the word means, much less the food restrictions.
While you could serve some vegetarian foods, you need to put out a mix of foods if you want to be the gracious host. Otherwise you are silently preaching vegetarianism. Sure, make your veggie lasagna... but have something else too -- you don't know, some people might have dairy allergies and couldn't eat it. Or soy allergies to something with tofu.
Soy and nuts are big allergy causers now. It's just something you need to be aware of.

I have had this haopen to me. I used to run an orphans christmans ever year because I had a lot of frineds at the time who didn't have any family in the city and I hate xmas so it gave me an excuse not to attend my family thing. Every year it was an all veg thing, we'd have a big lunch then go to the beach. On the fourth year I was sharing a house with my best friend who insisted on serving meat, and not only meat but some awful turkey loaf thing which nobody ate anyway. It really pissed me off that someone would be so controlling to do that.

Anyway, I didn't throw the meat out or anything, I just let it sit there in the forty degree heat nurturing pathogens while nobody ate it. So you can take this option and let your parents cook some dead animals and say nothing about it, or you can take the passive aggressive option. Show them how much it means to you by cancelling your party, then call up your relatives and apologise, explaining to them that because your parents don't want the embarrassment of enduring a dinner without warmed up dead animals on the table in case your relatives are unable to go a single meal without celebrating the life of an animal by having some stranger kill it for them so they may suck the flesh from its bones in an orgy of gluttony. I'm sure many of them would say "of course we'd be ok with vegetarian food."

;)

There's something you need to see:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/8…

you're no vegetarian.. last i recall.. the noodles are processed along with the cheese.... hummmm?

another pretendo just wanting the vegetarian logo and shove it down everyone's necks.. again... :(

we're not all like this folks!

ok well i know it's your birthday but there are other people that want meat don't think of yourself

I have to be honest....you are being childish and selfish...... yep.....you talk about "sacrifice my values by serving something I'm so opposed to'..... no one is asking you to EAT MEAT...... but you have no right to impose it on others...... your not burning down the local McDonald's either, are you? so how is being nice to others sacrificing your values?
Serve all the veggie things you and your veggie friends want, but serve what others like too....that is simply being a good host...nothing about personal values.
I do not care for 7-up....I like coke....so you think I should not serve it at my next party....it would be pretty selfish, wouldn't it?
Sorry but Mom and dad are correct. You better get used to the world having different ideas than your little world.....
PS I think you exaggerated the thing about NOTHING To EAT when you go to their parties....... I do not think every dish would contain meat.... your just being childish....

I went vegetarian for awhile when I was 17 and have been on and off vegetarian for many years after that. Anyways, there are plenty of things you can do that are not meat that will make even a meat eater happy. Egg salad sandwiches for one. Cottage cheese loaf. I have had meat eating friends tell me that it is a much better tasting "meat loaf" than anything they have ever had. You can type the name "cottage cheese loaf" into yahoo search engine and get the recipe. You could do cottage cheese and pineapple. You could do nuts of every sort. I am sure if you have enough food that your parents won't be to upset if you don't have meat.

However because you are still a minor keep in mind they are your parents. IF they provide the meat for this party it would be well if you just left it be.