AKICILJ: the long-distance nurturing edition

[mrissa]

gaaldine and the_overqual, avert your eyes.

So. Let us say, for the sake of argument, that you have a friend who is a vegetarian. Possibly you have multiple friends eating vegetarian meals. Anyway, for the sake of this discussion, if N = your vegetarian friends, N > 0. Right. Let us further say that this hypothetical non-zero vegetarian friend of yours is currently living somewhere that is...not precisely a haven for vegetarians. Let us further stipulate that the hypothetical vegetarian is not mad keen on mushrooms and doesn't like rosemary much but can have eggs and milk products from cows, sheep, goats, yaks, whatever.

If your friend was carnivorous and you wanted to send them some sort of meal-like care package, you could go to Omaha Steaks and send them some useful bits of stuff that could become meals on days when they might not have the time/energy for real cooking. But if your friend was carnivorous, they would not be up this particular creek, or at least not without a paddle.

The internet is a big place. You do not want to send a fruit basket. Where do you go to order vegetarian meals of decent quality for delivery? I am as fond of veggie lasagna as the next person--probably fonder--but surely there are other options out there. Aren't there?

Comments

[aedifica]

Does my hypothetical friend like frozen dinners? Dried veggies that can become soup/stew/etc ingredients? Something else?

If my hypothetical friend wanted frozen dinners, I might try to send them some from Amy's or Ethnic Gourmet (the latter is not solely vegetarian, but the palak paneer is good), or some of the other brands on the shelf at my co-op.

If dried veggies, I would send a care package from Harmony House. I particularly like their carrots because they reconstitute like (cooked) finely-chopped carrots and I don't have to chop them myself. I use them in spaghetti sauce, stews, and things like that.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

One expects that my hypothetical friend can buy carrots etc., so it's more frozen dinner/premade sauce of goodness/specifically veggie protein sources/etc. for which I search.

P.S.

[aedifica]

There are also things that are like frozen meals only shelf-stable. The ones I've seen tend to be Indian food. Some are very yummy, some are not at all good, and I have an ongoing post to help myself keep track of which I think are which. Most (but not all!) are microwavable.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

A variety of fascinating cheeses, breads, pastas, etc., can be ordered from Zingerman's. Do not be put off by the fact that they are currently highlighting an all-pork package at the top of the main page. I am especially fond of the Zingerman's Creamery farmer's cheese, their challah, and the spiffy gourmet Nutella-equivalent spread. (http://www.zingermans.com/)

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Please let me have managed to put an end to that link.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Ah yes! A friend sent me a Zingerman's gift card at the beginning of this stupid vertigo, but I had filed it as "deli" and deli as "non-vegetarian," so I was thinking of it as less helpful than it might be.

[nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com]

I'd still try Omaha Steaks and send the potatoes and the caramel apple tarts and the chocolate cake and the risotto cakes and the antipasto bread and the green bean casserole and the veggie medly and and and...

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Good deal. I had only looked at meals and was noting that their meals were mostly divided by type of meat at the center of each, with "none" not appearing as an option.

[lutin.livejournal.com]

VegWeb might have answers. So might the PPK (http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/index.php), who are vegan, but have vast stores of this kind of knowledge.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

I don't have a current mail-order cheese vendor in mind, but I know cheese can be shipped because back when it existed Cheese-Lovers International did so monthly. There's probably a good company somewhere shipping cheese, though. Maybe igourmet.com? I haven't used them. Anybody have experience?

Wait! Did someone say cheese?

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

Most cheese shops will ship cheese for the price of shipping via whatever method you choose using their shipping people, i.e. some places use Fedex and others us UPS, you choose how fast, like overnight or 2 day. Some places charge a handling fee for having to pack it up, packing materials aren't free.

Having said that, if you tell me where you're trying to send stuff I may be able to recommend a cheese shop nearer to them. Or if you want to use one by you let me know.:)

[moiread]

There has got to be someplace that makes decent pumpkin and/or apple leather.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

You realize that if there isn't, my kitchen may have to become someplace of that description now.

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

You might try Kalustyan's: http://www.kalustyans.com/default.asp. I've used them mostly for ordering beans, lentils, and spices, but they also have a selection of ready-to-eat foods.

My father did a project where he worked with several vegetarian programmers from India who were temporarily based in the Chicago suburbs. Not vegetarian heaven. We used to send them care packages of ready-to-eat Indian food from Trader Joe's. Tasty Bite is one brand I remember.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I tried ordering here, and they said that I had to call and tell my credit card company the address where I would want to ship a package before they would ship it there. I was not interested in that kind of fol-de-rol, foofuraw, or other word of similar provenance, but it was really too bad, because they had a lot of interesting stuff.

[numinicious.livejournal.com]

Send them a gift basket of nuts! (http://www.nutsonline.com/) Yes, nuts! This is doubly awesome because it allows you to make wisecracks about your friend's sanity.

Although it occurs to me that not many people consider nuts to be a meal in and of themselves. So perhaps some kind of pasta gift basket (http://www.gourmetgiftbaskets.com/Italian-Gift-Baskets.asp)?

I can tell you what not to send - Hungarian food! It's not very vegetarian. Although the quickest meal that I have ever made is incredibly simple and Hungarian: mákostészta, aka poppy seed pasta. So maybe some Hungarian spices or something? Szaloncukor! You can make meals out of szaloncukor! You shouldn't, but you can. :D

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

By which you mean, allows me to make additional wisecracks about my friends' sanity.

And yes, there are all kinds of things they could make a meal out of.

PS Did you make a meal out of something today? Internet Mom Wants YOU to eat. Imagine me with the Uncle Sam hat on.

[timprov.livejournal.com]

YoucangeteverythingatAmazon.com vegetarian (http://www.amazon.com/s/?bbn=16310101&rh=n%3a16310101%2cn%3a114321011) and vegan (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&rs=114322011&bbn=114322011&rh=n%3a16310101%2cn%3a!114318011%2cn%3a!383594011%2cn%3a!114319011%2cn%3a114322011).

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

For the most part I really recommend against ordering food from Amazon. Most of their prices are very high unless what you want is on magic sale then maybe but mostly still high. I quite like Amazon for most things but food isn't their forte.

[stfg.livejournal.com]

I don't have any mail-order advice, but I am in sort of the same situation as your friends. I am a vegetarian in a small town in Ohio, about a hour away from either Cleveland or Toledo. What I find I really miss is restaurants that serve non-American food, like Indian, Thai or Vietnamese restaurants. Grocery stores often don't stock weird ethnic ingredients either.

I agree that a fruit basket, while very nice, provides nothing your friends could not get on their own at the grocery store. Maybe something that would transport easily like Wasabi peas would be good?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's exactly the sort of thing I mean.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

This isn't a meal, just cheese, but if they eat dairy, try a gift basket from http://westbycreamery.net/ We get their cheese curds every time we go that way, at least once a year. Probably not very useful if they live in Minnesota or Wisconsin, but if they live somewhere else, where good cheese is hard to find, if might be helpful. And I like patronizing local co-ops.

[pameladean]

This may be a little too eyerollingly vegan/woo-woo, but http://www.healthy-eating.com/ has its moments.

P.

[tanac.livejournal.com]

A bit more work, but you might see if there's a caterer or one of those make-your-own-meal places nearby, as most will provide ready-to-reheat meals of homemade quality, and if your friends can do ovo-lacto, there are usually options for that.

Otherwise, I second the box microwaveable Indian. Jeff lives on those things at work, and we use them for meal replacers more than we ought, really.

[lynnal.livejournal.com]

Go to your local Indian grocery and pick up an assortment of Swad packaged food. These come in convenient boxes the size of a trade paperback and store at room temperature. Most are just microwave and eat. We usually have them over rice, but there are many other options. I like to add more veggies. They have a variety of dishes in the curry/dhal/sauce-with-veggies family. All the ones I have seen are vegetarian, but I would check the labels more closely before sending them to a friend who is strict about that.

badger2305 found these in Ames where there is an Indian grocery but very few ethnic restaurants. They are great for busy cooks or anyone far from interesting food.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

And we do, in fact, have a friendly local Indian grocery. Within comfortable walking distance of our house for the non-vertiginous, in fact.

[gaaldine.livejournal.com]

Now, really, why would I follow directions and *not* read something when it is so obviously inviting? Hee hee . . .

Now, whoever this vegetarian friend is in the middle of nowhere, I am sure that she or he does not like olives and has been repeatedly told by middle-of-nowhere residents transplanted from elsewhere that it is impossible to get good spices in said middle-of-nowhere.

Yes, yes, I would be certain that that was the case.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

These are good theories to bring to a person's attention. Possibly even theories supported by a hypothetical data set!

But you have been so docile and obedient for the last fourteen years. Meekness has been your watchword. How was I to know it wouldn't last?

[rmnilsson.livejournal.com]

At the risk of sounding disloyal to my hubby, Carr Valley Cheese has really good cheeses, and they ship. I'd recommend their Cheddar and their Benedictine cheeses. But I think we both know where to order good blue cheese.

I'm also going to suggest asking about the soy sauce situation out in NE. At the risk of telling you something you already know, umami, which in Western cuisine is usually identified as a savory or rich taste, usually derives from meat or meat stock in Western cuisine. But soy sauce made from real soy, as opposed to the really cheap stuff which isn't made from soy, contains glutamates, which have an umami flavor. So if our friends are trying to make tasty meatless dishes without their usual meat substitutes, good soy sauce will help. So will aged cheeses like Parmesan.

It's not really a meal, but it might be a good care package item.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm, aged cheeses. Mmmmmm.