As a handfasting gift, one of Beren's friends so very kindly presented us with an Outback Steakhouse gift card. You all know how much my sweetie loves anything deep fried (groan) and definitely enjoys his meat-and-potatoes, so a meal at a steak house, especially in the land of the Bloomin' Onion, is perfect for him! His newly-vegan bride who's also trying to lose weight..not so much. However, we wanted a (cheap) night out so I figured I'd give it a go.
Before heading out to dinner, I did my research. After perusing several websites and blogs, I discovered that Outback's vegan options are very limited. No surprise there, just disappointment. Not wanting to settle for a plain baked potato and salad, I decided to follow a dear friend's advice. Kiki said, "I'm a vegan, but socially I'm a vegetarian because I don't want to be a pain in the ass."
So, I went to the restaurant, enjoyed some good brown bread and a glass of wine before the meal, then asked our waitress about vegetarian options. She was incredibly helpful, told me that the chef would be more than happy to accommodate me in any way possible, that if I were vegan they would hold the cheese on any of the salads, add grilled veggies to the pasta, etc. I settled on the Fettuccine Parmesan with grilled veggies. Though I felt a bit guilty consuming dairy and more fat & calories than I should, I feel like I made a decent choice. It's not a religion and I'm not going to make myself crazy over it, just doing the best I can. (full disclosure: I did have a few bite's of Beren's bloomin' onion)
This morning I'm planning a nice long beach walk to work off some of those calories, stay tuned for pics and a Meat Free Monday recipe later on!
Have a Beauty-Full Day,
I like your friend's advice. Though many will say she is NOT vegan if she eats animal products socially - that's why I don't call myself vegan. I eat a plant-based diet. That means most everything I eat is from plants - but when I am somewhere that doesn't have any vegan options, I will make the best choice I can. Like at an airport once between flights when I was starving - the closest thing I could find is a roasted veggie and ricotta pocket. There wasn't much cheese in it, and I had to eat something so that's what I did. I also don't overly concern myself with something that has minute amounts of something like 'milk powder' toward the bottom of the ingredient list. If there's that little, it's close enough. Eating this way has to work for YOU, so you do it however you need to do it. :)
ReplyDeleteAnna, great advice, thank you! I realize that I will probably never be able to call myself a "vegan" because I do own leather couches (blush) and will always allow a bit of cheese or milk into my diet on a rare occasion. That's ok, I'm doing my best and certainly better than I was a few months ago when I ate steak! ;)
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