Vegan Resources

We have tapped into some great resources to really make this experiment successful, not the least of which are the Vegan friends and family who have come out of the woodwork, sharing recipes, recommending brands, etc.  Here are some of our favorites thus far:

Recipes and cooking:
http://vegandinnerparties.com/ - Great mexican Lasagna Recipe
http://www.theppk.com/ - TONS of great recipes, including sweets for the kids

Restaurant help:
http://www.vegguide.org/region/13

Vegan on Vacation - Epic Fail!

So... picture Mama and 17 month old baby strapped up with the mai tai carrier and a huge dufflebag slung around the back.  Mama thought about deeply timing the trip to perfection.... morning nap, 1 hour to check in and get through security, 40 minutes before take-off at the gate... all was in order...then it happened.  4 hour delay.  Keeping baby entertained meant a constant stream of snacks and many laps around the chairs at the gate.  Our 2 pm departure turned into a 6:30 pm departure.  And it wasn't as simple as, "oh we'll be taking off at 6:30", no no.  It was we'll know a new time in an hour, we'll board the plane, wait on the tarmac for an hour, deboard the plane, have 3 minutes to grab dinner before we reboard and wait for de-icing.  Across from our gate was a coffee stand, a burger king and a Chinese fast food place.  What can a vegan mama and baby eat?  As soon as I took a bite of the lomein, I knew there had been chicken broth in it.  arg.

Once we finally made it, we were at the mercy of our hosts, (thank you auntie for buying bananas and oatmeal!) who fortunately are sympathetic to the cause.  But out and about at different restaurants is another story.  Vegetarian, is easy.  Many options exist with a little cheese on them.  Vegan is a whole different story.  Especially when you're a vegan who needs a lot of protein to balance the carbs.  There were times when I had to settle for cheese as the only protein source.  Going to parties was even harder.  Cake, at a birthday party is required.  :-)  so I broke the white sugar rule.  I did eat around the shrimp, sausage and chicken int he Jambalaya, but it's interesting how those meat flavors made rice taste heavy and oily to me now.

So I think I need to figure out how to eat-out as a vegan, and be better prepared for trips with vegan-mama snacks.  Any ideas???

Minnesota Josh & the Burrito of Doom.

Day 39, So overall we have been eating at home which really is much easier to have what you want & need, as obviously we buy it to prepare. So I dropped my wife at the airport on Friday & was hungry to the point of being spacey. I hit my exit and there is Taco bell, yeah I know... I think ok 7 layer burrito that would work, minus the sour cream & cheese it is now a 5 layer burrito seems like I am on the right track. while the list of ingredients of said burrito all fall in the realm of "I can eat this" the quality of those ingredients leave much to be desired. Having consumed the first real crap food since the start of this, my body was like WHAT THE HELL!!! didn't feel well the rest of the afternoon. Later that same day I attended my sons school carnival, which they were serving pizza at, we skipped the pizza but after it was over both hungry, it being late we stopped at Burger King for the Vegi-burger... Not good either ..just gross we have them at home & they are fine I am not sure how BK managed to make it so bad.

So yes is it a no-brainer that those places have crap food yes. My take away is how often I would eat at those restaurants out of pure convenience before. We have found a very good Indian restaurant close to us that has great vegan options. I am just going to take fast food off the table, I didn't like how I felt eating it before, & it makes it even worse after a steady diet of organic/ healthy food.