It’s not always easy eating a vegetarian diet. The Standard American Diet is meat-based.
Most restaurants have a variety of main meat dishes but little variety regarding vegetarian main dishes. This can be infuriating. Plus, you never know if the dinners are truly vegetarian. Sometimes they will use ingredients like chicken stock in their recipes.
Similarly, when you go to a potluck, you never know what ingredients were used when cooking the food. In late August, I went to a family reunion. I took a helping of what I thought was regular mac and cheese. I found out that it was actually mac and cheese with shrimp.
I ate some other food at the reunion. My stomach ached for the rest of the evening. I wondered if I had eaten something that was made with meat.
You can remedy this by making a dish or two that you know is safe. I cooked a vegan baked bean dish and a potato salad that was safe to eat. However, it was not the main dish, so I tried eating some of the other dishes that were prepared. Bad mistake.
So the next potluck I went to, I made a vegan pumpkin chili and brought along mac and cheese, so I could eat safe foods. I ate those two dishes and also had some raw veggies.
Another issue is when work brings us food. Sometimes there are vegetarian-friendly foods. While other times there is no vegetarian-friendly food.
It’s truly frustrating, but with planning, it can be doable.
With restaurants, plan ahead. Check their menus before going out to eat, if possible. I also know the vegetarian-friendly restaurants around my area. I also know the best places to get a meal and what I can eat there.
Hubby told me that it is not easy to be flexible on road trips because I can’t eat at some restaurants. It was harder to find places to eat when I was gluten-free.
When you are going to a potluck, make sure you bring a dish or two with you that is vegetarian-friendly. Or bring something that you can eat. Something that you don’t have to share with anyone else.
When you know your work is bringing food, have a backup plan. I have cups of easy mac, cracker sandwiches, and cans of vegetarian veggie soup in my work closet. So if there is nothing to eat, I can eat something.
As I said, it’s frustrating but doable. The key is to plan ahead.
Happy vegetarian eating,
Traci
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