Don't trust the menu

Saturday, Day 6 Thought I'd try a nearby Thai restaurant for dinner tonight. I was nervous cause I know there's a lot of egg and fish sauce in Thai food. So I read the menu carefully and thought I'd try a noodle dish that didn't list egg like any of the others and garlic tofu and green bean in black bean sauce.

I called in my order about 20 min later, walked down the street to pick up my order. (and was told by the hostess that I had a nice phone voice...)

I got home and opened up my boxes of food. The garlic tofu and green beans was amazing! Garlicy, spicy, a mouthgasm. Then I opened up the noodle dish; I could tell right away that there was egg in the dish and could immediately smell the fish sauce base. Dang.

I searched the interwebs for recipes for the dish and all of them included egg with fish sauce base. I knew I should have done that from the beginning. I probably could have just ordered my fav, Pad See Ew, without egg since the sauce is soy based. My momentary laziness resulted in getting a dish that was not even close to being vegan.

My anxiety from not wanting to be "that person" bit me in the ass. As much as I didn't want to come off as pretentious or picky, I have to ask. Alright, alright. Lesson learned.

Cliffnotes version: 1. Read menu 2. Use the webs to look up recipes 3. Ask for vegan options 4. I have a lovely phone voice

Winging it

Monday, Day 1. I woke up and wasn't sure what I was going to eat. Just last week I bought a case of yogurt, eggs, deli turkey, cheddar cheese slices, and string cheese. So basically, I'm very prepared for 2 weeks as a vegan.

I got my usual morning coffee, but couldn't really get anything from the Starbucks case. I typically get the Greek yogurt, granola, and honey; so no go there. Luckily, I had some fruit. By lunch I was pretty hungry; walked over to the grocery store to grab lunch and start getting food ideas. Turns out, even the vegetarian foods are usually not vegan. One of the two vegetarian soups from the deli had butter, the other had cream. I started looking at food boxes and reading labels. Normally, it takes me ages to make a decision on what to grab for lunch, but when you have food restrictions, my normal indecisiveness was exaggerated. I did find a section that seemed to spark some meal ideas, the "ethnic" aisle. That was the first time I had realized I could eat more than just salads and nuts. That night I made Japanese curry.

Tuesday, Day 2.

Turns out you can eat pretty normally as a vegan, but the planning, oh the planning!

Since most food at coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants are not vegan-friendly, I packed fruits, pistachios, and crackers; and the curry from the night before made for a filling lunch. On the plus side, I couldn't eat any of the cookies and snacks people put out in the break room. It's hard to stay away from sweets, just to stay away from them; it was so much easier when I just couldn't eat them.

Also, beer is vegan, right?

2 Weeks Vegan

I love meat. I have no problem eating a steak, bacon, or roast. I love eggs, yogurt, cheese, honey... so why vegan? Well, just to see if I could. A friend told me she was going to try to eat vegan for two weeks, so I thought I'd try it too. This is not an attempt to be profound in any way. This isn't even an attempt to call out the food, clothing, or cosmetic industry. This is just me trying to see if I can, and maybe get educated along the way. So long cheese, butter, yogurt, turkey, and eggs... see you in 2 weeks.

Starting Monday March 21 through Sunday April 3, I am vegan.