Eating Out

Everyone eats at restaurants. Duh.

This is how to find which restaurants can accommodate our vegan lifestyle.

Let's take a look at P.F. Chang's menu. They have things listed as Vegetarian. Unfortunately these things aren't as vegetarian-friendly as you might think. Fish oil is a common ingredient in their menu (and asian food in general, especially Vietnamese cuisine). Some of their vegetarian items are cooked with fish oil. This is a risky situation - Ask, ask and ask again until you get a response that you feel comfortable with. Most chain restaurants have a "secret" menu that lists all of the ingredients in their menu items. Smaller restaurants will usually have a chef that can help you on the spot. P.F. Chang's does have great vegan food, as long as you know what you're ordering (I.E. Coconut Curry Vegetables).

Some tips-

-Call ahead and ask.
-Check veganeatingout.com before you go (they've done the work for you!)
-Make friends with the manager(s). They'll give you the skinny on what the kitchen is like.
-Don't be too uptight to ask questions.
-If it sounds fishy, it probably is.
-Watch for words like creamy, deep-fried, confit, toasted bread (usually means with butter), Caesar, and alfredo.
-Ask what it's topped with (usually Italian food will be topped with cheese).
-Secret Sauce = Thousand Island dressing = mayonnaise = egg.
-A veggie burger isn't always vegan. Most restaurants serve Gardenburger Original that contains cheese. And some restaurants will dress the bun with mayo even if the patty is vegan (Houston's).
-Pinto beans and refried beans will usually be cooked with bacon and/or lard.
-Ask about salad dressing base. Many will be a mayo or egg based dressing.
-Ask deli-style employees to change their gloves before making your food (it's their job anyway).
-Assume dessert is out of the question, make it at home.
-Don't be scared to send your plate back, you are getting what you pay for.

Eating at (non-vegan) restaurants isn't totally out of the question, just arm yourself with knowledge before you walk in. These tips aren't everything that you need to know, but a good quick-reference. Experience will help guide your actions and decisions. If you don't ask, you don't know. I don't play that kind of roulette with my intestines.

Attack of the Killer Croutons

So this is the wifey...

I get "attack of the killer croutons" all the time, but I never take the time to make them. Stupid of me because it's one of the easiest things in the world to do. Don't forget that they are so easy to screw up by not paying attention. So a few things to pay mind to while wanting that delicious crouton to satisfy the hunger. We have a local bakery that runs almost 24/7. When I buy a baguette in the evening, it was made in the afternoon around 3 pm. I use that bread the next night to make the croutons. You want the bread to be crusty on the outside and still a bit soft on the inside. Most large commercial bakeries (inside large grocery stores) only cook bread overnight or in the morning. Stale is the new black. We use it to get the crunchiest croutons that we can. We never want to waste bread at home because we pay so much for the good stuff, so this is one of the best ways to use it up before it gets moldy! So feel your bread up. On to the good part.....

Things you need:
An oven (with broiler)
1/2 loaf french baguette
4 Tbsp. olive oil
Baking sheet with edges
1/2 Tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. freshly cracked black pepper

-Preheat your broiler to 325 degrees.

-Slice your baguette into 1/2 in. thick slices.

-Cut those slices into rectangles (cubes) any way you slice or dice it.

-Put onto a baking pan with edges (as I've almost burned our house down doing this without edges).

-Pour 4 tablespoons of olive oil onto the bread and gently toss around with your hands so all is incorporated.

-Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of sea salt onto the bread.

-Next put your cracked black pepper onto the bread in the same gentle fashion. Hahaha sprinkle it on!

-Broil those puppies for 4 minutes.

-Take them out and flip them. Put them back in.

-Broil for 4 more minutes.

-Take them out when the buzzer goes off and let them rest for a few minutes until cool.

Adding the hot croutons to salad prior to being cool will wilt your lettuce and end up with a mushy salad, and nobody wants mushy salad! The croutons should be toasty brown in color and crispy when you bite into them. Toss and serve with all your favorites! No more to store bought stale croutons that have all the preservatives and none of the taste!

Converting Recipes to be Vegan

I have been spending a lot of time watching the Food Network lately. And while there aren't many vegan recipes made on their cooking shows, I have been thinking a lot about how to make them so. Take this basil and pea soup by Giada de Laurentiis, all you have to do is replace the butter and cream with soy alternatives and skip the cheese garnish. We made it for dinner last night and it was really effin' good. More of these to come and feel free to pass along any advice on freeing the animals from omnivorous recipes.

e-How

In addition to the posts I write here, I am going to start backing it up with how-to's on e-How. My first how-to today is about how to stay vegan. I've been seeing lots of sites and blogs about how to make the change and lots of reasons why I should be vegan, but not a lot on what it takes to keep it up. These are some things that I learned the hard way. So check it out and let me know what you think.

The Vegan Learning Curve

This will be my place to share my learnings about life. Some of it will be vegan-related, and some of it will not. What I can guarantee, though, is it will help teach others how to live lighter on the planet and have a great time doing it. DIY home projects, vegan BBQ, gardening, bicycles, beer, and music are some of the topics that I have ready to roll.

So, as Roger Clyne says "here's to life!" and let's have some fun!