I am often asked, “How do you stay Vegan when you eat out Chuck?”
And while it CAN be hard, and every situation is different, this is how I did it this weekend at my grandson’s birthday party.
Someone asked me recently to post about my experience at my grandson’s birthday party.
I know every situation will be different, but in my case, it was at a pizza parlor.
And one that just happened to have a decent salad bar AND a potato bar.
SALAD BARS
Salad Bars are ALWAYS a safe bet because you can pretty much customize your own salad to exactly the way you like it.
I loaded up a monster salad (yes, I should have left the croutons off but I love them on my salads) with as many different veggies as I could find.
Lettuce, spinach, carrots, corn, peas, kidney beans, beets, onions, celery, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, pepperoncini, etc.
You get the idea.
I knew the dressings in a place like this would be limited (and they were….Ranch, Italian, Vinaigrettes, 1000 island, Blue cheese)…..
So MY idea was to create as much ZING as I could with the veggies – using as many bold flavors as I could (beets, jalapeno, tomato, etc) and then add a splash or two of balsamic vinegar.
It was good!
POTATO BARS
Potato Bars are another easy way to get that tummy full without having to divulge into the not-so-healthy options.
Just leave off the butter, sour cream, and bacon bits and load it down with fresh broccoli from the salad bar, or better yet …..
Make it a Mexican Potato and toss on a few Jalapenos and some Salsa!
Or you can have it plain like I did.
Just remember whether it’s a salad or potato or whatever – it’s usually the TOPPINGS or DRESSINGS that are the most unhealthy and fattening.
So just be careful what you choose to top your meals with.
You may have a healthy salad, but it may also be buried underneath thousands of calories of oil too.
Remember there are 120 calories for every tablespoon of Olive Oil.
So was this a perfect lunch? No.
The potato WAS wrapped in foil (there are links between Aluminum and Alzheimers) and was possibly rubbed down with oil before they baked it. (I didn’t ask).
But….
You simply have to do the best you can!
Because it WAS my grandson’s party, I even had a bite of his Birthday Cake too. (it was a DC Comics FLASH cake).
So in my eyes – I had a successful lunch that was probably 95-98% compliant, tasted great, and filled me up.
Again was it perfect? No.
But I wasn’t there to preach, or to judge, or to do anything other than enjoy the time with my grandson (who even ASKED later to come over and spend the night with grandma and papa – because he got a new game! )
So with that said…..time to go play!
