Tip 8 - Eating Away From Home -

The decisions you make about eating out depends largely on how strict you are about your diet and how assertive you are comfortable being.

As for me, I have made a game out of it.  If I have a say in the restaurant, then I choose one most likely to give me decent options.  If the restaurant is already chosen, I don't complain.  The challenge for me is to go to any restaurant and find a way to choose from what they offer to create a meal that is appealing and as close to Vegan as possible and I try to do it without being annoying.

If you can, look at the menu ahead of time.  Plenty of restaurants post their menus online.  Being able to think about your choices before you sit down with friends or family is less stressful and it's likely you can figure out how to put together a meal that will intrigue the meat eaters.  

You can even call the restaurant and ask what they recommend to vegans.

I start by looking for a starch, usually potatoes or rice.  A baked potato with nothing added is a good choice.  Decent rice is usually available at many restaurants as well.  Occasionally, the best I could do is an order of fries - russet or sweet potatoes.  It is what it is.



Standards offered by many restaurants -

Salad - the quality varies.  If you are going someplace cheap like Waffle House, the salad will be yucky iceberg lettuce with a couple of slices of mealy tomatoes.  Unfortunately, I know this from experience.  Some fast food places have notched it up a bit.  You may be surprised.  Sometimes all the salads on the menu look good but they all include things like meat, cheese, and eggs.  In that can, all you have to do is ask them if you can substitute those things for another ingredient you enjoy - avocado, mushrooms, etc.  Also, if you don't want to be hungry again in an hour, ask them to add something with some bulk - a potato, beans, rice, bread.

Veggie Burger - Lots of restaurants  that serve burgers offer veggie burgers. I've had many of these that were yummy!  Some of them offer the new meatless burgers, like the Beyond Burger.  The Beyond Burger is quite tasty and very similar to a real burger.  I'm not sure how healthy it actually is, but at least it doesn't have any animal products.  Having one now and then is not a big deal.  Include as many healthy additions as you can to the burgers - lettuce, tomato, onions, mushrooms, avocado, etc

Stir Fry - Asian restaurants are pretty easy and tasty.  Veggies over rice.  They will have tons of options.

Buddha Bowl - A Buddha bowl is a plant based meal, served on a single bowl or high-rimmed plate, which consists of small portions of several foods, served cold. These may include whole grains such as quinoa or brown rice, plant proteins such as chickpeas or tofu, and vegetables. The portions are not mixed on the plate or in the bowl, but arranged in an "artful" way.  Buddha bowls are similar to Nourish Bowls (a non-vegetarian version) and to Poké Bowls (a Hawaiian raw fish dish).  You can often create your own Buddha Bowl-type creation by ordering a number of appealing sides.

Veggie Plate - A veggie plate can be created at many restaurants but it is likely the veggies are prepared with a meat broth or turned into a concoction with cheese or milk or eggs.  In some cases I just have to go with it and find the options that feel the best of what's offered.  I first look for my starch - as described earlier.  Then I look for vegetables that are as healthy as possible.  Sometimes one of my sides is a small salad.  I have often had to eat a vegetable that includes a floating piece of meat.  In the South, it's almost impossible to find green beans or collards or cabbage without them!  I simply move the meat aside, ignore the fact that meat juice is there and eat up knowing that I'm doing the best I can.  

Mexican Restaurants - most of these have some good options and they are almost always willing to put together something you'll love.  They usually offer black beans.  Don't get the refried ones!  They usually have decent salad ingredients.  You can create a cool taco salad, a taco, a burrito or whatever mostly without animal products.

Eating at Someone Else's House

This one is tougher and the approach differs depending on the venue.  In most circumstances, the easiest thing is to offer to bring something.  Also, it's helpful to have a snack before the meal and pack a snack to eat on the way home if need be.  

For a small gathering, if the person cooking knows I am vegan, it's likely they may cook with that in mind.  I try to put them at ease and make it as hassle free as possible.  I hate having someone feel they need to center their whole plan around my eating preferences.

If the meal is for a bigger crowd, there will likely be more to choose from and whatever I eat or don't eat won't be that noticeable.

Compromises

Bottom line - if you aren't the one cooking, it's likely there will be some compromises.  Just do the best you can.  Even if completely avoiding animal products isn't possible, chances are, it's better than you would have done in the past.  The more of your diet that is whole food, plant-based, the better you will feel.  

No Compromises

People who reach the point of being 100% WFPB have usually done it long enough to have figured out how to navigate the animal eating world.  They pack meals, they have carry along snacks, they have a repertoire of recipes that they take to get-togethers that everyone loves.  It can be done.  But for a beginner, having a goal of perfection is setting yourself up for disaster.  Go slowly.  This is a learning process.  


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