Eating out.

Eating out for a lot of people is a fun escape from the kitchen. If we are lucky, what we end up eating out is better than what we can produce in our own kitchen. Eating out as a vegan at non-vegan or even non-vegetarian restaurants can be tricky, but with the right strategy, it can be made to be a fun experience.

• Choose a restaurant that has a wide range of dishes--and a variety of vegetables contributing to each dish. You can look at menus on-line these days.

• Pick restaurants with a vegetarian menu: if that is the case, it's pretty easy to make something vegan, by just asking the server to omit cheese or dairy from a dish.
  

• Learn to scan the menu: if there appears to be nothing on the menu that is vegan, see what makes up other dishes. I was at a restaurant to celebrate friend's birthday. There was nothing vegan on the menu. But, they had a few dishes that looked promising--some sort of meat dish with orecchiette pasta, an appetizer with broccoli rabe (of which I a raving fan), and some other dish with sauteed mushrooms. I asked the server if I could have the orecchiette with the broccoli rabe and mushrooms with some OO and garlic. It was soooooo good. And, the server was very gracious about helping me figure something out.
  

• Call ahead if you can: if at all possible, call ahead at least a day before you are going to attend the restaurant. That way the chef will have a chance to plan something. For the most part, a good chef is going to be delighted to cook something vegan, if given enough time. They consider it to be a culinary challenge. If a restaurant can't accommodate a vegan, they are probably a pretty crappy restaurant (or a steak house).

• Vegan, or vegetarian allergic to eggs and dairy? So this is less a problem than it used to be way back when I became a vegan. But, what used to happen to me is when I said I didn't want cheese on something, cheese would end up on my dish. When I said I didn't want cheese on something because I'm vegan, still cheese would end up on the dish. When I said I was allergic to dairy, no cheese on anything. Basically, I'll do this when it's clear no one on staff has any idea of what a vegan is, and it's faster and more efficient to say I'm allergic to something to ensure it doesn't end up on my plate. For more progressive places, if you say vegan, they'll know what to do. That's just about everywhere in San Francisco, for example.
  

Happy eating!

Real honest to goodness fabulous vegan candy bars.

Ok, so this isn't the best thing for those looking to cut down on sugar. But, for an occasional treat, I have discovered the BEST vegan candy bars EVER. They are made by a company called Go Max Go Foods. They have a bar that is has peanuts, nougat and caramely goodness, called Jokerz. There's another one with coconut and almonds, the Mahalo. Soooo good. I have been a bit overzealous today, and ate one of each.

Another fabulous thing is that it looks like they are pretty easy to find. Go here to find out where to get them (they have them in Australia too!).

A thing to remember about eating vegan.

The biggest thing I have learned about eating vegan is that you shouldn't strive to replicate your meat/egg/dairy dishes and have the result be a perfect replica. It isn't going to happen. In fact, if you make something, and then eat it, expecting it taste exactly like Dad's meatloaf or your Mom's morning omelet, you are going to be disappointed. Not because what you make is going to be gross, but because you have created some cognitive dissonance. Kind of like when you reach for a coke but get water instead. Alone, each of these beverages is pretty yummy, but when you drink water expecting coke, or coke expecting water, the cognitive dissonance just makes you scowl in disappointment and confusion.

Instead, I suggest using your favorite non-vegan dishes as inspiration, or jump off points. For example, using the same spices that you've used before may help along a tofu dish. Use the transition to a vegan diet as an opportunity to explore all the other food ingredients out there that you haven't even thought of, because you've been concentrating on the same 6 things (meat, dairy, eggs, bread, and sugar) most of your life.

Here are some places where you can get some structured guidance on transitioning to the vegan diet:

PCRM's Vegetarian Starter Kit
PCRM's 21 Day Vegan Kickstart Program
Oprah's Vegan Starter Kit
PETA's Vegetarian Starter Kit

Happy eating!