We have some pretty fabulous information provided to us via the web, about how to Stay Plant-Based and Eat Out!
Plant Pure Communities gives you the inside ‘poop’ on how to eat healthy at some of the chain restaurants in America. And what they are pretty much saying is for you to get something that says Vegetable and hold the cheese.
Or you can take a dish that has veggies and just take the protein in a box ‘to go’ and give it to someone – who perhaps is not plant-based, (or a friend/coworker) for lunch the next day. You’ll be a big hit! lol (That’s my idea, of course)!
Coming up in a couple of minutes you are going to read about another great Chef Marian Tip for ordering food that leaves you satisfied, not full.
I know it’s not easy to get into a Plant-Based lifestyle. It took me a year and 8 months of being clean and green Monday through Friday and then the weekends? All bets were off! I went out with my friends and we ate and drank up a storm! ha!
Some people that are plant-based are very strict. For example, if french fries are cooked in the same fryer that they fry chicken in, they won’t eat french fries there.
I have come to realize that’s the right thing to do, but not for that reason. When you haven’t had meat for a while, your stomach doesn’t appreciate even a little meat in your fat. It feels heavier for me to eat french fries that are cooked fat that has had fried chicken in the mix. And that’s the only reason I’ve stopped doing that. After years of being vegan or as I like to say ‘plant-based’, it just doesn’t feel good.
That’s why some people don’t eat gluten. It just doesn’t feel good. (Makes sense to me).
Each of us has to find their own way. Just because some arbitrary group is telling you that you are not ‘really’ vegan if you’re doing vegan food Monday through Friday, or because you are still eating honey, please tell them to take a hike. That’s how to get to a plant based lifestyle.
You may start with Meatless Mondays, then do it a couple of days a week, then more until you are good with going totally plant-based. And there’s no rush. You go at your own pace.
Ok. Here’s the Chef Tip you’ve been waiting for: My favorite thing to do is to imagine what I would like to eat, even before I enter a restaurant. So if it’s Italian, I’m thinking about an Italian Flavor Profile with Vegetables instead of meat. If it’s French, I’m thinking great vegetables with oils and sauces on the side, always asking if there’s a sauce available that’s vegan. It’s funny. Sometimes people working in restaurants don’t understand what vegan means…. so I say: “Nothing with a face”. Ha!
Something happened recently that surprised me as a plant-based person. I went into a Steak House (because nothing scares me) Lol. I start thinking about barbecue while I’m on the car ride over. So I ask to start my order with a salad, using the flavor of an avocado as my dressing, and see if I can get some caramelized onions and mushrooms, (making sure they’re not cooked in butter) and then asked for a baked potato, with nothing on it, some broccoli and some asparagus. I take out the middle of the potato and load it with veggies mixing the potato back in as well. I look at their BBQ Sauce making sure it isn’t loaded with hydrogenated oil or chemicals. I dot the baked potato with bbq sauce and chopped up veggies mixed with potato in the skin with BBQ Sauce, and voila! It is an amazing, inexpensive, satisfying meal.
One warning.
AND NOW A WARNING?
Yes. (Do you know what movie that’s from)? lol
Please be aware that some restaurants put milk, eggs, and cheese in their bread. At Il Fornaio for example, they add milk. I always ask.
My recommendation is that you do the same. And think about what you want to eat then go into a restaurant.
Healthy Happy Eating,
