Brea Getting Fit

Let me preface this blog by saying that I live in TEXAS, meat capital of the world. There is NO Whole Foods near me, there isn’t even a Trader Joes anywhere in this STATE. I must say that I miss having so many vegan options at my fingertips (I used to live in Portland, OR…which for me equates to vegan heaven)…but I’m making due with the offerings at my local health food store, online shopping and Kroger/HEB. It’s a little bit frustrating to have to shop at 4 different stores just to get pantry staples, so I try to stock up when I can. Okay, back to the topic of my blog…..

Remember, I live in TEXAS: So, my omnivore hubby really wanted crawfish the other night. I tried to explain to him why they’re bad…but he didn’t seem terribly phased. “Cravings” and all. So out we went. We picked a local restaurant because the crawfish was cheap and I knew that I could get a salad and baked potato…. So we ordered. I asked for a garden salad with no cheese, no croutons (they’re just weird, but that’s a whole ‘nother conversation) and balsamic on the side. I love balsamic vinegar, by the way. It is quite possibly the BEST salad dressing EVER. Seriously. AND I asked for baked potato, PLAIN with salsa on the side. She asked if I wanted cheese, sour cream or chicken strips. I politely said that I was vegetarian (easier to explain than vegan) and NO, I didn’t want anything but the salsa with my potato. She gave me a funny look and said (NOT KIDDING) “but you eat chicken, right?” Um, NO. I DO NOT EAT CHICKEN. CHICKEN IS NOT A VEGETABLE (or a fruit, for that matter). So I said “no” and she gave me a funny look, but went ahead and put my order in. We got our food, and hubby dug into the crawfish (uh.) and I dug into my salad and potato…the waitress again asked if I wanted anything else…like cheese. I politely said no again, and enjoyed my meal. The fact that she didn’t understand was slightly frustrating, and even more of a reason to cook at home. Beyond that, the salad was boring iceberg lettuce, a few carrots and 1/2 a tomato. The baked potato with Tostitos salsa (yup, it’s VEGAN!) was delish, however. I went home and enjoyed some of my AWESOME “tuna” salad, since I was still hungry.

I definitely think that being a vegan in Texas is going to be a challenge, but I’m determined to change the world…or at least my corner of it. If I keep requesting vegan products at my local grocery and healthfood store, hopefully they’ll get the hint. I also keep writing letters to TJ’s hoping that they’ll venture down to my neck of the woods…. In the meantime, I’ll continue to hope and pray that a veg restaurant will open up near me, or that one of the NUMEROUS steakhouses can learn to make a decent salad. Until then, I’ll be content to go out for veg sushi every few weeks. It’s a whole lot more interesting than iceberg lettuce!