Friday, August 3, 2012

Salads, Tacos, and Why Portland is so Awesome - Beyond the ...

Now that our guests have all gone home it is time for me to return to eating the way I did when I started this blog. When I first went vegan I was following Eat to Live's plan, which involved eating a lot of greens, eliminating oil as much as humanly possible, and avoiding bread. I lost weight rapidly, felt great, and I rarely felt deprived. Also, Eat to Live encourages you to eat as much as possible, provided that you eat the right things (greens, fruits, vegetables). Eating a lot works well for me because, well, I eat a lot.

Lunchtime today started out well-intended, but this is what my plate wound up looking like:

Red leaf lettuce with garbanzo beans, corn, and lots of goddess dressing

Goodness gracious, I freaking love goddess dressing! Since I first discovered goddess dressing earlier this year it has been the downfall, nutrition-wise, of many a salad for me. Granted, it is vegan, but it should not be confused with health food. I used Annie's Naturals Goddess Dressing (sorry Isa, yours is best but sometimes I am lazy and I just need something out of a bottle) and there are 120 calories in two tablespoons. Two tablespoons? I am pretty sure that I used more than that. Perhaps I should have just gone for a slice of vegan birthday cake instead.

I will get back to the Eat to Live thing tomorrow. I promise.

Moving right along?yesterday was Girls' Day Out with Baby Girl Meaty. We started at the gym (a workout for me, some coloring and running around in circles for her), and then headed to Islands for lunch (her choice). Baby Girl Meaty ordered her usual macaroni and cheese with apple sauce and carrots (note to self?find a recipe for vegan mac and cheese that Baby Girl Meaty and her brother will eat). I usually order a veggie burger at Islands but, feeling adventurous, I ordered the veggie tacos and asked that the kitchen hold the cheese. The tacos were excellent! I think that the veggies (except for the avocado) were frozen but no matter, they tasted great. They were served with salsa and a veggie slaw but I stuffed myself on tacos and was unable to get to everything on the plate.

Veggie Taco Plate from Islands, Sans Cheese

See? You can be vegan almost anywhere. Islands bills themselves as a burger joint and I still managed to have a terrific lunch there.

On a different note, Portland, Oregon is now at the top of my must-see cities on this side of the world. Did you know that Portland's mayor, Sam Adams, has declared a vegan awareness weekend in September? I love him! Have a look at the declaration below. Talk about a vegan friendly city! Maybe Mr. Meaty will take me there for a romantic get-away this fall (or, more likely, all four of us will go and it will rain and the kids will spend the whole weekend jumping on the beds in the hotel room while Meaty and I pull out our hair). Anyways, yea Portland! I hope to visit soon.

Pure Awesomeness

So, in sum, eat your greens without high-calorie dressing, do not be afraid to ask your waiter to alter your food to accommodate your diet (even at a burger place), and visit Portland soon. Oh yes. You should also look at the picture below of my darling daughter and say ahhh how cute! I know I'm biased but come on!

Baby Girl Meaty aka Future Vegan Princess

Love and Laughter,

The Vegan Valley Girl

Source: http://beyondthesaladdays.typepad.com/beyond-the-salad-days/2012/08/salads-tacos-and-why-portland-is-so-awesome.html

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