Veggie Hell – Eating right in a meat-centric world

I am a busy person and like many of you, I often find myself dashing out of the house hungry in hopes that I’ll find time to grab a fast bite to eat. This is way easier said than done as is to be expected as a vegetarian living in a meat-centric world.

There seems to be a misconception that Vegans and Vegetarians don’t eat fast foods. As a meat eater, you can go into any corner convenience store and find yourself a pre-made meal like hot dogs/sausages, a sandwich/sub, soups and the like. It’s not too often that you’ll find anything vegetarian.

Check the cans of soup. I’ll bet pretty well all of them contain chicken or beef broths, various kinds of meat, or that the pea soup is made with Lard (i.e. Habitant Pea Soup). The cans of beans will likely have pork in them, though Heinz also makes them in just a tomato sauce. If there’s a Stagg chilli on the shelf it will be of the meat variety, though there is a vegetarian one available!

Next, check the frozen foods. You’ll find the freezers contain pizzas (with meat), “Michelina’s” entrees (all meat with the exception of frozen macaroni and cheese, which is a rare find), Burritos (most often meat and sometimes bean and cheese), and Swanson TV dinners (you got it… all meat!)

I used to work at a 7-11 and I knew the routine. They’d start selling something meat free and it wouldn’t sell well right away so they’d stop carrying it within a few short weeks, while they’d keep the meat products. I used to tell my manager that the reason was they weren’t giving the vegetarians time to discover the product. Nothing was ever done in the way of advertising to draw the vegetarians to it, so why would they suddenly believe they would find something suited to them in that store now?

Over the duration of my 'special diet', I have watched the cycles of grocery stores getting a new product that I would get into, and one day I would show up and it would be gone. Ask the management why it’s gone and they blame poor sales. I always ask the same questions:

·         How long did you carry it?

·         How much did you advertise it to vegetarians?

·         How much did you advertise it to non-vegetarians?

·         Do you still carry the meat version of that particular brand/product group?

The stock answers would most likely be “not that long”, “not much”, “not much” & “Probably”.

Another concern of mine is that cooks in restaurants don’t put too much care into the thought that they are preparing something for a vegetarian. Though they have a pretty good selection for vegetarians, my last 3 visits to Jack Astor’s Restaurant have resulted in my returning the food to be remade for me.

I don’t have time to wait these days for another 10 minutes while they get right what should have been prepared as ordered the first time. The first two times was because they had put bacon on a baked potato that I had asked for without it. The 3^rd time was also bacon on a Caesar salad that I had asked for without it, then when the bartender goes to fix the order they send back a salad with basically just lettuce and some Parmesan and no croutons so again I have to wait another 3 minutes for this to be corrected.

This kind of thing is common in my life. I will often ask for a vegetarian item, say a Mexican flauta or an egg or spring roll, and will be mistakenly given the chicken version. And I know it at first bite. It’s gross!

There was a restaurant in London called “The Five and Diner” where I ordered a veggie burger and fries and found bacon in the fries when I got back to work. Again, I found myself going back to the restaurant to find out what the hell was going on. I showed the girl at the counter my takeout tray with the bacon in it and she didn’t seem at all surprised.

“Sometimes people want extra crispy bacon with their breakfast so we put it into the deep fryer” she told me.

“So you’re cooking your fries in pig fat?” I asked

“No, it’s vegetable oil”

“Not anymore!” I said

“Maybe you should get the salad next time.” She said, and of course I was instantly angry.

“Maybe you should get your manager right now.” I said through clenched teeth.

When the manager appeared I told him that they needed to stop the practise of cooking meat in with vegetables. I let him know that there are many vegetarians or meat eaters that wouldn’t be too happy knowing that pig fats were being cooked into their fries, and that because they advertised the fries being cooked in vegetable oil, it was ultimately false advertising. I also told him that he needs to train his staff to be a little more sensitive to the needs of vegetarians and not be so quick to stick us with a salad. He was patronizing and semi apologetic and offered me a free lunch, which I never used. Not long after that the restaurant closed down. I don’t ever wonder why.

I’ve always liked that there are options for me at a place like Taco Bell but I just found out the other day that there is now a surcharge to get beans instead of beef on a taco. This doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s not like it’s a huge inconvenience to anyone, as all of their food is prepared on the spot. I talked to the manager at my usual Taco Bell and he even told me that the cost centre on the beans is much lower than the beef mixture so it’s not that either. Like I say it makes no sense and is just further proof of the fast food industry’s lack of respect for non-meat eaters. I have told the manager that as long as that surcharge is there, Taco Bell has lost my business.

At least these days more and more grocery stores are carrying a wide variety of veggie options that are quick and easy to prepare, but you don’t want to always have to go into a grocery store to pick up a quick bite, right? I have found the various Loblaws stores to be very good at having a good selection of vegan and organic vegetarian fast foods, as is Metro.

There you’ll find the Gardein products, Veggie Patch, Yves and Tofurkey brands as well as some of the Schneiders vegetarian products. The PC Blue Menu brand has a few items of interest like a “Vegetarian Bolognese Spaghetti sauce” and a simulated “ground round”. Once again, going to a grocery store and standing in line for a couple of small items can be a real hassle. It’d be great if the variety stores like Macs or 7-eleven would stock such things, even if only a small selection.

Now that such items are out there, what is it that’s taking so long for stores to get on the ball with it and keep a regular and varied supply of them at all times? Most of these items have longer shelf lives than meats and fish as they are fully cooked. Perhaps it’s apathy on the part of vegetarians who are just so used to having to prepare a lunch or dinner to take with them for the day? Perhaps it’s a lack of knowledge about the vegetarian lifestyle on the part of the food distributors? Perhaps it’s a misconception that there is no money to be made by catering to the vegetarians out there?

That’s a pretty dangerous misconception to have, for any business.

Places to look for a quick meat free bite to eat:

·         Smokes Poutinerie – They make a vegetarian mushroom based gravy. Delicious!

·         Harvey’s – Their veggie burger is one of the premier burgers out there and not priced way over their regular meat burgers

·         Jack Astor’s – Veggie fajitas, Spring Rolls, Greek hand tossed pizza and one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever had!

·         Los Comales (London, Ont) – Bean and Cheese Pupusas and a fabulous Jalapeno and Cheddar soup

·         Subway

·         Mr Sub

·         Sammy’s Souvlaki (London, Ont)

·         Shawarma Palace (London, Ont)

·         Prince Albert Diner (London, Ont) – Veggie burritos, chimichangas, quesadillas, Veggie dog and the best fries in town

·         London Burgers (London, Ont) – A good veggie burger and great people!

·         Jambalaya (London, Ont) – Maybe not so quick but their Veggie Roti is a must try for anyone!

·         Pho Ben Than (London, Ont) – They can have almost anything ready for take out in about 10 minutes (except peak periods) and have a great selection of Thai and Vietnamese vegetarian dishes. They made me a tofu eater where as I used to avoid it. Not any more!

If there’s any I have missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments. 

Becoming and existing as a Vegetarian

For those that don't already know, I am a vegetarian. 

At least that's what I tell anyone asking. Technically, I would be known as a lacto-ovo-pescetarian because I eat eggs, some dairy and fish. All of those have come into my diet over the last few years, and I have very select tastes for each of them. I was fairly close to veganism at one point as I had troubles processing milk products. That has since passed and now I enjoy my cheeses more than anything else in my diet, though I still don't drink milk aside from in tea. For all intents and purposes I just say that I am a vegetarian. 

I might as well jump right to the how, what, where, when and why of it. From 1987 to about 1990 I worked for McDonald's Restaurant as a maintenance crew member. I got to clean the manifolds above the grills, the fry vats, the floors and pretty much every article in the store from 11pm-7am, 5 nights a week. I made pretty good cash for a kid right out of high school, and I worked pretty hard at it.

It was there and then that I had an epiphany. This goopy yellow-ish stuff I was scraping away from the sides of the manifolds, beyond the silver mesh screens, was rising off the steam from the meats we grilled every day. It smelled just like the burgers it came off of.  

One day while cleaning I thought "Good thing I am not eating this stuff". Then it hit me. If this is able to rise through several layers of screen mesh filters and still make it 8 feet from floor level, what stays IN the burgers? It was a disconcerting thought to say the least. 

Not long after that, I woke in the early evening (after sleeping post shift) to my dad making steaks for dinner. He had run out of propane on the bbq and had to broil them in the oven to finish them. The smell of the beef cooking wafted through the house and the visions of the McDonald's browny-yellow goop popped to mind. I instantly felt nauseous. I had no appetite whatsoever and knew I wasn't going to eat that steak. In fact, I had a notion that I would likely never eat a steak again.  

I went downstairs and told my dad and mom that I couldn't eat the dinner they had prepared, and while my mom understood my dad took offence.  

"What am I supposed to do with this extra steak" 

"Eat it, save it for your lunch or feed it to Pip" (our dog at the time) 

"What are you going to eat?" 

"I'll find something. I'll have to figure it out because I am thinking of going vegetarian." 

My dad scoffed at the notion. He threw a million or more reasons at me why I would fail, even making up some ludicrous statements like "The vegetarians I know all suffer from malnutrition and bad body odour". I had known vegetarians to that point and never recognized body odour as a side effect. He told me I'd never find a way to make it work, so I called him on it. 

"Haven't you always told me that I can succeed at anything that I put my mind to?" I asked him, and again he scoffed. That was it; I was now a budding vegetarian. But time would prove I was a bad one. 

I threw myself into a lifestyle that I didn't understand. I could barely cook pasta or potatoes at that point in my life, so I didn't eat very well. Kraft dinner and cereal and Campbell's soups were my staples and they left a lot to be desired in my weekly menu. I did sneak some chicken once in a while there but felt guilty for it. It got to the point where I wouldn't eat simply so I could avoid eating meat and I eventually dropped my weight to about 108 lbs. At 5'11" that made me not only look sickly but I was seriously on the verge of malnutrition. I had failed. My dad was right. 

Needless to say, I was talked into eating meat. I had moved back to Sarnia needing to get my physical and emotional self back in shape, and my parents took me in for a few months till I got my feet under me again. I remember the sense of pride and gloating air about my dad as he would plop a fat steak on a plate in front of me. I remember the sinking sense of failure and resignation as I laboriously chewed and choked back every bite.  I wasn't any more a meat eater then than I had been when I first made my decision to quit it. I just didn't know what else to do. 

A few years later after moving back to London to go to school, I knew I couldn't continue to eat meat. It made me gassy, smelly, often lacking in energy after a big meal and just gross overall. It wasn't till after meeting and falling in love with a long time vegetarian that I learned how to be a better one. One day she took a stack of vegetarian cook books and tossed them down in front of me and said "start cooking!" and so I did. 

Fast forward to today. Not only do I eat well and have a good body weight, but I cook very well. I love cooking for chefs and other foodies. Not only is their critique valuable, it's also nice to get tips and ideas from them. My cupboard is filled with every known herb and spice that has ever crossed my palate (there are very few I am yet to stock) and my fridge is often stocked with a wide compliment of vegetables. There is never a time when I can't whip up something pretty tasty and nutritious should family or friends come by. One of my goals with each meal I cook for a meat eater is to make sure that they don't miss the meat. I've fooled many people with the Yves products or TVP. 

One of the first things I had to learn was to find a comfort food I thought I'd never have again and make it better than ever. I had eaten veggie wieners and veggie burgers but what about a meaty style Lasagna? Stuffed peppers are another I've tried, as well as "Meat loaf", Tacos, Enchiladas and Shepherd's Pie; all foods that I loved as a kid. Suddenly I have a wide repertoire of hearty meals that aren't terribly difficult to make. The challenge now is to change them up, improvise, find my own recipe and find out what others like. 

If any among you are seeking ideas for replacing meat dishes in your diet with something with better overall nutritional value, by all means write me. While I call myself Vegetarian I eat eggs and cheeses and soured creams as I mentioned, I just find it easier to say Vegetarian so people know what NOT to try and cook for me or have me order. In my next blog I'll give some thoughts on fast food as a vegetarian, and signs of a good place to grab a fulfilling snack or meal in a hurry.

Meditation in Motion – Cycling out of your comfort zone

For about the past 3 years now, I have been spending the bulk of my 4 weeks worth of vacation days in Port Burwell, Ontario at the home of my close friend Dave. As former roomies it's a great chance for us to catch up and talk and make good food with some other friends by the lake.

Sometimes Dave will pick me up in his truck or I'll find a ride out there with someone else or as was the case on four occasions, I bike out there.

I've done so on a variety of bikes, all of which were assembled for me by my brother in law Brad who is a bit of a natural at it. We call them the "Franken-bikes" as they are usually built out a few bikes worth of parts. Brad was part of the first trip I had made out there as well as the second while my third and fourth treks were both solo.

When I tell people in town that I biked from London they generally comment with "Surely, you mean motor bike?" and the look of surprise changes to astonishment and then curiosity as they follow up with "How long did THAT take you?" when they realize that I did actually mean by leg power.

My best time was 5 ¼ hrs with my nephew Jensen and Brad. My Longest 6hrs 5mins and this last trip was 5 ¾ hrs. For some that I talk to they immediately say "I could never do that length of a trip. I wouldn't make it." I told myself that until the day I called Brad up and said I thought I was ready. He had already done the trip and had a good idea of which roads should be avoided and which were good.

Now let me say that I am not a "cyclist" and I do not train for this as an athletic endeavour. For me the bike is my mode of travel by choice around the city and with a full set of bags for transporting groceries or clothes or whatever, I am pretty self sufficient without a car. Riding the various multi-use pathways every couple of weeks in the summer I believe has given me the impetus to try something bigger and I am not done there. Brad and I are talking about a few days at a time with more gear like tents and cook tools.

So I guess you could say that my main inspiration was the knowledge that Brad had done it and fairly safely at that. My biggest concern was finding suitable roads where I didn't have to fight with traffic and I have done that now. My trip is pretty well mapped out but I know where I can make detours and stops for various reasons, like lunch or the odd fruit and vegetable stand or even for a beer.

The trip overall is more about enlightening your senses now and experiencing a variety of interactions with nature, man, the wind and rain. Our first trek was started in a hard rain fall.

On all of the previous trips we/I stopped at The Hill Berry Farm, and rested up, cooled down, had a bite to eat and grabbed some fresh foods for after the trip. Brad and I remember "Wicket", a type of Jack Russell pup who knew he could mooch a piece of sandwich or other snack off of us. The other two dogs would lumber over as if they were only half interested in the activity but would still stick their nose in your lunch pack when you weren't looking. Unfortunately, the stand wasn't open due to the rainy spring. Still I had hopes that maybe I'd find some asparagus but to no avail.

Keep in mind this ride isn't near what some of those die hard cycling enthusiasts work for and do year in and out. A colleague I have met through work, Ted, is in his 50's and trains in rain and snow to keep his self race ready year round. His treks astound me and at this point I couldn't fathom doing any of them.

Yet.

The trek is a lot of work at times as you can never fully avoid some steep hills or long inclines, but that being said there are many great hills to get a good momentum built from as to propel you up the other side with a minimum of effort. Wind can be a factor also in regards to the level of work your legs need to do. Going up a steep incline with a headwind can slow you down a fair bit and tire you out.

What it comes down to is that you have to be bigger than the trip. You have an ultimate destination and various other goals and tasks and distractions. Every stop is a means to an end, a checkpoint or the like. You get yourself to a point where it would be wrong to turn back or give in and call for the ride which of course any distance rider would have setup in advance in case of an emergency etc.

I try to absorb as much from every pedal turn as I can. Conversely I try to absorb something from the stops. The whole trip becomes a communion with your ever changing environment. You are thrust into strange places alone with whatever you can fit in your panniers or rack trunk and the bike itself.

I must admit to having become a bit of a bike geek being fully outfitted with panniers, a rack pack, my trusty helmet, a mirror, a bell and various lights and reflectors. The only area of biking I haven't gotten to at this point is the clothing.

You know what I mean, the lycra "junk in the trunk" shorts and the multi coloured moisture wicking, form fitting shirts complete with a pair of Oakleys and the special toe clip shoes. Ummm yeah… not ready for that yet.

It doesn't matter about the training, it doesn't matter about the clothes or the type of bike as long as you are comfortable first and foremost.

Being out there on the road under your own propulsion heading 70km away from home is daunting for about 5 minutes, and then every meter you ride gets etched into your memory with a variety of sights, sounds, smells etc.

The dead animals along every stretch of road remind you of the frailness of all in comparison to the great road monsters you will meet along the way. We've seen the usual assortment of cat, squirrel, ground hog, birds, rabbit and raccoon. Sadly on this last trip I also saw someone's hound dog at the edge of a ditch and on our first trip we stopped to see a deer. Morbid and horrifying maybe, but it's part of the trip and acknowledging what they gave for the road to be there is greater than all of us and our machines.

Whether you ride like I do with a source of music accompanying you on the trip, or with just the sounds of the environments and terrains, the sound track can very much influence the overall trip.

All in all, I find the trip to be an awakening or maybe an escape from the confines of the city. For nearly 6 hours, it's me, the elements and the inhabitants of the country side. I can't imagine ever getting tired of that.

This being the earliest of my 4 trips here, was quite interesting as I get to witness the various stages of growth in spring. I hope to do another summer trip and then one more in the fall this year so as to enjoy all of the cycles and colours and treasures of the land before the snow hits.

Things I recommend to anyone ever considering taking such a trek:

• Have a good set of plans. Know your roads available to you and map it out if you have to for the initial inspiration. Google Maps has a beta feature currently that gives you a few different cycling directions between two destinations with a travel time estimation.
  
• HYDRATE! Of course this point cannot be stated enough. I have never found that I need more than 2 litres for a trip but sometimes I stop for a sports drink to keep electrolytes up and a chance to cool down.
  
• Light weight high protein snacks like granola or sports or cereal bars are good to have. Bags of trail mix and nuts are good snacks to tuck in a pocket and eat as you ride. I like to pack a few sandwiches with an ice pack in my rack pack for short breaks.
  
• Take a smallish towel. There's a good chance you're going to sweat and you'll thank me later.
  
• Have a "buddy", someone who'll keep in touch with you through your ride by text or cell phone or that you can call in case of an emergency. Always let people know you are going on a long trip before you hit the road, google Maps can also be used to email someone your projected route.
  
• Take your time to enjoy every stretch of road and all that appears along them.
  

 

This is the trip I took on Saturday May 21^st, 2011