Disneyland

The "Happiest Place on Earth" is not such a treat for Vegans. Perhaps vegetarians (lacto- ovo-) and semi-vegetarians (pesce-, pollo-) would find Disneyland a much more friendly place, but Vegans beware! There is nothing for us in the "land of a million dreams." Unless you count the "million hallucinations" you will have in your hunger-induced stupor.

We were at Disneyland for the Music in the Parks competition festival with my husband's high school concert band. I went along as a chaperone & of course we brought our 6 1/2 year old son! For the price we paid (about $100 for the 3 of us) it was a great deal. Our day would begin at 4am on Saturday April 19th and end at 3:30am on Sunday April 20th. That's a long day for grown-ups, that's a long day for high school age kids, and that's a mighty long day for a lone kindergartener.

On Friday morning, while grocery shopping, I had a "moment". I paused by the Odwalla shelf and remembered back to how convenient those bars had been at the San Diego Zoo last month. I grabbed 4 bars (strawberry pomegranate and chocolate chip peanut) and hoped that I wasn't going to need them.

Unfortunately, I ended up eating 3 1/2 of those bars while I watched everyone else eating whatever suited their fancy. Thankfully, I only had to worry about one meal in the park because breakfast was eaten on the bus (1 strawberry pomegranate bar for me) and lunch was found at a stop in the town Placentia, CA, where the competition was held. Thankfully, there was a Starbucks so I was able to purchase a citrus fruit salad to eat along side my chocolate chip peanut bar. I was feeling pretty proud of myself at this point - 2 meals down and so far on track with what I'd normally eat calorie-wise on a regular day.

Once in the park, we treated our son to some cotton candy but we refrained from spending too much money on ourselves for snacks. My husband & I started to get the munchies around 2pm, so we split another Odwalla (1 strawberry pomegranate). But when dinner rolled around... the sidewalk menus at the various restaurants in Disney were chock full of meat sandwiches, meat soups, meat gumbo, meat salads, meat on a stick, meat in a piece of foil, meat on the bone, meat meat meat meat meat! There was one sandwich shop that had "vegetarian po' boys" but one look told me I did not want to eat this. First, the guys making the sandwiches were wearing latex gloves to handle the food but they did not change their gloves between orders or really even wipe off the counter they were making them on. All I could picture was meat juice on my "vegetarian" sandwich thus negating any vegetarianistic qualities my sandwich may have been clinging desperately to in the first place. We left. There was another soup counter that served "vegetarian gumbo" but again... are crayfish vegetarian? I don't know if that was what was in it, but I don't trust any "vegetarian" meal at Disney especially given that the "cast members" don't seem to be trained in open-minded free thinking.

My husband was actually disgusted watching a little kid near us gnawing on a turkey leg. He said between watching that kid and then watching those guys make all those sandwiches with the same gloves, he wasn't in the mood to eat any meat anyway. He left my son & I sitting on a bench (Andrew eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich I had packed for him & I finished off the last Odwalla bar) while he scoped out the food situation. He found a small window, out of the way, that served "baked goods" like bagels, croissants & fritters. He bought himself a croissant & I ran over to get myself a bagel.

So... Are bagels made with eggs? No. At least they're not supposed to be made with eggs. Milk? Nope. Should be flour, yeast, water, sugar, salt. What makes various breads so different is the ratio of yeast & flour and of course the way you cook the bread. I decided I was so hungry, & so tired of Odwalla bars that I would go for the bagel & strawberry preserves. It felt so good to chew something other than a protein bar... and the preserves were just the sugar hit I needed.

Our score:
Vegan: 1 point for finding a bagel
semi-vegetarian husband: 1 point for the croissant
lacto-vegetarian son: 1 point for cotton candy and 1 point for grabbing the last quarter of my bagel & stuffing it in his mouth before I could stop him
turkey-leg-eating-little-boy: 10 points for grossing us all out

DISNEYLAND:

The Vegas Vegan Does San Diego

Traveling & eating at the same time can be a scary prospect for a vegan. At home, you know your favorite restaurants, or if you're trying some place new, at least you know you're guaranteed your next meal will be more well-rounded because you'll be cooking it for yourself. But what if you're taking a 3-day trip to a strange new land? I've had trouble in the past with eating a well balanced diet while on vacation (once I almost passed out from lack of nutrition after a 5-day trip to Washington DC) and I wasn't about to let it happen this time.

We planned a 3-day trip to San Diego to visit the zoo & wild animal park. And in all the excitement of making hotel reservations, travel plans and eventually a "soft" itinerary, I realized that the meal planning had fallen by the wayside. What will this vegan eat while on vacation? Paying for 3 meals each day at restaurants is totally out of our budget. So the solution was simple: PACK YOUR OWN FOOD!!

For myself, I brought Odwalla Bars for breakfasts & lunches. For Andrew & Matt I packed cereal bars, a jar of peanut butter, 6 banansa and a loaf of whole wheat bread. Problem solved: 2 meals per day for all 3 people were provided by ourselves. I think I did ok with the Odwalla + banana combination: I was satisfied & fueled. Probably not the best decision in the world, but it seemed to work.

We decided that we would eat out every evening for supper, though, and here's where the Vegas Vegan both shined & failed in her task. You can be the judges...

Day 1: We stayed in a Motel 6 in Escondido, CA, just north of San Diego. Our first evening we walked across the street from our motel to "Panda Express."

-=Edit=- This portion of the blog entry has been recanted thanks to an email from a fellow vegan in Vegas who pointed out that Panda does not offer any vegetarian choices. At this moment, even a couple of months later, I am feeling betrayed & unclean knowing that I ate a stir fry that was chicken base. I am disgusted at myself for not being as informed as I should have been. Now I am questioning all food I have eaten out in public. What else have I consumed and not known it?? Thanks to MS for bringing this to my attention. For better or for worse, I learn something new every day about Vegan choices. In the words of GI Joe: "Knowing is half the battle."

PANDA EXPRESS gets ZERO SPROUTS. End of story.


Day 2: Tuesday evening supper. Matt decided he wanted to go some place "nice" on our vacation. Unfortunately, he'd picked out a Sushi place via the internet before we arrived in Escondido, and after arrival realized just how far we'd have to drive to get there. We had to change our plans, so we asked the people at the front desk for some suggestions. They said there was a great little American Grill not far called Jag's. There's a menu online which says they have "tomato & basil over pasta" and that was enough for me to give the thumb's up. Sure, I'll go American if there's at least one thing for me. And what the heck, pasta is always a good thing to bulk up on when you're doing as much walking as we were. So we hopped in the car & drove from Escondido to Valley Center, about 20 minutes away.

Upon arrival, it was a bit frightening - where the hell were we?! Um, pretty much the middle of no where. But, the website is pretty hip, so it must be ok. Walking in, it was a 50's style restaurant themed toward the local high school's sports teams. "Jag's" being the home team's mascot: A Jaguar. We took a booth near the front end of a Jaguar (car) sticking out from the wall & opened the menu. Um... no tomato/basil/pasta. I politely asked the waitress where it was! She said the online menu is old - they haven't served that dish in at least 2 years. (I refrained from commenting on how they should update their website more than once a decade) She asked if I'd like spaghetti with butter, which I wouldn't have accepted as an "alternative" even if I did eat dairy! Who goes out for that crap? I settled on the fried vegetable appetizer. (don't say it... I'm getting to that part...)

Now, I haven't really had "fried" food in ages. I mean, as a vegan, when does one really deep fry anything? Not often. But man does grease taste good sometimes. I devoured a bunch of fried green beans and some mushrooms, zuchinni & sweet corn. Matt snitched a sweet corn nublet & said, "mm, that tastes kinda buttery." [screeeeeeeeech]

"Really? Do you think there's butter in it?" I put down my fork, and my face must have turned pasty white.

Matt quickly regrouped by saying, "I'm sure it's just the corn itself that tastes sweet. Don't worry honey, it's ok."

I'm sure he was right because there's no way the batter would have stuck to the corn if it had been buttered....

The batter? "Honey, what's in this batter?" It was his turn to go white.

"Well, flour, bread crumbs, and probably some eggs...." Well, crapola. There goes my appetite. Was I really that stupid to forget that there's probably egg in batter? I know there's egg in tempura batter which is why I avoid it at Asian restaurants, so why would I overlook this one detail at this place? I decided that I wouldn't beat myself up over it. It was a mistake, an oversight, I wasn't going to let it ruin my evening. But it did ruin my appetite. I was done. Matt finished the rest of my plate.

The creepiest part, I learned, about this restaurant was that it used to be a turkey farm/slaughterhouse. Yikes. It said on the menu the farmer that owned the land during WWII raised his own turkeys to feed his workers. They slaughtered the turkeys right there - and fascinating enough the brackets on the ceiling (now used as decoration) used to hold the line that carried the birds to slaughter. The original building had been knocked down to make way for the place we were now sitting in, and though we were assured there were no turkey ghosts, there were turkey tracks that mysteriously appeared in the freshly poured cement in the kitchen. Right there & then I decided that this was no place for a vegan. The beedy eyes of all those slaughtered turkeys were upon me & there little turkey voices were whispering, "hypocrite....." to me all evening. I have never breathed so deep as when we walked out of that place to reach the car.

JAG'S :

Day 3: After a long day at the Wild Animal Park, it was time to head home. We planned to stop at a place that was featured on the Food Network: The Mad Greek in Baker, CA. Mediterranean seems to be one of the easiest ways to eat vegan these days. Hummus is always an easy, high protein, fix. And this was sure to deliver.

And there ya go! Hummus & pita in hand, I was filling a belly that was mildly rumbling after the failed meal the night before. I don't know about you, but one bad supper leaves me hungry for days afterward. But that hummus filled me up right! The usual ingredients in hummus are: chick peas, olive oil, lemon, garlic & tahini. Not very difficult. BUT beware, some places actually put yogurt into their hummus, so be sure to ask first before diving in. I did ask to confirm the ingredients before ordering.

I don't know what to say about the Mad Greek except that the hummus was worth the trip to Baker! The atmosphere was more like a fast-food hamburger joint - ordering at the counter & taking your number back to your vinyl booth. It was clean, efficient and friendly. But most importantly, they had great hummus topped w/paprika, olive oil & calamata olives. Their pita was warm & soft (pita is made w/flour, yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil & water, not an egg bread) and filled my belly up right!

Unfortunately, the hummus & pita was the only item available for vegans. It may be possible to find a few other options as a lacto-ovo-vegetarian, but I was not specifically looking for those items...

So if you're on Rt. 15 traveling through southern Californina between LA & LV, be sure to stop at The Mad Greek!! Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

THE MAD GREEK:


In all, traveling as a vegan wasn't too difficult, but it was more stressful than I'd anticipated. Mostly, that was my fault. I learned a few things: like ask what ingredients are in everything and assume nothing, because no one else cares what you put in your body. Only you care what you eat.

Happy Travels!

IHOP

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UPDATE May 2018:
This very old blog post continues to get a lot of traffic and the comments kept rolling in. To clarify: this post was published nearly 11 years ago during the first few months of me becoming vegan. I had been lacto-vegetarian since 1990 before deciding to go vegan in 2007, at which time, I was not aware of certain dairy derived ingredients like casein. The casein point continued to draw quite a bit of outrage in the comment section. I think everyone here can attest and admit to the fact that when we first began our vegan journeys, we were anything but perfect. It does no one any good to criticize someone's path to understand and commit to a vegan life. And given that I was lacto-vegetarian for nearly 17 years before going vegan, it seems reasonable to expect that I may not have understood what these ingredients were.

I'm tired of continually defending this post to new, and outraged, commenters. At this point, the word count of the edits & explanations exceeds the actual post! I view old posts like this as a snapshot of that moment in time in 2008, and as a reminder to us all of how difficult it is to learn what all goes in to being vegan. It helps me have compassion for other new vegans who not only feel confused as to what constitutes a "vegan" diet, but may become disillusioned by this dizzying new choice to the point that they give up on it.

It also serves as a reminder how critical fellow vegans can be of each other, which I find completely unnecessary, annoying and frustrating. No wonder people think vegans are preachy and elitist. If we can't be kind to each other, then what hope do we have of inspiring others to go vegan?

After reading this post, please take a moment to remember how your own journey began.

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ORIGINAL POST:

You read that right! International House of Pancakes... not exactly Mecca for Vegans, I agree. But doable in a pinch, especially if the party you're with has already made up their mind that this chain of fatty breakfast food is where they want to eat.

I actually walked in to IHOP this morning with my feathers up and a small container of Tofutti Cream Cheese hidden in my purse. I
was prepared to settle for white toast considering the sickeningly decadent menu that IHOP is famous for.

Credit has to be given immediately to our server: I ordered decaf coffee and then asked if they offered non-dairy creamer. She pointed out that all the creamer on the table was non-dairy but actually said, "you should still read the label, though, because I don't think it's 100% dairy free." I nearly fainted! Can I tell you how many Baristos/as at Starbucks actually tsk when I ask for soy? 10 points to our server right off the bat! Sure enough, the creamer offered was Coffeemate, not 100% dairy free (there is sodium caseinate in it) but in my Vegan World, I will use it when there is no Silk Creamer available.

Between the pancakes, french toast, waffles, crepes, hash and egg variations there was absolutely nothing for vegans (lacto/ovo-vegetarians obviously would be free to eat just about anything they wanted) in plain sight on the menu. There was a small fruit cup listed on the last page. For $2.99 I could eat myself silly through grapes & cantelope. I did ask the server if there were any bagels or English muffins available. She said they had English muffins. I ordered one & again, she was right on top of it: "do you want me to tell them not to put any butter on it?" Of course! I could have hugged her - though she didn't look like she would have appreciated it.

Everyone else at the table (3 of my girlfriends) all ordered hash & eggs, pancakes & eggs, stuffed French toast & eggs...then conversation again turned to my eating "habits." One woman was convinced that I have a food allergy & kept telling me I should just take Lactaid before going out to eat. I explained, as politely as I could without showing my exasperation that being Vegan is an Ethical Choice, not a food allergy. Even if Lactaid theoretically worked, believe me, IHOP is not the place I want to test that theory (and that's even if I felt like putting cow secretions or chicken crap in my body).

My muffin & fruit arrived and out came my soy cream cheese. Everyone was totally fascinated by it and of course needed a taste. Someone remarked that it tasted better than fat-free Philly (to which I agreed) and that it was sweeter than "regular" cream cheese. I think it tastes better, but what do I know? I'm an alien from another planet.

I will never again accept an invitation to IHOP for breakfast in the future. I will continue to feel a bit trapped, though, when it comes to not having any options for breakfast. Then again, it's so rare that I go out to breakfast that I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

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EDIT: 1/11/12

Somewhere in the comment section, people criticized me for using the Coffeemate pointing out the fact that it contains the milk based ingredient casein. I need to point out that in 2008, when this entry was written, I was only vegan for a few months & not aware of what casein was. I no longer eat anything containing any dairy now that I know what the "hidden ingredients" are. I am completely animal product free. It's been an incredible journey, and YES, I do have all the followers and readers of the blog to thank for their encouragement, support and information!