Living Naturally?

[npmommie]

Happy Cow can be a good resource, and depending on where you are traveling to you may find other sources of vegan friendly restaurants. Boston veg society has a website listing all the vegan restaurants in the state.

I can tell you places I find it easy to get good vegetarian food, Moe's, Chipotle, Five Guys, any pizza shop, chinese restaurants, and yes the supermarket for easy travel foods..

heck I once had a great veg meal at a steakhouse! just gotta think outside the box sometimes.
we have several vegan restaurants in our area, so I am spoiled a bit.

 

[Friend of a Mouse]

We will be driving from Missouri to Rochester Hills, MI with a stay in Chicago.

 

[VBsHustla]

I don't eat fast food, but I know that there are definitely vegan options at Subway and Wendy's. At Subway, you can get bread with just the vegetables. In a rare pinch, I've just asked for the vegetables in salad form. They'll give you a lot of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, etc. on like a giant platter. I also recently was tweeted by Subway about how they're going to have falafel now haha. I'd check on that, but it's probably vegan. Fried, though, so not exactly the most natural thing in the world! Wendy's also has side salads and baked potatoes that should be fine if you get them without any toppings.

Regular restaurants have never been a problem for me, but I'm sure that has to do with where I live. I pretty much never order off the menu in normal fashion, though. I usually combine a couple of sides. I actually find steakhouses to be some of the easiest options! They always seem to have plain baked potatoes or sweet potatoes, plenty of vegetables that they're willing to steam, and side salads. Italian restaurants are also pretty easy, because pasta and vegetables always work. You can also ask for pizza without any cheese (my siblings and I order pizza on rare occasions and get lots of broccoli, olives, artichokes, and sliced tomatoes and it's really good!) Chinese and Japanese restaurants are also really good for rice and steamed vegetables and I'm sure plenty of other options. Hope some of that is helpful!

 

[marie1203]

I am not a vegan but I am a Pescetarian. Close to the end of 2010 I just saw too many videos about the animal abuse plus I was not healthy I didn't feel good even though my weigh and everything seem fine. We were never big on red meat growing up and once I thought about it we didn't really eat much red meat so might as well get rid of it all together. My new years resolution for 2011 was to stop eating chicken, beef, pork and just stick with seafood. I had to say at the begging it is hard to change the thought process of meal planning but always doable. Now it has been over a year and I never gone back . I must say it does get easier with time as you get adjusted. I was just talking to another friend that is vegetarian and how difficult is to find food you can eat at BBQ's I am not sure if it is were we live but they seem to put some sort of meat in everything like bacon in the salad . I always wonder if the have any idea the amount of protein they are consuming .
Close friends usually now and they always make something I can eat and I for that. It actually is great because they get to try new recipes and so many times they said how much they like it and with they would've tried earlier.
We try to be as environment friendly as possible between DH and I we only have a 1/2 a 13 gallon bag of trash a week including the cat littler. We try to recycle everything and we take the time to sort it out. There are a few places I pass on my way to school were I drop specific items. We try to buy things with the least amount of packaging to create less trash and it is incredible the amount you can reduce. I unplug all appliances that are not being used. We try to do as much as we can.
Chemical as many have said white vinegar is great. I have stop using chemicals way before I stop eating meat and it was mainly to help my asthma. There a many resources in the web about homemade cleaning products.
We live in a rural area so it is easy for us to find fresh veggies and fruit that are truly organic as well as our eggs.
My shampoo and cosmetics have come from cruelty free companies for a few years now. I use Kenra for shampoo and conditioner and my make up comes from Mac and Estee lauder. This year my goal is to be completely cruelty free and I feel sometimes there is not enough information out there. For example my dog food it is tested on animals but of course animals are going to eat so you really have to do your research part of the reason I feed my dogs Acana is because the quality of their product and their animal testing procedures. They state what they test and they don't test in a laboratory environment. I think this is cruelty-free even though it they can't say they don't test on animals. I must say one of the things I use but I don't use often is bleach for whites.
We have never been big on fast food but I found taco bell can replace anything for beans and restaurants I usually always check the menu and if not I end up having dessert as my meal .

 

[cornflake]

I don't eat fast food, but I know that there are definitely vegan options at Subway and Wendy's. At Subway, you can get bread with just the vegetables. In a rare pinch, I've just asked for the vegetables in salad form. They'll give you a lot of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, etc. on like a giant platter. I also recently was tweeted by Subway about how they're going to have falafel now haha. I'd check on that, but it's probably vegan. Fried, though, so not exactly the most natural thing in the world! Wendy's also has side salads and baked potatoes that should be fine if you get them without any toppings.

Regular restaurants have never been a problem for me, but I'm sure that has to do with where I live. I pretty much never order off the menu in normal fashion, though. I usually combine a couple of sides. I actually find steakhouses to be some of the easiest options! They always seem to have plain baked potatoes or sweet potatoes, plenty of vegetables that they're willing to steam, and side salads. Italian restaurants are also pretty easy, because pasta and vegetables always work. You can also ask for pizza without any cheese (my siblings and I order pizza on rare occasions and get lots of broccoli, olives, artichokes, and sliced tomatoes and it's really good!) Chinese and Japanese restaurants are also really good for rice and steamed vegetables and I'm sure plenty of other options. Hope some of that is helpful!

I don't know why fried wouldn't be natural but... and I don't know, I'm asking - is Subway's bread vegan? I don't eat there either, so I dunno, but a lot of processed bread products aren't, they've got egg or egg products or butter or honey or the like...

 

[VBsHustla]

-

 

[cornflake]

I don't eat their bread, but I do know their regular breads do not contain eggs or milk (unless it's like a cheesy bread.) I think the only one that has honey is called honey wheat or something pretty obvious.

I guess it depends on what you consider natural. I generally think of things that come from trees or the ground in their original form as natural, and fried up chickpeas rolled into balls is definitely not something I'd find in nature. I just consider the idea of extracting concentrated oil from a whole food to be very processed. Plus, I can't even imagine what bizarre ingredients/chemicals a fast food restaurant would include in falafel. I'm not trying to say I'm the authority on this or something, just my opinion.

Chickpeas are found in nature, smush them, mix them with spices, fry them, seems pretty natural to me - especially when we're talking about things, like falafel, that have been around thousands of years, it's weird to me to classify it as unnatural food because it's ... mashed or mixed with something or cooked, when it was a foodstuff that predates the current calendar, if you see what I mean. I'm not meaning to argue or convince you, just explaining how I see it. As for oil - I don't get processed. I mean I guess squeezing and bottling is technically processing but by that definition, rice is also processed, grains are more processed than oil, etc. Oil has been around as long as civilization - if it was good enough for the Greeks and Romans, who am I to argue?

I'm with you on the fast food though.

 

[VBsHustla]

-

 

[cornflake]

I wouldn't say that about a McDonald's anything in 1,000 years either, but falafel, oil, etc., were food before there were manufactured chemical additives, industrial processing equipment, etc.

Rice wasn't food until someone could cultivate, harvest, process it and harness fire and make a vessel to cook it in. If you see what I mean.

Heck, olives aren't really food until they're fermented, cured or brined, which is processing, so I dunno that olives should count as natural under your system, heh.

I have no idea who the guy is but if he thinks oil is unnatural I dunno that I want to.

 

[Friend of a Mouse]

I am not a vegan but I am a Pescetarian. Close to the end of 2010 I just saw too many videos about the animal abuse plus I was not healthy I didn't feel good even though my weigh and everything seem fine. We were never big on red meat growing up and once I thought about it we didn't really eat much red meat so might as well get rid of it all together. My new years resolution for 2011 was to stop eating chicken, beef, pork and just stick with seafood. I had to say at the begging it is hard to change the thought process of meal planning but always doable. Now it has been over a year and I never gone back . I must say it does get easier with time as you get adjusted. I was just talking to another friend that is vegetarian and how difficult is to find food you can eat at BBQ's I am not sure if it is were we live but they seem to put some sort of meat in everything like bacon in the salad . I always wonder if the have any idea the amount of protein they are consuming .
Close friends usually now and they always make something I can eat and I for that. It actually is great because they get to try new recipes and so many times they said how much they like it and with they would've tried earlier.
We try to be as environment friendly as possible between DH and I we only have a 1/2 a 13 gallon bag of trash a week including the cat littler. We try to recycle everything and we take the time to sort it out. There are a few places I pass on my way to school were I drop specific items. We try to buy things with the least amount of packaging to create less trash and it is incredible the amount you can reduce. I unplug all appliances that are not being used. We try to do as much as we can.
Chemical as many have said white vinegar is great. I have stop using chemicals way before I stop eating meat and it was mainly to help my asthma. There a many resources in the web about homemade cleaning products.
We live in a rural area so it is easy for us to find fresh veggies and fruit that are truly organic as well as our eggs.
My shampoo and cosmetics have come from cruelty free companies for a few years now. I use Kenra for shampoo and conditioner and my make up comes from Mac and Estee lauder. This year my goal is to be completely cruelty free and I feel sometimes there is not enough information out there. For example my dog food it is tested on animals but of course animals are going to eat so you really have to do your research part of the reason I feed my dogs Acana is because the quality of their product and their animal testing procedures. They state what they test and they don't test in a laboratory environment. I think this is cruelty-free even though it they can't say they don't test on animals. I must say one of the things I use but I don't use often is bleach for whites.
We have never been big on fast food but I found taco bell can replace anything for beans and restaurants I usually always check the menu and if not I end up having dessert as my meal .

just to let you know- Estee Lauder has resumed animal testing. At this point only Origins (their natural brand) is considered cruelty free.

 

[Friend of a Mouse]

I guess when I say naturally, I mean close to nature than now. I'm reading Vegan for Life and they make a great point that it's pretty much impossible to eat naturally anymore. Almost all of our foods are hybrids and the plants we eat now are not the same plants eaten thousands of years ago. I definitely want to shoot for more whole foods, but am not ruling out convenience foods either.

 

[luvmy3]

If I were to live naturally I'd grow my own food, slaughter my own animals and make my clothes from their hides and make my tools from their bones. I'd cut down the trees in the woods and make my own home with them, and walk everywhere or use a horse. Luckily its the 21st century and I don't have to.
I guess I thought this thread was about something else, not nutritional choices

 

[TDC Nala]

When you go to someone's house for something like a dinner party (if they just have nibbles, and you're not sure about their provenance, you can probably get away with not eating them) you are going to need to tell them "I am a vegan. I don't consume any animal products at all." I don't think you can expect them to provide vegan items for you unless they know you well enough to know you are a vegan and they need to provide such things, but if you tell them right off, then they may not be offended when you don't eat anything they serve.

If you know them well enough, you can tell them way in advance that you can't eat animal products, which will at least cut down on the possibility that they'll be offended that they prepared too much food because they didn't know you wouldn't eat it.

 

[disneychrista]

I don't know why fried wouldn't be natural but... and I don't know, I'm asking - is Subway's bread vegan? I don't eat there either, so I dunno, but a lot of processed bread products aren't, they've got egg or egg products or butter or honey or the like...

Only the wheat has honey in it. No eggs in them. But they contain other ingredients that could make them not vegan (mono & di-glycerids, sodium steroyle lacticate). It is very hard to find vegan bread and when you do it, is $6 a loaf.

FYI - you do not have to fry falafel. My daughter just made some and she bakes them in the oven.

 

[npmommie]

I have no idea who the guy is but if he thinks oil is unnatural I dunno that I want to.

I have his book, and it talks about oils and the damage fats do to the endothelial lining of blood vessels. and that they are pure fat calories with no nutritional value.
even the good fats. there is more but I guess that is it in a nutshell

 

[VBsHustla]

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[PatriciaH]

just to let you know- Estee Lauder has resumed animal testing. At this point only Origins (their natural brand) is considered cruelty free.

I was just going to post that. Estee Lauder, Mary Kay and Avon.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/soci...companies-quietly-resume-cruel-animal-testing

 

[Friend of a Mouse]

I watched Vegucated last night and liked it. It was a little quirky, but had good info. I was glad to see the part where they talked to the person from the Vegetarian Christian Alliance. (I've gotten mild flak from my sister in law over the whole "God gave them to us to eat.")

I also finished Vegan for Life (highly recommend) and the Forks Over Knives Book. The book was not nearly as informative as I would have liked. The recipes are good but often serve 4 or more and not all of them look like they would keep. I wish they had nutrition facts for their recipes. So okay, but nto great.

 

[cornflake]

I watched Vegucated last night and liked it. It was a little quirky, but had good info. I was glad to see the part where they talked to the person from the Vegetarian Christian Alliance. (I've gotten mild flak from my sister in law over the whole "God gave them to us to eat.")

I also finished Vegan for Life (highly recommend) and the Forks Over Knives Book. The book was not nearly as informative as I would have liked. The recipes are good but often serve 4 or more and not all of them look like they would keep. I wish they had nutrition facts for their recipes. So okay, but nto great.

You might point out to your sister in law that someone in biblical times would have said close to the same about the people used and held as slaves (except the 'eat' part, heh, you know what I mean). People used that kind of justification as few as 150 years ago to keep slaves.

As for the information - have you read Peter Singer?

 

[Friend of a Mouse]

I have not read singer. I still have a B&N gift card and am looking for some good material. My next book is going to be China Study. I will add Singer to my list.

I'm also looking for some easy vegan recipes. Vegan For Life talked a lot about Tempeh and I'm trying to find a recipe for it that isn't too sauce heavy.