Being Vegan in STL

For some insane reason, I got this idea to go ahead and just jot down all my favorite vegan hotspots and how I survive day-to-day in a meaty town.

The obvious:
St. Louis likes meat. St. Louis Ribs, for one, have been - albeit sometimes poorly - imitated throughout the country. We've got stockyards and there's barbecue places in most urban neighborhoods. I grew up eating most parts of the pig in bbq form.

Why I made the switch:
For various life reasons, I ended up eating mostly fruits and veggies for a big part of my teen years. As a result, I was way more used to culinary wizardry with vegetables than with meat products. After being introduced to vegan eating and seeing I was lactose intolerant and not a big fan of eggs anyway, I figured this would probably be the best way to go seeing that I knew, now, where to get my protein.
So first, let's start at home.

No, I don't grow plants in my apartment that provide me with all the fruits, veggies, and the like (although, that wouldn't be a bad idea). My bun would get to them first, anyway.I have a few staples that I keep because I'm always on the go (I work 5 days a week... well, really almost 7). I don't have time to cook a full meal and sitdown dinners with delicately sliced and garnished nom noms.

Soo... I pack my pantry with things like Luna Bars, instant oatmeal (and some regular kind on standby), bananas, dried cranberries, cereal, and maybe a few instant coffee single-serving packets.

I bet you think that I only buy this special holistic expensive brand, right? WRONG! When I start rolling in the dough, the quality of my food and the brand names may change, but here's a list things that I keep in the cupboards for now:

{Also see: Accidentally Vegan at http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/accidentally-vegan.aspx }
* Quaker Oats oatmeal
* Chiquita Bananas
* Craisins (I think from Ocean Spray)
* Kellogg's Rice Krispies
* Starbucks Via packets
* And... these bad boys:

(yep, they're vegan, too)

Any of that sound familiar??

I shop at Schnucks and Shop 'N Save like the rest of you. The only difference is that you'll probably see me standing in the middle of the aisle reading through the ingredients list.

How long does it take me to read the ever-growing list of things on the back of a package? Usually a couple of seconds. I've gotten good at this. I've been reading labels for almost 8 years now. I know how to easily spot a milk or meat product right off the back (pardon the pun).

Most brand names won't change their ingredient lists - for obvious reasons. As a company, you want to maintain the taste and texture that your consumers have grown to love. It's a waste to change it just because you wanted to "test them out". However, I am happy that Pepsi has brought back the Throwback (ahem... in your local Target stores... ahem).

So, outside the house. Do I have to go to some fancy-schmancy special eatery place?

No.

How about this list:

* Taco Bell
* St. Louis Bread Company (Panera, for the lot of ya)
* Qdoba Mexican Grill
* Chipotle
* Noodles & Co.
* Crazy Bowls and Wraps (these are quite hard to find)

{More fast-food lists at http://veganeatingout.com}

I'll just stop there. These are all fast-food or fast-casual eating establishments. All of these places I can walk into with my tattered jeans or sweatpants (usually, sweatpants) and order up whatever I want without getting a dirty look from the employees there.

If I do want to do any "fine dining", I usually find an Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, or other ethnic restaurant and eat there. Usually, I can find something vegetarian on their list that I tweak just a bit to make it vegan. Basically, I say "No cheese or egg"... voila, it's done!

Even if I'm stuck eating at a fancy place that doesn't know the word "vegetarian"... I usually just ask for the pasta with marinara sauce... and maybe some grilled veggies on the side and start off with the house salad with oil and vinegar. By the way, spaghetti noodles usually have no egg in them.

So what about ordering out?

Simple:

* Papa John's
* Pizza Hut
* Local Chinese restaurant
* Jimmy John's
{Also see Vegan Eating Out at http://www.veganeatingout.com for area-specific places}

I love PJ's for the simple fact that they have vegan breadsticks and don't use butter in their garlic sauce (yum)! Most pizza places have either regular or thin crust dough that is void of egg or milk. Any pizza can be ordered without cheese. Chinese take-out and delivery places almost always have tofu you can add to their vegetarian dishes for an extra charge (I normally ask for the amount of tofu I want in $1 increments) - even if it's not on the menu! Jimmy John's is simple. If I don't want to go with the bread, I have an option of choosing the lettuce wrap ;-)

So being vegan hasn't been all that bad. Yes, I do make the shopping trips to Trader Joe's and WholeFoods for specialty items. But as more and more people are starting to "watch their calories and cholesterol", I'm starting to see vegan alternatives offered in more quantities at the local grocery store.

Let's not forget the produce stands with low-cost fruits and veggies as well as the clearance areas of some grocery stores (sometimes a vegan item doesn't do so well on the shelves, so I stack up).

Oh, and there's the proverbial, always-vegan peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yes, white bread is vegan. No, they probably didn't do it on purpose. Yes, I'm taking full advantage of it.

On a whole, I can go shopping for a month and not spend more than $100 on groceries. If I'm REALLY good, I can make it down to about $70 for the month. If I actually used coupons, I could probably spend about half that.

Shopping in St. Louis for grocery items and living a vegan life (that's just the food, there's the whole clothing aspect that I won't get into) is not very hard if you know where to look and don't mind reading some labels.

I hope I've given you an itty bitty insight into my vegan world and a few links to help out when shopping for your vegan friends.

Have a great day :-D

Bible Kick: Beliefs, Politics, and Money

For a while, I've been listening to stories about the Bibles. The intrigue, information, and wonder draw me in each and every time.

The interesting parts - turning water into wine, the crucifixion, the dedication of followers - all sound like a story that I would want to tell my children... and have them tell their children, and so on. Besides, Santa Claus, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Easter Bunny have all survived such lineage.

One of the things I like the most about the biblical stories are the graphical representations. I know that Jesus will always almost be white (he's gotten kinda white-ish now, I've grown used to everyone in the Bible being mystically European). I know that I'm always going to see Moses as this old guy holding up a staff and parting a huge ocean-like sea. I know that Noah's arc is going to be something on a gargantuan scale with all the modern world's animals climbing peacefully on board. No wonder I like Sci-Fi.

One of the parts I look forward to are when people interpret what God means and compare it to something we see nowadays. I find myself going the other way - comparing movies to the biblical stories (like the recent Tron reload... it seemed so spiritual). And my love for biblically-themed Sci-Fi has intergrated itself into my personal movie library. Most movies that I buy copies of tend to lend themselves to the theme of (reluctant) Good Samaritan or flawed superhero.

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to know more about God. Not the deity moreso than the belief of the deity. Why one god? Why must everyone worship him? And if so, why doesn't EVERYONE worship him?

I mean, why didn't anyone just tell one main story: "Hey, there's this guy in the sky and he wants you to follow rules, see? You just have to do what he says. No, you'll never see him unless you die. All that stuff that happened in the book doesn't happen anymore, okay? So, stop asking questions... just follow the rules." Sounds like high school.

I like Jesus. I think he's a cool guy that I really would like to meet. He and I can hang out. Now, I don't drink too much so I probably would just have a lot of water. We'd walk around, talk about theories and life. I think he would be my best friend that I could go to for just about anything.

Because of certain restrictions with another religion, I won't give my ideas about that one.

I happen to know a lot of Jewish friends. That's probably just by incident because of the place where I live. They've all reminded me of growing up in the hood. They're devoted and have their own schools. They keep their own religion by passing down even the most ancient teachings to their children. It's pretty much the same as growing up in an African-American community - just with more money. They're moms are so gosh-darn similar to my own and the ones I grew up around that I can't believe that the two communities don't even really communicate as much. I guess I just said why - money.

Multiple religions have restricted my "devotion" based on skin color (or the "mark of Cain", depending on what part of the religion you believe). So, as a default, I think I've been thrown into 10 different religions and 2 different political organizations in my 30+ years of existence on this earth. In any case, I've landed into the lower level of the privilege scale and, as a result, the bottom of the payscale.

So, politics dictate religion. Religion dictates politics. Rules are made by the few with money, power, and pull. Trying to see something from another's point of view is almost close to impossible nowadays (without the intervention of reality TV). What do I think of the Bible, politics, and all this mess?

I stopped thinking about it. I do personally support certain individuals. However, I've learned to look past the political parties, the religious icons, and the people who fuel both, to be able to make up my own mind. Something else I've learned - arguing with anyone is futile.

I stopped arguing about it. I leave people alone. I respect their religious and political beliefs and ask them more questions. I choose to walk away. I figure that way, I live and you live.

So what has me on this Bible kick? Curiosity. Wanting to know more about everyone's religious beliefs. I have to listen to a slew of different points of view. I like to listen to both the biased and the un(?)biased opinions. I take the whole perspective of everyone's perception.

I've been doing this research since I was little. I've found that both religion and money seemed to have slightly eluded me. I am now realizing how they are both so tightly related and learning now that if I want to learn more about money, I have to learn more about the Bibles.