And then it happened - Vegetarian/Vegan Bloopers - Take 1
One Sunday morning - I was doing some work with Amma's Kitchen - helping to feed the homeless at a local shelter. Some of the food that's prepared gets carried over to another outdoor location for feeding the homeless, and some of the food stays at the shelter to feed current occupants.
After spending some time/energy contributing to making food - it's only natural to work up an appetite and it's considered ok for the helpers to take a small porton. I didn't want to take any of the pancakes or eggs because i was trying to be dilligent about following a vegan diet. Then i came across some yummy sausages. I took one and it really helped to quench my hunger at the moment.
Fast forward about 20 minutes. I was one of the people who fed the shelter occupants (instead of heading over to the outdoor location). When serving food to the occupants, one of the people asked about the sausages to which i replied "that it's vegetarian". Of course, as if you couldn't already see this coming -I was advised of my error, it turns out i was wrong, they were chicken sausages - ouch!
I had presumed that all food served/prepared by Amma's Kitchen (the name of the organization i was with - not the name of the shelter) was vegetarian. I was correct actually ~but~ there is also additional food prepared at the same time, by the shelter for it's occupants - everything is shared in one kitchen though, and i was not aware of the same.
So, on that day - i must admit not only did i have a chicken sausage but.....ignorant at the time, i liked it!
OMG!
Sirdidymus<-----IMPURE! IMPURE! Somebody call the vegan police! ;)
I know I have some stories, but I'm too silly right now to think. I have to go to bed.
Say10 hail-Mary's and eat a lentil casserole...
Say10 hail-Mary's and eat a lentil casserole...
I will raise this by saying watch Earthlings and eat a lentil casserole!
About two months after I had stopped eating meat, Katie and I went to the store and bought some chickenless buffalo wings and nuggets. We baked them together and grabbed a few of each. I could tell something was off immediately with the nuggets. They seemed to be a bit too juicy for a soy product...and then I bit into some cartilage. Horror-struck, I went back and looked at the box, and sure enough, they were not vegetarian. When we bought them, they were right next to the vegan wings, and the packaging on the box was a little confusing.
That was a bad night. Katie was so upset because she had wanted to try them. Needless to say, we are constantly checking and rechecking the boxes whenever we buy stuff like that now.
I ordered the "Vegetarian Plate" at a Lebanese restaurant a few months ago, and the rice stuff that came with it was super-good! Very flavorful, yummy...
And then I thought "it kinda tastes like chicken."
So, suddenly feeling a little queasy, I dug through it some more with my fork. Sure enough, I hadn't noticed the bits of chicken that were mixed into it.
:-[
I was upset because I had been really excited because it was GOOD. And because I had to spend much of the rest of the night pooping.
::)
I couldn't decide if it was "my bad" for not asking "Is everything on the Vegetarian Plate actually vegetarian?" or if it was "their bad" for not knowing what vegetarian means (I want to say "to most Americans," but I know plenty of people who think using little bits of meat to "season" a dish doesn't count).
That is 'their bad' because they advertised it as a 'vegetarian platter' and you would not therefore expect it to contain chicken! Their very very bad!!!! I hope you let them know!
brittney and i had our first date at this restaurant in renton called STIR (chinese). it became a weekly favorite for us (she especially loved it). i always ordered vegetarian stuff that they promised was completely vegetarian. brittney got a job there and after a few days she came home and told me, "we're never eating there again. ever! unless oyster is a vegetable..."
they were putting oyster sauce in everything. now i don't trust a restaurant unless it's specifically a vegan restaurant.
the good news is that my mysterious case of eczema cleared up almost right away after we stopped eating there. and all of my tummy problems.
d'oh!
oh! and we went to a whole foods and we were looking in the deli and we were getting stuff to take home. we noticed some "soy pork tenderloin" and thought about taking some home but wanted to try it first. we were talking to the lady the whole time about the vegetarian options. then she gave us a sample. since i really don't know much about meat, i had brittney try it first. when she didn't spit it out right away i put it in my mouth and gave it a couple of chews. the texture was awful, sort of like rubber jello. i figured, "people always complain about the texture of vegetarian meats, so this MUST be fake since i could never imagine why someone would WANT it to feel like this"... right as i was thinking that, brittney yelled, "IT'S REAL! SPIT IT OUT! SPIT IT OUT! SPIT IT OUT!" i've never spit so much before in my life. the lady felt so bad and kept apologizing and gave us free (vegetarian) stuff.
we went to customer service about the misleading sign. brittney said, "that sign says 'soy pork tenderloin' and in a health food store, you sort of think they mean it's made from soy... not just covered in soy sauce. and because of this sign, my wife now knows what meat tastes like and she has been a vegetarian for almost her entire life!" and they pulled the sign and all agreed it was a very misleading sign. they felt super bad and gave us a $25 gift card that we used to buy our groceries that night. they also immediately changed the sign and i haven't seen anything else that would look confusing like that since then.
i'm so glad that brittney is complainy sometimes. and that i didn't swallow!
I was making a nice, labor-intensive (lots of chopping) soup. I thought I'd be nice to myself and buy some broth instead of the better than bullion that I normally use. I'm in the habit of pouring out all of the broth from the carton and saving about one sip for myself. Well, the last carton that I poured in was...CHICKEN broth. Yuck. So, my parents wound up with some soup.
On more than one occasion in a restaurant I have ordered a sandwich or salad that did not list meat in the ingredients, and then when I got my order...hey look, lots of meat. And when I say, "umm, this has meat in it?" the waiter/waitress says "well OF COURSE it has meat in it," as in, "why on earth would we serve anything without meat?" Well maybe because it is not listed on the menu!!! Yeesh.
the other day i was at Taco Bell and ordered a 7 Layer Burrito (sans the cheese and sour cream but add the guacamole) and a soft taco, in the same fashion.
When i got home, after taking a few bites out of the Soft Taco i tasted a "sharp" taste that seems off, and when i looked - sure enough "beef". I was quite upset and telling my gf how upset i was that they can't get an order right - ugh!!
then i realized, OOPS - i had meant to order a "bean burrito" (which is vegetarian) but ordered the soft taco by mistake (which, obviously - is not vegetarian, unless i have them sub beans for meat). So, great job "me" - yay, i have them hold the cheese and sour cream but let them leave on the yummy yummy (said in jest) beef - yay, "beef" - it's what was for MY dinner - ugh!
i have to laugh at myself sometimes (read "OFTEN")
the other day i was at Taco Bell and ordered a 7 Layer Burrito (sans the cheese and sour cream but add the guacamole) and a soft taco, in the same fashion.
When i got home, after taking a few bites out of the Soft Taco i tasted a "sharp" taste that seems off, and when i looked - sure enough "beef". I was quite upset and telling my gf how upset i was that they can't get an order right - ugh!!
then i realized, OOPS - i had meant to order a "bean burrito" (which is vegetarian) but ordered the soft taco by mistake (which, obviously - is not vegetarian, unless i have them sub beans for meat). So, great job "me" - yay, i have them hold the cheese and sour cream but let them leave on the yummy yummy (said in jest) beef - yay, "beef" - it's what was for MY dinner - ugh!
i have to laugh at myself sometimes (read "OFTEN")
Something similar to this happened to me about a year ago, only the did screw up my order.
For whatever reason, I didn't check it before I took a bite...BEEF!!! It tasted like a mixture of bile and shit. I spit it out immediately, and it took me hours to get that taste out of my mouth.
i'm guess i'm lucky in that the taste of meat doesn't disgust me. The notion that i'm eating the flesh of a dead animal does - but the taste, in and of itself - no.
Realistically, I understand that when i eat out - things are going to get mixed. I do my best to avoid it and if i come across it (like in my earlier Taco Bell example), I'll stop eating it right away.
So luckily, when i have mis-steps, i can just walk away from it and laugh.
I think in the religion of "Jainism" you accumulate karma whether an act was intentional or not (but please, don't quote me on this). So for example, if you walk on a bug and kill it (unbeknowngst to you) - you still accumulate the karma from having ended that bugs life. So if that were to be true - i'm already guilty just by taking that first bite - dangit! :P
after eating the lableled "100 percent vegetarian" soups offered at the company cafe a few days in a row, I realized that 100 percent vegetarian doesn't = vegan. Im not sure why I assumed they were, I think it was because our company is large and does actually employ a healthy amount of vegans.And they offer tofu plates and such...The veggie chili seemed okay, as did the veggie bean soup.
But when they presented the cream of broccoli I was all "uh-oh!" what have I done to myself?!!
I'M RUINED FOR LIFE!!!!
not really but...
whoopsy. :-[
Dude. If I read 100% vegetarian I'd assume it meant 100% plant-based ingredients. That's misleading.
thank you! I agree. I would like to bring it up to the cafe manager if I can summon the courageous lion in me. I tend to avoid confrontation on all levels.
hey,
animal_g ("rock me sexy jesus") :) - i had me a big ole chicken sausage and a beefy bite or two from a soft taco and you're worried about some cream in your soup - HA - rookie!!!
bwah hah hah
>:D
...sure, hit me when im down... i see how u iz.
:P
dont you know that Cream is the gateway food?
when I was at Pride two weekends ago we stopped at a noodle place for lunch. I was skeptical at first but there were signs inside & on the menus saying "let us know if you're vegan" (vegan, specifically! I was impressed) So I made my order after telling the counter person I was vegan.
We all got our cute little take out containers and fought through the crowds to find some grass to sit on, started eating, and my noodles were FILLED with egg! I mean...not even big chunks. I'm pretty sure the noodles or vegetables were cooked in egg because there were tiny pieces of it in the whole dish. :( I picked out all the larger pieces but it was impossible to avoid, and there were hundreds of people in front of the noodle shop when we left, so I couldn't be bothered going back to get a new order.
Surprisingly, it didn't make me sick, but I felt pretty gross eating it...at least the sauce drowned out the gross egg taste :/
...sure, hit me when im down... i see how u iz.
:P
dont you know that Cream is the gateway food?
i'm sorry - the meat made me do it - made me more aggressive - brought out my alter ego... 8)
when I was at Pride two weekends ago we stopped at a noodle place for lunch. I was skeptical at first but there were signs inside & on the menus saying "let us know if you're vegan" (vegan, specifically! I was impressed) So I made my order after telling the counter person I was vegan.
We all got our cute little take out containers and fought through the crowds to find some grass to sit on, started eating, and my noodles were FILLED with egg! I mean...not even big chunks. I'm pretty sure the noodles or vegetables were cooked in egg because there were tiny pieces of it in the whole dish. Sad I picked out all the larger pieces but it was impossible to avoid, and there were hundreds of people in front of the noodle shop when we left, so I couldn't be bothered going back to get a new order.
Surprisingly, it didn't make me sick, but I felt pretty gross eating it...at least the sauce drowned out the gross egg taste :/
Tino, that sucks! Reminds me of when i was at a Chinese Buffet place once. I asked if they could walk me around and show me the dishes that had no meat/dairy, etc. So this dude is showing me around and pointing to the rice, indicating it has no meat. At the same time i'm thinking to myself "ah, ok - cool, so the fried rice W/EGG has no meat...ah, cool.....". I learned then and there that anytime i go to a buffet type place - it's with the understanding that (as the song in the Indiana Jones movie says) "...anything goes...".
ugh!
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