It's been 61 days since I started my 30 day vegan experiment. Up until today, I've had ice cream once, and salmon (in very small amounts), mixed with pasta, twice. As I said from the beginning, it's not that I'm morally opposed to eating meat, but when I do eat it, I want to know where it's coming from. No more supermarket variety. I want real, hormone and antibiotic-free, grass-fed meat. Around here, it's difficult to come by, and so I've stayed (mostly) vegan*.
During my experiment, Verne noticed he was feeling better and better, too. I didn't anticipate this happening, but was quite pleased when he stopped complaining of stomach troubles. He never took an interest in nutrition before, but was suddenly asking more questions, and agreed that eating at small, local eateries when he was traveling was better than eating at large chain-type restaurants. Again, in our area, those are difficult to come by.
BUT! Several months back, I was on Facebook one morning, and noticed that a friend had posted a link to a restaurant about an hour from us. This restaurant features local meat that met my criteria, fresh, local vegetables, and homemade breads and desserts. He raved about the food. But an hour is kinda far...
Today, Verne surprised me by driving me that hour for a lunch date. He's discovered that not only does he feel better when he eats local foods grown "like they should be", the food tastes better, too. He wanted me to enjoy some local fare as well.
We were quite surprised that we had to wait 30 minutes in this small town in the middle of nowhere at one o'clock in the afternoon to get a table. The wait was worth it.
What did I order?
A 1/3 pound burger made from fresh, local grass fed beef, topped with locally produced cheddar, roasted garlic mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and grilled red onion on a buttermilk roll. Oh! And homemade fries. YUM! Boy, was I stuffed.
*I've also eaten our own eggs from time to time.
7 comments:
Sounds good to me, where did you go?
Wish we had a restaurant like this near us :) The meal looks very yummy!
Healthy eating really does make you feel better. I love being able to go out to our veggie garden and bringing something in to include in a meal :)
I am finding that I prepare more and more vegetarian meals these days :)
Have a nice day!
My mouth is watering.
I so wish we had restaurants like that around here. But well you know where I live- Cracker Barrel anyone? : )
Most of the beef we buy comes from Argentina, where it's supposed to be pasture-fed but... it isn't fresh; it's frozen. I wish we could obtain local, fresh meat. Eating your own eggs is great; I do have to caution against long-term veganism though. For a short "cleansing" period it may be good, but as a long-term diet it may lead to very serious deficiencies.
Those tomatoes look particularly gorgeous - under ripe ones are do disappointing. I've had no luck growing tomatoes, but my strawberries have been delicious, even if the quantities are small!
We're lucky enough to live in a place where we would have to search pretty hard to find a chain restaurant. And our local restuarants mostly serve local whole foods! Glad you found one near you.
By the way, you and your husband are so cute together!
Tracy, one of the biggest eye-openers for me through blogging was how blessed my area is with local food. I have such ease of access to it. I used to think everybody had farmers nearby, but through reading other peoples' blogs and the comments on mine, I've realized how rare it can be. Blessings to you - I admire your sensible, thankful approach to eating.
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