Too Many Choices

The other day I met Bonnie at Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe for dinner. A few of my friends work at Rudy's, so I eat there alot. But this time was different. Now I had choices.

Whenever people would inevitably ask why I became vegetarian, one of my favorite answers was that I was indecisive. By eliminating meat I was narrowing the choices down to five or six dishes at the average restaurant. Now I stared at vast expanses on menu which had been previously unavailable to me.

I decided that I still was not ready to jump in to the burger section, I went with the turkey club. It was delicious. The best part: bacon. Crunchy bacon is one texture that veggies simply can not touch. I also love the presentation of a club sandwich, four mini sandwiches. Every time you finish one you have another one waiting. Rudy's does have a veggie club which is great, but I always found it too juicy. Veggie juice running down my face.


Last night my friend John and I went to Cato's on Piedmont Ave. They have fantastic pub food, I love their pizza by-the-slice. This time I had the pancetta with bell peppers and mushrooms. It was a great slice of pizza, the pancetta complimented the veggies nicely without overpowering. When I was previously a meat eater I loved meat-lovers pizzas. Now the thought seems a little strange. Compared to vegetables, the meat in pizza toppings all taste pretty similar. Nothing but meat would be too much.

I am almost a week in to this experiment. So far I haven't had the slightest bit of stomach trouble. I have been sneaking bites of beef from friends plates to prepare myself for the transition to red meat. But based on current results, I am optimistic. Maybe four years is not enough to alter you digestive system. Or maybe it is all a myth. We will see.

Brunch at Herbivore

Brunch has become the bane of my vegan existence, because what can a vegan possibly order from your typical brunch menu? Eggs? No. Pancakes? Nope. You're usually stuck ordering something sad like the fruit bowl. Hence my excitement when I discovered Herbivore: The Earthly Grill. It's a vegan/vegetarian restaurant in the Mission (with other locations in the city and in Berkeley) that serves breakfast everyday til 2pm. Vegan brunch!! So I took a group of (mostly meat-eating) friends to see if it was as good as it sounded. I ordered the corn cakes and swapped one with my friend for a piece of her french toast. Yum! Everyone seemed pretty pleased with their delicious vegan meals.

Black beans piled on top of a corn cake on top of potatoes.

Corn cakes with salsa, guac, vegan sour cream black beans and a piece of french toast.

First Eats

A little behind already in the blogging, but well under way in the eating. I was hoping to get half of this posted yesterday but I could not get to a computer.


Meal #1 on Wednesday evening was a classic roasted chicken with mash potatoes, asparagus, and caramelized onions prepared by my girlfriend Bonnie (who is an amazing cook, luckily, since I can't cook to save my life). It was delicious, truly satisfying. Immediately I noticed that it did not seem that weird to be eating meat again. I guess four years isn't that long in the grand scheme of things. The thing you miss without meat is the texture. A warm, salty vegetarian dish can be made just as tasty as meat, but you can not fake that texture. I could see how people who are simply turned off by the texture of meat could be happily vegetarian for their entire lives. I am not sure I am one of those people.


Meal #2 was breakfast on Thursday. We had ham and eggs with a Pillsbury biscuit. The biscuits were butter tastin'!

The ham was killer. I have missed ham. So salty and warm, with that really good texture. Breakfast is also my favorite meal. Even though I usually eat it around noon.


Meal #3 was leftover chicken in the form of chicken and noodles. I think this one could be just as good as a vegetarian dish, but it is a good way to use up the leftovers. The photo really does it poor justice. I may need to bring out the big camera to get some appetizing pictures. The point and shoot is not cutting it.


Meal #4 this morning was a fried egg sandwich with ham and cheese. I love sandwiches as much as breakfast. This one might be my favorite so far.

Next up: ease may way into some red meat!

The Other Side

Hey everyone! My name is Laura, and over the next 40 days I will be chiming in on this blog to write about my adventures in dietary choices, but from the other side of the spectrum: the vegan side! I recently made the transition from being vegetarian to vegan, which was and continues to be both an enlightening and confusing experience. But first I feel there are a few things I need to clarify. While there sort-of are different levels of vegetarianism (usually limited to whether or not one eats fish), there seems to be an endless amount of distinctions one can make when choosing to be vegan - not eating any meat, eggs or dairy; not eating any food item that comes from any animal in any way; not eating any food item that comes from or is processed using any animal product; not purchasing any animals products such as leather; etc etc etc. I didn't even think about this when I decided to try out veganism, I just assumed I'd have to cut out eggs and dairy (since I already didn't eat meat). And this is essentially what I did, so when I say "vegan" this is what I mean.

I decided to try out veganism for reasons similar to what Jeff posted below about becoming a vegetarian. The thing I liked most about becoming a vegetarian was that I was more aware of what I was eating and the choices I was making, but after 2 years or so I felt like it was almost too easy and I wasn't thinking about my food choices anymore; they were more habitual rather than intentional. So I decided to change things up a bit. As far as ethical concerns, mostly I feel that the way we produce, process and consume food is unhealthy for us, for our society and for our environment. I think we should base our collective diet on fruits, vegetables, grains (i.e. plants) and reserve meat and dairy as compliments to that base, in small portions (this idea is largely influenced by Michael Pollan). I don't think it's wrong or unnatural for people to eat meat and dairy. But because our culture surrounding food has becoming so skewed in the favor of animal products, I see veganism as a possible way of opting out of that system.

So while Jeff is writing about his meat-eating adventures, I'll be navigating the crazy world of the vegans and reporting back on what I find. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Day One + Restaurant/Recipe Recommendations

Today is the first day of Lent! I decided to skip breakfast meats for a first meal, since most are fatty and would not be easy on my stomach. I am planning a chicken dinner for tonight. I am a dark meat fan, if I remember correctly. Four years is not that long, I can still taste it in my mind. It should be good!

Also, I need recommendations for dishes to try. Either recipes I should make at home or dishes I simply must taste at local Bay Area restaurants. Give me the stuff that will convince me to never go back to a vegetarian diet. Please leave some recommendations in the comments.

The Story.

To give up being vegetarian for Lent is kind of a backwards idea. Which is probably why I like it. I started my vegetarian diet four years ago with the idea of being more environmentally conscious. But really, I just felt like I needed a change. I am extremely lazy when in comes to cooking. At the time I was eating a lot of microwave dinners, anything that required minimal effort, and it did not leave feeling too healthy. Going vegetarian was a good way to shake up my diet and force me to rethink what I had been eating.

I have not eaten chicken, pork, or beef in four years, but I have made some exceptions for fish. This past winter I started having some serious red meat cravings and began questioning the reasoning behind my diet. As I joke I said I would give up vegetarian for Lent, and the idea stuck. The inspiration for this blog came from my desire to have an open dialogue about the dietary choices we make in our culture. What impact do they really have? And Why do some people seem determined to judge us based on what we eat? Also, it seemed like a good writing exercise, since I have not ever written anything that was not assigned by a teacher.

Here goes nothing!

One Two, One Two, This is Just a Test.

My name is Jeff Reed and I'm giving up being vegetarian for Lent. This is my first blog post.