All You Have To Do Is Ask

This weekend hasn't been too eventful concerning my vegan diet.  For dinner last night I ate a salad with guacamole and dried fruit (yes, that sounds strange, but guacamole is my favorite food and I love dried fruit, so the combination was very tasty). I decided that dinner tonight should be a bit more interesting.  Hayley, Eleanor, and I decided to go out, and we were torn between Saffron or Carrburritos. We eventually decided on Saffron because it was new and different.  Plus, one of our friends who is vegetarian works there and is always saying how good the food is. As we were gazing over the menu, I was becoming a little concerned because I wasn't familiar with many of the foods.  Most everything contained the ingredient paneer, which is a type of Indian cheese.  The waiter was extrememly friendly, and though I felt that I was being annoying, I had to ask whether certain dishes contained milk. Being the good waiter that he was, he brought me a sheet of paper with a list of vegan dishes, lactose free dishes, and gluten free dishes. Even though most of the dishes aren't normally vegan, the cooks can alter certain ones, so I picked the Tawa Subz dish and had the spiced onion sauce, which he told me contained milk, made vegan. The dish, though spicy, was delicious. It was mixed vegetables cooked with different spices. I'm not sure how they altered the sauce so that there was no dairy, but it looked like there was some sort of sauce on it, so maybe they used coconut milk.  I trust the waiter though so if he said it was vegan, then I believe him. So far everything has been going really well. I love trying new dishes and being so aware of everything that I eat. It definitely hasn't been as hard as I thought, but having to ask so many questions in unfamiliar restaurants can get somewhat annoying (for both the waiter and the people that I go with). I also want to note that my energy levels haven't decreased at all since becoming vegan. I've been able to keep up with my running and can't tell any difference between my pre-vegan diet and now. I'm excited for next week and new food experiences!

Maggie