The Final Stretch

My last week of veganism was definitely the hardest. It was my spring break and my softball team traveled to Orlando, Florida for a softball tournament, but mostly just for team bonding in Disney World. Though it was an amazing trip, Disney unfortunately doesn't cater to vegans, so to my dismay, my final week was spent starving and living off of dried fruit and trail mix. I'm not saying that if you are vegan then you should stay away from Disney. I'm sure there are plenty of restaurants with many vegan options, but because I was with a large group and couldn't venture off in search of food to fit my diet, I was stuck with very few choices. I was in Florida from Monday to Friday, and so that meant I only had one more day as a vegan at home. Of course I enjoyed it eating guacamole and Whole Foods vegan cookies, but honestly I was counting down the hours until Easter Sunday. I woke up that morning to Andrew walking into my house with a huge bag from Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen. He bought six biscuits and we happily sat enjoying our first non vegan meal. I loved being vegan, and I can truly say that up until Disney, this vegan challenge wasn't that difficult for me, but taking that first bite of my egg and cheese biscuit made me realize just how good some non vegan foods are. That morning I enjoyed every single bite of both that biscuit and a cinnamon roll biscuit. Following the meal, I had to head off to work but was somewhat excited because for the first time in forty some days I would actually be able to eat the bakery goods while working. While there, I still made my normal soy latte because though I could have used regular milk, soy lattes will always be my favorite. This challenge was my best Lent yet. Becoming a vegan has become part of my life and though I enjoyed all the non vegan foods that I ate yesterday, I will probably still continue to choose many vegan options and take this diet into consideration well into the future.

Vegan at heart,
Maggie

Phood in Philadelphia

This past week for part of my spring break, I traveled to Philadelphia with my mom and brother. I did not expect this city to cater well to vegans being as their most famous food is cheesesteak. Watching my brother eat three cheesesteaks in three days made me really want to try one. I was able to find a place that served a meatless steak on the last day. I wasn't able to have cheese on mine and I think that might be why I did not enjoy it very much. Hopefully, I can go back to Philadelphia and try a real one.  

One night, we went to a restaurant near where we stayed called The Latest Dish. I had read reviews about this place and many people commented on their vegan burger. I decided to order it and I was very pleased. Instead of trying to mimic the flavor of meat, it went for its own taste of black beans mostly.

Philadelphia, being the fifth largest city in the United States, had many different options for all different kinds of people. There were cheese steak places on every corner but there were also restaurants with vegan options too if you looked close enough. I was also able to use online reviews to my advantage to see if restaurants were vegan friendly before going to them. I enjoyed my trip to Philadelphia and the food did not take away from this fun experience. 

Almost Easter,
Andrew Jessup

Philadelphia

Today I went to The Morning Glory diner in Philadelphia. The menu did not have many vegan options but they did offer a tofu scrambler which is like scrambled eggs but with tofu. It was very good but the aroma from the other non-vegan dishes at my table, made me miss eggs and bacon. I do not usually eat tofu but if I could prepare it like this I would eat it more often for sure. Eating out often in another city has been difficult but the challenge has been pretty fun.

From Philly with love,
Andrew Jessup