So.. Here I am in a hotel in SE Tennessee.. Across the street is a Cracker Barrel and a Waffle House and neither excites me with their culinary offerings (in fact I have never stepped any of their ubiquitous locations) as a perusal of both of their menus shows a cross section of the unhealthy food choices that many chain restaurants offer Americans. Their menus feature the factory produced meat focused diet that our nation is famous for. Even some of the vegetables at Cracker Barrel have "meat flavoring" on them that one has to be careful to avoid (but since I have never eaten there, I have had no need to avoid them)
So, how is a vegetarian to survive in the midst of all of this dead animal product offering? This is always the challenge when I travel for work. Unless I am in a place where their are enough vegetarians to warrant either dedicated vegetarian restaurants (like New Jersey and surprisingly Kansas City) or restaurants which feature a dedicated vegan/vegetarian menu in addition to their meat oriented one, then eating becomes a game of picking and choosing what to eat. The biggest challenge is to find a good source of protein without having to resort to too much cheese (or no cheese at all).
On my current trip, I have been here for four weeks so I have to been both creative or restricted. Every morning at breakfast, I am pretty much forced eat the same exact thing (the hotel offers breakfast). Black coffee, whole wheat toast, my own peanut butter (the Smuckers offered has unneeded sugar) a banana and a pile of grapefruit and pineapples that the nice lady who takes care of us every morning makes. There is some cereal and instant oatmeal but neither excites me. There is also the magic waffle maker, but who knows what is in that batter. My guess is the souls of dead puppies.
The factory that I have been working at has been actually a good source of vegetables (though usually overcooked) and they have a decent salad bar with beans and such and, to my surprise, they mark some items as vegan and the cook tells me what is in everything so my big fear of having nothing to eat at lunch (factories are not known for their culinary variety) was allayed.
Dinner is pretty limited. Many restaurants have nothing but salad and fries and my best real options are an Indian restaurant 25 miles away and one local Asian restaurant with a small vegetarian menu. The Indian place is really excellent but going there is a bit of a hike. Most nights I give up and just get the best frozen option at Publix (watch out for the salt on these) and make a big salad. I really do not mind that because I can then work my meals around my Yoga schedule. Thank Shiva my room has a fridge and a microwave. I tried Olive Garden (desperate times mean desperate measures) and boy did that suck. I mean really really bad. Pizza places are pretty ubiquitous (and the one I tried was very good) but I only want that much cheese on a rare occasion.
I am more than looking forward to returning to being able to cook my own food and controlling my intake but I am surviving. I just wish I could get a good plate of pasta and fresh lightly cooked veggies with beans and garlic for dinner tonight. Oh well.
Namaste.
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