Plant-Based Travel: What I Ate In Minnesota

What did I eat while we were in Minnesota?

All manner of delicious plant foods!

Here are some of my meals and snacks.

Walnut & black bean burgers:

I made these

with cantaloupe . . . 

and a salad!

Make a salad hefiter with rice and beans!

More walnut & black bean burgers with grapes & watermelon . . . 

gotta eat the leftovers!

Gluten-free pizza from Davanni's:

with green & black olives, onions, mushrooms, pineapple . . . 

A veggie bowl from Chipotle with

brown rice, black beans, corn, fajitas, and mild salsa:

I am sensitive to spicy food, so I don't regularly eat Mexican food.
I LOVE IT, though!

Almonds with dried cranberries:

Open faced veggie sandwiches with

thin rice cakes with hummus, spinach, shredded carrots,

shredded cabbage, and tomato:

Gluten-free pizza from Giovanni's in Bemidji:

this fluffy crust was DELICIOUS!

with MANY OLIVES, pineapple, onions, mushrooms . . . 

Gluten-free buns (not a health food, of course, but yum!)

Tried some of these, too, and LOVED them.

Lots of bananas:

GREAT BIG SALAD:

 This was at a buffet place.

I brought my own bun.

This kind of salad I can support!

(Though I'm suspicious of the sulfites used in salad bars to keep everything looking pretty.)

Fruit & veggies:

The above was at a family gathering to celebrate Greg's Grandma's birthday.

There were lots of wonderful options and everything was beautiful and fresh!

Gluten-free vegan blueberry pancakes and veggie potato

hash browns:

I made these

Nut & cranberry bites:

Some rice cakes for emergencies.

Again, not a health food, but good for calories if I'm fading.

 Rice crackers for snacking:

I eat more snacky foods while I'm with our family members

partially because it's fun and partially because they are sometimes concerned

about my food restrictions.
I want to demonstrate that I have fun with food, too!

More pizza, this time from Old Chicago:

it's weird to put WHOLE olives on pizza

I have a confession to make.  

I do not love going out to eat.

I think it's weird to have other people, whom I don't know, make food for me.

Food is intimate to me.  I want to make it or I want people who love me to make it.

I don't particularly like it when strangers make it for me.

Also, going out to eat is expensive.

Addionally, we never know FOR SURE what's in our food when we eat in a restaurant.

It almost always has lots of garbage in it that we would not put in it at home.

They do this to trick our taste buds into recognizing more densely caloric foods and liking them more because they will fuel us longer.

This is called The Pleasure Trap.

When I go out to eat with food limitations,

pizza is often the easiest, tastiest option.

I leave off the meat and cheese, and it's pretty reasonable.

It usually doesn't actually fill me up all the way because it's basically a cracker

with veggies and red sauce, but at least I don't get sick.

I don't want to get a salad because my thrifty self can't stand paying $15 for a bunch of lettuce

with some veggies on top.

My favorite beverage is iced hibiscus tea.

My second favorite beverage, which is much simpler to get while away from home,

is sparkling water.  I like Whole Foods' brand because the can is cute

and because it's the least expensive, but La Croix will do.

Do you have food preferences?

How to do eat healthily and happily when you're away from home?