Labour Day & Eating Out as a New Vegan

Happy one week anniversary to me! I know it's not a huge milestone, but hey, why not?

This weekend saw not one, but two social outings for me as a new vegan, and I was kind of excited to see how they went. I wondered, Will people be accommodating? and, Will I have to answer the same question about protein eighteen times? Either way, I was very interested to see what the outcome would be.

Let me preface this by saying I do not expect anyone to be accommodating to my personal dietary choices. If they are, great. If not? Oh well! So let’s get started.

DAY ONE

Day One was Saturday, and we'd been invited to our friends' house for dinner and general hangouts. I'd let them know I'd moved to veganism a few days before, and they were very accommodating! They did make-your-own pizzas for dinner, which included pitas for the crust (dairy free!), and then put whatever you want one them. Choices were pepperoni, bacon, two kinds of cheese and mushrooms, zucchini, green pepper, and spinach. Lots of choice for everyone!

For us, I brought vegan chili to share, which was really well received as well. I made it with lentils, black beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms, green peppers, and chipotle peppers. Overall, it was spicier than I would have liked, but still tasty. Surprisingly, it went unbelievably well with Fritos of all things!

A few questions came up, the protein thing came up, but overall everyone was supportive. No one looked at me funny or acted like it was a huge deal. For my first time going out with friends as a vegan, it was a huge, roaring success. My friends rock, what can I say?

DAY TWO

Day Two of this lovely (and way too hot) Labour Day long weekend was spent with my in-laws and their extended family. Including aunts, uncles, grandparents, and a baby (not mine), there were twelve people and it was officially a BBQ.

The good news was, my fiancé’s one uncle is a long time vegetarian for health reasons and he brought veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs. Not so good, I found out after eating one hot dog that they were Yves and I've seen some Yves products contain milk ingredients so... hopefully not. Upon Googling, I seem to be fine, but it's a lesson to check before eating in the future!

Now, there was one thing that put me off the whole day. One person contacted me ahead of time to confirm a few things I will and will not eat, which I found exceptionally polite and considerate. I was excited to try what they brought, especially since the item I brought (quinoa salad) was something that I decided to make since it fit their dietary concerns as well as my own.

So I'm about to dig into their dish without even checking since they'd asked ahead of time and I hear, "Oh, you can't eat that."

All I could think at that moment was, What was the point in asking which ingredients I won't eat? I wouldn't have cared one little bit if they hadn't asked or informed me ahead of time that they were making something to fit my dietary concerns. As I said, I don't expect anyone to make special things for me, but they did ask ahead of time so it was a bit of a letdown to see they didn't bother after all.

Overall, the rest of the day was fine. I had a small selection of foods to eat (everything else had either egg or mayo on it. Such an egg group), but the quinoa salad I brought went over well and I still have plenty of leftovers. There were almost no questions about my switch to veganism, no one got offended by it, and no one really cared (good enough!).

It was an excellent weekend, all things considered. No one bitched at me to eat milk/dairy/eggs, no one got insulted by me turning down food items, no one insisted it would be too hard to get my protein, and everyone tried my vegan alternatives. I'd call it a win!