Texan Vegan

Sometimes it's an extreme pain in the ass to be vegan in Texas.

Last week I was coordinating with a friend so I will be able to eat at his October wedding. After we got the invite I asked him about the vegetarian meal. Not vegan. Thank goodness that he's an awesome friend and asked the caterer about making up a plate for me of the vegan things that will be available.

This month there is going to be a "family day" with the husband's National Guard unit, with food provided. Being Texas it will be BBQ, potato salad, coleslaw, chips, etc. So okay I pack a lunch for me and the kids, not that big of a deal.

Now the husband tells me that his shift at work wants to have an off duty get together... at a BBQ place. Niiiiiiice! I would like to go but sitting there awkwardly not eating while people are stuffing their faces with charred muscle tissue? No thanks.

Le sigh.

Update

The wedding reception food went wonderfully. It was SO much better than plain fruit salad like I was expecting. The best part was flat bread and hummus. Yum!

The Family Day at the NG was ... awkward. I shook hands with a couple people who's names I forgot as soon as they were out of ear shot. We sat at one end of a long table and kept to ourselves. I brought our little picnic of veggie burgers that Mike was able to heat up in an ancient mircowave in the armory kitchen. The kids got their faces painted and there was those bouncey houses. Not a bad day to spend the day but really I would have preferred to just stay home.

And Saltlick BBQ for the shift party... yeeeeeeah. I ate before we left, packed veggie burgers for the kids (gawd those are handy sometimes) and some snacks. I ended up sitting at the VERY far end of one of the two tables, with the kids between me and Mike, where I could not really hear the conversation. I hate when that happens. Overall though it was nice to get out of the house even if I had to spent a couple of hours not talking to anyone besides the boys and smelling that burnt flesh smell (open pit BBQ in the middle of the restaurant).