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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Day 7: The True Test - A Trip to The Outback

Breakfast:  Bagel and Light Chocolate Soy Milk
Snack:  Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich
Lunch:  Amy's Kitchen Breakfast Burrito
Dinner:  Dry Salad and Egg-less Pasta with Artichokes, Sundried Tomatoes and Olive Oil

Saturday started off like any normal day, it was my last day of being a vegan and I was still not having any cravings yet.  I decided to do something different for breakfast and I wanted to try out my non dairy cream cheese, so I had a Thomas Bagel, which is PETA vegan approved.  I bought the thin ones thinking they would be great for sandwiches, but unfortunately it they were too small to fill me up.  So a couple hours later I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich, which I would normally put honey on, but apparently there is a big vegan debacle about whether a "true vegan" eats honey.  So I skipped it. 

My boyfriend came from Charleston later in the day and we had a late lunch.  We both had an Amy's Kitchen Burrito, mine was a breakfast one that had potatoes, tomatoes, and black beans.  Michael had and Indian one that he had been eyeing in my freezer ever since my first vegan shopping trip.  It was curry, spinach and tofu.  Both were pretty good.

Then the call came.  My same dear friend, Emily, who tempted me with the wine, invited us to go out to dinner with her and her husband, to yes....Outback Steakhouse.  It is important to know that Michael and both really enjoy going to Outback and it is one of our staple dinner spots.  Craving a steak and the Ahi Tuna appetizer?  We go to Outback.  So obviously my first response was no, and Em felt so bad when she remembered I was on the LAST day of my vegan week.  But I also told her I would talk to Michael and see if he wanted to go. 

Of course he wanted to go.  I immediately started obsessing over what the heck I was going to eat.  I mean seriously vegan's don't belong in a steakhouse!  But this was the point of this whole process, and I felt that I should be willing to accept this challenge.

Thanks again to veganeatingout.com, I was again able to find "something" I could eat.  I wasn't raised to be a picky eater and I hate having to be that pain in the butt that the waiter dreads.  So I ordered what the website suggested.  The pasta with the aritchoke and sundried tomato topping that goes on a fish dish that they have, without the sauce (which contains butter) and just have them put some olive oil on it.  I also got the blue cheese chop salad without the blue cheese and used the dip that comes with the ahi tuna as a "salad dressing."

Well, he got the salad right, but the pasta came out covered in the butter sauce (it looked quite yummy).  The poor guy did not have a clue what I was talking about.  My boyfriend pipes up and says that I needed it "vegan" and to tell the cook that, and though he acted like he understood, but he just didn't get it.  So while my friends all enjoyed their juicy medium rare steaks, I waited for my pasta to be re-prepared. 


After about 15mins, my friends were done already, my order came....and had Parmesan cheese on top!  I told him it was perfect, scraped the top layer off and ate the bottom.  It wasn't the worst thing I have ever had, the artichokes were really good, but let's face it, it was pasta with olive oil, and the worst part, it was $12.  My usual order, "The Outback Special," is $9.99, and the salad is at least included with that.  Moral of the story, if you are vegan.....you don't belong in a steakhouse, which I am sure you are already quite aware of.

The funny part of this ordeal is that my dear boyfriend thought if he said "he" wanted to go, that I would give in and get that damn steak (he even ordered the ahi tuna : ( ), but I didn't.  I pledged to do this for a week and I stuck to it even though the greatest challenge and for that I am very proud of myself! 

Oh and I forgot to mention I also had cocktail while I was there, too many steak knives around not to!   

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