On the road

I spent the week after Christmas in Los Angeles. To get there, I traveled from Nor Cal to So Cal and back with family along Highway 5. Heading south, I caught a ride with my parents, and a week later returned with my sister, nephew, and nieces as they headed north for a wedding. (My brother-in-law would fly up and meet the family 2 days later.)

This was my first Highway 5 road trip since choosing a vegan diet. While I knew my options would be few, I didn't know how challenging it would be to eat a healthy vegan meal at a "fast food" restaurant. After reading Eric Schlosser's book, Fast Food Nation, I definitely would not choose such an eating establishment if traveling alone. However, with my parents driving one way, and with kids in tow on the return, "fast" was the priority for lunch "food" options for these trips. (Whether "fast food" is really "food" needs to be the subject of its own blog entry, but I digress.)

My parents have their routine stops when they drive south to see the grandkids. This trip was no exception. Our south-bound lunch destination offered 3 fast food options: (1) Pizza Hut, (2) Burger King, and (3) Taco Bell.

Based solely on the posted menus in this mini-counter travel center, I assessed my options. For vegans, Pizza Hut has ZERO choices as all the posted items are pizza, and pizza has cheese. Though most of the salads at Burger King have meat, there are three items for vegans = a side garden salad, a veggie burger, and French fries (though fast food fries for me have no health value as they destroy a perfectly good potato).

Since my parents decided on Taco Bell, I decided that 2 bean burritos would work for me for this fast food lunch. The total: $1.98 - not bad! Unfortunately, I forgot to request "no cheese" on the burritos -- so much for eating vegan that meal! But fortunately, Taco Bell's beans do not contain lard (the polite way of saying "pig's fat"). Thus, along with an apple I brought in the car, it was a fairly healthy lunch.

Heading home with my sister and her kids, the options for lunch were: (1) McDonald's, (2) Wendy's, and (3) Subway. (It's all about the kid meal deals!)

For a vegetarian, McDonald's has yogurt parfait as an option, but for a vegan, the options are fries and a side salad. All other salads have meat, like at Burger King. Wendy's menu options are the same - fries and a side salad. I decided that Subway would be the best option.

At Subway, there is only one non-meat option - the "Veggie Delite". Because I was not in a bread mood, I decided for a wrap, and requested from the "sandwich artist", all the veggies, but no cheese, mayo, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, please. The total: $5.17 for lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, olives, and pickles in a tortilla. I was flabbergasted. Even now, I still feel like I got the raw end of that meal deal! I ended up munching on nuts I had in the car to balance the meal with protein, but I still felt hungry.

The $1.98 Taco Bell lunch filled me up and was definitely the better "fast food" meal on this road trip. The $5.17 Subway Veggie Delight wrap was a disappointment. I probably would have done better spending $5 at the Food Mart at the gas station! But that is for another trip, and another blog entry.


END NOTE:
As I reflect on this experience and research for future reference the ingredients and nutrition facts of the menu items from the fast food restaurants I mention above, I realize that knowing what I need and being prepared are key as a vegan in the "fast food" world.

My $1.98 Taco Bell lunch of 2 bean burritos may have been cheap, but it cost me 650 calories, 14 g of fat, for the 23 g of protein. No wonder it filled me up! Next time, I probably should order 1 bean burrito without cheese, and a side garden salad from one of the other establishments.

My expensive Veggie Delite wrap from Subway had 330 calories, 8 g of fat, but only 9 g of protein (8 of which were in the wrap!). Not enough protein for my health needs. If they added some hummus however, we'd be talking!

For vegan-me, the best one stop fast food meal is now going to be Burger King and the BK Veggie Burger, ordered without mayo and cheese. It has 340 calories, 8 g of fat, and 17 g of protein. And if I don't have an apple in the car to add more "health" to the meal, I can always add some strawberry applesauce (80 calories, 0 fat and 0 protein) and I would be good to go.