2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

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2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby f1jim » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:18 am

Just got back from 2 weeks of living/working in a small town in Texas. Needless to say, it's much tougher to follow a McDougall diet there than in my S.F. Bay Area home town. This Texas town has about 7 non-fast food restaurants and eating out is very difficult. Meat three meals a day is the expected menu and there are few deviations, A couple of observations.

Typically in California you can get whole beans at any Mexican restaurant as they are the basis for refried beans which are constructed with lard. In Texas they cook the beans with meat and call them Charro beans. Couldn't find any Mexican restaurants in a 30 mile radius that didn't have meat in them. Two restaurants offered to strain the meat out for me!

Local Subway restaurants look lost constructing Veggie Delight sandwiches. They found it hard to believe I didn't want any cheese on my veggie only sandwich.

The steak houses almost always offered baked potatoes but I noted the sides were very limited this trip. Usually it was canned vegetables.

Asian restaurants still represented the best options on this trip. Found a local Chinese restaurant called "China Wok" that had two regular menu items that I could eat. "Vegetable delight" and "Broccoli in garlic sauce" were good options. The owners were willing to modify several other selections to make them compliant. As expected, only white rice was available. Asian restaurants down there were like going to a Chinese restaurant in California in the 60's.

The only grocery store in town was still the best, most consistent source of healthy food. The produce section was rather spotty but always had staple starches. Rice and potatoes were always available and some surprising fruit choices were surprises. Local cherries were fabulous.

Daily temperatures around 100 were the norm and eating this way is the best way to deal with it. Nothing like meat, dairy, and oil to make the heat unbearable. It was a great trip but it's goood to be back to my eating routine.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby pundit999 » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:31 am

Good to hear your experience, Jim.

I was on vacation once in Bryce Canyon which is a remote area. Could not find anything in local restaurants. But they had a small grocery store in the hotel I was staying in. Even in this small place, they had several good options: potatoes, fat-free re-fried beans, corn tortillas, snap peas, salad packets, salsa etc. We bought a few things and then used the microwave in our room to prepare a quick, delicious meal.

Since there are grocery stores everywhere, with a little bit of determination you can stay compliant anywhere you go, at least inside the US.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby dailycarbs » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:47 am

Kudos! The real test for anyone following this woe, I think, is how to handle out of the norm situations. The longer you're out of your element, the more challenging the test. 2 weeks "deep in the heart of Texas" is a challenging test and you passed with flying colors.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby ETeSelle » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:20 am

f1jim wrote:Just got back from 2 weeks of living/working in a small town in Texas. Needless to say, it's much tougher to follow a McDougall diet there than in my S.F. Bay Area home town. This Texas town has about 7 non-fast food restaurants and eating out is very difficult. Meat three meals a day is the expected menu and there are few deviations, A couple of observations.

Welcome to my world LOL!

Asian restaurants still represented the best options on this trip. Found a local Chinese restaurant called "China Wok" that had two regular menu items that I could eat. "Vegetable delight" and "Broccoli in garlic sauce" were good options. The owners were willing to modify several other selections to make them compliant. As expected, only white rice was available. Asian restaurants down there were like going to a Chinese restaurant in California in the 60's.

I've yet to see an entrée in a Chinese restaurant here in the South that was not cooked in oil. Are you SURE what you had was compliant?? B/c I'm betting it wasn't, based on my experience.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby f1jim » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:28 am

I did talk with the owner and the entrees I picked were chosen because the owner said they were not prepared with oil. As with any eating in a restaurant one has no control over ingredients and only the relationship with the owner/cook to guide me. Since the owner acknowledged that the vast majority of other entrees were made with oil I assumed she was telling the truth about the small number of items she offered as not having oil.
I can't prove anything beyond that. I worked her over pretty good in describing my needs. But that doesn't prove anything.
I am pretty good at sensing oil in foods and detected none. Still not foolproof, though.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby ETeSelle » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:39 am

Well, that's unusual. I've never gotten anything but a blank stare, so I don't frequent Chinese places. I'm a sushi girl. It's a rare small town, even here, that doesn't have at least one sushi place, and I can always get a few veggie rolls and some edamame. :)
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby hazelrah » Fri Jul 24, 2015 11:03 am

There's a small meatless subculture in Austin that I remember. At the time I worked there (~2004) WFM was expanding in a couple of areas, and there were a couple of notable vegetarian restaurants, but as soon as you got back to the Houston/Dallas beltway you were in the wilderness.

Welcome back. Bet you're glad to be here.

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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby vgpedlr » Fri Jul 24, 2015 1:41 pm

That's why when I ravel, I take everything including the kitchen sink. And stove. And fridge. It's lovely to be able to prepare your food as you like it in some picturesque spot.

Austin has a boomin' veg scene. Don't know how healthy it is, but they have a lot of fun.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby dlee » Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:57 pm

Interesting post Jim. yes it seems like travel is the hardest for finding good options. We have been recently going to Mex DF from our home in a town that has some veggie restaurant options. Luckily we have found a small grocery store with deli where we can stock up on rice, beans and tortillas, salads and fruit, so we can make our meals in our room. I always take camping plates and cutlery etc. with me. There is no micro or frig so we shop daily for what we need for the few days we are there. Dlee
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby Tatterhood » Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:16 pm

Welcome back to civilization. I can say that because I was born and raised there. I became a vegetarian back in the 80's (when I turned 20) and most everyone looked at me like I had two heads. I moved to SF Bay Area when I was 23 for a while and thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Sadly, I didn't remain in SF because of love, but moved around from place to place after that, but never returned to the Lone Star State, mainly due to the lack of overall awareness about most everything I found (and still find) to be my truth in life.

Always more comfortable on one of the northern reaches of the coasts of this country. But the west is far more veggie minded when it comes to food than the east by far. Here in the northeast, we're lucky if we can find anyplace to eat out with this WOE outside of the big cities. In upstate New York, I often feel like I'm back in Texas...the little towns around here mainly boast wings, pizza, and bbq joints. Meat is the rule of the day. Then, there is the locavore movement. The nicer restaurants round these parts are all about artisnal cheeses, local dead animals, and locally caught trout from the Delaware River. So we stick close to home.

We've had serious thoughts about a relocation to Northern CA just because of the food situation and lack of awareness even among highly intelligent friends of ours.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby dteresa » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:05 am

I feel so blessed to live in an environment where the markets have an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans. I have five a short drive from where I live, a Sunday farmers market for several months of the year and a wonderful market down the road from my daughter where I just replenished my supplies of real Yukon Gold potatoes. And a trip to a Trader Joe's a few times per year, at a greater distance, where I buy a couple of dozen jars of fat free tomato sauce at a time and some other items I can't get elsewhere.

Restaurants are another matter but I do not often have to deal with eating in a restaurant and can choose one or two near here with a salad bar.

didi
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby iowamv » Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:49 pm

Home sweet home, I know the feeling.

Once I found I could easily make SNAP meals in a hotel room w/ microwave, traveling became easier. Just about all grocery stores sell at least some frozen vegetables, par boiled rice, canned beans and diced tomatoes. Vary the spices and I can live like that for months. I normally eat old fashioned oatmeal w/ sliced banana for breakfast, so that is easy to do on the road.

A lot of times it is easier/faster to just microwave a 100% compliant meal in the room than it is to track down a restaurant willing/able to provide healthy food.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby fulenn » Sat Aug 01, 2015 11:42 am

Jim, I wish I had known you were down here; I would have happily cooked and brought you a few meals in a cooler!

Glad you have escaped the heat, though.

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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby f1jim » Sat Aug 01, 2015 12:18 pm

There is always next time!
See you then.
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Re: 2 weeks deep in the heart of Texas.

Postby dteresa » Sat Aug 01, 2015 6:11 pm

Do I have to go to mexico to get the large corn tortillas just made from corn with a little lime? The kind you can actually roll and they don't crack and stuff doesn't fall out? Only the small ones here and even in AZ where there is a large mexican population. What are those people thinking? The only thing you can do with the little ones is to layer them for enchilada casserole or mexican lasagna.

WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE SELL THOSE BIG CORN TORTILLAS!

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