Thank heavens for another celebratory day yesterday.
A friend rode his bicycle by to pick me up, and we both rode our bikes about 4 miles to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco California USA.
We went Swing Dancing outdoors, to DJ’ed dance music, and then I walked over to some food trucks for a quick lunch.
Most of the food trucks did not offer very much in terms of vegan options, and if they did offer something, it was just a small fraction of what they offered, most of it being centered around meat or dairy products.
People assume that in San Francisco there are vegan options all over the place, and that has not been my experience. Most people here in San Francisco are dedicated meat eaters, and it doesn’t matter whether they are counting every penny or whether they are rich. Either way, meat (and that includes seafood), dairy products and eggs are usually the default here in San Francisco.
As such, I was very surprised to see that there were vegan options (yes, that’s an “s,” vegan options, plural) at this ice cream place. Yes, two soy-based flavors were available! I imagine they provided this for customers who are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk, and not because of wanting to help dairy cows, especially because nearly everything that they offer is dairy-based.
Regardless, I’m all for it; more options helps people with food allergies and other limitations on what they can eat. For myself, although some soy-based non-dairy ice cream sounded good, I didn’t go for it I needed some “real food “ in my stomach at that moment.
Tacos sounded like a good idea to me, so I stopped off at the Mayan food truck pictured here.
I had to laugh at their idea of plant-based protein options, it was things like pickled onions and avocados. See photo. Not much protein there! However, I did see on their menu that they had black beans. They really should have listed that (black beans) under their vegan protein options!
I wanted something that would be easy for me to eat while walking along. I was just squeezing this impromptu food thing into a 15-minute space between the conclusion of the dancing and the beginning of the walk with friends. So, even though I would normally order tacos because those are my favorite, instead I went for the burrito this time. More portable!
I ordered a burrito with black beans, rice, cabbage, salad greens, and fried plantains mixed right in there! Oh my gosh, it was so delicious! While I am willing to eat anything, including animal products, I definitely prefer to have all vegan food like this. Super yum!!!
I’m sharing this so that more people can see that they don’t necessarily need to eat the pulled pork and the cheese and the sea food and everything else that is the default for what one would order at that Mayan-inspired food truck.
Of course, the food is far from being what the Mayans ate, before the coming of Europeans. Regardless, because they did offer black beans and rice, one could obtain a vegan complete protein at this food truck. Plus, with the fried plantains, salsa, pickled cabbage, and everything else, one could get such a delicious vegan meal, too.
I’m sharing some other pictures from the walk with my friends. There was a woman singing and playing the most beautiful piano music in front of the conservatory garden greenhouse. Apparently it was part of the poetry for the people project, funded by city College of San Francisco.
After the walk with friends, it started to rain, I rode my bicycle home for 4 miles in the rain. Thankfully I had my rain jacket with me, and my bike lights. Therefore, I didn’t get TOO terribly wet, stayed visible in the city streets in the rain (it was dusk), and made it home safely.
When I got home, I spent some quality time with hubby and then went to sleep early. Had to get ready for a full day of work on Monday. Truly a fantastic day!
On my way out, when I was riding my bike in the rain, I saw this plant-based vegan burgers truck called Viva Vegan. It’s too bad this food truck wasn’t in the main group with the others. It was off by itself, about a mile from the other food trucks. Even though I had everything all packed up and tied down in my bike basket, I pulled over and got my phone out so I could take this photo for you all. I have never heard of the Viva Vegan food truck before. I hope to have the opportunity to try their food at one point, in the future.
Oh, by the way, for breakfast (before the bike ride to the park), I had high-protein right rice, topped with black bean soup that my husband had made (leftovers heated up in the microwave).
When I got home, I was still full from the burrito. At dinner. I just had some Chinese broccoli my husband made that evening, Plus some Nada Moo cookies and cream vegan ice cream (from Austin Texas USA).
I turned my Nada Moo into a milkshake-in-a-bowl by adding some of my favorite Good Karma flax milk (fortified with pea protein).. All day long, I enjoyed foods that don’t require much harm to animals and that tread lightly on the environment, too!
All of this goodness (riding a bike instead of going around in a car, going Swing Dancing outdoors, going for a walk with friends instead of more resource-intensive entertainment options, choosing low-impact vegan meals, having all of this fun and getting exercise FOR FREE, so I have more money to donate to charity) is, in my case, WITHOUT being vegan or vegetarian.
If I do say so myself, that’s pretty cool. I achieve all the good things for the animals, the planet, the community, and my health, without any restrictions on my life.
Plus … due to the lack of restrictions on my life, I’m able to save more money to donate to charity AND set a more positive example, compared to someone who has the restrictions that come with being vegan or vegetarian.. I freakin’ LOVE IT!!!! 💓
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