We had one busy day! Since I finally have a job, I now needed to go shopping for dress clothes since I have nothing…zip..nada to wear! So Tim and I had planned on going up north to Potomac Mills which is a totally wayyy larger mall than our local mall, containing more store options for little ‘ol me to choose from. So I woke up early to get a head start in my day and made me some American Biscuits (vegcooking.com). It took be about 30-45 minutes to make, bake and prepare to eat but they were delicious hot! They were a little dense and very crispy on the outside but I’ll have to work on the fluffiness! I would say a lot more margarine would do the trick! But I had two small biscuits with butter and strawberry preserves and on the side, a bowl of my very much loved mixed berry salad with Limoncello except this time I had raspberries instead of blackberries! Yum yum…as for Amerie, when she awoke, I made her a plate of cottage cheese, a biscuit and a berry salad as well. And another request for Cream of Wheat..I’m starting to hate that stuff!
Soon after we were on our way to the mall in hopes of finding some clothes…we shopped, shopped, and shopped some more and found some great shirts and awesome skirt that was a little big but fit pretty perfectly! I even found a store that had a billion size 00 jeans for 9-15$ because they were getting rid of their summer stocks..but unfortunately like us girls are…our jeans have to look and fit perfectly and unfortunately, I found some that fit, but not perfectly..some were to high waisted, others, the wash was just ugly, some I didn’t like the style of the jean itself, some had the loose crotch thing going on..it was a mess. I finally said forget it!
Well, we were starving and hadn’t even started on the shopping, so we went to the food court and found, low and behold, there it was the Japanese Sakura Garden (Told you we were addicted!) And they had food for Tim and I that was reasonably priced considering how much you got. Each of us had a regular round plastic plate piled about 2 inches high with steamed white rice, vegetables and our choice of “meat” and, to save a little, we both got water..all for 12 bucks! That’s cheap considering before I was vegan and before we began to really value and enjoy food (in other words we don’t go to fast food joints anymore unless it’s dying, absolutely necessary!), we used to spend almost 20 bucks and still be hungry in the end! But anyways, Tim got spicy chicken in black bean sauce with steamed rice, chicken on a stick for Amerie, and I got Bean Curd and vegetables in a Soy Sauce based sauce with steamed white rice and steamed vegetables (actually steamed..they were crisp with almost no oil on it!) It was sooo good..the bean curd I believe was fried, unfortunately, but it was vegan (I asked and the sweet girl knew exactly what I meant by vegan and assured me that the food had no animal or fish products in it!) and it was delicious. Amerie ate most of my rice and I crushed the vegetables and tofu. It was just so good and actually light..I felt just full..not even slightly stuffed..it was perfect considering how much there was. You know, that is one thing about the asian culture..when it’s time to feed you, they feed you, making it absolutely worth your time and money and tummy ache! (Trust me…I know I’m Filipino..we’re worse! We over stuff! And have dessert!) .
Once our tummy’s were satisfied we went back to shopping, trying on clothes, getting disappointed and frustrated, finding some clothes, trying to chase and handle a toddler at the same time…in between Tim and Amerie got Auntie Anne Pretzels (which I didn’t know til today that I could have..yes!) while I got Rita’s Italian Ice which leads to the reason my blog is titled “ARRRRR” because I was ticked, more like P.O. when I found out that I had sucked down a large glass of disgusting, cow excretions and found the reason I had gas and stomach ache!
Okay, when you go out, especially to a place that has a food court and plenty of other little restaurants, you don’t think or even try to plan on where you are going to eat. You just choose from what’s available, ask to be sure it’s vegan edible and go with the flow and enjoy your choice of food for the day. However, I am finding, due to the lack of knowledge in today’s employees, that I am going to have to actually plan my meals..even my desserts! I went to Rita’s Ice shop where the serve, Italian ices, custards, gealti, and all that good stuff. Well, I knew I was going to have an Italian Ice because I had always thought Italian Ice consisted of a blend of ice and pretty much juice and flavorings. Well, as I got up to the glass window, I asked what kind of Italian Ices they had available. The girl sweeped her hand across the entire selection of large buckets filled with tons of flavors of frozen ices behind the ice cream case glass and said “All these are Italian Ices!” Okay sounds good..well I ask, “And do any of them contain milk or any animal products?”. “NO they do not.” Ok sounds good to me so I sampled Birthday Cake, Pistachio and Coconut and while debating on which one I wanted, she said I could mix them up…”Shouldn’t have told ME that!!!” So I got a large (50 cents more than a regular!) and filled it with Birthday Cake, Pistachio, Coconut and Mango, a huge cup for only $3.10 and Amerie and I enjoyed every last bit of the well flavored, cold sugary goodness! I have fallen in love with Rita’s! So we continued shopping!
Finally, we decided we were done! I had found a good amount of shirts and one skirt but still needed more and some shoes..so we decided we would come back again next weekend when Labor Day Sales hit and do some more…as for today we we’re exhausted, it was dinner time and Amerie needed a serious NAP! We got home, threw everything upstairs and I fixed Amerie some leftover noodles, ham and cheese and Tim some wings and a beer (In our new pilsner mugs!!)…as for me a plum because I was so full from my Italian Ice. Well, as I always do, when I get home, I like to look up what I ate, when we eat out, and try to find nutritional information including ingredients and calories more to see how many calories consisted in my meal to get a rough estimate of how many calories I consumed that day since I do write down what I eat and count my calories daily! So I looked up Rita’s and I first find an allergen chart listing any nuts, soy, wheats, milks, eggs etc in each flavor and drink that they serve…well I check and find that each one except mango had dairy in it! I WAS HOTTT! I should’ve known..Birthday Cake sounded too good to be true..but pistachio and coconut?? Then I find calories for the “cream” and not water Italian Ices….about 565..which was actually a relief because I totally expected more considering it’s mostly sugar! But I was sooo angry and of course, my husband found it amusing and funny…but I didn’t! I am so sick and tired of any server or employee at any food stand or restaurant lacking the knowledge of ingredients and nutritional information in the foods and drinks that they are serving. What if I was allergic and broke out…they would have been sued! So for the rest of the night I was furious and upset, had a slightly bloated tummy, and to top it off, I was tired! Not a good ending to my day! But I did get a couple of cute clothes!
Therefore, I have learned that from now on I will have to plan my meals and look up the foods before I purchase them because obviously, I can’t put my vegan trust in a single soul to tell me whether or not my food contains any animal products…A NOTE TO ALL EMPLOYERS: Darn it, fill your employees with knowledge and understanding. Some people… whether vegan, vegetarian, or any person with allergies….would highly appreciate it! It's all about accomodating your customer's needs to the fullest so that we are happy and satisfied and yearning to come back! It's not all about the food you know! Service matters!
Knowledge is power.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626), Religious Meditations, Of Heresies, 1597
No comments:
Post a Comment