2009 Most Vegetarian-Friendly Colleges

A stop by the Peta website brought my attention to this year's list of the most veggie-friendly collages. The list was based on a voting system of the students and the variety and selection of vegetarian options.

Drum roll please.....

1st place: Wesleyan University

2nd place: Oberlin Collage

3rd place: American University

So I've never heard of these schools and I don't know how competitive their academics or athletics are but they are vegetarian friendly by Peta standards. Worth it? Not for me thanks.

Anyway, Lenior?

Yeah, didn't see a trace of it on the list.

Verdict On Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner: probably my favorite meal of the year.

Let us just say I'm very glad I took a break during break and consumed meat for the first time in a month. I almost felt like I was on Survivor and I had just won one of those challenges and I was able to gorge on a feast of Thanksgiving goodness. The people on Survivor are always so excited to be eating whatever is put in front of them because they've basically have been eating rice for the past month. I'm not saying all I was eating was rice, or that it was that tortuous, but if you could have seen my face during Thanksgiving dinner- it would have probably resumed that of a starving caveman presented with smoked bacon for the first time. I love Thanksgiving.

When I was little the theme song to Survivor would give me chills- whatever happened to that show?

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving?

I'm so excited to get home for Turkey Break! There will be long naps, food in the fridge, a big screen TV, a laundry fairy, and Thanksgiving dinner.

Our Thanksgivings are pretty typical. We cook potatoes, green bean casserole, field peas, cornbread, turkey, possibly some ham, those purple things that look like jello, and scallops rapped in bacon (my all-time favorite thing). These things plus my grandmother's southern cooking=heaven.

Coming back home as a vegetarian for fall break was a little difficult, but nothing to stress about. But this is Thanksgiving. The holiday created by Americans for just eating. It would be downright unpatriotic of me to refuse to consume our (almost) national bird, honey smoked ham, and scallops rapped in bacon- it would be blasphemy.

So, for this break, I'm taking a break. I'm laying my vegetarian sword to the side and I'm leaving my green gospel at Chapel Hill. Sure I might feel a little bad as I pile meat and more meat onto my plate, but I'm sure that feeling will subside after I consume said food stuffs. Lets be honest yall, its freaking Thanksgiving.

BLT- Vegetarian Style

So I went to Alpine the other day with my friends. I don't typically eat there as like a meal because their vegetarian options are limited and not Allie-friendly. I always get a blueberry bagel with cream cheese. Anyway, someone in our group got a BLT.

They were obsessed with it and exclaimed, "Best thing at Alpine I've ever gotten." To which I replied, "What can be so great? It's just bacon, lettuce, and tomato and it's probably really unhealthy for you." Now at this point I'd never actually had a BLT so I had no idea what I was talking about until he made me try it...

Let me tell yall, it was amazing! And so totally disheartened, I sat back down in my seat and sulked because I was a vegetarian. So long beautifully crafted sandwich, alas- you contain meat.

But today I had an idea. Why is the bacon on the sandwich so good, what does it specifically add to the combination? Crunchiness? No, the lettuce takes care of that. Sweetness? No, the mayonnaise is sweet enough. It was the salt factor. So for lunch today I stood in line at Alpine and ordered a BLT without bacon- on a salt bagel. Verdict? Just as good;)

Dear McDonalds, Where's your Veggie Burger?

Drive-throughs are particularly hard for vegetarians. You could always order a salad, but if I don't trust the salad bar at Lenoir, there's no way you'll ever catch me within a 5ft radius of a McDonalds salad. And I suppose you could always order fries and a drink and eat real food later, but McDonalds actually got into a messy lawsuit when they were discovered cooking their fries with meat products and serving them to known vegetarians. In India, the vegetarian and meat dishes are cooked in separate kitchens and the vegetarian cooks wear special gloves and green aprons. So vegetarians, and people in general, I wouldn't eat the fries at McDonalds.

Anyway, that brings me back to my first question: where is McDonalds' veggie burger? And I'm not the only person asking. Here's McDonalds' official statement regarding the absence of a veggie burger:

"After testing several types of veggie burgers in different parts of the country, we've chosen not to offer one on our national menu at this time. We'll continue to look at these options and make decisions based on good business sense from a customer interest and sales perspective. Ultimately, however, it's our customers who choose what's on our menu. We'll continue to offer those menu items that are most popular with a majority of our customers."

You would think that a company that owns a massive chunk of the world would have the man power and money to invest in an option for vegetarians but then again...

Anyway, thanks for trying McDonalds.

Feeling Down?

Its absolutely terrible outside. The torrential rain, puddles, bitter wind, and the freezing temperature combined to make this week a cold hell. When the weather outside is depressing, its hard not to feel a little sad yourself but I have some foods that will make you feel a-OK.

Chocolate:

Ok, we all know about this one. Eating chocolate releases hormones that can induce little feelings of euphoria and happiness. Of course this one is a bit tricky because too much chocolate is very unhealthy. But don't fear! Studies done suggest that eating one bonbon a day is actually healthy for you!

Chick Peas:

Weird, I know, but chick peas contain an amino acid that regulates your hormones which in turn makes you happier. Not only are chick peas good for your phycological health, but they are extremely good for your energy level and digestive system.

Anti-Depressant Teas: (not available at your local Lenior)

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)- also available as sweet (which would probably put you in a better mood).

St. John's-wort- Old remedy that's proven to be effective.

Hope this helps. If yall try any one of these- let me know how it goes!

Vegan Fail

I've been hearing about this next step in vegetarianism for a while called "vegan", and I'll be honest, it sounded pretty hard core. If you consider yourself a vegan you eat no animal products whatsoever. This includes things like milk and eggs. There are even some extremists that will not eat fruits or vegetables unless they have already fallen to the ground. They extremists believe by pulling the fruits or vegetables from their stalks/stems you are literally killing them.

Well I wasn't going to attempt to be an extremist, I'm not even sure where you find food for that lifestyle but I did experience an attempt at veganism...

...until I wanted a cupcake and milk.

All in a day.

Just exposing yall to another aspect of the green side. Have a safe and fun weekend!

Freshman Fifteen?

Its apparently a big deal this "freshman fifteen". I was completely prepared to gain some weight, but so far I've seen only poor results. Actually I haven't seen much of a change in my weight but a wavering five pounds, and I'm pretty sure that was from the summer. My eating habits have some what changed, I mean I eat lunch and dinner and a snack once in a while... except for the whole eating meat thing. Perhaps that is the cure for the freshman fifteen- eat less meat. Its proven to be much healthier given you get an amble amount of protein and veges. Have I convinced you yet?

Vegetarianism: easy on the wallet and the scale.