The Loaded Hot Dog Roll

I will never forget our first picnic as new vegans.  We were about two months into this vegan lifestyle, and we were attending a family picnic.  We had given up directly eating animals products, but there were loads of hidden animal ingredients in everyday food that we were uncovering-yuck!  Please enjoy this story of The Loaded Hot Dog Roll.

Our First Picnic as New Vegans

The food started to come out, and the buffet line was forming.  John and I got into the line to get some food.  We were sure there was something we could eat.  We were wrong! Very Wrong!

I wish that I had taken a picture of our plates that day.  Visualize this, a paper plate with a hot dog roll (looking back it was probably enriched with milk or whey or something <insert eyeroll>) topped with ketchup, mustard, relish, and onions.  Piled next to the “loaded hot dog roll” were generic, greasy potato chips – the pickin’s were slim folks- and a heap of dried-out carrots.  

We learned a lesson that day, and we have not had a similar experience since.

Plan in advance! That is what we learned.  Now, we travel with bananas, fig bars, and cliff bars.  We prep a quick bean and quinoa salad, hummus, or deviled potatoes to bring to any gathering we attend, and we’ve even gone as far as eating a full meal before a picnic or party, just in case.  I trust that our experience is not unusual for new vegans.  New vegans read our advice on Surviving Non-Vegan Picnics and Cookouts and know that you are not alone. Now we bring a dish to pass, and rarely have leftovers to pack up at the end of the day because the dish is so attractive it goes quickly.

Best of luck and stay VegInspired!

XO,

Kathy

When we plan ahead we enjoy meals like this…

(Bring your own vegan dogs and veganized salads)