The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! I hope everyone had a superb weekend, and ready to discuss more of The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life by Melisser Elliott. We are now in our second week of reading this book, so let's get to it!We will be talking about the third chapter, entitled "Vegan Living," in which Elliott brings up almost every aspect of life, and how to veganize it. Such topics include dining out, explaining how to order, and she also lays out some of the hidden, non-vegan ingredients found in some dishes, such as ghee in Indian cuisine. She also gives tips on how to handle special events, such as birthdays and holidays.
Next, she talks about getting involved in your vegan community, by participating with animal organizations, reading local vegan blogs, and taking part in vegan potlucks. Other topics mentioned in this chapter include vegan tattoos, raising vegan companion animals, and vegan travel. Elliott is an avid traveler herself, and she mentions her favorite veg-friendly cities and their best restaurants, such as The Chicago Diner, which is also one of my personal favorites!
The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!
1. What type of restaurant is your favorite—Thai, Indian, Mexican, etc.? Why?
2. What is your favorite veg-friendly city, and why?
The Assignment: Please read chapters four to six of The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life for our discussion on January 17. And be sure to pick up a copy from the VN Store if you haven't already!
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
I'm happy to have found this site and book club. New to veg living so this will be helpful to my transition!
ReplyDeleteI love Mexican food--chips/salsa/guac as well as Asian--have always liked tofu even pre-veg/rice/veggies--like it spicy!
Since I'm a new vegan haven't had a chance to travel in that capacity but living in North Texas, we are fortunate to have Spiral Diner, Sweet Tomatoes and a new Loving Hut
I am a some-what new vegan and my friend got me this book for Christmas. I couldn't put it down and finished reading it in no time. It's by far the best book I've read about veganism.
ReplyDeleteI prefer Asian food since there seems to be more veg options on most menus. I am going to NYC soon and can't wait to try some of the many veg-friendly restaurants.
I agree that asian food, in particular Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese, are pretty high on my list, but I love lots of ethnic foods: Mexican, Ethiopian, Indian, Korean, Moroccan, etc. Living in Philadelphia, I've got lots of veg-friendly food options from all over the globe. Most restaurants around town have at least one veg option, and there are many 100% veg/vegan restaurants to choose from. One of my favorites: $12 all-you-can-eat vegan dim sum in the heart of chinatown. DELISH.
ReplyDeleteI haven't gotten a chance to explore many other cities as a vegan, but my sweetie and I are heading to San Francisco next month, and I plan to eat my way through the city!
I also would love to head to San Francisco, I heard it's very veg-friendly.
ReplyDeleteMy sister bought me this book for Christmas and I breezed through it in a day. I loved it, and it served as further motivation for me to continue veganizing my life, not just my meals.
I absolutely love ethnic foods and trying new things, but I think subconsciously my favorite is Indian. Whenever I cook, the result always tastes like it was inspired by Indian flavors.
I'm from NYC, so Manhattan holds tons of delicious vegan-friendly restaurants. Brooklyn is a close second. Unfortunately in Staten Island where I live there aren't as many options, but from this I've learned how to cook so something good stemmed from it.k
I'm so glad I found this bookclub!
This chapter has so much useful information. My only complaint about this book is that there is no index at the back. My favourite cusine is Indian. The smell of the spices is divine. I love her handy little guide on ingredients to watch out for.
ReplyDeleteI haven't travelled, so I don't have a favourite city. It would be fun to travel to these ultimate vegan cities as a sort of vegan road trip. If you're in Canada, Vancouver is supposed to be awesome for vegans.
For newbies (and old-timers), I've also found Vegan Living for Dummbies to be a great how-to on eating and living as a vegan.
Hi everyone! I know it sounds a bit cliché, but when I went vegan, that is when I truly discovered food. Yes, I had Mexican and Chinese food every now and then, but the delicious food I found out about when I went vegan totally changed my life. I was obsessed with Indian food for a while, but my mood changes every so often. Right now, my faves are Thai and Vietnamese food. I also have a great love for all things sandwich. I could live off sandwiches—seriously.
ReplyDeleteI've been fortunate enough to travel around the US, and most big cities are vegan meccas. Unfortunately, I've only been to New York City once, and I would absolutely love to go again just for the food. I heard it's amazing!
I look forward to reading more comments!
~VegNews Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
I am a bit late in posting....I was behind on my reading but now I am caught up! I have been really enjoying this book so far. I really like all the profiles! I have only been vegan for 9 months now (vegetarian for 15 years) and have been wondering how to get more involved in promoting veganism so I really appreciated the tips about activism. Since becoming vegan I have gotten really picky about dining out and there are very few places I will go. I have one sushi place that I go, 2 mexican places, 1 Thai place and a couple of pizza places, one of them actaully has a pizza called Viva Las Vegan! I live in the Atlanta metro area so I guess I have to say that is my favorite vegan city although I do not live in the part of Atl. that has all the good vegan/vegetarian restaurants! It's worth the drive though to be sure what I am getting is vegan. I was just talking to the hubs the other day about how I would LOVE to visit Portland Oregon because I hear it is the vegan capital of the US (or something like that) So hopefully one day we will make it out there! Look forward to reading more comments!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading this book. Returned a crap holiday gift and got it instead! That said, I love to cook vegan food and think I'm pretty amazing at vegan Mexican food. I love to go out for Japanese or Indian food, since I'm definitely more tentative at cooking those, but love to eat them.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I lived in Portland, OR, and WASN'T vegan! I can't wait to go back and visit friends and hit up all the great joints, like Portobello. :) Def my favorite vegan city. It's difficult, up here in AK.
Hello everyone! I'm so glad to have found this book club. My husband got me this book for Christmas and it an amazing book. I became a vegan in May of 2010 so I have alot to learn. I love to cook vegan food and try new recipes. Right now my favorite food is Indian. The flavors and spices of Indian food are heaven like. There is a perfect balance of everything. My favorite city to eat vegan Food is Orlando, Florida at Ethos Vegan Kitchen. They have the best food ever! The Pecan Encrusted Eggplant and Sheep's Pie are my favorite. The cinnamon rolls on Sunday are divine. Raphsodic Cooperative Company is a Vegan Bakery in Orlando and the sweets they make there the best I have ever tasted.They can make all kinds of unique flavors with their sweets and I can't get enough. Even my inlaws who aren't Vegan love their sweets so much they make us bring them some back. If your in Asheville, North Carolina Laughing Seed Cafe has good food. Traveling to cities looking for good vegan food is what I love to do.
ReplyDeleteIn general my favorite type of restaurant is Italian. It can be pretty safe vegan wise as long as the pasta does not contain egg. Often you can customize pasta dishes with tomato sauce/veggies/olive oil, or sometimes even customize a pizza (those little personal pizzas are great) and make a cheese-less veggie loaded pie. Otherwise you can't really go wrong with a Japanese place, with miso soup, seaweed salad and veg sushi!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite veg city that I've visited is by far San Francisco however, I am lucky enough to live in DC which is INCREDIBLY veg friendly. There are countless different types of restaurants here that cater to vegans from MD to DC to VA it's really a veg mecca. Some favorites are Vegetable Garden, Cafe Green, Sticky Fingers, Great Sage and soo many more.
Funny I came across this book club because I just happened to purchase this book a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Indian food! It has always been my favorite food because of all the delectable spices and sauces used and how "homey" the food tastes. To me it is comfort food, and I love the buffets because of the amount of food for a cheap price.
My favorite veg friendly city is Seattle, because I live there. There is a vegan grocery store and a vegan tattoo shop and I feel like more and more veg friendly places are opening up all the time.
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ReplyDeleteI have been vegan for almost 1 year (March will mark 1 year officially) and am finding this book and the comments users are posting to be extremely helpful. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite foods are: Italian, Mexican and Thai. I agree with you Lyndsay when you say "I know it sounds a bit cliché, but when I went vegan, that is when I truly discovered food."
I haven't had the opportunity to discover vegan hotspots around the US through travel, however I DO live near NYC. Until I have a city to compare it to, NYC is my favorite! (and I'm sure I'm not alone on this one either!) If you are in Manhattan, make sure to check out The Loving Hut and get their protein quesadilla (add mushrooms). I have heard a lot of great things about Candle 79 in NYC but have yet to try it.
If you're looking for some sweets try the brownie bites from Baby Cakes NYC or cake balls from Sweet Ave Bake Shop in Rutherford, NJ. It will be the best dollar you've ever spent!