Entries with tag "vegetarianism"

While I was waiting for my connection at the Atlanta airport on my way home from Clemson, I tried a veggie burger at Burger King and it was surprisingly good. I got excited, because the Burger King on my way to work is open until 4am, so this could finally offer me an option other than the damned Veggie Max at Subway. Puerto Rico doesn't usually get the transient, temporary menu items at most fast food restaurants, but the veggie burger has been around in the US for quite a while now, so I was hopeful that they'd have it by now. So today on my way into work I stopped by Burger King to see if they had it.

"Can I take your order?"
"Hey, I was wondering if you guys have the veggie burger."
"...The Angus Beef Burger?"
"No, the Veggie Burger. They have it in the States."
"Um... The Jumbo Burger?"
"No. It's a veggie burger. It's made of soy and has no meat."
"Oh! Like a free burger¹?"
"What? No. A veggie burger. I'm guessing you don't have it."
"Um... I don't think so. Do you want an Angus Burger?"
"No, that's OK. Thanks."

Alas. Looks like I'll have to stick to the Veggie Max if I don't feel like bringing something from home.

¹ He said 'gratis', which means free as in no cost, not like 'fat free'. Spanish doesn't have the same 'free as in beer, free as in speech' ambiguity that English does. I'm not sure why he thought I was asking for a free burger, but maybe I should have run with it.

I saw a Taco Bell commercial today that said they've got Cheesy Gordita Crunches back. If ever my vegetarianism was at risk, it is now. I must resist...

Speaking of Cheesy Gordita Crunches, I've always wondered whether the 'Cheesy' thing is actually part of the name or just a marketing adjective. I've always referred to them as "Cheesy Gordita Crunches" when ordering them, and I'd hate to think that all this time I've sounded as stupid as someone ordering a taco and asking them to add guacamole and Zesty Pepperjack Sauce™.

Natalia and I just had a discussion about the pros and cons of vegetarianism. I was in the kitchen looking for food and she suggested I have a rib sandwich and I reminded her that I'm a vegetarian now. She explained why she thinks that it's a bad idea: "At school we're learning about the food chain. You know how the sun gives energy to the grass, and then the grass gets eaten by an insect or something, and then the insect gets eaten by a snake, and then humans eat the snake to get energy? If you don't eat meat then you don't get the energy." I replied, "Well, why not skip the snake and the insect and go straight to, well not the grass but things like vegetables? That way you still get the energy and the snake doesn't have to die." She said, "Oh yeah! So I guess I do want to be a vegetarian when I grow up" (my mom won't let her become one at this age since she is still growing and good nutrition is crucial).

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We had sushi for lunch today, and I discovered that apparently, Philadelphia Rolls do have meat. I thought it was just avocado and cream cheese, but apparently it has tuna as well. Damn nondescriptive names! This left me with a dilemma. It's not hard to poke out the tuna and eat the rest, but I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to.

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Last week, I decided to try vegetarianism again, and to take it seriously this time. Ironically, it's not having Andrés and Amy here that swayed me, but rather the Simpsons (I try to base all my life-altering decisions on cartoons. It makes things interesting). Lisa became a singer and Homer was her manager, but his ways were brusque. She asked him to stop beating people up to get things done for her, and he chided, "Oh, you eat sausages, but you don't like seeing them made." To which Lisa replied, "I don't eat sausages!"

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