Can I Change This Later?

On Saturday I went to an old friend’s wedding.  I had RSVP’d weeks ago and selected “steak”.  I wasn’t sure there was any good way to handle this.  Perhaps I could just ignore the steak and eat everything else on the plate.  That option wasn’t entirely satisfactory when I considered how much each plate costs at a wedding reception.

The decision became much easier on the actual day.  I was extremely hungry and the reception lasted for a long while.  It was never boring; there was just a lot going on.  The good news is that I didn’t feel like I was somehow derailed after the steak (which did taste pretty good).  I still thought of myself as a vegetarian who just happened to have eaten a steak.  It wasn’t any stranger than if I had eaten a meal a few weeks ago that didn’t have any meat in it.

As if to mock my conviction, the universe pulled another fast one on me on Monday.  It was a coworker’s birthday and we were all going to Bub’s for lunch.  This joint is well known for it’s one-pound hamburger (post-cooked weight).  Other than a banana milkshake (which I had) and a few salads (which I don’t care for), there was nothing on the menu that didn’t contain either meat or gluten.  I decided the best compromise was to order their smallest hamburger with grilled onions and no bun.  It wasn’t very filling, but it tasted fine.

The problem is that the makers of the Bub’s burger are expecting you to eat it on a bun.  The porous bread is able to absorb the tremendous amount of grease from the burger while it is on your plate or in your stomach.  Lacking any such support mechanism, my stomach seemed to feel I had simply swallowed a small cup of liquid animal fat for lunch.  I suppose that’s not too far from the truth.

I got right back on the vegetable wagon, though.  Today at lunch, I sat next to someone who had brought in my dietary nemesis, Marsh fried chicken.  It smelled and looked delicious.  Scenarios played out in my head of knocking her to the ground, grabbing a drumstick, and trying to get as many bites in as possible before I was restrained.  I enjoyed my vegetables and rice, though.  I figure if I made it through that, I should be able to stand up to just about anything.

Today the gang I worked with went over to ye’ ol’ Mongolian Grill for lunch.  If you’ve never been to one, imagine a salad bar with lots of raw meat and sauces.  You fill up a bowl and carry it over to the grill, a giant circular slab of heated metal.  Your food is unceremoniously thrown on the grill, where it is cooked by people wielding utensils that would look more at home in a medieval armory than a modern kitchen, before being returned to you.  Add rice or wrap in a tortilla as you see fit.

I’ve had quite a few enjoyable gut stuffing episodes there.  In fact, when I first went on a gluten free diet, the Grill was a haven where I could go out to eat but still control exactly what went on my food.  Here’s the rub: historically my bowl would be filled primarily with meat.  Would I yield to the temptation of this early test of my vegetarian convictions.

Fortunte smiles upon me.  As it turns out pineapple chunks, fried egg, peanuts, sprouts, onions, and lemon juice can really jazz up a plate of plain white rice.  That wasn’t the only pleasant surprise.  Usually when I push back from the table at this restaurant, I can feel my belly straining with the weight of all the food I’ve consumed.  Even though I ate the same quantity of food today, I felt quite comfortable after.