EATING OUT  As I mentioned earlier, eating out limits a vegans choices dramatically. If you live in a larger city, such as New York, Los Angeles, etc… you probably have a lot more options than smaller towns. The first thing to do is check the phonebook under vegetarian restaurants. You will most likely find some and those should be the best bet for a vegan. There are several cultures that are vegetarian, and although many have our Westerners influence, most will have a lot of vegetarian and vegan choices: Mid East, Indian, Ethiopian, Indonesian, they usually have several choices. Thai food, ask for tofu instead of meat, and garlic sauce instead of fish sauce. Chinese restaurants have several choices, rice or noodles with vegetables… etc… Just ask the waiter, although one sometimes gets different answers from different people…. Beware of broth. It ends up in Veggie fried rice a lot and similar dishes too. Italian can be made vegan quite easily… but watch the parmesan… it is everywhere! And there are a few restaurants that make homemade pasta and use eggs, so don't forget to ask…. Mexican too is easily made vegan…. Hold the cheese and sour cream, whole beans instead of refried which sometimes contains lard. Some restaurants still fry their tortillas in lard too, but fewer do every year for health reasons, yet it doesn't hurt to ask. One of the best choices, of course is a salad bar… lots of variety and you see what you are getting. Fast Food restaurants: Burger King has a Veggie Burger…. but they just changed it and it is NOT vegan, but their french fries are.... ( whereas McDonalds has a criminal history of using a meat-based broth spray on them, then telling people they are vegetarian.... ) But McDonalds new veggie burger IS vegan if you order it without the bbq sauce. Subway, Veggie Delight Sandwich, no cheese, on most any bread that doesn't list a cheese in it's name. Taco Bells 7 layer burrito hold the cheese and sour cream is one of my standbys. ..

MORE INFORMATION There are many places to look for more information on being a vegan or recipes, nutrition, etc… Book stores obviously have cookbooks, and nutrition sections but also check out the Internet, type in "vegan" in a search engine…. And go from there. I shouldn't have to mention that, as in any topic, there is a lot of false information in the web so be smart, know your sources…. If you are looking for a particular recipe, try typing in "vegan whatever recipe" you will be amazed at the options. And just like any other recipe or product…. There are many, many different types. If you don't like the first one you found, try another. Taste is everything and people like different things.

Being VEGAN is a lot easier than most people think. It is usually the non vegan family or friends that make the biggest fuss over it, thinking that serving a vegan is so difficult, when it actually isn't, but your right, they won't eat just anything.

A lot of people ask.. "What DO you eat then???" If you aren't vegan, look at your own meals.... do you only eat meat??? I didn't think so. What else is on your plate?? Potatoes, spaghetti, refried beans, rice, vegetables, salad, fruit, peanut butter......... (Check the menu page for a lot more ideas, and the substitutions page for what else to use. There is also a page that lists prepared vegan foods you already might buy. Check the nutrition page for more information on nutrition myths and concerns. )but putting it simply, for most people, just give up the meat and you will get enough protein, from the rest of your food. (Besides being healthier for it!)

The easiest way for a non-vegan to cook for a vegan is to just serve your vegan guest bigger portions of these "side dishes", and they will be happy! Or check out the recipes and other food and meal ideas for easy vegan cooking and your vegan guest will be thrilled! As you should be too!

If you want to go beyond the basics, fruits, vegetables, rice, etc... start looking, you will be amazed at all the vegan foods out there! You must already be aware that virtually ALL grocery stores have a "health food section" with several vegan and vegetarian items, plus you have seen non-cholesterol options in the freezer section. Plus most cities have several specialty "health food stores" that carry primarily organic, local, and vegetarian foods. Visit one of these and you will see you have almost infinite options, such as TV dinners, several types of burgers, hot-dogs, spicy jerky, fancy side dishes, soups, chocolate cake, etc etc....

Besides having lots of vegan foods ready made on the market, simple substitutions can be made to virtually any recipe to convert it to a vegan one.

Of course, it is difficult sometimes when locating restaurants with a lot of choices for vegans, (most restaurants still don't cater to people for health reasons, albeit moral ones) but you will find that most do have something, and/or a chef or option to make it vegan…. It might be as simple as served without Mayo, or cheese…. Or a salad served with oil and vinegar.

 Like all recipes and items there are many different styles and tastes and finding the "best" for your taste buds sometimes takes time. There are so many different choices now in stores than just a few years ago, and more appear every year that you will be amazed at what actually can be done with a soybean or wheat gluten.

Some people expect or want a meat substitute to taste exactly like that meat. Often this can be done since every single meat product is altered by cooking and spices. No one eats plain unadulterated meat. It is how it is cooked and what is put in with it that gives it the most flavor.
It should be noted though, that not all meat substitutes are made to be exactly like their meat counterpart. Most meat analogs on the market are made so they can be USED in place of the meat product most people are familiar to, not as an exact copy. For example, you will find several varieties of burgers, some you will like some not…. Some, like an original "Boca burger," when topped with all the fixings: ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, etc… you will have a hard time telling it from, say, a "Burger King" burger, where as a "Garden Burger" is made to be very different, with mushrooms, and peppers and intends to be nothing like a "Burger King" burger. There are substitutions for pretty much any style of meat, and unless served side by side with meat, they are very difficult to tell apart.

A lot of vegans actually don't like meat substitutes, whereas they are too reminiscent of meat and what "meat" actually entails.

Dairy substitutes are a bit harder to copy and must be looked at as their own product and flavor completely. Things like soy milk, rice milk, almond milk etc. and each brand have unique flavors, but can easily be used in place of milk. People often have to "get used" to going from whole milk to skim milk, and it will probably take time to get used to a different flavor here too. There are sweetened and unsweetened options, vanilla, plain, chocolate, etc... so depending on what you are doing with it, putting it on cereal or making a cream sauce, will initiate you to try different ones.
For ice cream altrnatives, there are some wonderful flavors of Soy Delicious brand that are incredible!
Cheese seems to be the most difficult item to give up when becoming vegan for a lot of people. As far as I know there is no "perfect" cheese substitute out there yet, but the best one I have found is the Vegan gourmet, Follow your heart brand. Companies are coming up with new products all the time too, so keep up with the new brands and give them a try.  

It is interesting to note, though, that most people are, in fact, some how allergic to, are lactos intolerant or do react to milk products in some negative way, Causing eczema, asthma, and gastro-intestinal problems yet they simply ignore it. People also know it is healthier to not eat meat, and that smoking is terrible, but they do it anyway, and hope for a pill to cure them of the disease, or problem. That is hard for me to understand. Shouldn't we all take a personal responsibility for our health and the health of the planet too? and not force animals to suffer on farms and in laboratories just because we choose to, say, keep smoking, or to be glutens at the the table?