[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Love potato salad, cole slaw and always put that burger on a bun. And I know that you know the difference between having vegetable side dish and a vegetarian diet, so be honest.

The point, is that what you consider "vegetarian FOOD" (not vegetarian DIET) - is not what you think it is. If it doesn't have actual meat in it, then it's vegetarian. It doesn't have to be a substitute for meat. Decent vegetarian food can stand on its own, without having to pretend to be meat-like. Cole slaw and potato salad are two examples of that.

Eggs are an example of that, PB&J sandwiches are an example of that, Mac & Cheese is an example of that.

All foods that aren't made with meat - are, by definition, vegetarian foods.

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by westernrider75

It’s unfortunate you worked at such poorly run restaurants. I spent many years working at a well known restaurant who never did the things you mentioned. There is a right way to run a restaurant and a wrong way. BTW I’m not sure how you take vegetables directly out of the freezer and chop them, I’ve never seen that done.

First and foremost, I worked these restaurants in my teenage years. This would be the late seventies into early eighties. In each restaurant I worked, the food truck would arrive in back. The truck driver would wheel the food into the walk in. Meat, vegetables, cheese, milk, etc. He would unload haphazardly whichever way to quickly fit. Meat over vegetables,.cheese on top of meat, poultry mixed with seafood. You name it, I've seen it! After he left, the cooks would sort through the food, taking what they needed for their stations. There were only a few sinks. Potatoes and carrots were washed. The remaining vegetables were piled (unwashed) at each station and chopped, sliced, or diced. They were then placed into individual containers. Some containers (no lids) were left at the stations, others were refrigerated. Poultry was sorted on the same cutting area. Knives and surface were never washed. This cross contamination I witnessed has stayed with me for a lifetime. I will never eat raw vegetables in restaurants. I will not use dressings, ketchup, or other condiments. I believe all have been topped off.I will not eat buttered toast (don't ask), will not waste my time asking for decaf (it will not be decaf), and will not eat from a salad bar(all food available at the bar is never at proper temperature and most items have been topped off.) After this experience, I, like most my age, am not a vegeterian. We know to stay FAR AWAY.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

The point, is that what you consider "vegetarian FOOD" (not vegetarian DIET) - is not what you think it is. If it doesn't have actual meat in it, then it's vegetarian. It doesn't have to be a substitute for meat. Decent vegetarian food can stand on its own, without having to pretend to be meat-like. Cole slaw and potato salad are two examples of that.

Eggs are an example of that, PB&J sandwiches are an example of that, Mac & Cheese is an example of that.

All foods that aren't made with meat - are, by definition, vegetarian foods.

Again, let's not get tied down with picayune semantics. I think everyone knows the difference between having potato salad with their hamburger and being a vegetarian.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

Careful when eating salads at restaurants. The dressing is topped off at the close of every shift. The container is rarely cleaned out. Employees simply pour new on top of old. The old can remain in the container for days.

Also, vegetables are not properly washed. They are chopped up direct from the freezer. The vegetables may have been stored under meat products. Do I need to remind you of the liquid that oozes out of meat? I worked at several restaurants in my younger years. Each was not as clean as one would hope. My rule of thumb when dining out: order food that needs to be cooked before serving. Stay away from raw!

You got that right.

My wife washes all produce whether it is from loose bins, bagged, or prepackaged in those "washed and ready to use" containers. And I don't mean a quick rinse under the tap. She soaks them in water mixed with baking soda for at least 15 minutes before rinsing and putting them out to eat. Some even require a second rinse. You'd be amazed at what comes off those veggies and fruit! the water that started out clear is a murky gray when she is done.

I often see shoppers pop a cherry or a grape into their mouths while shopping (seems to happen at Wallyworld a lot). I often wonder if they'd continue to do that if they knew just what is ON that stuff. Just because it looks clean doesn't mean it really is. I don't suppose the situation is much different in restaurants.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by Smalley

Hi, We were recently in Salt Lake City eating at Oasis, a popular restaurant there. Next to menu items were the letters CBV. Stands to Can Be Vegetarian. This is so helpful for folks who are vegetarian or want to eat some plant based meals. Many dishes can be made vegetarian without much trouble.....usually just eliminating the meat. Here, it's a different story in the County Club restaurants. There are some exceptions like Glenview which serves a delicious veggie burger.
So please, restaurants when you update your menus, remember CBV

Healthy dining options are not available here. Based on my independent observations of the amount of alcohol consumption here, I would say healthy food or dining is not viable here. Costco is very popular.

[Pennyt]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Pizza with less cheese. I'll vote for that. Most places put so much cheese on pizza, that I stopped buying it.

I have to eat a very select diet for medical reasons. I order pizza all the time with no sauce and very little cheese. All you have to do is ask and I find that places like Flippers will accommodate almost any request. In fact, I find that all the restaurants I go to in The Villages will accommodate special requests and changes to menu items. I apologize to the waiter when I start "editing" the menu items, and they all same the same thing..."we accommodate special diets all the time. It's The Villages." And my diet is super restricted.

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Zero interest in veganism. Lived with people who went that route. I can't stand to even look at tofu because of it. It's just nasty stuff. Tastes weird, has the consistency of bloated cork, and in order to be even somewhat palatable, has to be so horribly overseasoned that a plain slab of unseasoned burger meat on a plate with a slice of cheese on top would be more healthful than that. Kimchi is nasty too but I also don't like sauerkraut.

Jordon Peterson does not espouse veganism, just the opposite.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

Healthy dining options are not available here. Based on my independent observations of the amount of alcohol consumption here, I would say healthy food or dining is not viable here. Costco is very popular.

Consider the consumer group in question. Villagers, the vast majority of them of retirement age and beyond. Often far beyond. I know many septuagenarians here in better shape than I am--and at 78 I can play two hours of hard tennis and walk 18 golf holes in July and August afternoons. I've played tennis here with folks in their 80's. I've met folks here well into their 90's. I know a guy here who, at age 96, still works.

I imagine the life style of folks moving here pretty closely follows the life style they had BEFORE moving here. I know mine does: my hobbies before and when I came here include wine, sauerkraut and sausage-making (and of course consuming them). An evening out at Spanish Springs is usually prefaced by pizza and beer at Flippers. We both love barbecue: in fact we're going to one tomorrow. My guess is that the folks seen drinking beer and eating all manner of fried foods did the same before retirement.

The point is this: rather than castigate Villagers for eating the diet they do, maybe folks should be emulating them. After all, as a group we're probably the healthiest and most active group of retirees on the planet.

[shut the front door]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

That would be too easy and then the vegetarian's wouldn't have anything to complain about, online.

Same as those who want "Indian Food" or "Thai Food" or any of the other less popular dining options.

Don't people understand that restaurants strive to appeal to a reasonably broad range of customers and not specialize in food that less than 2% of the residents want to eat? It's funny how restaurants actually want to be successful and make a profit.

One needs to only walk around The Villages, to see that the majority of residents prefer fatty, fried foods and lots of it. Maybe a nice dessert, too.

I saw a hilarious cartoon online the other day about how bidet users are the new vegetarians. They will scream, kick, and fuss until every person they know joins their cult.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Pennyt

I have to eat a very select diet for medical reasons. I order pizza all the time with no sauce and very little cheese. All you have to do is ask and I find that places like Flippers will accommodate almost any request. In fact, I find that all the restaurants I go to in The Villages will accommodate special requests and changes to menu items. I apologize to the waiter when I start "editing" the menu items, and they all same the same thing..."we accommodate special diets all the time. It's The Villages." And my diet is super restricted.

I like restaurants that have a good recipe for pizza, and they prepare it the same way every time. Piesanos does this and I like their pizza recipe. But some restaurants don't even have a recipe, so you get what you get, depending on who is making pizza that day. Apparently, some employees think that the more cheese they add the happier the customer will be. Wrong. Personally, I don't want to tell the restaurant how to make a pizza.

[Flyers999]

I believe it was first century Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius who first said: “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” There is no one diet that’s optimal for everyone IMO.

I was a vegetarian for a while, and it didn’t work great until I went to an Allergist MD who found out that I was allergic (sensitive) to dairy and gluten. My symptoms were headaches which completely stopped after removing them from my diet. But it took 4-6 days before that happened!

You, yourself, are the best judge of whether or not you suffer from any food sensitivities. The most well-accepted criteria are symptoms provoked by eliminating food from the diet then reintroducing single foods in a controlled manner. This is termed the Elimination-Challenge test and is considered the gold standard of food allergy testing.

Foods can produce a wide array of reactions in a given individual. Some people have classic hypersensitivity responses that are very consistent. For example, whenever eating strawberries or shellfish the victim will break out in hives, develop swelling, or have difficulty breathing. These reactions are clear-cut and predictable. They are mediated through a particular antibody called IgE and account for less than 10% of all food reactions.

The other types of food reactions are more vague, often delayed, low-grade, and difficult to define. The symptoms include headaches, respiratory congestion, difficulty breathing, gastrointestinal symptoms, arthritis, skin blemishes, anxiety and depression. The reactions can be immediate but often are not, and in fact could be delayed for up to four days. Well-defined clinical syndromes such as migraines, mouth ulceration (canker sores), congestion, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, eczema and arthritis are also associated with food sensitivity in some people. By performing an Elimination-Challenge Diet you can isolate individual foods and determine if they are causing a problem The overall strategy is quite simple: Remove suspected foods from your diet, then reintroduce them singly and watch carefully for any reactions. I highly recommend removing any food you eat more than once weekly. In most cases the food that’s giving you trouble is one of your favorites. Sorry! A friend of mine found out that she was allergic to apples!

Vegetarians are more susceptible to food sensitives. Very few are allergic to meat. My diet these days is mostly vegetarian.

You can find out more about the Elimination-Challenge Diet by googling. Sorry for the extra-long post but it literally saved my life and I think it's important.

[BrianL99]

I'm not sure why, but after 5 years in The Villages, I'm still surprised by the level of paranoia I read about on ToTV.

Soaking vegetables for 15 minutes, in water and Baking Soda?

Eating a plant based diet is scientifically proven to be better for you?

What the hell, live a little ... you're already on a short leash. Eat an apple or orange off a tree. Eat some crap from a street vendor. Gorge on some chocolate covered bacon or Oreo's dipped in dark chocolate, with jug of whole milk.

Reminds me of 10 years ago, when I took my 82 year old father to see my new Cirrus airplane and offered to take him for a ride. He was an Air Force Pilot in Korea, I thought he'd like it. He said, "I'm in my 83rd year, I don't think I should be taking risks like that at my age". WTF?

Didn't anyone in TV drink water out of a garden hose when they were a kid?

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

I'm not sure why, but after 5 years in The Villages, I'm still surprised by the level of paranoia I read about on ToTV.

Soaking vegetables for 15 minutes, in water and Baking Soda?

Eating a plant based diet is scientifically proven to be better for you?

What the hell, live a little ... you're already on a short leash. Eat an apple or orange off a tree. Eat some crap from a street vendor. Gorge on some chocolate covered bacon or Oreo's dipped in dark chocolate, with jug of whole milk.

Reminds me of 10 years ago, when I took my 82 year old father to see my new Cirrus airplane and offered to take him for a ride. He was an Air Force Pilot in Korea, I thought he'd like it. He said, "I'm in my 83rd year, I don't think I should be taking risks like that at my age". WTF?

Didn't anyone in TV drink water out of a garden hose when they were a kid?

Yeah, we drank out of the garden hose, ate pears right off the pear tree, ate strawberries right off the plants and raspberries growing wild right off the canes, raw unpasturized milk, tomatoes, bean and peas straight from the garden and we're still here. My problem is for the most part, I hate the taste of beef. Have no idea why seeing we had it for dinner in some form at every meal growing up on the farm. I eat some but very little. I don't care if vegans or picky people want a vegetarian restaurant since we all like different things. I do think it is a stitch that your Dad passed on the airplane flight but maybe I'll feel the same way at 82.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Aces4

. I do think it is a stitch that your Dad passed on the airplane flight but maybe I'll feel the same way at 82.

You have to remember, I was going to be flying the airplane ... puts it into perspective.

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

You have to remember, I was going to be flying the airplane ... puts it into perspective.

That gives me an even bigger pause... Maybe he wasn't impressed with your flight skills. Just kidding!