A Very Mexican Mother's Day!

Feliz día de la madre, Mama Crunk! Forgive me, Spanish-speaking readers, if I got that wrong. I used Google Translate. Anyway, as you might have guessed from that intro, my mama and I had Mexican food for Mother's Day!

I drove to Jonesboro for the second time this week to hang out with my mama. Her birthday is just a few days before Mother's Day, so I get lots of mama time in early May. Here we are in my parents' "Harley room." They're bikers, so my mama decorated their TV room (that's what Arkansas people call the den) in Harley stuff. And yes, she painted the walls "Harley orange" because they're that hardcore.

Anyway, we did a mother-daughter lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Of course, that started with Chips & Salsa. We ordered guacamole too, but the server forgot to bring it out until we got our entree.

I got the Vegetarian Fajitas. I love how many veggies they put in their fajita mix — cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, squash, onions, peppers, mushrooms!

On the side were Beans, Rice, and a Guacamole Salad with Pico.

A word on my dining-out philosophy: When I eat at Mexican joints, if the beans and rice are listed under the vegetarian section of the menu, I take their word for it. I'm sure some places use lard in the beans or chicken stock in the rice and still label them as vegetarian. But honestly, I don't want to know. I don't eat Mexican food out often (mostly just when visiting my parents), so I'd rather just hope for the best and not ask.

For me, I feel like grilling servers with questions makes veganism seem unnecessarily hard, thus possibly turning off servers (and the people dining with you) to veganism entirely. My goal as a vegan to push as many others toward veganism as possible, so I definitely don't want to make it seem hard or unforgiving. There are some questions I always ask, such as "Are there eggs in the veggie burger patty?" or "Is the bun buttered?" But when something is labeled veg on a menu, I don't like to ask further questions.

But everybody's different, and there's no wrong way to dine out as a vegan. I'll be leading a class discussion on the topic of vegan dining out philiosophies at Vida Vegan Con in Austin at the end of the month (my class is on Sunday, May 31st)! I'll discuss my personal philosophy, and then we'll open up the discussion to talk about how everyone orders and why they ask (or don't ask) the questions they do. We'll also discuss the ethics of vegan drinking, like whether or not you drink wines or beers that you don't know the veganness of (hint: I don't worry about that). And if time allows, we may also discuss palm oil ethics and fair trade. I'll also be hosting a separate kombucha-brewing demo during the VVC Vegan Bazaar on Friday, May 29th!

If you're coming to Austin for VVC, I hope to see you there! It's the — sniff, sniff — very last VVC, so don't miss it. I'm happy to say that I've had the opportunity to present at all three Vida Vegan Cons, and I can't wait for this one.