Sustainable weekly diary #113: I visited a restaurant that could not make a vegan meal

Hi there, welcome back into my personal weekly diary. Great that you’re here! In this diary I try to show you what an eco-positive lifestyle looks like on a daily basis. What choices and habits make my life sustainable? The past week I went to the vegan junk food bar once more, announced that my webshop is closing and for the first time I visited a restaurant that could not make a vegan meal for me. Want to read along? Here’s sustainable weekly diary #113.

Thursday

After school a classmate and I went for drinks with our student association. It was great and after that we decided to go out in Amsterdam for a short while since we wanted to catch the last bus that went back to Haarlem. But the group we went with first wanted to go to MacDonalds. Since I knew there was a Vegan Junk Food Bar nearby, my friend and I went there because well, MacDonalds sucks and I sort of made a pledge to avoid it whenever I can. However, the Vegan Junk Food Bar is more for a sit-in dinner or lunch, not to go by fast and grab a burger. So, once we had our food (I had kapsalon again since it was so good last week) we had only 15 minutes left to eat it. I tried to eat as fast as I could but that’s not enjoyable at all. I even took it with me in a to go thingy, which was luckily plastic free but still paper. Once we were at the bus I had a little bit left which I had to throw away since it was not allowed in the bus. Shit, this made me feel really bad, I hate food waste. But I’ve learned my lesson now: The Vegan Junk Food Bar is not for a quick midnight snack.

Friday

When I came home today I made some vegan sushi for myself. I just looooove sushi. Even though it’s not zero waste I do not deprive myself from it because that would make life less fun for me personally.

Saturday

Dad made us a good vegan meal. He is a non-vegan and so on half of the meal he put cheese for himself and the other half is vegan. An easy way to share food both vegan and non-vegan. I started a new tv-show today, about the poorest people in The Netherlands. I think it’s important to not be in a privileged bubble but hear about others too.

Sunday

Today dad took me to the Twentsche Foodhallen. A place with multiple kitchens, with one 100% plant-based. I had a kapsalon (a Dutch dish, with fries, fake meat, sauce and salad, very unhealthy haha) and a brownie. It was so good! The place is called Rauw and I love it. It was such a fun day!

Monday

Today was a hard day. After months I’ve finally announced that I will close my webshop for package free groceries. I will quit the coming months. Long story short: I’ve decided to pass the idea on and will focus on new things. My goal was reached: package free groceries for anyone in The Netherlands. I don’t know what the future brings for me, but for now I want to spend the extra time on my Youtube channel!

Tuesday

On Tuesdays I have 2,5 hours in between classes. A classmate of mine went to her horse in a small town nearby and I came along. Even though horse riding does not align with my vegan values, I do think it’s important to learn more about these things. I love being around animals anyhow so this was great!

Wednesday

This morning I got up early to make some vegan lasagne. With our student association we will go for laser gaming, karting and to eat tonight. For the first time ever a restaurant said that they could not make me a vegan meal and so I had to bring my own. So, I made a vegan lasagne and chocolate mousse to bring with me. I knew we were going to grill so I asked if I could just bring some vegan snacks to grill. They said that was not possible and that I should bring a whole meal. But, when I got there I did not understand why. There were grill plates and everyone had to grill their own food and so it would have been okay to bring some meat replacers and grill those. It was just an odd situation. I heard this just yesterday night and so I bought a package to make lasagne. Not zero waste, organic or local, but quick and easy. Since it was all last minute I was not hard on myself. The lasagne was amazing and so was the chocolate mousse. People were curious and wanted to have a taste. I always like that because then they can see for themselves that vegan food tastes good as well. With the drinks I also had one plastic fail because I forgot to order it without a straw. But with the second drink I did succeed and got it without straw! All in all, it was a great night!