Lent, Day 22: Vegetarian Chinese

We went out for dinner tonight and went to a Chinese buffet.  It was the first time we’ve gone to one of those in awhile…. probably since before I started doing ADF, now that I think about it.  I suggested it, thinking I was being funny, and was surprised when Andy took me up on it.   Admittedly, I probably ought to have thought it through before opting for ‘going out’, since although I do love Chinese food, the sad fact is that most of the dishes I like best are …you know…MEAT dishes.  If we’d done the takeout thing, I wouldn’t have had to walk past all of those wonderfully meaty entrees on my way to the ONE vegetarian entree offering the buffet had.

I was good, though.  I bypassed the Broccoli-and-Beef, the Sesame Chicken, the Pot Stickers and the Egg Rolls.  It pained me to do it, but in a way it was good for me too.  I found myself trying things at the restaurant that I tended to bypass otherwise.   I gave the Vegetable Spring Rolls more than the usual passing glance, and took more advantage of the Sushi Bar than I normally would.   The cucumber rolls and california rolls there aren’t half bad, it turns out.

I did allow myself to eat the Crab Rangoon, since the ‘crab’ in it is probably imitation anyway.   But I did notice that it took NEXT TO NOTHING for me to feel full, at least compared to what I used to eat there.   It wasn’t, perhaps, the most FUN trip to the Chinese Buffet I’ve ever taken, but at least at the end of it I walked away assured that I ‘would receive a promotion in my firm soon’.  Thank you, Fortune Cookie, but I’m self-employed.  I don’t think I can promote myself much higher than I already am.

Once again, I have to sadly say that I don’t see myself pursuing this Vegetarian lifestyle beyond the end of Lent.   I may not be especially hung up on meat, but I do apparently enjoy it too much to give it up entirely.