I live in Los Angeles which you may have heard me refer to as a vegan food Mecca. The city has plenty of issues, but a lack of good food isn’t one of them. There are tons of amazing fresh food grocery stores, never ending farmer’s markets (one of my favorite pastimes) and an ever-growing list of great vegan restaurants and restaurants that offer vegan options.
So it is with trepidation that I ever leave my plant-based bubble.
But I had plans to travel to the Midwest for 12 days to see friends and family. How was I going to manage? Join me as we venture through the American Midwest.
Eating Plant-Based in Chicago:
I started in Chicago meeting up with two of my childhood best friends. My local Chicago friend knew of a vegan restaurant with good reviews, but she had never been. That was an easy choice. The other restaurants she suggested all had fabulous vegan options- I always check the 
menu ahead of time. Breakfasts are pretty easy- you can almost always get avocado toast or oatmeal. So that went well. The name of the vegan restaurant in the Chicago suburbs is Spirit Elephant. It’s a bit loud but festive and the food is great and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I highly recommend.
Eating Plant-Based in Michigan:
Next stop was Michigan where I was staying with my mom and her significant other for the weekend. She offered to make vegan chili for me for the night that I arrived. OMG, it was amazing. We will be making it in the group in the future. Thank you, Mom for the extra effort and being willing to try a new recipe. I ate it for 3 days straight. Dinner one night and then lunch the next two days. The second night they were hosting a birthday party and she made the quinoa salad that we made in the group along with corn on the cob. Yummy! On the third night we went out for Chinese food and they made me tofu and vegetables with brown rice. So far so good.
Eating Plant-Based in Ohio:
Now to Ohio. I met up with my friend, Vicki, outside Toledo and got a tour of her incredible family farm. She made us a beautiful salad for lunch. Then to Cleveland where I found an 
amazing vegan restaurant called Cleveland Vegan. Yummy bagel with vegan lox and vegan pancakes for breakfast. (Yes, both for me. I couldn’t decide.) I found it through an app called Happy Cow and I highly recommend the app whether you are looking for local vegan food or you are traveling.
While in Cleveland I visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (very super cool if you’ve never been), after which I noticed a Mexican-style restaurant just outside the Hall of Fame. I made a beeline and snagged an outdoor table. That was really fun, and they had a terrific vegan taco dish.
The very last part of this trip was a retreat with my women’s group. We stay at a center with that doesn’t really have vegan food, but they were happy to accommodate and had a few vegan options. I usually eat Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches when I’m there, but they also have a salad bar.
Since most of the people in my group don’t eat plant-based, I offered to cook dinner one night. With the help of a couple of friends I made the Caesar tofu wraps which (I think) everyone enjoyed. There was plenty leftover, so I had that for a couple of days. I had planned ahead and gone food shopping in Cleveland so I could bring all of the ingredients with me.
While I was definitely concerned before I traveled, there was really no reason to worry.
With a little bit of planning along with the Happy Cow app, I suspect eating plant-based is (at least almost) always doable.
P.S. I wanted to add that in addition to enjoying time spent with friends and family and eating good food and enjoying the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I also loved the architectural river tour in Chicago and the Ford Museum in Detroit. A little bit of culture everywhere I stopped!