Date Night: Shreveport Downtown

About a week ago Keith and I decided to a little date night reminiscent of our first date. We went downtown to a little restaurant/bar called The Blind Tiger, walked around Downtown Shreveport, and went on the Shreve Town Ghost Walk. 

The Blind Tiger was a surprisingly pleasant meal out, even as a vegetarian. I ended up simply getting a baked potato and some fried pickles. There was also the option to get "Quorn Po'boy." Quorn is a meat substitute which would have been fried for the Po'boy. Next time, I'll definitely try that, but I wasn't feeling very adventurous this time. I find that having that one vegetarian option on the menu made my meal out a much less stressful experience, despite not actually getting that option. The Blind Tiger definitely one of my more favorite date night restaurants now. Also, that drink is called a "Fuzzy Tiger" and it's not too bad, just very strong.

We ended our night with a nice little ghost walk. While I enjoyed the walk, I was a little disappointed. The stories told  were much more centered around the history of Shreveport than actual stories that are theorized to have caused hauntings. There was actually very little talk of hauntings in general. Those ghost stories that were told were very ill-explained. More or less, this was a history walk that told of some reports of activity with not much background/reasoning and told stories that could have caused hauntings without actual reports of activity. I did really enjoy the walk, it just was not what I expected.

It was such an amazing date. Somehow, ghost walk dates are kind of our thing.

What's your favorite date night idea?

VegHead in Shreveport

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Look at me, posting on time/on the schedule again!

About 1 week and two days ago I decided to go officially and properly vegetarian. I've always known it would be better for my health and for the environment, but living with my venison loving mother has always made it a little difficult. That's not to mention that I had never done much grocery shopping for myself until Keith came to live with us. But now I've truly dedicated myself to making a tiny impact in myself and in the world with my diet. (This sudden motivation may or may not have come from Kalel Cullen's blog post, video, and suggestion of Paul McCartney's "If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls.)

Yes, that's a smoothie bowl. Yes, it was delicious. Yes it's the only picture I've taken of food for the last week. 

So far I've found the diet to be a bit difficult. There are very few places in Shreveport that I've found that have vegetarian friendly meals. I'm finding it very frustrating that everywhere I go I get french fries, mashed potatoes, fried onions, etc. I eat a lot of bean burritos and eggs (I am not vegan, vegetarian who eats only free-range eggs and is lactose intolerant). Mostly I find going out very frustrating now when I once loved it. Italian has so far been the exception as I only ever ate Alfredo before anyway. 

Aside from the frustrations of going out, I really enjoy my new "friendly" foods, as I've begun to call them, at home. I've found so many different ways to make/mix/cook the veggies I've always loved and some I'd never tried. So far, these AMAZING zucchini fries from Yummy Healthy Easy have been my favorite go to.

I haven't made the ranch dip, but with Hidden Valley they're pretty great. Last night I also made this Fruit Salsa from The Thread Affect and it was pretty good. Pasta has also become my best friend again. I can eat pasta with butter or Alfredo or marinara and be perfectly content. 

These fruit quesadillas (by A Cedar Spoon) were also a huge hit with myself and Keith, so they're definitely here to stay. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a homemade desert so much!

As I discover more delicious ideas and undoubtably learn some things about being Vegetarian in Shreveport I will let you all know!

Have you ever been/are you vegetarian? What did/do you find most challenging? If not, what is your favorite veggie?