"What do you eat?"

You can imagine how often I am asked that question by people. Sometimes, followed by ".....salad?.....boiled vegetables?......do you eat rice?......I bet you don't drink Coke!.......so, you don't eat sweets?.....But fish is okay, right?"

I have been known to sheepishly joke about "not being a rabbit", or playfully correcting them by saying I am actually "veginese". Then of course, next comes the subtle accusation that I am a closet meat-eater. "I mean, you're 200 lbs., and you eat just vegetables?" Hello.... duh!.....cows? elephants? carabaos? They're vegetarian too! (Okay, okay, I need to lessen my food intake)

Just to satisfy the curiosity of those people, I would like to share what I ate this past week:

Sunday (Today) - as of posting time

Breakfast - Burger Steak ("Arrow" brand, made by the Seventh Day Adventists. They're all-veg) with gravy made by my wife;

Saturday (Yesterday)

Dinner - Bittermelon Rasam (a south indian soup dish) which I topped off with fresh organic coriander from our farm; Pakbet made with vegetarian bagoong we bought from "Nature's Original" in Tagaytay; Fried Tofu sprinkled with Amchoor (dry mango) Powder and topped with fresh tomatoes. Now, the vegetarian bagoong is not a necessity. We had some, so we used it. Carp Patis, which is made from soya and can be found in most grocery stores, or loads of tomatoes would have done just as well.

Lunch - Curried chickpeas and potatoes (not so spicy, so the kids enjoyed it too!); Pancit bijon guisado; Home-made Chapatis brushed with a little ghee, Mango Chutney;

Breakfast - Grilled barbeque (vegetarian, of course), marinated in our secret sauce ;-)

Friday

Dinner - Fried squash flowers stuffed with our mashed potatoes; Lime chutney; Eggplant, spinach and tofu hot pot

Snack - Gonuts Donuts (sugar glazed & pastillas de leche flavors)

Lunch - Cucumber, bittermelon & tomato salad with rice (That was all I could eat at the affair I went to, although it doesn't happen that often)

Breakfast - Vege-hotdog (From Country Vege-Foods) and Vege-burger (From Hapilife, Olongapo) with rice

Thursday

Dinner - Hearty curried vegetable soup

Lunch - Packed vegetarian lunch from Rho-Del vegetarian stall located at the Olongapo Market c/o our client

Breakfast - Banana Loaf (which we bought from Country Vege-foods)

Wednesday

Dinner - Vegetable Pasta and leftover pizza

Lunch - One extremely large pizza (half all-cheese and half mushroom and spinach in white sauce) from Extremely Expresso

Breakfast - Assorted Fruits in Season

Tuesday

Dinner - Indian Lentil Soup w/ Okra (Sambar)

Snack - Krispy Kreme Donuts (which we bought the day before from Bonifacio High Street)

Lunch - Potato Bhajee and fried Vadais (Thick lentil fritters)

Breakfast - Banana w/ home-made Yoghurt and Vegetable Samosas (From Taj Grocery)

Monday

Dinner - Vegetable Sinigang & "Lumpiang Hubad"

Lunch - Take-out food from Country Vege-foods in San Juan, enough for the entire family.

Breakfast - Hash Browns

So there, life as a "veginese" ain't so bland at all, right?