Day 16: Vegan stress eating

I'm in full-on stress mode. I've got a house to clean, infinite loads of laundry to do, bags to pack, and - most anxiety-inducing of all - I have a presentation to polish. Scott and I are heading to Jacksonville where I'll be attending and speaking at a conference. Scott, on the other hand, will be spending those days at the hotel's rooftop pool, basking in the Florida sun and somehow getting even tanner. Since I'm a giant mess, I didn't dare add a new vegan recipe to my to-do list today. The good news is: Scott finally agreed to try eating vegan at Qdoba! My life may never be the same.

Earlier this week, I heard about Qdoba's Mexican Gumbo. It's a bowl of the cilantro-lime rice mixed with their tortilla soup, topped with beans, salsa, tortilla chips, and whatever else you want. Their soup isn't made with chicken broth, so it's entirely vegan, and I highly suggest getting their roasted chili corn salsa. All of these items combined make for one seriously delicious and incredibly filling meal. It was even Scott-approved! If you get the gumbo as a craft 2, it's only 275 calories - give or take a few cals depending on your toppings. I paired mine with two black bean tacos topped with pico de gallo, guacamole, and lettuce. I'm fairly confident I shed a single tear as I finished my last bite. I never wanted that meal to end. Who knew I'd love Qdoba even more after we went vegan?! Maybe I really could pull this off long-term...

Oh, you want to know what Scott ordered? Well... I had already pouted atop the mountain of laundry and made him drive to Qdoba alone while I stayed home in my sweatpants. Then he successfully gave my complex order. Then he watched helplessly as the distracted worker instinctively added sour cream to my tacos. Then he watched the guy immediately toss the whole thing in the garbage rather than simply scrape the sour cream off the top as suggested. Then he had to give my complex order all over again. At this point, he'd lost all patience for the process and left without ordering any dinner for himself. But he did get to have the last of the Black Bean & Butternut Squash Burrito leftovers, so at least the night wasn't a total wash... right, Scotty?

Well, I have to go stress out for a few days now. Aren't you excited to hear what sort of riveting material I come up with while dining on airport food? Yeah, me neither.