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* Wednesday I went to my first Meet Up for the Dallas Vegetarians. I have never done anything like this before but it sounded like fun. Plus I had my "stranger danger" buddy shine with me, so what could go wrong? We went to the Bavarian Grill , a German restaurant in Plano. They have a completely separate vegetarian menu (and another one showing what dishes are pork free). I had the vegetable strudel filled with leeks, white and red cabbage, carrots, onions, and mushrooms (though those were not mentioned on the menu). It came with Bavarian potatoes which I learned is code for baked cheese (kinda gross) and creamed spinach (which is listed on the online menu, but not on the printed menu in the restaurant). I HATE creamed spinach, and would have loved the opportunity to sub sauerkraut. Our waitress was a bit off, I felt like she hated us, and not very helpful on substitutions. Also, all I really wanted was the German mixed salad (tomatoes in vinaigrette, cucumbers with dill, green beans with onions, shredded carrots and beets) but it turned out not to be vegetarian and they wouldn't do substitutions (the green beans were cooked in beef broth). Uh, why was it on the veggie menu then? I'll still go back to Bavarian Grill, but may take the opportunity to eat schnitzel instead. As for the Meet Up group, they were very interesting and I would go to another dinner if it was somewhere I was interested in and if my danger buddy could go too!

* New study shows eating charred red meat can increase your risk of bladder cancer.

* Eat Green DFW blogs about sustainable food in North Texas. This week, they shared some delicious recipes to keep in mind when you're at your local farmers market. I haven't been about to get down to the new market at Mockingbird Station yet, but am looking forward to it. I'll probably wait until more produce is available next month.

* Daiya is now available in all Whole Foods! It is delicious and melts wonderfully.

* There's a bill being argued right now that would make it next to impossible to require GMO and non-GMO labels on food. Seriously? Don't you want to know what's in your food? At the least, don't you want to be able to choose what kind of food you eat? What bugs me the most about this bill is that it effects those who use non-GMO ingredients and already label their food that way. Personally, I only buy soy products that say non-GMO and would be pissed if I were no longer allowed to differentiate between the two. Please click on the above link to learn more and sign a petition to stop this blatant infringement on the rights of farmers and manufacturers.