Happy Meatless Monday #5!

I've been lazy... or maybe just so busy that I'm too tired to deal with cooking. I'm positive I'm not alone in this. After proctoring a standardized exam all day (which is absolutely horrible), a restaurant was looking pretty good for dinner tonight. Going meatless is still totally important and doable, even when you go out! I had potato flautas at La Fuente, our favorite Mexican restaurant.

This is the perfect time to lay down our rules about restaurants. Especially because we only have 7 days until our official start date! We came up with a list of restaurants that are allowed. Here are the places and the reasons they made the list:

• Harvest Moon (Charlotte) - It's farm to fork!! Perfecto!
• Sprouts (Gastonia) - It's all organic and absolutely delicious! It's the one connected to the organic marketplace on New Hope Rd. They only do lunch though, so check the hours! 
• La Fuente Mexican Grille (Gastonia) - This is owned by one of my student's families... gotta support my kiddos! Plus it's totally unrealistic for us to not have a Mexican place on the list. 
• Las Palmas Columbian Bakery (Gastonia) - Too amazing to give up, but it's totally a mom and pop place which we love. 
• Mellow Mushroom (Charlotte or anywhere) - I worked at Mellow in Tampa FL for two years and I never once got sick of it. It was started by hippies and they use real, healthy food - not frozen stuff like many chains/franchises. I love it more than anything. When I was pregnant, I would wake up in the middle of the night and crave Mellow hummus. If you think this one doesn't fit, call it my guilty pleasure.
• Any restaurant we find that's farm to fork or organic is in! 
• All chains and franchises (besides Mellow Mushroom) are out! 
• When we have fewer choices and must eat out (like while traveling), we will opt for locally owned, mom and pop type places.

Do you know of any other places that should make our list? Any insights? Comment and let us know!