Wheatgrass, Smoothies, Beer & Onion Rings in Scottsdale

Does this: and this:cancel out this??:I'll answer that myself with a begrudging "no" :) But that's okay! I believe when you eat a clean diet of whole foods - especially plant-based - at least 90% of the time, it gives you a little wiggle room to indulge in some things that offer no health benefit whatsoever. Though maybe that's not entirely true... they aren't called "comfort" foods for nothing! And as long as that concept of a "comfort" food isn't abused, I believe there is truth in it. I also think that as your body becomes more and more used to eating clean, whole foods, you crave the bad stuff much less if at all.But - a little indulgence of something that just tastes good is good for the spirit once in a while too!To be fair though, I guess I can't exactly call this a "little" indulgence... maybe "little" on the scheme of things (and it was meat and dairy-free), but as evidenced in the photo this was a pretty large plate of huge onion rings! Too big to fully finish, unfortunately (or fortunately?).Let me backtrack for a second though to give some context. Peter and I are in the Phoenix area for the weekend, and conveniently there is a nice outdoor shopping center with a couple of decent food options across the street from our hotel in Scottsdale.The first two photos above were from Jamba Juice, which is always a welcome sight when traveling. As long as you stay away from the added-sugar-laden smoothies, you have many good options to choose from. We stopped in for a late lunch of sorts, starting with shots of wheatgrass - a wonderful detoxifier - and then shared two smoothies. We went for an Apples & Greens (now a new favorite) and an Acai Super-Antioxidant (minus the sherbert), both with an extra boost of soy protein. Refreshing and anti-oxidant-boosting on a warm and sunny Arizona afternoon!For dinner last night, we went to Nimbus Bistro & Brewery, which is conveniently right across the street from our hotel. We enjoyed decent veggie burgers, but started with a pint of the Old Monkeyshine Ale and Oatmeal Stout and the onion rings. Our mutual criticism is that a few of them were too heavily battered - to the point of doughiness - but they were all around pretty tasty. They inspired me to start thinking of how I could make a "lesser of two evils" - maybe even borderline "healthy" (or at least not unhealthy) version at home... so stay tuned for that in the next couple of weeks!