Vegan MoFo Day 31

Over this month, I've done a fair bit of self-righteous hating (or whining) on my month of veganism. That's pretty out of line, considering it's just an ideological difference and can't we all just get along? So for my final MoFo post, I'll round up some of the benefits I reaped from this and conclude with a plug for my favorite vegan cookbook.

My intake of fats - saturated, un-, trans- and otherwise - decreased drastically. With the exception of EB and cooking oil, meals I cooked for myself were largely fat free. Naturally, I wouldn't want to waste away, so I found ways to augment this situation. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do to maintain her boyish figure. Further, the amount of fiber I was eating increased drastically. Without being too verbose about my fiber intake, I will say that I think part of the "boy, do I feel great!" element of veganism is due to my fiber consumption.

I successfully broke my cheese addiction, too. Meg posted about casein's addictive properties a while back (can't find the post - sorry, internet), and though I was decidedly omni at the time, that thought stuck with me. In fact, I started throwing the term "cheegan" around for vegans who "just can't give up cheese." Bad cheese - non-vegetarian, factory-processed stuff - is pretty prevalent, and I quickly became very discerning once cheese was off the menu. The shreds in a bag? Kind of off-putting. The stuff from the farmer's market? Spendy. Diminished cheese consumption will definitely be a habit now that I know that the Earth won't shatter if I don't chow down on some cheese for a spell. Very helpful in breaking said cheese addiction was soy cheese. That stuff is not AT ALL to my liking, so I bypassed (ha!) the cheese methadone route.

PB and Js excepted, I was largely gluten-free this month. Go figure.

I ate lentils by the metric fuckload and feel no remorse. In fact, I'm making lentil soup tonight. Just you try to stop me.

There was a good deal of freeganing this month as well, as I'm trying to save my pennies. I found some dumpstery scores on free produce and made friends with the free section on Craig's list. Sometimes people give away food! It's amazing.

My vegetarianism, I think, is here to stay. It was also something I got into without much thought ("eating meat hurts, so I'm not going to do it"), but I've come around to the environmental and ethical notions. Meat sort of disgusts me now, even though I rationally know that I'll probably enjoy the taste of some dishes.

Anyway, enough disjointedness. I'll still post vegetarian recipes (with veganization directions) and such, but I don't think that veganism is my bag. Moving right along, my favorite vegan cookbook is a little something I've had since the omni days. The Hot Damn and Hell Yeah/Dirty South double play is amazing. Hot Damn has some excellent introduction to veganism tips (explanation of TVP, how to drain tofu, etc.) and doesn't shy away from the spice, as the name suggests. Plus, the noot yeast cheese sauce recipe is BOMB. The Dirty South veganizes or reinvents all the southern comfort food that my Virginian-born-in-Texas-raised-in-Louisiana grandma makes. Successfully. I'm a particular fan of her hush puppies. Mmm. Plus, the two together - distributed by a rad Portlandy distro - are $7. It's on sale for $5 right now. Support your vegan zinesters and order a copy.

in totally unrelated news, book club got drunk and I hit my face on my handlebars. things are swollen.