The times they are a-changin'

I have no excuses for my absence so I'm not even going to try to come up with some sort of explanation. Instead, here's the quick and dirty rundown on the last six months wherein I have accomplished an incredible amount-o-crap:

Conquered public transit

In an effort of self-preservation from the strangling cost of gas, I started taking the commuter rail to work. It takes just a few minutes longer than driving, has to potential to save me hundreds of dollars a month, and I arrive at work considerably less pissed off.

What's more, I managed to navigate Chicago solely by bus and train with The Green Bay Vegan for four days and only feared for my life once. She's got her own quick recap of our Chicago (mis)adventures here.

By the way, if you're vegan and you haven't visited Chicago recently, go get on a plane right now. The food choices are seriously amazing. I thought we had it pretty good here in Dallas, but Chicago is the only place that I've been able to get a seitan reuben the size of my head. While you're at it, make a trip down to Soul Veg on East 75th Street. It's a hike from the train through a sort of questionable neighborhood, but the Southern barbecue sandwich is worth the possible risk of being stabbed.

Cut the crap out of my diet

In March I cut all processed foods and most refined sugar out of my diet. I joined a gym and dropped more than 40 pounds since November. I won't elaborate much because honestly I think that's pretty goddamn boring, but I will say that I feel fantastic and it's become really clear to me how much what I eat affects how I feel physically and emotionally.

Met one badass bearded and tattooed soccer fanatic

Thanks to the magic of The Internets, I've met a man that just amazes me. I don't know what much to say about the whole situation other than sweet baby Jeebus wow. I'm a fairly emotionally unavailable person in general, but this time I fell and, my god, I fell hard. I can't honestly ever remember being this crazy about someone, ever, and I can say that I'm actually content for the first time in years. You know, soccer fanaticism aside. (Really, I keed. I plan to use this enthusiasm to leverage for a trip to a baseball game at some point this summer. Fair is fair, right?)

His living situation is pretty interesting at the moment, and personally I think it warrants the production of a reality show. It's like the Osbornes over there, except with more alcohol and less fame. My plan is to film a pilot, pitch it to some cable network, and then we all become filthy, dirty, stinking rich. At the present time I'm working on Episode 1: Pissin Off The Neighbors. More on that to come.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so we ate at Suma Veggie last night, which is a vegan Chinese restaurant in Richardson, TX that's really heavy on the salt and even heavier on meat analogues.

I'm not really sure how I feel about mock meats in general. I don't eat them much because they're typically processed beyond all recognition and loaded with sodium and I try to stick to a diet of mostly whole foods, meaning I don't buy outside of the produce aisle, aside from bulk spices, grains, and legumes. A part of me sees an ethical problem with eating something that even resembles meat, especially since I don't crave it or miss it at all, and I certainly don't want to give any omnivores that may be on the fence the impression that they're going to feel deprived if they just give the shit up already. Some vegans have said that they're a good transitional food, and I have to remind myself that, for a lot of people, going vegan isn't as simple as it is for others.

I was at a house party sort of thing last weekend and met an omnivore who said that she would be vegan, except she's poor. What the hell is that? I'd really like to know what, exactly, she's eating, because when I cut out the crap my grocery bill dropped dramatically. As a friend of mine at a New Year's Eve cocktail party said, GET YOURSELF SOME BEANS AND RICE.

I'm really bothered by some people's notion that going vegan is going to cost them more than an omnivorous diet, and I suppose it could, if you're eating crappy, processed food for which you're covering the cost of processing, packaging, and, most likely, refrigeration.

I shop for my groceries once a week, buying food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two people, 90% or better of it organic, for $100 a week or less. That comes out to less than $5 per person per meal. In the summer, when I can buy most of my food at my local farmers market, the cost of a meal drops below $3, and I know that many vegans are able to cover their food bills with even less. This post over at Vegan FAQ even details a weekly grocery list that can cost less than $25 a week!

So...no more whining!

In other news, vegan superhero Jen just made the Fox City Foxz flat track roller derby league. Go show her some love.

So I'm a big fat liar and I forgot to take pictures of the ratatoulli and sesame glazed asparagus that we ate last night until after it had, well, been eaten. So, in lieu of that, go look at Becca's pictures of what we did for New Year's Eve!

Bound and determined

I will cook tonight, a good, nutrient-dense meal, and I will put my heart into it because I, once again, have someone else to cook for. There's so much soul in cooking, but I can never bring myself to take the time to do it only for myself.

I will make a meal for someone else, and I will photograph it with my crapass camera phone (because I lost the decent camera in the breakup), and I will blog it.

I will reclaim my rightful spot in the kitchen.

Back on the wagon, so to speak

I'm fairly certain that no one actually reads this, but I suppose that some sort of explanation for my 3 month absence is warranted.

Things have been crazy, between frequent travel (including a very awesome trip to Vegas with 14 other vegans) and a truly awful and prolonged breakup and the subsequent moving out of my belongings. The last few months have definitely been trying, to say the least, but I feel like I'm finally starting to get my feet back on solid ground, forcing myself to keep a routine even though I really would rather just hide in my bed.

The mess I've found myself in the last few months has weighed so heavily on me that I have, at times, considered checking myself in somewhere, and I probably would have had it not been for the help of my wonderful psychiatrist and truly amazing and supportive friends and family, always ready to rush in and save me from myself when I need them the most. My gratitude to these people is immeasurable as I am fairly certain that I, quite literally, owe them my life many times over.

Getting more to the point, I haven't been able to make blogging much of a priority, and I really regret that and, in the coming months, I fully intend to change that.

Vegans in their natural habitat?

In just a few hours, Dallas vegans are going to descend upon the Texas hillcountry for what promises to be a most fantastic Vegan Freak camping trip.

The car is packed, the food is prepped, and the bike is dis-assembled. By way of a quick trip to the liquor store, the Southern Fried Vegan will be embarking on a particularly fabulous weekend in T-4 hours.

Wish you were here.

Excuses, excuses

I have so much to post!

But I can't. You see, here at the Southern Fried Vegan house, we had a massive computer meltdown a few weeks ago that we have yet to resolve, so in the meantime the camera is collecting dusts and my posts to all the blogs that I contribute to are few and far between since the only internet access I have right now is from my office.

We should be back up and running in the next week or so and I will have just loads of pictures to post.