About

A little about me: At age 6 I boldly declared to my mom, "I'm never eating meat again!"and I never did. I think the realization that meat came from animals had dawned on me at that point and I couldn't bear the thought of eating them. My love & compassion for animals gave me the passion to make this decision at such a young age.

Fast forward to present day. I'm 29, still a vegetarian, and 3 years ago started embracing a vegan diet. Though nutrition is very important in my life today,  I will admit that until my mid twenties I was the least healthy vegetarian ever! To me being vegetarian only meant eliminating meat from my diet, it had nothing do with eating healthily. My go-to staples were pizza and mac n' cheese, and desserts & snacks like cookies, chips & soda. Those were my comfort foods and my weight was not a problem at that point. Then I hit my mid 20's and my eating habits caught up to me. I started struggling with my weight for the first time in my life. I also suffered from frequent head aches, acne, low energy & depression but I did not associate these things with my unhealthy diet. It wasn't until I started exploring natural healthy foods that I realized these things were linked to what I was eating. I am grateful for it now because it forced me to learn about nutrition.

I've read many nutrition books and healthy eating blogs and magazines. I went through a long period of time trying every kind of diet out there and I was miserable on them. For most of them the focus was not on nutrition, only weight loss. I can say with a passion that calorie counting & not being able to enjoy food is not for me.

Learning about nutrition and plant based foods was pivotal for me. I started cooking with a passion and explored the joys of fresh unprocessed foods. I learned to have fun with food again and was able to stay at a healthy weight at the same time. My head aches disappeared, my skin cleared up, and my energy level soared! Food for me was no longer was associated with depravity and restriction, instead it brings me joy and health. The real taste test for my recipes though is my boyfriend - he tries my vegan recipes & rates them to make sure they are meat eater approved! He is a meat and potatoes guy to the core and when we met I think my kale and fruit smoothies were a shocker to him, but he started embracing a healthier diet and now drinks them every morning. He still eats meat and dairy, but when he loves a vegan recipe I make I know it passes the test! Read on for more :).