It actually started out as a 'detox' as I'm calling it. One drunken night (too many hunch punch drinks will come back to bite you!) turned into an even worse Saturday (i.e. hangover from hell) That day I had ZERO coffee and barely any food at all. I spent about 70% of the day wallowing on the couch cursing my previous night's decisions to consume massive amounts of booze, and I was hating my body's internal reaction to my withdrawals. So...long story short...I made it through that hangover. The next day, you guessed it- no coffee either. This may seem like no biggie for many of you. You are looking at the gal that MUST HAVE a cup of coffee every single morning. No matter whether I'm on vacation, sick, hungover, on my death bed...whatever. I was the biggest coffee fiend ever. So...after I realized I'd gone 2 WHOLE DAYS without caffeine, I was pretty damn proud of myself. I decided to give something a whirl...hey- let's see if I can go all weekend without coffee. And sure enough, I did. I had a pretty gnarly headache the entire weekend...but that weekend turned into a week. And that week has now turned into 2 week. No coffee. How fabulous?
I'm sure you're wondering how or when the vegan thing comes into play. On day 2 of no caffeine, I decided- let's keep this up. Let's just try to get tons of fruit and veggies over the next few days. Let's get some toxins out and get back on the "healthy horse." And after a few days of not really missing meat, dairy, or cheese....I thought to myself...I could really do this?! Let's give it a try. I immediately began reading a book that a dear friend gave me, Becoming Vegan. This book gives you the history and background on veganism and vegetarianism. It's more of a textbook read, but there is a wealth of information in the book.
My next step was to immediately DIVE into vegan food blogs, vegan food recipes, vegan baking recipes etc. I get the most joy out of baking and cooking yummy food for others. Could I find the same joy while cooking vegan-friendly foods and goodies? I was most certainly up to the challenge. My new favorite vegan chef/author/blogger, Chloe Coscarelli, was my first go-to reference. Her book, Chloe's Kitchen, just came out and with the help of Amazon...it arrived on my doorstep within 3 days. I have tried several of the recipes already- and LOVED them!! My goal is to blog more and share my experiences baking, cooking, testing, and tasting those vegan recipes with you all.
I should probably mention one more (yet very important) detail. My amazing and supportive husband, Jason. (see photos on the right!) Just a few days after my choice to try out the vegan lifestyle, he has decided to give a 30 day trial of vegetarianism. He wants to support me and my decisions while bettering his health at the same time. (Could you ask for a better husband...? No!) So we are both in this together. I'd say he has the tough role of my recipe taste tester. It's a very official title. More salt? Too spicy? Is this even edible...?? I am looking forward to many more laughs and trials in our little tiny apartment kitchen.
Well...I hear the timer going off in the oven. Working on some trial cupcakes for an important bridal shower coming up. Here's a little teaser for what I'm working on today...and hopefully my next blog post.
Until next time....
