Vegan/Vegetarian Food Preparation/Education

In 2001, I tried to go vegetarian.  I was 19 years old and ignorant and it didn’t go very well. One ought not attempt to live healthily on just grains and dairy (read: only gluten and cheese and yogurt).

In 2009, Maruti Seidman, my Polarity instructor, introduced me to veganism and dietary health. And he actually taught me how to prepare several foods (including a dessert that I continue to make even now, over 10 years later). To become a healthy vegan, I had to learn about nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. I also had to get over my lifelong distaste for vegetables. So I took myself on a journey of juicing and metabolic programming, literally rewiring my brain to like and then crave vegetables.  It sounds crazy, but it’s true.  And even better, it worked.  I went from eating the diet of your average kindergartener (no exaggeration: the diet I’d had for the first 27 years of my life) to eating almost any vegetable I could try (including the scary ones like broccoli and brussel sprouts and radishes and beets, not to mention lots of different edible fungi like shiitake and trumpet mushrooms). And I felt better.

Now vegetarianism and/or veganism might not be for everyone.  I’m not trying to get you on my bandwagon.  And, what I’ve found over the years is that a lot of people are actually pretty curious about a plant-based diet and they get discouraged when they encounter a few obstacles such as: Where can I still enjoy a meal at a restaurant that isn’t just a salad? How will I get enough protein? I don’t know where to buy ‘dot dot dot.’  I don’t know how to cook ‘dot dot dot.’

And since I’ve been eating and grocery shopping and cooking this way in Lafayette for over 10 years, I’m available to offer helpful hints and suggestions to overcome those hurdles.  I even had a plant-based pop-up restaurant and catering/meal-prep company for a very short while as a hobby. So if you have questions, ask me for some vegan/vegetarian coaching.

(For the record, I’ve added pasture-raised eggs and very occasionally seafood back into my own diet. Flexitarian is fine. Don’t feel like you must go to any extremes, unless of course you want to.)