Hello World!

I've been thinking about start a new blog for awhile, but was unsure of what to write about. I had a pretty successful blog while I was in Afghanistan and I had many unexpected followers from the U.S., that is until I was shut down for saying too much. I was still able to blog, but I knew I was being monitored! Lesson learned!

So, I have always loved cooking and started trying to cook healthier in the last couple of years. I first started with clean eating and recently went vegetarian after trying Kathy Freston's 21 Day Cleanse which consisted of eating vegan (no animal by products), gluten free, sugar free, caffeine free and alcohol free for 21 days. I was successful for two weeks until I went to a family event where I ate couscous (gluten), salmon, bread and cake (eck!)... it went downhill from there. The cleanse taught me so much and has completely changed my eating habits. Since the cleanse I have decided to become a vegetarian. The ultimate goal is to be a vegan, but cheese is my vice right now. My friend Angela said it best with "Life is too short to eat soy cheese".

I realized during the cleanse that I did not miss meat. I lost seven pounds during the first two weeks (I started at 135 which is my all time high being only 5'1"); I felt amazing! I actually sprung out of bed, yes sprung!, during week two (week one was miserable caffeine and sugar withdrawl)... I am not a early riser and usually can't make conversation until I had at least one cup of coffee. But, the day after my family event (start of week 3) where I ate fish and gluten I felt terrible, like I hit a brick wall and I was extremely grumpy. It was a wake up call for me to really notice the effects of food on my body.

So, as I was saying I love to cook and I think I am pretty good at following recipes, but not so good at making things up. My fiance hates my cooking, unless I am cooking for guests. Last get together, everyone told him how lucky he was because the food was so awesome... unfortunately for him I don't normally cook like that for us. Since I started cooking vegan/vegetarian recipes my meals have been a disaster. I attempted to make tempeh meatloaf and it ended up a crumbly mess and in the trash; my vegan gnocchi disappeared in the water and I was left with starchy potato water. I made a lentil shepherds pie which I thought was delish, but the Fiance hated. The list goes on. But, I have made some really awesome recipes lately that received rave reviews. I HIGHLY recommend the cookbooks Veganomicon and Appetite for Reduction. I love them so much I went and bought Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by the same authors Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. These cookbooks among a few others (will post which books later) will be my inspiration for cooking.

The purpose of my blog is to post my experiences with cooking from various vegan/veg recipes. I will post my review of the foods as well as reviews from skeptical meat eaters. I will also post my mishaps while I figure out how to cook with these new (and expensive) ingredients. I hope you enjoy!

Future post:
- Ingredients I Never Heard of Until Reading Vegan Cookbooks and Where to Find Them.
- Critical Kitchen Tools!