I’m not exactly sure when I started to consider eating less meat, it has definitely been an idea that has grown exponentially.

Growing up in the 50s I was the kid who considered eating fruit and vegetables secondary to the meat course. I vividly remember on lazy summer days, having spent all day outside, in and out of the pool and zig zagging in and out of everybody’s back lawn. You knew that dinner was soon. You could smell the distinct odor of the lighter fluid your Dad used to kick start the briquets.

When you asked your Mom “what’s for dinner” you were not asking what vegetables she was preparing!

Butter on bbq’d hamburgers?

When diners and soda shops were so popular in the 1950s, hamburgers soared to the heights of popularity. Back then a popular hamburger patty-making gadget for home cooks would take one pound of hamburger and make six patties. We were less concerned about the fat content ~ but in spite of that I was the kid that would melt a pat of butter as soon as Dad flipped it off the bbq.

And then there was this vegetarian thing…

But it wasn’t until just recently that the concept of consuming less meat and eating whole foods became a passion. It’s important to acknowledge that it doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” lifestyle. National Geographic has reported that we need to “radically change our food systems” if we are to save the world we live in. I want to celebrate every effort I make in choosing to improve my health and that of the planet.

Aging=less calories!

Certainly I noticed like we all do, that as we age I wasn’t able to eat the way I used to, nor was it as easy to maintain a healthy weight either. My fascination with alternative eating was probably kick-started when I discovered this marvellous blog Oh She Glows. Perhaps it was the pictures. Perhaps it was the author, Angela’s story in which she shares her journey to health that led her to start developing a healthier eating style, it was most certainly the fact that she was Canadian and the food looked delicious.

Angela was and is so authentic about her struggle with an eating disorder. It was when she embarked on this journey of personal healing that she discovered the joy of cooking with wholesome foods. With those words she offered me something I had longed for ~ fabulous food that was not pre-packaged, with ingredients I could buy at my local supermarket and that looked sooo good.

The Oh She Glows Cookbook

Of course I had to have her cookbook! Who wouldn’t want to start their day with a “gym rat smoothie”? Followed by a lunch of a “perfected chickpea salad sandwich”? Although I’m not a huge dessert fan, I dove headfirst into the “fudge mocha pudding cake”.

A light went on with each recipe I tried. The tastes were so vivid and satisfying ~ I was not counting calories, I was not monitoring my portions, I was just eating with abandon and enjoying every bite!

I’m going to share my passion for all-things food as I take you along with me in my alternative food choice lifestyle ~ that doesn’t mean that I’m going to necessarily copy and paste Angela’s recipes, (or anyone else’s) you can do that for yourself.

Since the day I found Angela, and in my research I have discovered a plethora of books, blogs, Instagram personalities, and Pinterest recipes all focusing on preparing vegan and vegetarian food. I had no idea!

And now….

And now my days start with a smoothie of my own creation. I’m testing recipes constantly and invite you to join me in my insatiable quest for great food ideas.

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

~ Be bold, be authentically you!
Donna