Hi and welcome to Vegan Vigilante, a vegan recipe blog inspired by my love for vegan food and vegan cooking. In my regular life, I have a bachelor’s degree in science/nursing and work as a Registered Nurse in a busy health care setting. I’ve been in the healthcare industry for over 20 years and one thing I’ve learned is that our food system is in crisis.
On one hand, we have a health system in America that focuses very little on diet and nutrition, especially when it comes to a plant-based or vegan diet. On the other hand, we have a food industry that operates as if our health doesn’t matter whereby unhealthy food is normalized, even subsidized, and profit is more important than health, the environment and the right of people to know how their food is produced.
There is a scientifically proven link between a Western diet, high in fat and sugar and low in fiber, fruits and vegetables, and chronic diseases (1) such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and more. A vegan diet can help prevent and eradicate disease, improve your health, help you lose or maintain your weight, save animals and improve our planet. What more can you ask for?
References:
- Gut Microbiota: An Important Link between Western Diet and Chronic Diseases. 2019 Sep 24;11(10):2287.doi: 10.3390/nu11102287.
Why Should You Trust My Recipes?
Trust is a very important thing to me and I do not take it lightly, nor would I ever abuse it, if I earned yours. I became a registered nurse to help people (and to never depend on a man). I became vegan to help animals (because I love them more than most people)! In my regular life, I live alone with 8 animals: 4 horses and 4 dogs, each of whom was rescued from neglect, abuse and/or slaughter.
I guess you could say, nurture is in my nature. I’ve always had a deep sense of compassion for all living creatures, human and non-human alike. I don’t even kill bugs.
It’s important for me as a vegan and registered nurse to create vegan recipes that pack a mean nutritional punch which is important to most people involved in a vegan or plant-based diet.
Nutrition isn’t the only factor I focus on when creating recipes. I also love to create recipes that emphasize simplicity, which to me, transfers to recipes that have fewer ingredients, take less time to prepare and don’t require a lot of clean up. Oh, they also have to taste sensational or we may as well forget about it!
Not every recipe on this website is going to follow the above guidelines, but Vegan Vigilante is a work in progress and you will be seeing a lot more healthy recipes moving forward.
How I Transitioned from Vegetarianism to Veganism
In college, which was eons ago, I became a vegetarian. I was one of those people who was initially unwilling to stop dairy, especially milk and cheese. I never thought I’d be able to eliminate those two items out of my diet. But in 2016, I felt increasingly guilty about still consuming dairy, particularly after seeing an image depicting a very bloody and abused living cow that was being dragged by a massive chain into a semi truck to be taken to the slaughter house. That single picture inspired me to change almost instantaneously.
I transitioned from vegetarianism to veganism in one easy step: COLD TURKEY! I didn’t fool around with eliminating this and eliminating that until I was totally vegan. I did it cold turkey, the same way I did it with meat when I became vegetarian in college 20 years ago. I realize this method may not be for everyone, but it worked for me, and I didn’t even have withdrawals.
Was it hard? Not in the least. It was real simple because of the reasons behind why I did it. Leaving dairy behind after so many years of vegetarianism was easy once I had a plan and knew how to go vegan.
21-Day Vegan Kickstart
Once I made up my mind to go vegan, I signed up for The Physician’s Committee 21-Day Vegan Kickstart. Why did I choose this plan over others? For one thing, it;s free. For another thing, the 21-day Meal Plan is outrageously delicious. You can actually print out the entire program, which includes the meal plan and a grocery list. There are enough meals in the plan to cover the entire 21 days. I put my copies in a binder and referenced them on a daily basis as I began my journey into cooking vegan foods. And what a journey it’s been.
How to Contact Me
If you need more information or have questions about changing to a vegan plant-based diet, email me anytime at info@veganvigilanteblog.com. I am here to be of service and support your journey. Together we can help save the world, one recipe at a time!
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My Little Buddy