Learning as I Go

I've been toying with the idea of having a food blog for quite some time, but I wasn't really sure how to start.  I guess that "just start" is the best answer.  In 2005 I was 75 pounds heavier than I am now.  I smoked.  I drank.  A lot.  Don't let anyone tell you that there's no such thing as a fat vegetarian, because I certainly was.

I had something of an epiphany one day, and I decided that I needed to get healthy.  Healthy.  Not thin.  The weight loss was not the primary goal, but it was a very nice side effect.  I stopped smoking.  I quit drinking like a weekend warrior alcoholic wannabe.  I got up off my butt and started to exercise, and I learned to eat.  I think the learning to eat was the hardest part.

I knew precious little about nutrition.  I knew how to feed my body, but I didn't know how to nourish it.  I had been a vegetarian for seven years by the time I decided that I needed to educate myself on how to eat and on how to be healthy.  The reasons I became a vegetarian are many, and they also don't matter for the sake of this blog.  I have no desire to start a debate.  I'm a vegetarian; that's a fact, and my recipes will be meat free.  Many of them will be free of any animal products.  If you aren't veg*n, that doesn't make these recipes any less nutritious or tasty.

Surprisingly enough, I really don't like to cook.  It's not something I find fun or relaxing or stimulating or any of the plethora of things I've heard people say about cooking.  I'm not good at making up recipes on the fly.  I tend to need step by step instructions in order to produce something edible.  I cook because I need to eat, and I put effort into cooking, because I care about what goes into my mouth.  Somewhere along the way in this journey toward health, I became something of a hippie.  I strive to keep pre-packaged, processed foods full of additives and ingredients I can't pronounce out of my diet.

I'd love it if you all would share my journey with me.  Welcome.  Come on in and stay awhile.