the first one!

           I've been vegan for almost two weeks and I already know this is the right way for me to live. I'm so excited to continue this journey and learn more as I go. With all this excitement I have to channel it somewhere and so that is what I'm going to do here! There are so many great vegan bloggers out there I have fallen in love with that have encouraged me and inspired me to start my own. I've spent a lot of my time looking at all the amazing vegan recipes there are online and all I want to do lately is cook so I guess for my first blog I should give some of my reasons why I'm going vegan and second, share some of the recipes that I've made.

           So that's mostly what this is going to be, my continuing experience of living as a vegan, the lessons I learn from it, and the yummy food I make!

Here's Why...

My first one (well two) is love and care. Love and care for the world around me, and for myself. Love for the animals that are tortured solely for my benefit, love for the earth that God so beautifully created, and love for myself by taking care of me.

That was a little bit of all of the reasons why I decided to change but there are some that came after I had been for a little while. I was vegan for about a month on a fast thing but went off it for about three weeks. During those three weeks I just wanted to go back on the fast because I felt so much better during it. The more I looked into the health side of being vegan the more I understood that plant based diets are the way to optimal health and the way to prevent the majority of the diseases that plague so many people today. Feeling good from being healthy is one side but then there's also the peace and joy I feel by knowing that I didn't cause harm to any living thing and that maybe I'm making a little but of difference. I feel more centered and comfortable in my own skin. That might sound crazy but the most important thing I've learned is that what we put in our body and how we treat it really affects the way we feel and therefore how we live, and for me, I want a life filled with peace.

So there's my reasons in a nut shell. Now for the yumminess! 

The first thing I made were the peanut butter rice crispy treat things from Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet", which were really tasty! And then I made chocolate chip cookies that I found the recipe from vegweb.com They were called "Happy chocolate chip cookies" except I made them with whole wheat flour. Here's a picture!

 My Brother didn't like them but I thought they were a perfect fix for a chocolate chip cookie!

                                                  (That's soy milk)

Today I made some tapioca pudding. I'm not really a fan of the squishy pearls, but we had everything to make it and I wanted to give it a try. The pudding part was good but I didn't like the tapioca, so if you're a fan this is a good recipe! Its also on vegweb.com under "Tapioca Pudding"

So there's my first one! I hope to be cooking a lot more (and not only sweets) and sharing on here the awesome journey that I have begun!