About Me

Mama Jess

Recipe Creator, Blogger, Mother.

I have suffered from sensitive and uncomfortable digestion my whole life. 
 
I have been to numerous doctors and practitioners including Conventional, Naturopathic, Chiropractic, Massage, CranioSacral, Rolfing, Ayurvedic, Chinese, Acupuncture, and Therapy. I've used lotions, potions, snake oils, medications, herbs, exercises, yoga, and just about every variation of trendy diet that has come along in between. 

Fast forward to being pregnant with our second baby and 20 weeks of morning sickness. I was eating toast, potatoes, macaroni, plus other unhealthy things like sausage biscuits from McDonalds. Yup. I did. I would chase you down the street if you tried to cook an onion or garlic anywhere near me. The nausea was just terrible. Once that passed all I craved were veggies and fruits. Those pregnancy intuitions are something, you know? I had always been trying to get back to a vegan or vegetarian diet but when I would try, my weak digestive system would not respond well. So this time I did a gradual transition. First eliminating meat, then dairy and last for me was eggs. I felt like I had finally found a way of living that was sustainable and my digestive troubles were fewer and farther apart. Honoring that intuition for me was everything. 

After determining that plant-based was the path I was on, I started looking up articles on how to be vegan while transitioning your family and raising vegan kids and finding science to support this very pivotal decision. I found lots of articles on two things: a) how to be vegan and b) why it was the worst thing in the world. 

I also found an article from a well known doctor talking about how he and his family were vegan 5 days out of the week. That during celebrations they would indulge in whatever they liked to eat. When they would eat at restaurants or at the homes of their friends or family, it was fine to eat meat and dairy in moderation but the majority of what they consumed, essentially all of their home-cooked food during the week, was plant-based. 

When I read that article, I felt myself exhale, phew! I felt ok about my decision because it wasn’t all or nothing. It was saying it was ok to do it your way. This is also why I love the Blue Zones studies and everything that they have done with those lifestyle studies . Transforming our environments to support a healthy plant-based lifestyle that is inclusive. Not by creating shame and judgement but by offering support and incentives to communities, families and individuals who are on a health journey. I align with that.

Any time you are opting out of normal social conventions, I think there is an assumption of moral superiority. I have been on both sides of this discussion. I have come to a place where I am offering what I know, my family recipes, and support. Receive it if you are curious, but there is no pressure and not one “way” that works for everyone. Though, if you are committed to trying something new and want to introduce yourself to a different way of cooking and nourishing your body with plants, I am happy you have landed here.

My challenges are similar to most parents who are working from home, taking care of others (parents and children), self-care, marriage, friendships, business goals and homeschooling the kids. I struggle with maintaining structure in our daily lives and feeling like I’m productive enough. Despite all of this I still find a way to feed my friends and family delicious plant-based meals and I am excited to help you do the same. 

A micro-donation model is really the future for small businesses like mine because I feel like we all are so fatigued by the constant marketing and selling of ads that you get inundated with on social media. I get frustrated when search platforms lead me to a recipe blog and it’s all chopped up by ads and the recipe is hard to find and I end up trying to print some screenshot that somehow uses 10 sheets of paper from my printer. I hope you find that your experience on my site is a pleasant one filled with quality recipes that make their way into your own meal rotation.

I like having a direct line to my patrons and being really transparent about my goals and how they are supporting and driving our content creation. I love getting recipe requests and working directly with others so that we can both give and receive mutually. 

Thank you so much for supporting my channel. It really does mean a lot to me. I am happy you are here. 

“The world is hungry. Let’s feed them plants.”

Mama Jess