I’m Cara, a Baltimore-based, wife and mother of one. I lived a life of conditioning and spent 35+ years on the Standard American Diet until March 6, 2013 when a friend recommended a book and my diet and lifestyle did a 180. My family has since joined me and the 3 of us, plus our 4 animal companions, enjoy a new appreciation for food and the truth.
Writing about food is an obvious choice. We not only require it but it is what connects us, soothes us, and plays an integral part of traditions and cultures. It’s the way to hearts and fuels our bodies. The right food can lift us up when we are feeling down, energize us when we are running out of steam, and most importantly, heal us when we are sick. Everyone loves a good meal. But as a vegan, my definition of food differs from the social norm. What you will find here is real food, made from life, not suffering and not death. Entire meals constructed simply out of plants, yes, some with sugar and those dreaded empty carbs, but plenty of whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and legumes. Like the abundance of vegan food blogs already in existence, I want to share how completely fulfilling, satisfying, often healthy, and even at times sinful but always cruelty-free, vegan food really is. But my goal doesn’t stop there.
With the help of social and mainstream media, there’s been a slow wave of folks trying to redefine veganism to fit their personal comfort. We’ve seen everything from “vegans who eat honey” to “vegans who eat eggs” to “mostly vegan” or “vegan before 6”, wearing leather, going to zoos, and the list of watered down versions continues to grow. My goal is to introduce folks to vegan food but also to help them learn the true definition of this social justice movement as veganism is NOT a diet – it’s an ethical stance against the exploitation and oppression of others, and help you implement these important changes in every area of your life.
We also have a strong case of the wanderlust. I’ll be sharing our travels and showing how we can strive for and maintain the cruelty-free life no matter where we are. We’ve always loved traveling, who doesn’t it? But our idea of travel has greatly evolved over the years. Gone are the days of us seeking the ritziest resorts we could afford and sipping on overpriced drinks in the tropics. Although I still love the tropics, we are now more about really experiencing what the locals do to the best of our ability, taking time to get to know the people that make an area, and leaving a lighter foot print. Also, seeking out the vegan gems, of course! Gone are the days where we splurge on one big annual vacation a year – we have a lot of ground to cover and world to see. So we are learning the best ways for stretching our travel budget. Three airfares adds up quickly so we’ve been taking advantage of places within driving distance for now.
Our goal is to complete this map of the US. While it looks pretty unexplored so far, much of our early travel was to islands not represented or repeat destinations and we’ve implemented a rule that we are not including states we’ve only driven through, which would cross off many more. We are also only including places that Bryan and I have been together. Both of us have traveled out west independently but it’s not crossed off unless we’ve explored it together! Julian is only excluded from this rule because we imagine traveling with his parents will lose it’s sparkle as he grows but showing him as much of the world as I can, is something I find really important. We are working on completely overhauling our lives in order to make travel more of an integral part and to do it in the most compassionate way possible – it’s all part of the plan. I look forward to sharing what we learn and experience.
Create Your Own Visited States Map
Thank you for stopping by, I hope you find some value in what I share here, and I appreciate you taking the time to visit.
