Writing that first blog entry is the hardest thing. I mean, how do you really start a blog? I could say “hello readers” but that just sounds so odd, and really, is anyone actually reading this? So I’m just going to skip all the witty intros and just say “ Hi I’m Alanna. I’m starting this blog because:
a) I’m a new-ish vegetarian and I need something to motivate me to try to recipes
b) Because I’m a student and I need something other than Facebook to distract me when I’m trying to procrastinate
and c) Because although there are enough food blogs out there to circle the world like 4 times, I found it difficult to locate any student targeted vegetarian food blogs. So I’m starting one! And if you’re writing one, please tell me! I’d love to read it!
Here’s my story: I’m going into my third year of University so I already have to deal with the typical student problems of No Time, No money, and No extra brain space. A few months ago I was watching a random lecture on TVO (no comment on how lame that sounds) and the guy was talking about the pros and cons of being a vegetarian. I had already been contemplating going veggie before so to me this was some eerie cosmic sign (and who wants to piss off fate). And when I randomly flipped the channel after it was finished and it was a cooking show about making vegetarian meals I knew I basically had no choice but to go veggie.
My motivations:
a) I don’t really like meat that much anyways
b) I have a big problem with factory farming (and it’s so difficult to understand what is really free range these days)
c) I like to try new things
d) To hopefully get healthier (I fell victim to the notorious freshman 15 first year)
I’m not some crazy hippy who runs around with a picket sign and yells at anyone with a hamburger. I hate that stigma. I’m just a normal girl who happens to not eat meat.
I’m not a chef but I love to cook. I spend 50% of my time watching the food network and love trying new recipes. But I have no clue how to cook vegetarian food. So I’ve been eating mostly carbs and salads since I’ve turned veggie. Can you say Boooooring. So about a week ago I bought this cookbook called “College Vegetarian Cooking” and I got super psyched to start getting more adventurous with my food. Cookbooks rarely consider the limits of being a student. And when they do the food usually sucks. I like to trick myself into thinking I’m creating a super sophisticated and complex dish when really its made from a recipe with minimal steps and ingredients.
So this cookbook is written by 2 Graduate studies students and has some awesome sounding recipes. Basically in this blog I’m going to be going through this recipe book, and a few others. I’ll also give any reviews of vegeatarian restaurants I go to. I want to learn to make vegetarian cooking student friendly and easy for anyone to do, even if they haven’t attended a culinary institute. I’m just a normal chick who wants to make fun, healthy, meatless food. So join me on my journey! If you’ve tried any recipes tell me! If you have any tips, tell me! Or if you just want to complain about how sucky finals are then still, tell me!
Happy cooking!
