My Journey
My journey into the world of plant-based cooking began on the farm, where we always grew a sizable garden and tended to our own cows. Having grown up in a similar culture, my mother, the official family cook, instilled in me a love for delicious, wholesome food. Fresh produce from our garden, bathed in cream or baked with butter, made for delectable meals. We believed in the health of our cows and felt confident consuming our dairy products. I well remember my dad saying that he believed there would soon be a time when there would be so much disease in animals that it would not be safe to use any dairy products.
I always hated it when he said that. I loved how we cooked, and our food was delicious—ask any of our guests! It would be more than fair to say that I had a decidedly negative attitude towards people who did not enjoy dairy and eggs.
Following my marriage, we moved a thousand miles away, where access to dairy products from cows we cared for was no longer available. I struggled with the taste of store-bought dairy, yet I lacked the know-how to cook without it. My mother visited us after the birth of our first son and introduced me to the Soy Milk featured in this book. From then on, I began making and using my Soy Milk instead of dairy milk. I found a farm to buy my eggs from until our fourth child was born, and Jennifer, who you will hear more about throughout this book, came to stay with our family. She taught me how to cook delicious food without eggs and dairy, and I fully embraced plant-based cooking. I again felt confident in my cooking and enjoyed eating my food!
For the next twenty-three years, I enjoyed cooking plant-based meals, sharing them at potlucks, and bringing home empty dishes. Occasionally hosting gluten-free friends, I made an effort to create enjoyable meals for them, never imagining that one day I also would be gluten-free.
About two years ago, I decided to try going gluten-free, initially thinking it would be a temporary experiment. Suffering from a chronic, injury-related headache since the age of 12, I have tried various therapies to ease the pain—some more successful than others. Great was my surprise and joy when my diet experiment cut the pain in half! I also started noticing remarkable improvements in my digestive system and knew this was my new life! Since then, I have made it my mission to create delicious, plant-based and gluten-free foods and share them with others.