About Me - The Vegan Babyboomer

Hi, I’m Joy. I’m 52 years old, married to a very wonderful man and have a son and daughter who are both in their 20s and live elsewhere. I’m currently in central NH, USA, but plan to move about the country sometime soon.

I love food. I’ve been searching for most of my life for 2 things – my “special purpose” and the best way to eat. In September of 2007 I think I finally found them both. Since then, I’ve been mostly Vegan. I say “mostly”, because I don’t expect perfection in any area of my life (excellence, yes; perfection, no), and one of the things I’ve learned about myself is that when making changes, I do best taking things day by day. When I finally really quit smoking Cigarettes, it was by deciding I wouldn’t smoke that day. Period – and I can’t tell you what the date was. I had quit about 437 times prior to that over 25 years or so, but when I finally just allowed myself to take it one day at a time, I was fine. That was well over 5 years ago.

There is a Vegetarian/Vegan movement afoot, and it is particularly aimed at current younger generations. There are lots of college campus efforts, and quite a few Gen X and Y aged musical bands are very committed to vegan life. The “Post-punk kitchen”, theppk.com, is an absolute favorite source of new recipes, but again, that appeals to a younger audience. And that’s great. I foresee a time when eating beef, pork or lamb will be viewed sort of like smoking cigarettes. Not exactly, but you get the idea… restricted, limited, not in fashion at all, and done by a dwindling minority. I hope that happens.

I don’t mean to be ageist here. It’s just a little tough to teach old dogs new tricks, and even though I really loved turning 50, I do sometimes think of hubby and I as “old dogs”. In a good way. ? And old habits die the hardest.

But, I strongly believe that our eating habits in this society are killing us. The Standard American Diet is the first thing that needs to go to help eliminate all the diseases of affluence: Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, etc. More important than health insurance, in my opinion, is getting people to understand information about food as the switch for genetics. Eating a mostly plant based diet is the key.

So, maybe you’ve gotten a diagnosis you don’t like. Maybe you have had some other wake-up call, and you are moving to a plant-based diet after many decades of cooking “well-balanced” traditional meals. Hopefully you have read The China Study and The Food Revolution and Eat to Live. Great. If not, start with those books. Read them in that order. And let Eat to Live guide you with the best diet to get started. And then when you are a few weeks or months into it and feel like you are going to explode if you don’t get to experience something familiar, some sort of comfort food, something that is probably fattening but at least is still Vegan… try my recipes and menus here.

Initially, I made myself crazy checking ingredients of everything. That’s one element of challenge when you have been cooking for at least 30 years, getting accustomed to changing all the familiar favorite ingredients you love. After something like a year, I grew familiar with all this new stuff, what I liked best, where to get it, and how to cook it. I’m still learning, and I love trying new things. The reason I have suggested menus on the site is because I like to find favorites, and recommend them. So, if you are looking for a great tasting substitute for an old omni standby, I am glad to share my opinion so you might not have to search as hard.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoy what we’ve got here.

Josh, Alex, David, Joy, Nate
Agave is a plant, too!