Vitality Through Veggies

I have been reading This Crazy Vegan Life by Christina Pirello. I first discovered Christina through her cooking show on public television. Christina Cooks was on at four in the afternoon on weekdays. I would dash home and stare fascinated by what this woman was doing......suggesting. I would sit completely enthralled, but also totally overwhelmed. This was way more than I had ever ventured to do!   My introduction to a vegetarian lifestyle came when I moved into a non meat eating household and later through Neal Barnard's food for life. My housemates were all practicing at different levels, some were eating junk cereal all day and only one was cooking.  She relocated to San Francisco shortly after I moved in but by the time I moved out, vegetarianism had kind of stuck and I moved on to fuller cooking and a vegan approach. That's when I  discovered Food for Life, I cooked up a storm from that book. I have always enjoy the kitchen and I cook a great deal.  By the time I discovered Christina Cooks I was preparing all my meals from my own kitchen and felt I had seen and done it all, but she introduced new concepts and I realized I had never eaten so clean or consciously. Christina talked about sustainable living, buying organic and local, and living green. With time, my schedule became over crowded and my life unbalanced.  Eventually I lapsed back into red meat and other sundry.  As yoga grew into a larger part of my life, vegetarianism has ebbed back in. This time around things are very different.  It's not an all or nothing venture and I am no longer cooking for one. In order to make this work I need a balance and there lies the challenge . The past four days I have been cooking vast meals from her book. I have been unable to get past the first two days of recipes although I have cooked large meals every day for the past week! Unfortunately I do not have the time to shop and cook at this level every day. We are all feeling energetic and healthier and I fully intend to keep moving in this direction but at a realistic pace for my lifestyle.  I'll cook a bit, freeze a bit, store a bit and concentrate on dinner. I can't do it all, I can't even do half, but I can do something and that's enough for now.

Good health and happy cooking everyone!