Adventures in Veganuary

And a huge thanks for your patience!

Yours truly, in one of my favorite cities on Earth, Mexico City, Mexico - aka CDMX!

              My mother loves to remind me that at an early age, I declared that I was vegetarian. In our Jamaican household, we eat a lot of meat and seafood, so I’m sure that it presented some challenges, but I’m so thankful to have grown up in such a loving and supportive family.

Obviously, things have changed quite a bit and I don’t see myself ever giving up meat and seafood. My favorite thing to eat are eggs! It’s been humorous seeing all of the memes in regards to egg shortages and price increases, and I think for awhile it affected California more than other places as we have some stricter guidelines regarding eggs and cages, however, it seems to be settling down. However I was so concerned, that even though I’d been participating in Veganuary most of the month, I grabbed the last two reasonably priced packs of eggs in Target.

Photo by Shannon Nickerson on Unsplash

What exactly is Veganuary? It’s an opportunity at the beginning of every year to experience a plant-based diet. I wouldn’t even say "be a vegan" for a month because if you’re wearing a leather jacket, the pitchforks may come out if you tell someone you’re vegan this month. For the past three years, I've participated in some form of Veganuary. I thought about just doing the vegetarian thing, but I actually truly love the challenge that it presents to me.

              My dear friend Maggy in New York at Planetarian Life, asked me to be a guest on her podcast to discuss all things vegan and plant-based, and we had a lovely conversation. I’ll send a link to you once it goes live and may even present it here in the Substack if given permission. I’ll also discuss a bit more about my tips for adding more plant-based into your cooking (no pressure, seriously!). As well, as a few of the many small makers making great products that make plant based cooking flavorful, and yes fun.

Photo by ConvertKit on Unsplash

              This brings me to Substack. I thank you SO much for sticking with me as I got everything together to present this new form of communication to my followers outside of social media. The game has changed and will continue to evolve. Many of you may know me from Atlanta when I hosted a popular blog with the same name, or may follow me and my adventures in food on Twitter and Instagram. I’ve got the TikTok too, after recently recovering my username & perhaps once I get some help from a Gen Zer, that will be more active as well.

A heartfelt thank you to my friends and family who have contributed financially, as well as those who have signed up at the founders level. It allowed me to buy some gear to become a better creator and set up this Substack with a custom domain from the start. Since I initially planned to launch the newsletter in August, Substack has rolled out a ton of new features that I’ll be implementing in this new venture. I promise you’ll hear more for me soon. I’ve already interviewed one of my favorite makers, Kim of Omsom (the best PROUD AND LOUD) Asian sauces, as well as my good friend Brandon Montgomery of Black Beer Travelers.

              You’ll hear more from me soon. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

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Yours truly, enjoying the sunshine in Palm Springs at Monterey Manor