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The Reluctant Vegetarian

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The Reluctant Vegetarian

“Farm boy at heart + veggie-loving wife. 🌱 After a health scare, we’re choosing veggies, beans & tofu for love & health. Suck it up, Buttercup. 💚”

He’s not always thrilled, but if he’s still loving me in a decade?

09/08/2026

It has been an extremely long and emotional week, and tonight I needed good, homemade food that was as nourishing for my brain and body as it was comforting for my soul.

Crispy pan-fried veggie dumplings piled over a huge salad with greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers and carrots, then topped with sesame seeds and a homemade ginger-garlic chili dressing. 🥟🥗

Nothing complicated. Nothing fancy. Just chopping vegetables, whisking a sauce, crisping dumplings in a pan and spending a little time in my kitchen.

Sometimes self-care isn’t a spa day or escaping from everything. Sometimes it’s simply recognizing that your body has carried you through a really damn hard week and saying, “Okay, tonight I’m going to feed you well.”

And this was SOOOO good. ❤️🥢

09/02/2026

Dinner tonight was simple, colorful, and ridiculously good! 🥔🥗

Baby potatoes slow-roasted in EVOO and coarse sea salt until they were tender with those crispy little edges, then smashed and loaded up. Mine got fresh onion, arugula, and tomatoes; his stayed safely in the no-tomato zone 😂. Pepper jack cheese went over both, then back into the oven until everything was melty, bubbly, and beautifully browned.

Added a huge salad loaded with veggies, a generous handful of pumpkin seeds for some extra protein and crunch, and called it dinner.

Nothing complicated. Just real food, lots of plants, a little cheese, and enough patience to let those potatoes get GOOD.

Simple. Filling. Colorful. And absolutely worth the work and the wait. ❤️🌱🥔

09/01/2026

STEAK NIGHT…sort of. 🍄🥩😂

Our lion’s mane “steaks” were absolutely DELICIOUS tonight!

We marinated these beauties overnight with Montreal steak seasoning and all kinds of savory goodness, then seared them in cast iron until they developed that gorgeous dark, caramelized crust. The texture was meaty, juicy and ridiculously satisfying. Served them up with baked potatoes loaded with butter, green onions and crispy goodness, plus roasted broccoli. ❤️

And because we NEVER waste good food around here…leftover baked potato + leftover lion’s mane steak = stuffed mushrooms for lunch tomorrow! 🙌

But perhaps my favorite part of the evening was FaceTiming our son, who took one look at the mushrooms and literally said:

“GAG.” 🤣🤣🤣

Oh, child.

I bet we could put one of these on your plate, tell you it was steak, and you’d tear it up without ever realizing you were eating a mushroom.

So just remember this the next time the ‘rents invite you over and say…

“We’re having steak for dinner!” 😈🍄🥩

You have been warned. 😂

08/30/2026

Sunday breakfast experiment = SUCCESS. 🌱🍳🍊

Today I took soaked mung beans and turned them into little “egg” rounds for breakfast sandwiches, and I’m kind of obsessed with how well they turned out. Fluffy, savory and seriously delicious!

Loaded them onto toasted Ezekiel English muffins with melty cheese and my newest obsession — mushroom bacon. 🍄🥓 I swear, every time I make this stuff I love it a little more.

Of course, we each had to customize ours. Garlic chili oil brought a little heat, mayo added the creamy goodness, and mine got peanut butter because apparently that’s who I am now. 😂 Before you judge me: peanut butter + savory + spicy = SOOOOO GOOD.

Added crispy hash browns and gorgeous Cara Cara oranges on the side, and breakfast was officially complete. 🍊

Plant-forward eating does NOT mean boring food. Sometimes it means looking at a bowl of soaked beans and thinking, “You know what? Today you’re gonna be an egg.” 😂🌱

And damn if those little beans didn’t understand the assignment.

08/27/2026

Dinner this evening was right out of the garden—and I mean RIGHT out of the garden. 🌱🍆🍅

Freshly picked eggplant, tomatoes and herbs became tonight’s dinner, and there is just something ridiculously satisfying about walking outside, picking what’s ready, and figuring out what the hell you’re going to make with it. 😂

The eggplant got sliced thick, salted and then baked with a crispy vegan Parmesan topping. Fresh tomatoes, onion, roasted garlic and a whole bunch of freshly picked herbs became a chunky homemade sauce. And those basil-and-EVOO cubes I froze from an earlier garden harvest? Straight into the skillet to bring even more of the garden into dinner. 🌿

Add a huge loaded salad, pepitas and sunflower seeds, some crusty garlic bread—and dinner was DONE.

And that pile of “veggie carnage” on the counter? Not garbage! 😂 Eggplant ends, tomato scraps, onion skins, garlic pieces and herb stems all went straight into my freezer bag where I save veggie scraps until there’s enough to make another batch of amazing homemade vegetable broth.

THIS is why I love cooking this way. Grow it. Pick it. Preserve it. Cook it. Save the scraps. Turn them into something else.

Fresh. Plant-based. Homegrown. And very little wasted. ❤️🌿

08/26/2026

Whitney’s Special made another appearance tonight…and this time I messed with perfection just a little. 😋🍄

One of our absolute favorite comfort meals from NOLA, recreated at home: creamy mashed potatoes, corn, crispy Chef Chews “chicken,” aged cheddar, and that ridiculously good homemade “chicken” gravy.

BUT tonight I decided it needed something extra.

I sautéed trumpet mushrooms and red onion in plant-based butter with just a little salt and pepper until they were beautifully browned and caramelized, then piled that goodness right on top.

And DAMN. That was the move. 🤤

Finished it with fresh green onions and chives straight from the garden, and this bowl was pure, messy, savory comfort-food heaven.

Whitney’s Special may have inspired it, but I think our little Lake Charles kitchen has officially created its own version. ❤️

08/25/2026

Dinner tonight was pretty tasty! 🌶️🫑❤️

Tonight’s stuffed peppers were one of those make-it-up-as-I-go dinners that turned out to be a definite keeper.

I started by toasting the rice in a little EVOO with Kashmiri chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika before adding the water and letting it cook. Meanwhile, into the cast iron went red onion, the tops of the bell peppers (because we waste NOTHING around here!), fresh tomatoes and MorningStar Farms crumbles.

Once everything had cooked down, I added tomato sauce, the seasoned rice and a little more seasoning because apparently I measure spices with my heart. 😂

Then came the good part—stuffing those beautiful red and yellow peppers until they were absolutely overflowing. I poured some homemade veggie broth into the bottom of the baking dish, baked them for about 30 minutes, topped them with cheddar and put them back in until that cheese was bubbly, browned and gorgeous.

And that baking dish? ❤️ It hails from my momma’s kitchen. There is just something about cooking dinner in a dish that she once cooked in that makes an ordinary Monday-night meal feel a little less ordinary.

Served with a big loaded salad and dinner was DONE.

Plant-forward. Colorful. A little spicy. A whole lot of comfort. And just enough nostalgia mixed in. ❤️

08/24/2026

Dinner tonight was one of those “throw a bunch of good things together and see what happens” meals…and it absolutely worked. 😋🌱

I started with potatoes, pinto beans, onions and tomatoes simmered together with plenty of seasoning. Then I stuffed it all into flour tortillas, covered them in red enchilada sauce and plant-based cheddar, and baked everything until bubbly, saucy and just a little crispy around the edges. ❤️🔥

And because balance…a HUGE fully loaded salad on the side with all the goodies—fresh veggies, seeds, and some absolutely amazing dried mushrooms that added the best little savory crunch. 🥗🍄

Simple ingredients. Plant-based. Filling. A little messy. And seriously delicious.

This is exactly my kind of dinner—the kind where I don’t really have a recipe, just an idea and a kitchen full of possibilities. 😂

And yes…those enchiladas were every bit as good as they look.

08/21/2026

Dinner tonight was AMAZING!!! 🤤🌱

I decided to venture into something a little different tonight and made these incredible stuffed parathas inspired by Vegan Richa. The filling was packed with cauliflower, potatoes, chickpeas, red onion, green chilies, ginger, cilantro and ALLLLL the spices — cumin, coriander, garam masala, fenugreek and a little cayenne for good measure.

And that filling!! I let everything get beautifully browned and a little crispy before stuffing it into the parathas, and that may have been the best decision of the night. 🔥

Into the oven they went until the outside was golden and crispy, and OH. MY. GOODNESS.

Warm, spicy, crispy, hearty and completely plant-based. Served with fresh tomatoes and a creamy dipping sauce to cool down all that spice, and dinner was officially a WIN.

I love nights when I wander into the kitchen, try something completely different and end up thinking, “Yep…we are DEFINITELY making this again.”

Plant-based food is NEVER boring around here. ❤️🌱

08/19/2026

After a VERY long day that included a three-hour drive, dinner needed to be easy, comforting, and require almost no brainpower. 😂

Tonight’s win: a homemade “tuna” salad melt on Ezekiel bread with microgreens, all toasted up with that gloriously golden, melty top. Add some fresh blackberries and plums on the side and DONE. 🙌

Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just good food that hit the spot when I was officially done with the day.

And yes…a “tuna” melt can absolutely be plant-based and still be ridiculously delicious. 🌱❤️

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