I’ve gotten many, many questions about our diet and how we eat. Yes, we eat differently than the average American household, but that doesn’t mean we eat rabbit food.

We eat a plant-based diet. We’re not strictly vegan (I’ve been known to eat In-n-Out hamburgers every once in a while) and we allow ourselves to eat small amounts of dairy. But for the record, I don’t buy meat or dairy products anymore, so eating them really does become a rare occasion. Our grocery bill has dropped significantly (cut in half!) and I feel great. I love knowing exactly what goes in my body and having complete control over the vegetables and grains we eat. Especially because of my limited meat consumption, I feel like when I do eat meat I am more grateful for the animals that are put on this earth for us to consume.

Here’s how it started. My sister Courtney put her family on a plant-based diet about four or five years ago. We all thought she was crazy and I was totally embarrassed by it. When Tyler was meeting my family for the first time, they served egg-less french toast (made with cashews and the comment of “it tastes exactly the same!”). I was mortified. So the first few years of our marriage I learned to cook by using my mother’s tried-and-true recipes that were, like the typical American diet, meat and dairy-based. I knew how these family recipes were supposed to taste, so I at least owe the development of my cooking skills to these early years. (I’ve always had a dairy intolerance, but it’s been ignored over the years. Except for a two-year period where I took Lactaid pills, I never felt it was bad enough to cut dairy completely out of my diet. I’d just mask the symptoms and move on, right? So cheese and milk stayed a stable part of our diet.)

When Jack was almost a year old, I saw the documentary Forks Over Knives. It really got me thinking about food and the way we ate. I shopped at Sprouts Farmer’s Market, a “health food” store, but what defined healthy? I ate most of the basic food groups, but the truth is our meals were always centered around meat and dairy, not whole-grains and vegetables. Chicken enchiladas, tater tot casserole, steak and potatoes…these were all meals we ate often. Sure, they included vegetables (frozen peas and corn? potatoes?) but you were essentially “sneaking” them into the dish.

But here’s the real reason I tried to make the switch: have you seen a fat vegan? I thought if we ate a plant-based diet, I’d lose a few pounds. It’d be a healthier way of eating and I could get skinny. Flat belly in two months was my goal! But it didn’t really work like that for me, and I’ll admit I did lose a couple pounds but not enough to make me serious about eating that way forever.

Andddddddd…then about three months into “the switch” I got pregnant (totally planned!) with little miss Amelia. I sincerely wanted to stick with our plant-based diet so she could eat the healthiest possible foods and get the best nutrition. I was fantastic at this before I got pregnant, and then for the first two months or so. But cooking made me tired and nauseated. Nothing ever sounded good, so I didn’t do much meal-planning. I try to feed our family the healthiest food I have the energy (and appetite!) for when I’m pregnant but in reality that means the occasional frozen pizza and freezer meal. I did try to cut back on meat and cheese. But cheese somehow had a way of sneaking into our meals every single night. I will admit pregnancy hormones can do freaky things, and all I wanted to eat was the comfort food I grew up with.

It seems like the minute I deliver a baby my nausea goes away. (Has that happened to anyone else, or am I crazy?) So this time around, two months ago, I decided we were going plant-based again. I gave Tyler a heads up a month or two before we made the switch, and he was okay with it “as long as it tastes good.” (Last time I will be the first to admit my cooking was less-than mediocre! I attribute this to lack of good, solid recipes, and my unwillingness to try new things.)

We set boundaries, and I prayed for guidance as to how to feed our family. Our church has something called The Word of Wisdom (that we still follow, though it came out in the year 1833), and it clearly defines the way we should eat to keep our bodies the healthiest, physically and spiritually. We do not drink coffee, tea, or alcohol, chew tobacco, or use drugs. But it does encourage us to eat lots of fruits and vegetables (with thanksgiving) and grains such as wheat, oats, and rice. It says the flesh “of beasts and of the fowls of the air” is “to be used sparingly” and again, with thanksgiving. (See here and here for more information). In my interpretation this means lots of veggies and grains, and very little meat.

So in September I bought two vegan cookbooks and pinned dozens and dozens of plant-based recipes on pinterest. I compiled an extensive list of vegan blogs I could go to for recipes. So far, it’s been fantastic! I feel more comfortable than ever making plant-based meals for our family. I’ll admit it takes a while to get accustomed to different cooking methods (a flax egg? what was that?), but most recipes I use are very clear on how to do things. And we’re not 100% strict-vegans. We’re flexible when we go out (which means that chocolate buttercream cupcake at your kid’s birthday party is totally fine with us!), but at home I like to control what we eat and it is therefore almost exclusively plant-based.

Anyway, I hope that clears things up a bit. I have gotten many requests for recipes, so I’ll try to post my favorites for you all. Tyler has loved almost everything I’ve cooked “this time around”, so I think using familiar recipes and not being afraid to branch out a little is what makes the switch really successful. Maybe I’ll even start posting our weekly meal plans again? Would that be something anyone would benefit from?

Check out my vegan recipe board on pinterest.