What's it all about?

I have wanted to start a recipe blog for a while now - I enjoy writing my other blog, though I don't update it as often as I should. Part of that is because I've become even further enamoured of cookery than I used to be, and that's how I'm spending my time. (The other part of the reason is that I'm lazy, but we really don't need to discuss that...) I could just post recipes at one of the excellent vegan recipe sites (such as vegweb), but I'm kinda self involved, so I'm going to go it alone :-D

A little bit of history to me that might help explain what I'm doing with this blog.

I'm 31, and have been vegetarian on and off for about half of my life. I went fully vegetarian in 1997, and became vegan in early 2003. I loved the change, I felt healthier, happier and more in touch with the world (human and animal) around me, and don't ever see a reason for not being vegan. My dream is to run a vegan cafe, and if I just had untold amounts of wealth, I would totally start doing that ;-)

I have been cooking since I was about 9 years old. I've always loved food, and experimenting with flavours, and cooking healthy robust tasty meals. I began a chef traineeship in my early 20s, working in a French restaurant (an interesting experience for a vegetarian!), where I gained some invaluable skills. I never completed the traineeship, but it really helped me refine my cooking skills and knowledge. I also gained insight into cookery and experimentation, and learned a lot about mastering the simple before you go off on flights of fancy from my then-boyfriend, who was (and still is!) a chef.

A couple of other factors have influenced my decision to (finally) start this blog. About six months ago, I began getting boxes of organic fruit and vegetables delivered fortnightly - the contents of these boxes were predetermined, so I had to start learning how to cook with veges I normally wouldn't choose for myself! This experimentation kicked off my interest in cooking again.

I was recently diagnosed as insulin resistant, and have to start a low GI diet. Fortunately, I can stay vegan, and the low GI diet isn't that much of a stretch from veganism. However, it means that I have to look at what I'm eating, how I'm cooking, and experiment to make sure that I'm providing myself and my friends with healthy and tasty food.

And, last but not least, I just bought a really sexy digital camera just so's I could take photos of food!

So, welcome to my recipe blog. I do have to note that I'm a "cook from scratch" kind of gal - most of my recipes require a fair amount of prep, and often will take at the very least about an hour to cook. I find it incredibly soothing to come home from work and throw myself straight into food prep and cooking - it kicks off the creative side of me. So be warned - most of these are not quick, though hopefully most of them are easy! And second warning - I try to provide measurements, but I'm not very good at that, so it'll be a bit slapdash. And third warning - I won't provide nutritional information, 'cos I'm not really sure about it. Oh, and fourth warning - I will use brand names, not because I'm getting paid, but because it helps to know what vegans can and can't use from the supermarket.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I'm looking forward to putting together meals and posting the recipes here!