Welcome!

Hello there! Welcome to Everything But the Stem, where I plan to discuss all things whole-foods, plant-based, (and gluten-free, too — but we’ll  get to that.). I’ll also take you along with me on my travels and navigate the ins and outs of restaurant eating when you are(gasp!) not the one preparing your own food! (This is innately terrifying.) 

I wanted to take a moment and tell you a bit about who I am and how I ended up here. I stopped eating meat at 13, for ethical reasons, and made it to vegan just before I turned 20. However, I was what you might call a “junk food vegan” for many, many years. (Did you know Tater Tots are vegan? They are!) So, even though I’d given up meat, dairy, and eggs, I was far from healthy.

It was the discovery of celiac disease that really forced me to focus on my health. I had a litany of symptoms that I never knew were related, but kicking the wheat out of my diet fixed them all. (I’m sure that’s a post for another day.) I began to cook all my own meals from scratch, and a somewhat unintentional side effect of this was a substantial weight loss. People in my life wanted to know what I was doing. The answer is simple: eat plants.

So, that’s the short version. I’m here to tell you that what you put into your mouth makes the determining factor in how you feel and perform in your daily life — and yes, how you look, too.

Did you have your apple today?