I have a vegan blog at http://www.innerbalm.com.au/veganism.html where I feature recipes and a vegan guide. My blog and website started out with a wider range of topics, but I gradually figured out that what I enjoy writing about and want to share is veganism.
I think it is interesting that many people start out just giving up meat and then gradually go through the process of giving up fish, eggs, dairy and other animal-based products. When I went through this process it took me quite a while to work out how to eat properly – that is, to realize that we really need to eat whole grains and legumes as well as fruits and veggies. The aim of my website is to share information about how to eat properly, getting the nutrition we need.
I have discovered a love of cooking since I became vegan. I never enjoyed cooking when I was preparing meat-based meals, it was just something that had to be done. Now cooking is an adventure, finding different ways to prepare the huge range of things we love to eat. One of my first cooking lessons at school was learning to cook liver and bacon casserole – I hated the whole process and it is a wonder that I didn’t turn vegan right then. Mainstream beliefs were that we needed meat to grow big and strong and at that time I was discouraged from doing what I felt was right.
My partner and I are Australians currently living in a small country town in Eastern Poland, my husband is teaching English here. We don’t have any fancy kitchen equipment and it can be quite hard to find ingredients, especially as I don’t speak Polish, but with the help of Google Translate we get by! However, many things are not available here. I figure if I can find ingredients here, anyone can find them. My recipes are all based on cooking from scratch, using ingredients such as dried lentils and chickpeas rather than buying them pre-prepared so that people are aware of how to use the basic ingredients. Of course, the pre-prepared option can always be substituted. My recipes are also vegan rather than vegetarian because it is always easy to replace the vegan ingredient.
I hope I can encourage people to take small steps towards veganism because I believe that in that way they will learn that vegan food is delicious, nutritious and a really enjoyable way to eat and live – it really is an Inner Balm that improves your whole life.
–
Suesie is from Sydney Australia, and is currently spending some time in Augustow, Poland, with her partner, who teaches English. Suesie and Gordon both worked in corporate jobs for many years, but decided that now their children have grown it is time to live a more relaxed lifestyle. Their plan is to spend a couple of years overseas before moving back to Australia, buying a house somewhere in rural NSW and living a simple life. Suesie also tried teaching, but decided it was not for her, and since then (between bouts of travelling, usually by bike) has been writing on her website and blog at www.innerbalm.com.au.
She hopes to share her passion for vegan food and the vegan way of life with others, helping people to understand that vegans love food and also sharing her vegan recipes and information about what people should include in their vegan diet to be fit and healthy throughout their lives.
** Weekend Blog Reads is a weekly column where we feature great vegan blogs to help spread the word about people doing great things for the vegan movement. Do you have a vegan blog to share? Email editor@veganmainstream.com.
