THE BACKSTORY

Long before the creation of Steamy Vegan, I was diagnosed as gluten- and dairy-intolerant in my early 20s (among a boatload of other random AF food intolerances) after experiencing years of digestive issues. While it was a relief to finally know the culprit of all my digestive BS, I suddenly had to adopt a totally foreign and ultra restricted diet to help heal my poor angry guts.

Back in ye olden days, I lived oncheese and bread and milk and cereal and yogurt and ice cream and crackers and pizza… and then had to learn how to live – and cook – with none of them. It was hard in the beginning. And, well, let’s just say it sucked. A lot. Cue tiny violin.

REALITY CHECK

I felt miserable and deprived of the foods I loved as I was the only member of my family who had this new fandangled diet to adhere to. I had to spend so much time shopping for strange and expensive flours and ingredients, learning to cook for myself, and researching allergy-friendly recipes I could actually eat. Gluten and dairy-free alternatives were NOT as popular and readily available 10 years ago as they are nowadays!

Eventually I started to figure out what I was doing, and although the beginning of this new 100% Fun Free Diet sucked major balls, I actually began to enjoy cooking… and discovered, with the help of trusty old Google and Pinterest, tons of clever hacks to get around gluten and dairy. I’d never been much of a cook, apart from making salads and simple pastas, but the process of trial and error in the kitchen really started to grow on me. I was slowly becoming a home-chef!

LET’S GET TO THE ‘VEGAN’ PART

Let’s fast forward about 5 years.

By this point, let’s just say I’d pretty much mastered gluten and dairy-free cooking (#humblebrag). I also had figured out that eating red meat had started to make me really sick (I’m talking heartburn, indigestion, bloating, etc.). I also found out then, thanks to an allergy test, that I was highly sensitive to eggs, and apparently had been my entire life? No wonder eggs made me gag as a child! My mom tricked me into eating them by telling me she replaced the yolks with mustard – I believed her, y’all.

Okay, recap: By this point the only animal products I still consumed were poultry, fish, and honey. Over the years I’d thought about going vegetarian, as my older sister had been for many years and wasn’t wasting away from ‘protein deficiency’. I then watched a Netflix documentary called ‘What the Health‘. I was devastated by what I’d learned about the horrifying animal cruelty that takes place within the agricultural industry. Not to mention how largely the industry is contributing to global warming and climate change. I immediately made the decision to stop consuming all other animal products. 

It was really a no-brainer for me, and after years of experience in eliminating foods from my diet – and still being able to make nutritious, simple, inexpensive and delicious meals – I knew I could handle becoming vegan.

I am vegan for my health, the animals, and for our only home, planet Earth.

Eating plant-based (and gluten-free) helps me feel like the best version of myself,  Janelle 2.0! No animals have to suffer in order for me to make mega-delicious, drool-worthy yet wholesome meals.

WHY ‘STEAMY VEGAN’?

Food is my life, people, and I mean that without an ounce of exaggeration. To me, food is such an integral part of making memories. Sounds a bit fluffy and cliche, but hear me out. One of my hubby and I’s favourite things to do is travel, and the bulk of our most memorable moments have almost always been focused around cooking or eating delicious new foods. The best thing about food is that it brings people together, ’cause after all, everyone’s gotta eat, right?

FOOD IS LIFE

Making food for others is 1000% my Love Language. There are few things in life that give me all the feels as watching my non-vegan friends and fam straight-up demolish a plant-based (and gluten-free!) meal I’ve cooked for them. It reaffirms my belief that you don’t have to consume animal products in order to cook and enjoy simple and nourishing yet bonkers-delicious meals every single day!

We are all on our own journey towards better health and culinary badassery, and if I can encourage you to eat just one plant-based meal a week, I say that’s pretty dope! The world doesn’t need everyone to become perfect vegans, but rather a bunch of imperfect Earth-conscious thinkers who are reducing their consumption of animal products.

WHEN I’M NOT IN THE KITCHEN…

You’ll probably find me enjoying a matcha latte, pruning my indoor garden, enjoying the outdoors or snuggled up on the couch under a blanket watching Netflix. It’s really a mixed bag with me.

I live just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia with my hubby, and strongly believe that I live in the most beautiful part of the world, the great PNW! 

If you’ve read this far, thanks a million for sticking around. As you poke around my website I hope you find some recipeas that make your heart skip a beet!

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