I am a Happy Herbivore!--Part 1

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to share something with you today that is one of my favorite new discoveries--Lindsay Nixon, otherwise known as the "Happy Herbivore" herself!  You see, it all started this way.  This summer I ended up quite by accident doing a bit of adult education in the area of health.  I didn't set out to do this--but as I look back, I do believe God was helping to direct me to things that would help me improve my health.

The very beginning happened over Spring Break.  I found myself in a thrift store in Florida where I was visiting my parents.  Staring me in the face in that thrift store was the book "The China Study," by T. Colin Campbell.  My girlfriend had recommended this book to me, and I had seen it in my local book store, but well--you know how it is.  I was pretty sure that if I bought that book and read it I would only discover things I shouldn't be doing.  So I dragged my feet and told myself that it was too expensive to purchase.  Then I find it staring at me in the thrift store.  One dollar and seventy five cents.  My excuse of "too expensive" was creamed!  So I bought the book, and started reading it while on vacation.  I couldn't hardly believe all the new things I was learning!  I mean, I have considered myself as eating really pretty healthy, so what else would there be for me to learn?  Plenty!  I read most of the book over that Spring Break, and then read my way from Florida back to Tennessee while my hubby drove us home.  I read many parts of the book out loud to him, and we were both amazed at what we were learning.

Next, I found out a school in my area was going to be showing the film "Forks over Knives," and would have food samples afterwards.  It was free to go, so I dragged my girlfriend with me (She had already seen it, but was sweet enough to go and give me courage!) and I went to watch the film.  VERY good film--again, I was amazed at how clear things were beginning to be.  I was convinced by this point that I DID need to make some changes in our family's diet, but the big word in my mind now was "HOW?"

Around this point, I learned about Dr. McDougall's new book "The Starch Solution."  I was already familiar with Dr. McDougall's work, and had a lot of confidence in him, so I ordered his new book.  It is around half information, and half recipes.  That helped in the "How" department, but I still felt the need for more help--specifically in how in the world I was going to learn to cook without using any oil.  I have been a vegetarian for years, so giving up meat was not an issue.  Later, I even moved to being a vegan--though I wasn't always super strict on this.  But being convinced that I now needed to do away completely with all oil, butter, margarine, etc. just felt like it was too much.  I was willing in spirit, but had absolutely no idea HOW in the world to actually DO it and still eat!

Which leads me to Lindsay Nixon.  I am not even positive how I learned about her--I "think" I read about her in something Dr. McDougall wrote, but I can't remember!  All I DO know is that one day I stumbled across her web site (www.happyherbivore.com) and I could hardly believe my eyes!  Here was a person who was cooking fat-free and low-fat vegan recipes using whole grains and NO OIL.  I kept blinking, because I was sure my mind was playing tricks on me--but it was true!  There were TONS of recipes for free on her blog, and when I looked up her (then) two cook books on Amazon--"The Happy Herbivore" and "Everyday Happy Herbivore"--the reviews were astounding!  I immediately ordered both her cookbooks, and then started making recipes off her blog while I waited for the books to arrive.

Every--single--recipe that I made, we LOVED!!!!  The cook books arrived, and I paged through them--drooling all the while.  My eight year old daughter paged through them, marking with post-it's all the pages that she thought the recipe looked good.  Needless to say, both books were peppered with post-it's, and THIS is my "picky eating" child!  I started making recipes from the books, and the problem we had was that we were enjoying the handful of recipes that I started with so much that I just kept making those over and over--and haven't moved on much to make any of the many other recipes in the books!  But this is a problem that I plan to remedy, as I really think I need to just start at the front covers and cook my way through them!

Shortly after my purchase of Lindsay's two books, I learned that she had just finished her THIRD cook book--this one called "Happy Herbivore Abroad."  It is filled with yummy recipes from around the world.  At this point, I argued with myself--I didn't NEED it.  I already had two wonderful cookbooks.  There were tons of recipes on her blog.  My arguments lasted about one day, and then I preordered "Happy Herbivore Abroad" through Amazon.  I waited anxiously, and it finally arrived on Black Friday--YES!  This book is drooled through already, and it has hardly been in my house but a day or two!  Up at the start of this post you can see a picture of what this third cook book looks like. . .

And--believe it or not--I was actually given the opportunity to send Lindsay some interview questions to share with you on my blog.  Since this is long already, I will share my interview with Lindsay in Part 2 next week, and in Part 3 a yummy recipe out of her new book for Blueberry Bundt Cake!  Picture below--doesn't it look wonderful?!

Part 2 coming soon--you won't want to miss it!  Interview with Lindsay, Part 3 the recipe for this luscious cake in the below photo!

By the way--if reading about how much I LOVE the Happy Herbivore cook books makes you think about purchasing them for yourself (or anything else from Amazon), please consider ordering  from Amazon using the below link.  It will not cost you a dime more, but Amazon will make a contribution to Children's Hemiplegia & Stroke Association (CHASA), which is a non-profit organization that supports disabled children.  One of the many things CHASA does is help provide grants for leg braces, so a child who needs one can get it--even if their family cannot afford the bill themselves.  Our family has personally benefited from CHASA's work, so I can definitely vouch for them! :)  Here's the link:

http://www.chasa.org/you-can-help/amazon-fundraiser/

~Susan