Hi there. Thanks for stopping by my food blog.

Why another blog? Well, one of my goals this year is to teach myself how to cook and to try to each more healthfully. I am 37 years old and can you believe that before now, all I ever knew how to cook was boiled water and the occasional Sunday omelette? I’ve been a vegetarian for over twenty years now but that doesn’t mean I’ve ever given too much more thought to what I was eating. Until now.

Sure, I had a lot of excuses. I worked in the high tech industry for a dozen or so years; the hours were long and, too often, it just didn’t seem like there was enough hours in the day to slow down and enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal. Not that I’d know one if I saw one. I grew up in a lower middle-class family where the menu varied little from week to week. On Sundays, there was a pot roast. During the week, we would have a build-your-own taco night, we would eat hamburgers, pizza, meatloaf; the usual staples of the mid-west. I think the most extravagant thing we ever ate was Shepherd’s Pie, which was just another way of preparing leftovers.

In fact, I don’t think I even knew what Thai food was until I moved out to California for college. Then my palette slowly began to become more sophisticated. I didn’t really even realize I was becoming a food snob, until it was too late. My work allowed for lots of international travel and I got to sample cuisine from all over the world (which can occasionally be quite challenging if you are a strict vegetarian like me). I wanted to start eating better at home, too, and finally now I have the time and I’m really enjoying learning more about food and how to prepare it. And, of course, the best part: eating it!

Honestly, I’m kind of shocked that it is as easy as it is to eat more healthily and I wish I had started cooking years ago but that is neither here nor there. So be sure to come back often to see what I’m cooking and to learn from what is sure to be something of a comedy of errors as I make all the usual beginner’s mistakes in my quest for the perfect vegetarian dish.