Heeeeeey! Today’s post is a little different for me. Last week I was tagged by Erin at The Speckled Palate to participate in the Behind the Scenes Blog Tour and couldn’t resist the opportunity to let you into my world a little bit!
First up: Who Nominated Me? Erin nominated me in her post last Monday. If you don’t know her, Erin is a totally sweet southern girl. And I read all of her posts with a southern accent in my head. Her photos are always phenomenal and her food definitely worth drooling over.
The super high tech way we use a stereo to prop up a board to reflect light. If you look closely, you can see my college ID under the table. Note that I graduated in 2010.
What Am I Working On? All kinds of delicious foods, obvs! My post on how to feed a vegetarian got a pretty positive response, so I’m trying to make more meals that have “flex” for families with multiple diets — the kind of meals where a meat eater can add meat and a vegetarian, like me, can enjoy her vegetables and plant proteins untainted. I’m also trying to figure out how to brew beer… so feel free to send me a million emails with helpful tips!
Yes, my kitchen is always this clean. The only out-of-place item is the 2-L of Coke.
How Does My Work Differ From Others of its Genre? I think a lot of vegetarians and vegans strive to make everyone think like they think and eat like they eat. While I’d obviously if everyone were a vegetarian, I’m just happy if everyone eats one more meatless meal or an extra serving veggies with dinner. Vegetarians get a bad rap for pushy or judgmental and, while I know many who aren’t, I like to think I’m different because I want to make meals that work for everyone. And I want those meals to be simple, nutritious, and not taste like healthy cardboard.
This is where I store my props, kitty treats, gnome shaped candles, and winosaurus. If you look closely, you can see 1 of my 3 suits of armor in the background.
Why do I Write/Create What I do? Vegetables and fruits are not at the top of my list of foods I want to eat. Except lettuce. I could snack on lettuce all day. Josh is about the same way (minus the lettuce thing) so when he moved in with me, I knew we needed a catalyst for eating better. I actually love my blog for keeping me accountable about what I’m eating. If I ate a frozen pizza for dinner every night, I’d have nothing to blog about. I’m also a biologist by day, and while most people think science involves a never ending flow of creativity, a lot of what I do is very prescribed. There are some opportunities for creative thinking but without cooking and blogging as a creative outlet, I would feel pretty stifled.
Chester managing the photo shoot. Always on hand to eat crumbs the second they fall on the floor. Not pictured: Kitchen Helper Pete. He was taking a well deserved nap on my dirty laundry during the photo shoot.
How Does my Writing/Creative Process Work? This is probably going to be the least interesting answer! I cook what I want to eat and I write whatever comes to mind. I don’t necessarily strive for every meal to be 100% original, just 100% satisfying. Anyone who knows me in real life can attest to the fact that I have no filter. If I think it, I say it without hesitation. It makes the most sense to me to blog the same way. As for the photo part, that’s even easier because Josh takes care of that part! I normally do a minimal amount of styling while he stands on a step ladder yelling at me to get out of his light and keep the cats out of the food. [In case you are wondering, Peter is the Kitchen Helper Kitty and Chester was recently appointed to Set Manager. Both positions pay in cat food, green beans, and pureed pumpkin.]
The Next Stops! Here are the lovely ladies I nominated! Watch for their posts next week.
Holly, Annie, and Chelsea from Naturally Sweet Recipes. These sisters make incredibly tempting sweets using only natural sweeteners. I occasionally catch myself trying to “meal” plan using only desserts from their site — oops! I love a baked treat I can feel good about eating + lots of their recipes are vegan and/or gluten free! I especially love their healthy take on candy bars, nom!
Joanne from Joanne Eats Well With Others. Her blog is loaded with the food I wish I was eating. It’s also home to the only recipe containing kale in existence that Josh gave a 10/10. Joanne seems entirely unafraid of every vegetable and spice in the world, and I love that. If you ever see that she made PBJ bars for an online bake sale, kindly step off because they’re mine. I can’t not bid on them every time (even though she kindly posts the recipe).
Hannah from Clean Eating Veggie Girl. Doesn’t her blog name make her sound like a super hero? Love it. I’m wild about her WIAW posts and Friday Foodie Favorites. Apparently I just like reading about what she’s eating! She makes eating a whole foods, plant based diet look delicious and easy and I find that inspiring.
That’s all for today’s post! Let me know if you want to see more things like this on the blog.
Tagged with:
Ok cats, a winosaurus (omg greatest thing ever) and a suit of armor (of 3!). You win, let’s be best friends.
[…] Monday, I was nominated by Kelly from Hidden Fruits and Veggies to participate in the series, Behind the Scenes Blog Tour. […]
It was so much fun reading about all the backstage details of your work! You put so much effort and energy on this!
love this and love your nominees!!!
I love this post, Kelly! Great job. LOVE your wooden board! It’s so fun to read more about the behind the scenes and the creative process. Thanks so much for tagging us in this. We can’t wait to share next week!! 🙂
I love this post! I have a similar kitchen layout, cabinets and appliances. Did you make the wooden board for food photos? Or did you buy it somewhere? I am looking for some different boards like that. The prop cabinet is a great idea too!
My wood for photos is actually a piece of barn wood. We cut it in half so we could set it side-by-side to make it wider. This literally came from a barn (and smells like a barn when it gets hot! blech!) that was being torn down. My mom asked them if she could have some of the old wood for projects and they happily gave it to her. Not everyone can be lucky enough to come across a barn that’s falling down, but I bet you could post on Craigslist looking for one. I’ve seen ads where people charge a couple bucks per foot.
I love reading behind the scenes posts and I love your gnome candle. I need to get me one of those!
1. You’re entirely too sweet. And I kind of love that you read my blog with a Southern accent in your head. Sadly, mine is not very pronounced, so you might not even notice it.
2. WINOSAURUS!
3. Loved seeing one of your furbabies in these images, hearing about their new and improved titles in the household (haha!) and loved hearing more about your blogging process. So fun getting to know you better! Thanks for participating in this, girl!
First of all, you are WAY too kind! I would now like to think that I am a superhero 😉 haha! But in all seriousness, I loved this post! You should definitely do more behind the scenes posts in the future. Finally, I just have to say mad props to you for being an awesome vegetarian blogger. You have SUCH creative ideas that make eating vegetarian food continuously fun 🙂