{"id":371,"date":"2020-05-01T11:44:23","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T15:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jensveganeats.com\/?page_id=371"},"modified":"2020-05-30T07:37:29","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T11:37:29","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jensveganeats.com\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hi, I’m Jen!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Jen's<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am the author, plant-based cook, vegan activist, photographer, editor and travel lover behind the scenes here at Jen’s Vegan Kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been living a cruelty-free, vegan life since 2012. While I have watched the plant based \/ vegan world progress significantly since then, I did not listen to my instincts in my younger days when it wasn’t so easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Vegan Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I was a child who questioned everything. With these questions came conversations about what we were eating and where it came from. My first memory of cutting out an animal product was when I was around 7 years old. I learned what eggs were. Right then & there, I said, “no more!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…that would have been for scrambled eggs. My head didn’t register that my favorite blueberry muffins also contained them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grew up in Ohio in the 80’s & 90’s…<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I call it meat & potato land because that’s what we primarily ate. Cubed Steak with mashed potatoes, corn & peas was a staple in my house. So while I had the instincts to not eat meat–it didn’t make sense to me that we would kill an animal for our pleasure–I also turned a blind eye to it 80% of the time. The other 20%, that part that nagged me, ate it while also slightly gagging inside. I did not know that my body could literally live without meat. I did not know anybody who was a vegetarian let alone a vegan!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to 2008…<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

My husband and I took a beach vacation over a weekend. On our way, we stopped at CVS to pick up a few items. I was scanning over the book section when the title, “Skinny Bitch,” caught my eye. It had been published in 2005 but was just then catching some media attention. I had heard of it but did not realize what it was about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That 2008 beach weekend changed my life. I immediately stopped eating meat. I desperately wanted to stop eating dairy and even tried for periods of time. Eating 100% Vegan did not start until 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2012, I did a 20 day juice fast after watching the documentary, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.” THIS is how I cleansed my body of dairy and have not consumed it since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My journey from 2012 thru 2019 was always consistent in my vegan beliefs and in fact grew as I continued to learn. My husband even switched to 100% plant based in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In regards to the style of cooking I do,<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I am educated in every way to cook as a vegan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n