Hi, I’m Emily Chudy, and I’ve been working on EmilyCooksVegan since Easter 2012; it’s sort of my attempt make food fun and more nutritious for me again during my recovery for anorexia, as well as documenting my love of cooking and passion for my vegetarian diet. I also hope to inspire vegetarian and vegan home cooking in even ill-equipped university kitchens such as mine.
The only photo I could find of myself…
My decision to first turn vegetarian at age 7 was as clichéd as you could imagine: after a visit to the farm with my mum and little sister, when mum vicariously announced we’d be having lamb for dinner. I can’t remember the finer details, but I’m sure I whacked my chubby hands down on the table and refused to eat the gorgeous little fluffy creatures I’d been fawning over mere hours before. It obviously didn’t last long back then, but I did return. I’ve now been vegetarian for about 8ish years and I don’t think I’d ever dream of stopping.
In the same vein, it was pure accident and chance that made me make the transition to veganism; a well-timed snarky comment that ‘I couldn’t hack being vegan’ coincided with Lent, so I decided to have one last Lasagne-ready-meal-and-4-Muller-youghurts-based cheese-fest and then quit cold Turkey. I even gave up honey. By the time Easter rolled around, I had bought a vegan cookbook, browsed many a vegan blog (fatfreevegankitchen and Oh She Glows are my faves) and learned how to cook without liberal sprinklings of cheese; I realised, with shock, that I loved the diet and wanted to see how long I could stick with it properly.
So, I should have also mentioned that I’m insanely passionate about cooking and baking – my friends will vouch that my telly watching repertoire consists mainly of Masterchef, Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver and the Great British Bake Off, and I adore making myself inventive and healthy dinners instead of just ordering a pizza like a student probably should (my Dad – renowned for the best veggie lasagne in the world – would have a heart attack). Being a vegan has only made me more inventive, and inspired by my ever-shrinking budget at uni and my pledge to eat healthier (and much more), I decided to create this blog in the hopes of inspiring people to create lovely and cheap vegan and vegetarian dishes at home, and also proving to my flatmates that being a vegan doesn’t have to be ‘boring’ or ‘restrictive’, you just have to be able to cook well and know what you’re doing.
Welcome to EmilyCooksVegan.
Hi Emily,
Thanks for visiting our blog. You have such a lovely blog here and we’re so happy you’re spreading the vegan message through it :)
If you ever visit California, we invite you to stop by our restaurant :)
Thank you so much – I’ll keep you in mind any time I visit :) x
You got nominated for lovely and versatile awards. Check my post :D .
http://thewordstheraptureleft.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/nominations/
x.
Thank you! :D xx
Love your blog! Thought I’d share mine as we’re quite like-minded…
http://veganfoodiegoestouni.wordpress.com/
Just checked your blog out and it’s really good, thanks for commenting :) x
:) Recipe Exchanges are always fun! Good luck on your cooking adventures… look forward to reading about them!
Hi, I really like your blog and have just nomimated you for the Versatile Blogger Award! Find out what it’s all about here: http://lovelybuns.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/versatile-blogger-award-2/
Thank you very much :D x
Thanks for stopping by! I love Oh She Glows, too! Great stuff there…and here! Looking forward to reading more!
My husband and I have just recently begun eating a plant-based diet…mostly vegetarian with hints of veganism. We thought it would be best to go at things gradually:) So glad I found your site! I’ve been looking vegan cookbooks and have found some delicious looking recipes, but have no idea what half the ingredients are! I can’t wait to try some of the recipes you have posted!
Love love LOVE you blog. Kasia sent me here (: The recipes are actually relatively simple unlike most veg*n recipes ! <3
Thank you :D
I’m a student, so keeping it simple is my game! Kasia’s a lovely girl, I’m so grateful for her kind words about me :) x
Hey Emily! So glad I stumbled across your blog! I too was in a similar situation with food not so long ago, and have found your story really inspiring! Your blog is very lovely :)
Thank you very much :) x
Love your blog… thanks for the inspiration! g*
Hi Emily, I admire people who eat Vegan and your blog is very lovely. All the best for your recovery and happy blogging!
Thanks :) x
What an inspiring site! I’m a student from California that was diagnosed with an eating disorder 6 months ago, and I’m happy to see that food blogging has been a healthy channel for other disordered eaters in recovery. Thanks for sharing your story, and your beautiful recipes!
You’re welcome :)
All the best in your recovery x
Liked, followed and on to see more goodies! Great site!
Hi Emily, thanks for visiting my blog! I am delighted to have found yours and look forward to reading more of it :-)
Thank you :) x
Hi Emily, thanks for “liking” my post. I’m looking forward to reading your blog!
Thanks for popping over to the Ark’s Spot. My daughter runs her own baking business and she too is quite loopy about what she does. I shall tell her you ‘stopped by’ and that you have the same name!
Karma? Kismet or whatever!
All the best.
Hi Emily! Thanks for reading and liking my blog (stumblin around the kitchen with apricot jam). I might not have found yours for ages but for that. I’ve a teen who eats only vegan, and your recipes are just the sort of thing to put a smile on her face. I’ll be checking them out and following for more. Thanks!
You’re welcome :) Hope you/she enjoy my recipes! x
Hey Emily!
Thank you for stopping by my blog and liking the Peachy-Keen Cake. I wish I could make it vegan, perhaps there’s a challenge? :)
I’m not vegan or vegetarian but I hate that many cooks and chefs out there rely on meat as the main focus of a meal. I refuse to by rubbishy meat, so as a poor student (and soon to be even poorer graduate!) I only eat meat once a month or so. So it’s really great to see you being inspired by tastes and textures that are vegetable and pulse-based.
Will keep following!
Rosie x
Oh yeah, that would be cool, a make-it-vegan challenge :)
I’m completely supportive of people who eat meat, I’m not one of those crazy militant vegans who wants to covert everyone, but it’s really good to hear that you go for high-quality meat and don’t have it as the focus!
Looking forward to reading some more of your stuff :)
Emily x
Enjoyed meeting you in your “About”. Hope you are doing well, and wanted to thank you for visiting my blog today, and liking the post “Just a Bite”. Take care!
Sarah
Thank you so much for taking the time to like my post! I love your blog and your recipes, especially your Quinoa salad. Take good care, and thank you again for your time!
You’re welcome, glad that you like the recipes :) x
awesome blog!!
such a cute blog!
Loving the new look of the blog.
The theme suits you…
:)
btw, Congratulations! You have won One Lovely Blogger Award.
http://gypsyfoods.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/woohoo-three-months-young-and-my-first-blogger-award/
:D
Wow! Thank you so much :D x
Great blog Emily! Your pictures are lovely…. I’ll definitely be back to check out your recipes :)
Thanks for visiting my blog! You desire to cook and eat healthy is very inspiring :)
Thanks for visiting my blog! You deserve to eat healthy is very inspiring!
Good luck with your recovery Emily! A healthy approach to eating and cooking, plus a good community, should be all you need. Love the blog. Cheers!
Thanks very much :) x
I tried veganism last year, and I really enjoyed it as well! I stopped because of a family vacation to France (they make everything with butter, milk, or cheese!), but I still follow FatFreeVeganKitchen and have “vegan days” every so often. Reading your story was inspiring; good luck with your cooking and baking!
I had the same problem visiting my grandparents – I didn’t want to be rude and reject their cheesy offerings! Thanks so much, good luck with your vegan days :) x
P.S. I love FatFreeVegan as well; you should check out Oh She Glows or Chocolate Covered Katie – they’re awesome
I was lucky with my family; they were all understanding and tried to make sure I always had something to eat. They even tried new restaurants (and my vegan recipes) when they came to visit! Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll definitely check them out!
Thanks for checking out my blog! I am excited to have found yours as well . . . we can find lots of vegan inspiration from each other. All the best!
You’re welcome :)
Definitely hope to be swapping recipes soon x
very nice blog you have here, Emily! I agree with you that vegan food isn’t boring at all – I actually find that meat dishes are usually the most boring, what could be more uninspiring than a slab of meat on a plate? I love the colors and variety in vegan cooking. Looking forward to your recipes! Thanks for visiting my blog :)
Thanks very much, I really like your blog as well!
Yeah, I’ve definitely got more adventurous since going vegan, it’s the only way to do it :)
great stuff Emily – a vegetarian diet is what the majority of the world eats and there are so many cultures around the world who do not use dairy in their cuisine that vegan can be easy, particularly if you like food from Thailand, Vietnam, Japan Malaysia, Korea, Southern India, Sri Lanka etc. I am too curious about food to box myself in nowadays- I was vegan for many years but a constant battle with low iron levels and I ended up eating meat again. A plant based diet with some animal protein and next to no dairy works for me these days. Nice blog – looking forward to seeing what you post here.
Thanks a lot :)
I had low iron as well, but I chatted to my doctor and she gave me some multivitamin/iron tablets and some diet advice (loads of spinach/dried apricots) so I seem to be in the clear. I love Asian food as well, so glad that it’s easy to ‘veganise’ them.
really recommend floradix as an iron supplement…in liquid form, it just feels like it absorbs better (although i could be chock full of veggie bologna), and i kinda like the metallic sweetness…like a sugar-coated penny or something…also, thanks for spreading the delicious word, sister!
Haha, thanks very much :)
I’m actually taking just standard Tesco multivitamins at the moment as they have calcium in as well, but they’re a really hard shape to swallow and taste disgusting, so I’ll think about switching! Thanks for checking out my blog x
Thanks for the tip – i got some floradix today – looking forward to trying it out.