Hi Friends!
My name is Jen, and this is my behind-the-scenes, content-creating, sous chef, photographer, videographer, man of all trades, husband, Jose!
We accidentally went vegan, and this is our story.
One New Year’s Eve (as my husband pulled off the most delicious prime rib ever), he told me that he would be starting a Daniel fast the very next day… January 1st.
His side of the story: He swears he told me this before New Year’s Eve… I beg to differ. If I had known that, I would have bought a MUCH smaller cut of meat and not meal-planned around it. Anyway, he asked me to join him, and I scoffed, saying I would support him from a distance. If you knew me before this journey, I was the queen of all things bacon, steak, and cheese. Meat and dairy were a staple in our home… and our freezer.
Two days into his Daniel fast, I decided to join him – my way. I was determined to find a happy medium between sticking to the boundaries of what he could eat (which was primarily a vegan diet with non-leavened bread or yeast… and no sugar) and eating the food that I wanted to eat.
Little did we know this was the start of an incredible journey together.
Being on the Daniel fast led us to watch quite a few documentaries that ultimately changed our lives forever. Our perspectives on food changed. We were more conscious of where our food comes from. We started to recognize what a huge impact this was on the planet. And we started to see significant improvements in our overall health. First came the mental clarity, then the energy, and a surprise bonus: weight loss!
Less than two weeks into the fast, we both decided that being vegan was our new way of life. This journey inspired us to start The Saucy Leaf, a place where we can share our recipes (and our journey) with you!
We have four kids between us, from pre-teens to young adults. The recipes we share can easily be altered to meet the dietary needs of you and your family. While we have committed to being vegan, the rest of the family is flexitarian. Our goal is to create recipes so good that no one will know it’s vegan, especially the kids. Our recipes can be EASILY customized to fit YOUR dietary needs, whether you are vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, or the Meatless Monday flexitarian.
We don’t judge… we’re just happy you’re here!
Something you should know is that our family is VERY diverse. My husband is Puerto Rican (from his dad) and Jamaican with a spice of Creole (from his mom). I am Japanese, Chinese, Native Hawaiian (from my mom), and Caucasian (from my dad). As a blended family, our children bring even more diversity to the table. And it’s important to us that we create recipes that are in line with our new way of life – and culturally appropriate!
Join our journey. Subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on social media. Tell your friends. And please give these recipes a try… It just might change your life too.
Bye for now!
Jen