Hi! My name is Danielle Kent. I am married to my wonderful husband, Sean, who is half way through medical school. We have a little boy, born this last December, who is happy, energetic and keeps me on my toes all day!

I have always loved food. It’s actually still a joke in my family because my mom reminds me that the first words out of my mouth after school were, “What’s for dinner?” I have also though always had to be really “careful” about what I eat. My friends were still eating pizza and doritos into their twenties and I was counting calories before I turned 15. I started learning a ton about food as a teenager. I knew how many calories were in everything and was very food conscious at a pretty young age.

A couple years ago, I noticed calorie counting wasn’t doing anything for me. I had a demanding job teaching elementary school and wanted and needed more energy. I knew part of my problem was that I wasn’t eating enough or eating the right foods during the day. I went back to what I have researched about food in the past.

 Out of everything I tried, I never felt as good as I did when I ate vegan. I stopped paying attention to the nutrition label and just bought lots of whole foods. It took maybe a week or two, but all of the sudden, I had a ton more energy. I could feel that I wasn’t putting processed food in my body. I was also pleasantly surprised at how many options I still had and the variety in my meals. I did not feel restricted on what I ate, which was important to me!

For now, my focus with my husband is to just live a healthy lifestyle. I am a big believer in balance in all things. We love to exercise and go for walks but we also love to crash on the couch and read a good book or watch a movie. We love eating vegan but we also don’t feel guilty about picking what we want if we go out to eat one night a week.

So if you’re vegan or just looking to add some more plant based meals to your diet, hopefully some of our household favorites will become yours as well!