About

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Moran, i’m 32 years old, a mother of 2 girls (3 years old and 6 months old), plus one Weimaraner doggy (which is very sick but that’s for another story) . I live in a small semi-village in the center of Israel, I work full time in a big High Tech company, and in my spare time I like to do everything related to sports and food. Yes, I know, its a good combination, one cancels the other :). I am also married to a very supportive husband, helping me to find time for this blog.

Why did I start this blog anyway?

Confession: I love food. I love to eat, love to cook, love to buy food, love to dig through food blogs, love to cook for others and hear they enjoyed, love to read about healthy nutrition and try to adjust at home, excited about “veganizing” classical recipes, and constantly trying to find sweet recipes that i’d still consider to be healthy and nutritious. If anyone from my childhood is reading this I’m sure you are cracking up now. Back then I used to eat mainly junk and sweets, in fact my favorite meal was a Burger King’ plus big fries with lots of mayo, plus Coke and ice cream. As the years passed by I’ve been through a lot of changes: I gave up sodas completely and am now drinking water only (thanks Esty!), I became a vegetarian and as I read more and more I moved towards a vegan diet’ I started enjoying salads and getting myself familiarized with new ingridients I never heard of, and as I became a mom I started slowly but gradually enjoying cooking (to an extent OK?…) and it became more and more important to me to  cook at home rather than order in, in order to make sure I provide my girls with nutritious food, and presenting it to them in a fun way and not as a punishment.

another confession: i’m quite of a talker (and for this one i don’t expect any eyebrows raising from people who know me:)), and I always had a passion for writing, so all of the above just adds up to having a cooking blog.

So after a few years of vegan home cooking, I found myself answering questions and sharing recipes and tips with friends and on Facebook groups on a daily basis, and decided to provide here all my proven recipes, those I already tried, failed, improved, and brought to a level I am proud of, including pictures and steps to reproduce obviously, as well as tips and tricks I’ve collected along the years.

What should you expect to find here:

Always vegan.

Mainly quick dishes, sometimes such that you can prepare while carrying your baby with one hand or on your carrier.

Dishes you can freeze and take with you to work.

Tips and guides from my experience (The vegan healthy pantry, why should you have a coffee grinder, how to sprout, etc.).

Many healthy desserts (I still have a fetish for sweets..).

What do I call healthy?

I hardly use refined sugar, I will always prefer to use agave, maple syrup, dates syrup, and banana or apple when applicable.

I’m cheap on calories. I can’t say I count them however I am well aware of what is full of them and what is less and trying to skimp whenever possible, whether it is use less oil and sub with other liquid in salad dressings, frying in a quality non stick pan, use apple puree in cakes instead of oil, etc.

I try to avoid pastry. Don’t get me wrong, it is tasty, and there’s nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread, but dealing with dough is just so demanding and takes time, and the benefits of plain white wheat flour is very little if any, to me. So wherever possible I will prefer gluten free options (been noodles instead of wheat pasta, gluten free flours, etc.).

I try to avoid products with preservatives, unnecessary additives, or just a whole lot of sugar in them. For example, I buy the plainest soy milk, which is made out of soy beans and water only, and no added salt or sugar. If I want other non-dairy milk I just make some at home, its the best way to control what you have inside it. Another example would be chocolate, which the store version would usually contain sugar as main ingredient, so I prefer to prepare my own versions at home. With that said, I am still a human being, and one that likes sweets, so occasionally I will eat industrialized junk..

But, I’m not a nutritionist. My credo is based on data I gathered from nutrition courses, the internet, books, TV, and my common sense. Each of you of course will continue to eat according to what you believe is right and healthy, and one can argue for hours for or against any given diet. You can take the recipes here as is, or adjust to your liking. I’d be happy to hear your comments or any suggestions for the recipes also.

Who is taking the pictures in this blog?

My talented father in law, Ilya Raskin, is the photographer here. We live across the street from my in-laws (don’t worry, this is not an “everybody loves Raymond” kind of relationship, we get along great in fact :)). Luckily for me, he agreed to help out here as I know nothing about photography, so we get to do this together. And yes, I let him eat the food when we finish shooting.

Why is this blog in English as well as Hebrew?

We speak 3 languages in our home: My husband speaks Russian with the girls, I speak English with the girls and with him, and he speaks Hebrew to me. My work is also mainly in English, so i’m just used to speaking and writing in English but did want it to be in my native language also. Perhaps some day I’ll be able to write a post in Russian also (talk about wishful thinking :)).

How can you get in touch with me?

Have a question, suggestion, criticism, compliment, anything else? I’ll be more than happy to hear all about it. Shoot me an email here:

veganhightechmom@gmail.com

Oh, and one more thing to clarify:

While the recipes here seem to be easy and the pictures are beautiful (hope you feel the same way), I assume it can give the impression that I look something like this when cooking:

Well truth is that every recipe I share here has been through a series of tries, failures, and improvements until it got here, and my real day to day cooking kind of looks more like this:

Hope to hear from you, and that you enjoy the content!

Moran