Sunday, January 28, 2007

Behind the Apron

CLICK ON THE BEHIND THE APRON BUTTON TO FIND OUT MORE- TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

Humm.. What can I share about myself? I am a 36 year old mother of four. I have a degree in biology w/ an emphasis in ecology. After I got my degree I worked as a fisheries biologist. An awesome job, I was fortunate enough to be able to travel all over Alaska to some VERY remote places.. I got my degree as a single mother w/ my two older kids in tow. Kinda of a strange turn of events -that I ended up after all of that blood sweet and tears of being a single, working mother going to collage only lead me to be a stay at home mom w/ my two younger ones.

Why Vegan? Unlike many of you long time vegetarians I am a newbie.. At first when the news came of Mad Cow in the U.S. I immediately stopped buying/cooking beef. I started replacing some of meals w/ vegetarian. Then when my youngest daughter, Emma was about 18 mo old we had just quit breastfeeding and she broke out in the most un-godly rash/hives for six weeks. So bad that at times her joints/ hands and feet would swell up and it was too painful for her to even walk. Terrifying. She had also dropped off the growth chart from the fiftieth percentile to the 12th, and was diagnosed w/ failure to thrive- again terrifying. I had spent hours on the Internet as well as hours at the doctor. I had begun her on a gluten free diet and switched to soy. Meanwhile still feeding her eggs. Finally a blood test had shown that she was allergic to all dairy (milk and eggs). The signs were there her whole little life.. The only time I ever really drank milk was when I was pregnant or breastfeeding. So began our journey. I had to relearn how to cook everything. So, I bought some vegan cookbooks. For a while I was cooking basically two dinners- that got old quick. And after expanding my vegan cookbook selection all of the food just looked so good. One thing lead to another I quit cooking meat and began cooking one dinner every night-Vegan.


Here I am in Hong Kong last November. I was very fortunate to be able to join my little brother in Thailand for two weeks. He had been traveling throughout South Eat Asia for a year and was getting ready to come back when I thought to myself that he would be the perfect tour guide. A trip of a life time. We stopped in Hong Kong for a couple of days on our way home. I was happy to be there despite my picture..Really. I had woken up that morning w/ a KILLER sore throat.


This is my family- my oldest daughter Amber(17) holding Emma(4), my oldest son Keith(20) holding Eli(5), my honey and I . This was taking last summer at my little brothers wedding.

21 Comments:

At 3:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow - what a wonderful photo! You sure don't look 36, though! If I saw the photo without comments, I would have said 18-20. I'm the same way, and I'm 29.

Thanks for sharing that info about you! That's a wonderful job. I was intensely interested in biology and ecology for a while there but I settled down with special education. I'm still very interested in ecology, though.

 
At 5:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree...you don't look your age at all! You've got great hair too! I'm so jealous! I studied Environmental Sciences, so I know a tiny bit about your biology and ecology background.

Those travels in Alaska and SE Asia sound amazing!

 
At 6:15 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing. Awesome picture of the whole family. I love it. I, too, love your hair. I just chopped all mine off because it was too darn unhealthy and I had to start all over again. Boy was that hard. One day though I'll have it just like yours again. Hong Kong with your own personal tour guide, sounds fantastic. When it's family it's even more fun. Again, thanks for sharing.

 
At 6:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

you look very young! thanks for share about your family

 
At 9:31 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome !! I am so glad to see you and the family unit front and center!
I have been envious of your great hair & youthful looks for many years now, so Iam enjoying the company!

You are a outstanding Mom, Cook, and Friend!

I am lifting my (organic) coffee mug to cheer for you this Monday morn!

 
At 10:23 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow ! Wow ! Wow Julee !
You are a foxy lady ! LOOOOL

It's so funny ! I thought you were your daughter ! I had to re-read :)

No wonder your kids are so darn cute !

 
At 4:15 PM, Blogger Jana said...

Hi Julee! Thanks for all your helpful comments over on our blog. I have reads things about the nutritional yeast but I will not make it a point to get some. I am a popcorn fiend so how hard can it be to add some to it? I wanna try the "cheese" sauce, too! Thanks again and I'm enjoying your blog. :) - Jana

 
At 6:18 PM, Blogger Ruthie said...

Oh my goodness.

You are STUNNING! And your family is gorgeous! I was prepared for you to be some beast. LOL You had us fooled. :)

Nice to know another there's another biology/emphasis in ecology major/vegan homemaker out there. :)

 
At 6:49 PM, Blogger bazu said...

Those pictures blew me away- you and your whole family are beautiful! And, I can see a total resemblence b/t you and Emma.

Thank you for sharing your story and your path to veganism. I love hearing peoples' different journeys- and for a "newbie" your food is awesome. =)

This behind the apron thing is fun.

 
At 2:45 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for taking us on the vegan path, and most of all, thank you for your passion to explore and perfect your ever impressive culinary abilities. We all benefit, in both health and good eats. Forever yours!

 
At 6:10 AM, Blogger laura k said...

I'm glad you shared! I love the photos--your beautiful long hair... What a neat family and a neat story.

 
At 12:10 PM, Blogger Kati said...

You and your family are beautiful - Behind the Apron is fun!

And hey, you're not THAT new. It sounds like you've been at this vegan thing longer than I have (1.5 years - vegetarian for 2.5). Thanks for sharing your story!

 
At 1:38 PM, Blogger Nikk said...

Wow! You have got some amazing hair! You look like a sibling to your kids! :)

 
At 6:38 PM, Blogger aTxVegn said...

Wow, Julee, you and your family are so beautiful! And what an amazing life you are enjoying. I'm so glad you shared this with us and I'm also glad you share your wonderful meals and pictures.

 
At 9:20 PM, Blogger islandgirlshell said...

Boy, can I relate to your story about how you became vegan!! I have an 8 yr old daughter who has a severe allergy to dairy also...anaphylaxis, EpiPens, the whole deal. Life was difficult and scary for us until I discovered vegan food. Unfortunately, it took me 6.5 years to make that discovery but we're loving it now.

I love reading about your life in Alaska. Thanks for sharing pictures of your beautiful happy family!

 
At 6:26 AM, Blogger Emmy said...

What a fun post. It was great to learn more about you and how you started on your veg journey. What a lovely picture of you and your family :)

 
At 7:21 AM, Blogger Carrie™ said...

Thanks for sharing Julee! My sister has a dairy allergy and when she was still a baby, she was so sick, she almost died. It was a very scary time for the whole family because no one knew what was wrong. (I'm 8 years older than her, so I remember this well) Finally, she was diagnosed with a dairy allergy and was switched to soy milk. She's not as bad now, but has to limit her dairy intake. She uses most of what she's can tolerate on ice cream! LOL! You do a fantastic job with your meals. The pictures are always so delicious-looking. Kudos to you!!

 
At 3:35 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Julee, you're GORGEOUS!!! I can't believe you've been hiding away like a troll this whole time. ;) I know I tell you this almost every single time I comment but your children are so beautiful (all of them). I'm glad you came out! It's fun getting to see/meet everyone on a more personal level.

 
At 5:48 AM, Blogger Vanessa said...

A beautiful photo - I agree that you look closer to 26!

 
At 7:04 AM, Blogger Vanessa said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 6:05 PM, Blogger love-up-you said...

Diamantentrauringe sind immer sehr beliebt bei thomas szabo den Paaren. Und der Grund seiner Popularität ist seine Eleganz und natürlicher Schönheit. Aber thomas sabo uhr vor Kauf Ihres Diamantring Sie müssen bedenken, die 4C von Diamant, Schnitt, Farbe, Karat thomas sabo ohrringe seestern und Klarheit. Es ist sehr wichtig, das Wissen dieser 4C haben. Aber der wichtigste Faktor unter ihnen ist der Schnitt eines thomas sabo anhänger Diamanten. Cut von Diamant bezieht sich nur auf die Qualität der Diamanten und auch seine Form.

 

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