About

Welcome to Veggie 101, where a love for vegetarian food, cooking, photography, and constructive criticism unite! Why did I start this blog? For a few reasons:

  1. I LOVE to cook, and I do it often.
  2. I've developed an affinity for all things food: cookbooks, the Food Network, food photography, etc.
  3. Over the years, I've accumulated a mass of recipes, from magazines to cookbooks to clippings to web posts. I make ALL of the recipes! As a result since starting this blog, I've never eaten the same thing twice!
  4. When I tell people I'm vegetarian, they seem to think my diet consists of salad and tofu. This blog is to show people that I eat a LOT more than salad and tofu (hence the inches around my waist I could stand to lose). Hearty stews, faux meats, filling pastas, savory sides, and of course all the sweets you can think of. Trust me y'all, I eat.
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About Me

I'm Shoshana, a 9-year vegetarian and self-made, self-proclaimed chef (smile). I'm originally from the Bay Area, but I moved to LA to become a Bruin. I loved it so much, I never left! I turned veg for a few different reasons:
  1. My college roommate, a hardcore vegan and animal rights activist (but never pushy!). She always kept the mini-fridge full of interesting and new-to-me vegan treats: veg Canadian bacon, tempeh, non-dairy pudding, etc. And yes, sometimes I would sneak little tastes, probably without her knowledge. Tee hee. Thanks Erica!
  2. Phy Sci 5. This two-part UCLA course focused on diet and exercise. While I found the second half of the course (exercise) to be rather dry, it was the diet portion that fascinated me. To think, the majority of diseases that we are conditioned to believe are genetic or hereditary are really diet-related...wow!
  3. My own research. As a result of the course, I began to modify my diet. WAY less processed foods, switched from full-fat to low- or nonfat foods, and eliminated canned veggies (too much sodium! fresh or frozen is the way to go).
I slowly began to consider a vegetarian diet. How hard could it be, right? After all, I'd never been a steak-every-night kind of gal. Slowly over the course of a week, I began to cut meat out of every meal. Before I knew it, I'd gone a full week without meat! Then, I had a bowl of teriyaki chicken, and I felt SO sick, heavy, and disgusting. That sealed the deal: vegetarian fo' life! Over the past couple years, however, I've been much more vegan-leaning (see the new, all-vegan website)...

Going vegetarian opened up this great, unbeknownst-to-me passion for cooking. If I could cook from sunrise to sundown (and get paid for it) for the rest of my life, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But until then, Veggie 101 will exist and thrive. Enjoy!

(Disclaimer: The recipes featured on this website are not my own, but each one is cited accordingly. On the other hand, the photos are mine. Please contact me if you'd like to use them. Thank you!)
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