GnarlyCarly Kitchen

     When it comes to story telling my friends know me as the type of person to tell a short story in the longest way possible. So, when the story isn't short...it could go on forever! But bear with me as I take a trip down memory lane and share the story of what brought me here, making this recipe website for you all! And I promise, although it will be long, it won't go on forever and there will be an end. ;)

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     This may sound like the start to a very average story but isn't that how we all start out? Average? We grow into greatness as our stories unfold! .... Side tracked already, yeesh. Well anyways, ever since I can remember cooking has been an enormous part of my life.

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    When I was a little girl (I'm sure some consider 25 a little girl but I mean like real little!) my mother would always prepare home cooked meals, often with vegetables from my great grandparent's garden. It sounds glamorous typing it now "home cooked meals with home grown organic veggies". Well back then (in the 90's) we ate that way because it was all we could afford. Which was hardly anything.

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     Since we were broke most of the time my grandparents would drive down from Burlington, WI to bring us veggies from their garden so we had some produce for the week. And on most weekends, that I was with my mom, if they didn't visit us we would visit them. Upon arrival, my great grandma Whitten would always be cooking up something fierce! It was like Thanksgiving every time we visited. Every type of veggie imaginable, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade biscuits, and a big ol' roast. Or my (old) favorite, from scratch fried chicken. And you can't forget the iced tea steeped to perfection by my cute little Southern grandma. This is where my love for cooking really began. I would watch her as she would concoct these huge meals all for a little weekend gathering. She would let me help cut out the biscuits and give me other little jobs that I couldn't really mess up.

   

That kitchen, those experiences is where my love for cooking began. Although I loved to help out, I was also very keen on watching. I would watch my mother cook every meal and same if I was at my grandmothers. Even if I didn't help out, I would still watch. To this day many of the techniques and recipes I know are purely from watching. And it's no surprise that the Food Network has been a long time favorite of mine, when I've actually had cable that is.

  

   When I lived with my mother she would do most of the cooking, as most mothers do. Although, I do remember experimenting when I was allowed. One time in 6th grade I tried to make peanut butter in a blender. It didn't quite turn out like the kind in the jar. But it tasted damn good! And then after 7th grade something changed. My mom moved to West Virginia and I moved in with my dad. Who I had never spent more than a weekend with since I was 3.

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    From 8th grade through High School I continued to live with my dad. He wasn't much for cooking (or grocery shopping) and when I first moved in with him he was all about running and fitness. If there was any food in the house it was items like cliff bars, whole wheat bread and pasta. He would use a can of tomato for tomato sauce and never added salt to his cooking.

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   Here is another one of those times where now that I am typing this out in present day I can see that this was probably a good thing and to be honest is closer to what I eat now than anything. But when you're 15 years old that's the last thing you want, bland boring pasta! You want frozen pizza and fries!

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   So, what does a 15-year-old do when their parent doesn't like to cook and when they do cook it's not something you even like? Oh, I know, they go vegetarian! Because life wasn't already hard enough yes, my freshman year of High School I became vegetarian. Now the other thing to note is that the one thing my dad did enjoy doing as far as cooking was grilling or smoking meat. So, becoming vegetarian did not help my case as far as getting fed at home.

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     Why might I subject myself to this you may be asking? Well, I have always had a sensitive stomach. Whenever I ate meat it would hurt my stomach more than eating other foods. And when I was a baby I was diagnosed as lactose intolerant which followed me into adolescence but was never really a problem. You see, cheese is my worst enemy. The smell, the taste, the look of it! Except in one instance, I could stand eating cheese on pizza but only if it was semi burnt/brown. I hated fresh mozzarella or cheese pizza that had gone cold. I'm not sure what it was about it being melted that made it tolerable as far as taste goes! My stomach still wasn't tolerating it though! And at this point I only knew 1 vegan and wasn't really sure what it meant so giving up the cheese pizza wasn't even on my radar. So, I went vegetarian in hopes it would cure my tummy ailment.

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   And it in fact did...not! During this time of being vegetarian I didn't eat healthy nutrient dense foods like fruits and veggies. At this point in life I never ate breakfast and for lunch would eat things like chips, fries and pizza from the cafeteria. And again, this is basically all I could afford from the change my dad would leave for lunch. My options were pretty limited and my school wasn't very vegetarian friendly. The salads somehow cost more than the pizza? Tell me how that makes sense. A whole head of lettuce costs like $1.99? Thanks, public schools! ::thumbs up::

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   Needless to say, I made it out alive and during that time I learned how to make a thing or two at home. We really only had basic ingredients in the house so I mastered 2 recipes I knew I would always have ingredients for. Potatoes and pasta.

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My specialty was pan fried potatoes. Cheap and easy meal I learned from my mom. Growing up she would make this for my brother and I for breakfast. When I made it for myself it could have been for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And compared to my mom’s I was missing a few ingredients like onion or bell pepper. For the version I made all you needed was a few russets, oil, salt, and garlic seasoning. I would toss it all together in a pan until those taters were soo cripsy! Mmm my mouth is watering just thinking about them. Nowadays I'm not much for cooking with oil but I sure do remember how good those taters tasted!

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   After High School, I attended a State University where I didn't get to do much cooking. I really only had access to the food in the cafeteria which left a lot to be desired. For one reason or another I did end up starting to eat chicken again and of course more pizza! Along with all sorts of unhealthy things including a lot of beer!

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  About a year and a half into college I ran out of money and had to head back home. At that time, I had no idea where I was going with my life let alone how to keep my body healthy. Which leads me to what happened next. One day when I was with my then boyfriend I caved and ate a BTL. A childhood favorite. He was one of those guys that was super into bacon. So, I guess it got to me. I really had no morals or any clue what really went behind making bacon at this point and just really didn’t care about life in general.

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   Once I started eating meat again I threw all caution to the wind and started eating anything and everything. I was eating things I never even ate before I was a vegetarian! I had no regard for my health and I went in a downward spiral in all aspects of my life. But I would say as far as my health I was probably at my all-time low and my weight at its all-time high.

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    After the previously mentioned relationship ended I had a lot of healing to do. One of the things I started to do to aid in this healing was practice yoga. Once this became part of my daily routine something in my body started to change. I no longer craved waking up late, beer, or greasy food. I wanted real food! I wanted to wake up with the sun and practice yoga! And oddly enough for the first time in my life, my body craved breakfast!

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    I started by making fruit smoothies with all of the superfood items you could buy; flax seed, chia seed, cacao nibs, etc. When my body was going through this change I stopped eating out as much and started to get back into cooking. I was really into making everything from scratch and homemade! Breads, casseroles, meatloaf, tacos, and of course cookies. I was cooking what I thought was healthy at the time. I basically thought anything that wasn't store bought was healthy enough, right?

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     Most dinners had potato, meat, and veggies. I did eat a lot of salads but they always had a little chicken breast or bacon for protein. Because at that point that was all I knew. If you were working out and getting fit, you needed protein. I knew nothing about the ethics of the animal industry and went with what I was told until that point.

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      About 6 month into my yoga journey I met my bestfriend, Kyle. He taught me the basics about the dairy and meat industry and what really goes on. I was so disgusted and terrified especially because I never knew what went into making the food I was eating/buying (check the menu option "Why Vegan" for more info). From that point on I couldn't look at the food I was so used to eating the same again! I stopped eating meat, again, and cut out dairy completely. Knowing what I knew made stopping really easy for me!

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    Ever since then I have been creating vegan recipes and my love for cooking has grown exponentially. I am constantly in the kitchen! New ideas for recipes are always popping in my head and I'm perfectly old ones all the time. Most of the recipes I make now are very healthy and are based around whole plant foods. I never thought the day would come but, I feel so much better when I eat this way. And I never worry about stomach aches anymore!

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   Don't get me wrong. We can't be healthy all of the time! There are a few recipes on this site where you've just got to throw away your cares and enjoy!

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  I know this story turned out really long and I am really proud of anyone who makes it to the end! I really appreciate you taking the time to get to know me and my passion a little better!

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<3 GnarlyCarly

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