Hello! My name is Alyona (pronounced Ah-lyoh-nah). I grew up near Kyiv, Ukraine and after I got married moved to the United States with my husband. I have 2 daughters and we all live in the Atlanta, Georgia area, where we’ve been for the last 15 years.
I love the outdoors, gardening, and spending my time in the kitchen where I experiment with various recipes in plant-based eating. My husband and daughters also help out in the kitchen and love to try their hand at making something new. Together we come up with the recipes on this site.
What is this site about?
I want to clarify that the site is not about advocating for a vegan lifestyle or becoming a vegetarian. I made the decision 8 years ago to switch to a plant-based diet not because of this, but for the many health benefits of eating primarily such a diet. My husband and I have looked into this and also write about how this diet can work for those who have chosen to go plant-based. We also write our findings on this site.
Where do you get your ideas for recipes?
This is a great question! I can’t say there is any one way. Sometimes I will get an idea from whatever we are hungry for and try something new out. There may be a similar non-plant-based recipe that we saw online or in the restaurant and we find a way to make it without milk, meat, or eggs. Some recipes are conceived when we need to make a version of a recipe for people with food sensitivities, since our daughters have some food sensitivities. Whenever we travel we love to check out the local cuisine and try something new, and this gives us other ideas.
One great thing about being in this area is the amount of diversity in supermarkets in the Atlanta Metro area. There are some great farmers markets, including Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market and Buford Highway Farmer’s Market. We may find some new fruit or vegetable that we have never seen and want to try it out in a recipe. For the few things we can’t find in the store. We order online through a marketplace like Amazon or cost pro if we need to be careful about food sensitivities. We have links on the site for convenience if you need to order this online.