Noela

My name is Noela Anastacia Estrada. My name sounds super mexican, but I’m only half. I’m 20 years old. I am first and foremost a college student, studying biology at Arizona State University. Aside from being a college kid and amateur chef, I love music, playing baritone sax, knitting, photography, traveling, reading, going on walks, and autumn weather. Ultimately, I advocate reason and living ethically–about seriously thinking about my actions based on good information and living my life according to what I think has the least consequences on others. I eat a vegan diet, which has a lot more implications than just helping out animals.

One of the most important things I have learned in college (you know, besides academic stuff) is that money runs out fast–very, very fast. After living with my parents for all of those years, I never truly understood why my parents worried about money so much. Now, over 1000 miles away from my cozy little home in Oregon, I constantly feel the brunt of the blow of having no job, being in college, and having very little money. And as a vegan, saving money was a bit more of a challenge.

So, in the past few months, my goal was to 1) stay true to my ethics of being vegan; 2) stay healthy; 3) make delicious, filling meals; and 4) do it all on a college student budget. And the result? I have learned how to budget like a boss and find deals like no other. The local Target has become my friend, with its 34 cent cans of tomato sauce and 99 cent boxes of spaghetti. I have, in effect, learned how to maximize health while minimizing cost. The only trade off in my budget shopping is that I cannot buy very many organic or particularily sustainable items, which I would much prefer to do, and will do once I have a steady income.

My goal of this website is to help all of you college vegans out there who need help in achieving those 4 goals–to be viable vegans. And luckily, all of my recipes are pretty simple to make. You won’t find any fancy, foreign sounding ingredients in my recipes (at least, hardly ever). And most of the staples can be bought at your local supermarket. I will also give tips on cooking, reviews of cookbooks and restaurants, and all sorts of fun lists, all with the help of my magnificent sister, Heather–a guru web designer and kick-ass mother, who will also be donating some recipes of her own.

Heather

I’m Heather Wood. My name sounds super white, but I’m only half. haha! The other half is Puerto Rican. I’m 28 (going on 16). My sister Noela and I share the same birthday! That’s pretty unique. I made this website for my sister who was in need of an easy income while being very busy with school. Not to mention, I started to become more interested in the vegan and vegetarian lifestyle. Who better to turn to than my own sister who has practiced veganism for years.?

I should tell you, I’m  not a full out vegetarian, but I’m trying. It’s super hard for me when I love sausage and bacon so much. Good God! But for the most part, I’d like to think I eat 75% vegetarian and 25% meat. Eating meat does give me the advantage to testing true meat flavors and applying those same textures and flavors we love into yummy vegetarian recipes.

There was a time I would roll my eyes at the fact my sister was vegan. I did not care for her vegan lifestyle for a while. But what I hadn’t realized is how ignorant I was to the whole thing. One day I woke up and decided to do The Master Cleanse. If you haven’t tried it, it’s awesome. It’s a 10-15 day detox that rids your body of all the “toxins”. Well, during this 2 weeks of detox, I was in a euphoric state that I was enjoying very much. My mind was clear and I was naturally happy. I started researching vegans and vegetarians and learned a whole lot of stuff. From that research, I gained a true respect for my sister and her lifestyle. I wanted to know more and learn more from her. She makes tasty vegan food and although we live states apart, I’m able to recreate her unique vegan recipes from home all thanks to this awesome website I made for her.

Aside from being an all around badass, I’m also a proud freelance web designer from Spokane,WA. If your at all interested in an affordable website for yourself like this one, please visit my web design website. I enjoy a variety of life’s offerings such as music, meditation, drawing, painting, stand up comedy, dancing and poetry. I would love to one day travel the world and become humbled by this large planet we all live in. It may seem that my sister and I are similar in many ways, as that we are, but it’s very far from the truth. I’m the loud crazy sister who’s not afraid of what anyone thinks and speaks my mind. My sister is more reserved with a polite and  nice demeanor. We are complete opposites that come together and make life completely awesome.

We hope you enjoy our vegan and vegetarian recipes!