Hi, I’m Kat and I’m the blogger, foodie, and endo-warrior behind Feast of Plants. If you want to know who I am and why I’ve chosen to write about, wheat free and vegan food, this is the page to be!
I currently live just outside London with my husband, Kenny, and our two somewhat demented but devoted cats, Mia and Chloe.
Growing up in a household where my mother was a hugely talented cook, almost every family event or celebration centred around food. I still have warm memories of extended family celebrations at my great Aunt’s house where the table practically groaned with food, of Christmas Day where the Christmas dinner always has, and still does, come before the presents. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone that I love cooking!
Why Wheat Free?
The first major change and challenge to my diet came when I met Kenny in 2014. Kenny has a severe wheat allergy and can go into anaphylactic shock. He carries epipens and tends to eat from the gluten free menu as it’s often easier than trying to explain to a waiter what a wheat allergy is. We try to run a mostly gluten free home but you may found the odd recipe here that is just wheat free rather than gluten free so do make sure the recipe is suitable for your own dietary needs.
When I went Vegan – otherwise known as how Endometriosis has affected my diet
I’ve had endo for a long time, but I count myself as one of the luckier ones as finding a diagnosis didn’t take the 7-10 years that some women have to face. My diagnosis came during my first surgery and it soon became my first of three surgeries in almost as many years.
During my worse year, my endo flare up was so bad I was unable to work for the last half of the year. Days varied between me being bed-bound or just house-bound. Following research and suggestions from others, I learned it might be helpful to try a vegan, plant based diet. In an effort to cut out anything that might have been negatively affecting my symptoms, I also chose to cut out gluten and soy.
I started my new diet in the weeks before my sister’s wedding. Terrified of being unable to participate, of letting people down, and of my body failing at the wrong time; I was willing to try almost anything. I felt an almost immediate improvement from adopting the new diet and in the end I was able to both travel across the country, and fully participate in the wedding. After that I still had bad days, but my last surgery was in January 2018 and I do think becoming vegan gave me the strength and health to get to that date.
Since then I’ve gone from strength to strength, and am still very committed to a plant based diet but I have allowed soy back into my diet. Cooking has remained my passion, and making tasty, interesting and often adventurous vegan meals has become my favourite hobby.
I hope you find the recipes here helpful and I look forward to hearing from you.