about – peace. love. quinoa

A few years ago when I first adapted a plant-based lifestyle, I started sharing photos of the food I eat – which was well before it was a common thing to do (I like to think that I started the trend so indulge me, would ya?) Instead of expressing annoyance over my lack of restraint & giving two f*cks whether or not they cared to know what my next meal would be, my friends & family showed gratitude and regularly thanked me for the inspiration. How nice of them.

My friends were all like, “you should start a blog!” and I was all like “gooooooood idea!” I agreed to it well before I realized how much time, energy, resources, and $$ it takes to maintain a blog – but whatever, what I didn’t know back then is that it would become my most favorite thing to do, ever….. besides taking vacations…. and eating yummy foods…. 

In July of 2012: peace. love. quinoa was born.

Hi, I’m Crista. Years ago, I asked my friends to describe me, some of the words they came up with are things like nomadic, quirky, whimsical, and cute. They may have also used words like stubborn and opinionated as well, but whatever. 

FOOD.

My most favorite recipes I’ve shared on the blog can be found here: PLQ Favorites.

Included are a Peanut Butter Banana Quinoa Pudding, Dark Chocolate Avocado Truffles, a Mushroom Caprese Salad (this recipe was almost published in a raw food book but I couldn’t figure out how to send a large image file so I bombed, amateur-status!), and a Veggie Avocado Spread.

I prefer to eat (and blog about) fresh, organic, plant-based, mostly-vegan food HOWEVER I may occasionally cheat on the veggies with a cupcake or two….. I won’t always admit to it because secrets are meant to be kept, you know what I’m saying?

 

Before adapting a plant-based lifestyle, I ate boring, meals that lacked color and flavor. I didn’t know any better. Potatoes, frozen veggies, ramen noodles, pasta with white sauce, meat drenched in white sauce, and any-and-every bread-based item you can think of. My meals were literally white and beige in color.

Nowadays, writing about food comes natural to me because it has literally turned my world upside down and changed the way I view my own health, general nutrition, animals, our economy, global warming – my eyes, ears, and mind are open. Adapting a plant-based lifestyle ROCKED MY WORLD and I can’t help but to spread the word about it on a daily basis. My meals are full of color (so much so that I can’t NOT take photos), my food literally smiles back at me after being purposefully arranged on the plate. My body is healthy and happy. I eat for fun, not just necessity.

YOGA + FITNESS.

Shortly after adapting an obsession for food, I started learning more about yoga and fitness – it was bound to happen. When I lived in Chicago, I went to a meat-head gym religiously, I did Crossfit for a year, and I’ve always supplemented my workouts with yoga. Nowadays, I’m a member of Corepower yoga and practice at least 5 times a week when I’m not on the road. Also, I live in Colorado so I use the vast outdoor playground as my “workout studio” – it’s greeeeeat.

Although working out & being active is a huge part of my life and is part of my daily routine, I don’t blog about it as often as I’d like – you’ll see a few posts here and there but not as many as I’d like to share. My goal is to share more about being active and how it plays a role in a healthy lifestyle, and do it more often.

 

GARDENING.

Like a domino effect, I found vegan food, I found organic food, I found local organic food, and then I wanted to grow my own organic food – SO, I started my first garden in the backyard of one of my Chicago apartments – that was probably 2010 or 2011. I remember that entire backyard being overtaken with weeds and city garbage, so I had to do a lot of cleaning up before the space was ready for organic plants BUT I made it happen. I LOVED IT and to this day it is one of my favorite summertime activities. I’ve moved around a lot over the years,so I’ve gotten experience gardening in several different type spaces including urban and suburban environments both, I’ve gardened in small spaces and large spaces, and I maintained a garden in a shared space for a while. Currently, I’ve got a huge yard that’s full of potential – a succulent space, rose bushes, herb planters, a veggie garden, container gardening, you name it, I’ve got it or will have it some day! 

Here are a few of my most-visited and helpful gardening posts: Composting, Garden Talk: picking starter plants for the garden, Step Into Crista’s Gardening Space on the Brooklyn Farm Girl blog, what to eat now: Tomatoes, and little buggers.

TRAVEL + CAMPING + GLAMPING.

Because traveling has become a normal part of my lifestyle, I can hardly sit still in one place for very long. In one month I can go from Denver to Minnesota to Las Vegas then back to Colorado in the mountains for a week – some of that travel being for work, some for play. (THANK GOODNESS I have the most amazing dog-sitter!) It’s not uncommon of me to plan a girls trip to Austin 1 week in advance and book on the spot before even telling my boyfriend about it. (That actually happened!) 

The #1 most visited post on this blog is a packing list for a trip to Costa Rica, so I know that people are always looking for new inspiration, ideas, hot tips, and recommendations when traveling. Since I’ve got experience in traveling, I like to share my experiences in hopes of inspiring others to have badass vacations/getaways as well.

Other than the Costa Rica Packing List, some of my popular/helpful travel posts are: airbnb: a 1930’s Cottage, Boulder Eats: Leaf Vegetarian, Coffee Drinkers + the Green World Coffee Farm/Oahu, HI, Nashville Eats: Mas Tacos Por Favor, and Eating Out as a Vegetarian in Omaha, NE.

 

My goal in writing this blog is not only to create a memoir of my journey, and to stay on track with my personal goals but also to inspire others to live a more healthy, peaceful, and exhilarating life.

I appreciate any and all who support my blog, peace. love. quinoa. If it weren’t for the support and encouragement of others, this blog would not exist.

If you think you’d enjoy what I have to say, SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER or CONNECT WITH ME!

Loves you!! xoxo