Hi there! 🙂 Welcome and Thank you for visiting A Sweet Vegan World 🙂 I totally agree when they say that “Veggies need to step up their game on the plate”. So that exactly is the endeavor of this blog….To step up the Veggie game. 🙂
A Sweet Vegan World is a food blog where I share simple everyday dairy free, plant based recipes that anybody can cook and enjoy. It is a canvas that perfectly blends my love for cooking, writing, photography and my inner conscious journey.
A sweet joy worth spreading! 🙂
My Vegan Journey : IÂ began blogging in 2010 with a food blog called Vanilla Bites, after I quit my corporate job in the financial services industry to spend time with my new born baby son. Food blogging allowed me to express my passion for cooking which I had harbored since childhood.
We all know that no one turns Vegan overnight. We all have our own unique story and so do I. I grew up in a family of hard core non-vegetarian foodies. The smells of coastal curries and fish fries and biryanis was a regular affair in my home. My mother was a par excellence cook and my father was a great foodie and her biggest fan. Our home used to be filled with friends and family who would come to enjoy these elaborate meals. They were a perfect team.. who came, loved and went. Without any goodbyes.
And then began my journey.. a journey of healing which made me question everything about life and death and the very purpose of our existence. Sometimes when we experience extreme pain inside us.. we become aware of the pain that other beings feel too… and through this journey.. I slowly turned Vegan.
My cooking influences : I live in one of the most vibrant and colourful cities of the world i.e. Mumbai with my family and am a mother of a growing son. My family too is largely Vegan now and we enjoy discovering and cooking up Vegan Meals. Though I love to cook recipes all parts of the world but my main influence and love always lies in cooking and veganising the food that I grew up eating which is mostly Indian food.
I love to simplify Indian food and make it easy for everyone to cook and enjoy more often. My inspirations come from the fresh produce that I see in the vegetable market and I then I just go with the flow. That’s why sometimes I find it a tad difficult to pen down exact recipes and exact quantities. But I try my best to be as exact as possible. 🙂
Making the Connection : Being Vegan is not about deprivation but it is about celebration of all the bounties of nature and respecting life in all it’s forms. As I treaded along this path, I also discovered the impact of our food choices on other living beings, our own health and our planet. Please do watch Earthlings and Blackfish (for animal awareness), Forks over Knives (for the health conscious) and Cowspiracy (for our environment). It is truly amazing how all these aspects are interconnected. What is not good for other living beings, cannot be good for your health or the health of our planet. We all are interconnected after all. It is a matter of making these connections.
You can make a difference : We all can make a big difference just by virtue of turning Vegan ourselves, imagine the hundreds of animals that you would have eaten in your lifetime and the agony that you would have caused hundreds of Cows and their calves. Being a mother, I am now acutely aware of the pain of a lactating female mammal and could never participate in that way of life anymore. Be the change that you want to see in the world and the beautiful changes you experience in your health and spirit will inspire people around you too.
You are not alone : Though, in physical life you may not be surrounded by many Vegan people at this point in time, but there are several online communities of extremely helpful Vegans. Infact, social networks play a great positive role in this and virtually every city of the world has its very own local Vegan group, on which you can ask any query that you may have and share wonderful Vegan ideas on not just food but any area of a Vegan way of living.
Finally- It’s all about love : Finally, as I now, have become more seasoned and gotten over the initial questioning of people around me. It is now become a journey of pure joy and a journey of celebration of food in it’s truest form! And from this happy space, I feel delighted to be able to share this joy of cooking Vegan food and sharing all the delicious ideas with you. Hope you enjoy it!! 🙂
A word of Gratitude : Some wise man once said that the “jobs” that your children will do are beyond your imagination today. The technological changes  are happening in our world at an unimaginable pace along with changes in our own consciousness. And I have realized that not only our children’s “jobs” but also the “jobs” that we, ourselves can do today and tomorrow were beyond our imagination when we were growing up. I am so grateful for being alive in this world of food blogging, food photography and food writing. I thought I had passed by my chance to be a “chef” but thanks to technology I can share my love of cooking from my kitchen and connect with thousands and thousands of readers worldwide.
Looking back now, I realise that I could never have gone to a “Culinary school” because there exists no Plant-Based, Vegan Cooking school. We are re-inventing the very basics .. we are re-inventing what “Milk” means, what “cheese” means. We are at that beautiful point in the Food world where re-inventions and Vegan food ideas are coming out of compassion and straight from our hearts. I am so so grateful for that!
Note to my Soul : And at the end of the day, it is important for me to remember that it is a journey of finally connecting and reuniting with my true self. And while I am here, if I can share whatever little capabilities that I may have with others, be as compassionate and humble as possible that I can.. I am home!
We all will be home!!
Cheers to that!! 🙂
With Love,
Shilpa Deshmukh.