About Vanesscipes

Vanesscipes, though hard to spell, is an easy concept: Vanessa’s Recipes. Oh, and the recipes happen to be mostly vegan and all vegetarian. Every recipe is original unless, of course, I’ve noted otherwise. But they’re mostly all original or else I would have named this site “Someoneelsescipes.”
I’m not an expert.
I’m not a trained chef, photographer, comedian, or grammatician. I’m using food as my medium to help investigate this wild and wonderful world, and to learn-by-practicing the following concepts. I’m sure they can be learned though any medium; cooking just happens to be mine.

Mindful Appreciation:

Heck, eating is something that’s so easy to enjoy. Why not go a little further and indulge in the preparation, paying close attention to each moment of working with the food: the slippery feel of vegetables, the calming repetition of chopping. Be also mindful of eating — the taste, the textures, the shape of the food on your tongue, the sounds, the colors. Wallow in each moment and be thankful for the beauty of the meal and the people with whom you’re sharing it.

Health and Balance:

Vanesscipes are delicious-, delectable-, and divine-in-your-mouth but I also want your body to feel the same way. When I develop these recipes I consider the entire meal and give suggestions to make it full, satisfying and cover all nutritional bases. I also emphasize the spiritual, emotional, and seasonal elements to food and encourage you to pay attention to your body and attitude, and to use the food you eat as an individual “prescription” to maintain your life’s balance. You know, instead of following food fads and other trendy stuff like that.

Fun:

You don’t need to think too hard about this. Relax. Enjoy. Don’t worry if you don’t have the exact ingredients or if you can or can not do a particular technique. Have confidence in yourself - if you’re excited about it, chances are it’s going to be tasty. I’m not going to be able to quote any empirical/nutritional/vitaminic statistics, but enjoyment is an equally important part of the eating process as becoming physically nourished.

Practical:

Let’s face it. We’re all busy. Work, more work, loved ones, alone time, commuting, exercise… sleep. As nice as it would be to visit the farmer’s market every day and make each meal and snack from scratch, that doesn’t happen as often as preferred. Do it when you can and don’t sweat it when you can’t. Better to savor the time you do have than worry over what you can’t change.

Energy:

Eating vegetarian interests me because plants seem to quite obviously have a higher energy level than, you know, animal flesh. Food has energy that our bodies intake in ways still mysterious to mighty science so it makes sense to me to eat most directly from the earth.

Well, folks, that’s enough about me.  Thanks for stopping by.