Introduction


Welcome to my blog! I’m Alye and I’m passionate about healthy, cheap, easy, quick, and meatless food. I’m also passionate about David Lynch movies, true crime podcasts, and the ongoing success of Cardi B. I live in Los Angeles and work seven days a week between my two jobs, so I’m always trying to save money and time and find a little joy in my life. I absolutely love to cook, though to be honest I’m not very good at it (lol), so I’m always learning new techniques and trying new foods. I love how creative cooking can be; it’s unbelievably satisfying taking a bunch of raw ingredients and turning them into a delicious and cohesive meal. Cooking is challenging, rewarding, and can really improve your overall well-being in more ways than just physical health, so I created this blog to help inspire other people to cook more, try new foods, or even eat less meat. Besides cooking I love working out, writing, and talking shit with my friends.

My hope is that this blog provides a toolkit of ideas for your meals, rather than a recipe box. My favorite aspect of cooking is how improvisational it is—no two meals are ever exactly the same. Like jazz! So I wouldn’t really call what I’m sharing “recipes,” so much as “ideas” to reference and riff on. I encourage you to try your own thing and give me feedback on what works and what doesn’t. Or just send me nice, uplifting messages or pictures of your dog.

One of my least favorite aspects of food blogs is the expectation that you have a fully-stocked kitchen with all the gadgets in the world. My oven doesn’t have a window, so I’ll never be able to make a soufflé Lucky for you, most of my meals require little more than an oven, a stove, basic pots and pans, and a cutting board and chef’s knife. However, a blender is sometimes necessary, so apologies if you don’t have access to one. I use my roommate’s nutribullet, which absolutely rocks but I could never afford myself (s/o to Jordan!).

All of the food ideas on this blog will be meatless, because I don’t eat meat. I’d like to take a minute to address that though—I never encourage others to go vegetarian because I don’t think it’s a feasible lifestyle for everyone. I don’t eat meat simply because I don’t like the texture or taste. It’s disgusting. Raw chicken breast haunts my dreams. It’s also really expensive, so it doesn’t really fit into my lifestyle in the sense that I have a $30 a week grocery budget. However, I’ll never tell you that you shouldn’t eat meat, because that’s a personal decision everyone should make for themselves. Live your life!

Okay thanks for reading this long-ass intro! Now lets get cookin’!