About Me

You may have noticed my blog has updated. It used to be called CassBLocalHippie and had the goal of writing about sustainable choices, vegan food, and animals impacted by climate change. However, I got the most joy out of making vegan recipes and trying new restaurants, so I decided my blog needed to be rebranded after months of only posting vegan content. Here's to new adventures and to new intros...

Hi! My name is Cass B, and I am a vegan that LOVES chickpeas. I plan to use my blog to bring you vegan recipes, restaurant reviews, and food competitions! If you ever have any questions or comments on what I post, feel free to reach out.

Now a little bit about me and why I became vegan. I never really liked animal products. As a kid, my parents would try to feed me eggs and chicken, and I just would not have it. In the 7th grade, I started getting sick a lot. I always had a headache and would get physically sick from these headaches. It took a few years and finding the right neurologist to diagnose me. Turns out, I am just one of those people that suffers from chronic migraines. After getting on the right medication, my doctor and I were able to identify my migraine triggers - any sort of smoke, the scent of cooking meat, and flowers, like lavender. I spent the next few years avoiding restaurants that cooked meat and making my own products, like laundry detergent, to get away from flowery scents, and meat. This set me up to become a vegan later in life.

Fast forward to high school, and in addition to getting migraines from the scent of cooking meat, I also started to throw up every time I ate any meat. At this point, I was only eating chicken nuggets and hotdogs because they didn't have harsh cooking scents. I'm pretty sure those barely count as meat, but anyways, I decided to become a vegetarian. When I graduated from high school, I moved to Atlanta for college. *Go Jackets*  A couple of years into college, I developed this really bad rash on my face. Bumps all over my eyelids, nose, and skin that wouldn't stop itching. A few doctors later, and I find out I'm allergic to eggs. Having to cut eggs out of my diet made me really reevaluate why I was eating animal products at all, especially since I had already cut out meat, so I did a lot of research. Animals, like cows, are sometimes kept in small spaces and treated very poorly. Dairy farms have to force cows to produce milk just so humans, primarily in the US, can drink it every day even if the cows are uncomfortable and kept away from their offspring. Chickens have been bred to be larger and produce more meat just to feed our growing population. All of these thoughts made it click in my mind that eating an animal based diet was unsustainable for me. The biggest shock for me was cheese. I LOVED mac and cheese growing up, and it was basically my go to recipe. I found out that cheese is made with an animal enzyme called rennet which is generally made from the lining of a calf's stomach. Another shock was gelatin being crushed animal bone and found in yogurt, pudding, etc.

The combination of my egg allergy and the research made me go vegan. Now it's been 4 years of being vegan. I no longer have issues with rashes, and I have been able to get off the medication for my migraines. 

Being vegan is a huge part of my life, but here are a few extra things about me that will probably show up from time to time on my blog. I love to travel and hike. This year I did a national parks road trip where I saw 4 national parks, hiked over 20 miles, and drove 5,000 miles. I also love my job. I am a CPA in the state of Georgia, and I work as a consultant at one of the Big 4 accounting firms. My mom is my best friend, and I recently convinced her to go vegan as well! I try to live sustainably and produce as little waste as possible, but I am more realistic about it these days and am working to find a balance that works for me. Another fun fact is I enjoy *trash* reality tv, mostly the 90 day fiancé series.

I hope that you will follow me on my vegan journey and try as many of my recipes and food recommendations as you can!