ME in a few minutes

There is only one way to live life: the way you want - Kelly Mah (me, plant.fud)

I was today years old when I felt an overwhelming calling to write a blog post in this space. I want to give a little backstory- I love hearing other women's stories. How they came to where they are now, what did they have to overcome- just raw story. So here I am, and here it is!

Behind the food, the happy dessert posts, the travel over on my personal page- there is a person behind it all! And maybe learning about this person may give you more resonation to the pretty IG posts.

In 2015, myself and my husband went vegan- it changed the game. I have talked about my humble vegan beginnings in my book!

I have been a lifelong foodie, photography hobbyist, and a queen of DIY. For example, when I was getting married, I learned how to do hair and makeup from YouTube videos, so that I could style myself for my wedding- and it worked out! Everyone thought I was crazy (at first) but I truly enjoy the process of learning shit- and being in the drivers seat in every way possible- I also don't like when people touch my hair ;) When my house needed artwork, i’d paint something- i'm no Picasso but I was able to create the vibe I needed. And being vegan, creativity helps A LOT! I love experimenting in the kitchen. I thank my parents who are very creative and crafty. My dad is a woodworker, restores classic cars, successful business owner, and my mom is a child whisperer, loves sports and insanely creative.

Ever since 2007, I LOVED to cook- and try out different food- there was nothing I wouldn't eat- or love, really. I remember when we first went vegan- we travelled to Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Montreal, Calgary, New York, Los Angeles, Scottsdale and many others just to eat at vegan restaurants. We would just eat all day and then i’d write down inspiration for meals to cook at home. Ah it was so much fun!

Real life- one day we had an epiphany while beginning to build our dream house- we wanted to actually cut the mortgage chains rather than adding a mortgage to our life. So we started to jot down things that were important to us.

We were throwing ideas out- to either open a juice bar in Toronto, or travel SE Asia working on things we were passionate about.

Our plan was to leave our corporate careers, sell all of our things, have two kids close in age and leave our country of Canada for a longer term life of travel.

So in 2019, with our 1 year old and 4 month old, we started in Hawaii, and then ventured to Bangkok, all over Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia to name a few!

I created my cookbook entitled PlantFUD whilst living in SE Asia, with a lifelong love of cooking, a side hustle of freelance recipe creation, and the amazing teachings of Chef Akikosan from Japan (I learned so much from her while we were both living in Malaysia) I created my first recipe book!

We lived in 8 countries in 2 years, moving to our last destination country of Mexico in late 2020- and have

been exploring this country ever since.

So basically, what I am also hinting to you is that all of my creations have been made in air bnbs with very limited resources- and still do! Each time we move, sometimes every month, there are completely different grocery stores, types of food, different ingredients, sourcing challenges, lighting hurdles, and so much more- but when there's a will there's a way! And it also proved that my recipes can be made anywhere, with very limited ingredients, as well as limited counter space and kitchen gear. And also sticking to simple ingredients and as little steps as possible makes things easier.

Having new neighbours and friends who have been able to try my food while travelling, has made it so fun to not only spread the vegan message, but to have people from all different walks of life give me feedback and enjoy my food!

I want this blog to be nice and easy, quick, bitesized to read packed with some of my photography. I will be chatting about our travel life, get more in depth about food, ingredients, fruit, superfoods (my passion) and put out some more recipes in here- more meaty ones (no pun)

I am writing this in the mountains, overlooking a lake in west/ central Mexico. Our plans are to continue spending all our time together, create more delicious food, pull back more and more layers of myself to become as authentic as I can possibly be!

Thank you for coming on the ride! Til next post ;)

travel family vegan chef travelling mom