103: VegInspired Cookbook Author & Recipe Developer | Kathy Davis

Kathy Davis  00:00

So in December of 2019, I stepped on the scale and weighed my highest WEIGHT EVER. And I was a little embarrassed and overwhelmed and was like, I've got to make a change. And so I adopted a whole food plant based, mostly unprocessed way of eating. And it changed my life. But the number one success tip that I had, or that I learned was to plan my meals and my snacks.

Maya Acosta  00:26

Welcome to the Plant Based DFW Podcast weekly show with Dr. Riz and Maya. Our podcast focuses on lifestyle medicine, which is the use of evidence based lifestyle therapeutic approaches, such as whole food, plant based diet, regular physical exercise, adequate sleep and stress management to treat and even reverse the lifestyle related chronic diseases that are all too prevalent. Every week, we will feature physicians, dieticians, health coaches, and everyday people who will share the stories and speak on one of these lifestyle medicine modalities. Let's meet today's podcast guest Kathy Davis is a plant based lifestyle coach, recipe developer and CEO of VegInspired, where she helps people successfully transition to a plant based diet with practical tips, strategies and easy and delicious recipes without added stress in the kitchen. Kathy has a master's degree in education and years of coaching experience. She achieved her goal of losing 35 pounds on a plant based diet in 2020. After setting a goal to eat more plants and less processed foods. She has the strategies to help you achieve your goal. She learned the ins and outs of cooking and creating delicious plant based recipes with whole food ingredients alongside her husband John. They are currently traveling in their fifth wheel RV with their three cats across the United States on a mission to visit all the national parks. This is Episode 103. And in this episode, Kathy shares with us a little about her RV live and how she has managed to remain on a whole food plant based diet and offer some practical tips so that we can stay on a plant based diet as well. Also her cat Pete makes an appearance in the video. Finally we talk about Kathy's 30 minute Whole Food Plant Based diet cookbook, which is now available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback. I will include the link in the show notes if you are interested in purchasing a copy. And she also has a Facebook by the same name of VegInspired. Make sure to check it out. I had a lot of fun chatting with Kathy and I hope that you enjoy this episode. Thanks again for listening. So welcome, Kathy. 

Kathy Davis  02:35

Hi thank you so much Maya for having me. I am excited to be here and share strategies that I've learned along the way. And of course, it's always fun to dive in and share a little bit about the behind the scenes of RV life. So I'm happy to do that.

Maya Acosta  02:49

Yes, so we can even start with that. So many people who listen to us or who follow us on social media know that my husband and I are big into sailing and and living in a smaller space. And I've made in the past some videos on how you can cook and prepare simple meals in the galley of a sailboat. Because when sometimes when we do leave the shore and we go and travel that's we're relying on whatever I already batch cooked in my little instant pot. And now I may be heating in our propane stove on in the galley, like I said, so let's start without tell us where you're at and how life has been. And also let's make a point. I mentioned that this is February and we're going through this Texas storm. Have you been going through that as well?

Kathy Davis  03:36

Yes, so we are currently parked in Alpine, Texas, it's about an hour north an hour and a half north of Big Bend National Park on the western side of Texas. And we have encountered snow. And we actually we we've encountered snow a few times this winter. This is our third winter in our RV the last two winters we stayed in Florida. So we enjoyed a much, you know, warmer, more consistent climate. In Texas, we've seen days, you know, it's 70 degrees one day and then the next day A cold front blows in and a very, you know, abnormal cold front for this for this part of the country. And we have snow in frigid temperatures. So we have really, you know, had some new experiences to deal with this winter that we had not had not encountered before. And it's made RV life a little interesting. Fortunately for us, we did not lose power. And we we were able to prepare for the you know, the water usage, because the water hose goes from the outside of the camper to the spicket. We you know that fruit that froze, so we had to have other alternative uses for water but we were able to do that and it worked out just fine. And you may see my little cat tail here. Oh So I travel with three cats, and they're very unpredictable. And they like to be where I am. So I do apologize if that's distracting, but he is he thinks I'm talking to him.

Maya Acosta  05:10

I think it'll be nice if we get to see your furry friends. Oh, there yes, we can see a little bit more. What's his name?

Kathy Davis  05:15

His name is Eddie.

Maya Acosta  05:16

Hi, Eddie. So I like the idea of living a simpler life, I'm actually at heart within my dream would be to have a tiny house. That's just what I love. I can live in one room. So do you also because I know there are limitations. Like you say you haven't had problems with water. But do you have a Berkey or some sort of filtration system to kind of clean your own water so ago?

Kathy Davis  05:40

So that's an interesting question, we actually have an onboard system. And so we upgraded it's an onboard water filtration system. It's actually built into the line. And we upgraded the filters that we use for that. And then we use a standard Brita filter that we actually had from our house two years ago. And we were we kept saying, Oh, we should get something else. But there's nothing wrong with the Britta and so we just haven't taken the plunge to do Berkey. And our RV is interesting, it has windows on both sides. So there honestly isn't really a countertop that the Berkey would sit in. So it may require some additional, you know, navigation or figuring out where we could put that to travel.

Maya Acosta  06:30

So let's get started. In terms of how you started VegInspired your website, your health coach, so you have you help people transition to eating more plants, plant based foods and also you give them tips, you are recipe developer, how did you even start this way of life because you have mentioned that you're a former educator,

Kathy Davis  06:50

I am a former educator, I went to school to be a teacher. And when I first adopted a vegan lifestyle, it was it was really for health, like I was going to eat more plants and really take take more of the, you know, the healthiest options. So the healthiest veggies the healthiest. And at that time, I was still planning to eat animal products because I didn't. I thought just by adding more veggies, I would be I would be a okay. And that's that's a great place to start. And honestly, I loved that transition because it gave me time to find what I really liked. It gave me time to find recipes that I liked people that I wanted to follow people that inspired me. You know, I I followed a lot of the works of the plant based doctors Dr. McDougall, Dr. Greger, Dr. Esselstyn, Dr. Caldwell, it really embraced that plant based living. So when I made officially made the decision to no longer eat animal products, I was like, I need to share these recipes with people and they need to see how easy plant based eating can be. And I was so excited and so passionate. And so I, I started VegInspired really as a place to share recipes and inspire people to eat more plants. And that has always been my driving. mission and vision is to really inspire people to eat more plants, you know, creating recipes that are easy enough for people, anybody to get in the kitchen and try ones that are flavored with ingredients that anybody can find that that's always been my passion. And through VegInspired other opportunities have presented themselves. And that's, that's been really great.

Maya Acosta  08:36

You have a support group called VegInspired Foodies.

Kathy Davis  08:39

I do have a Facebook support group called VegInspired, VegInspired Foodies, and I actually do a free live training in there every week. I'm active in the group, I answer questions, I share meal plans and recipes. And those those foodies always get the inside scoop on all the things that I'm working on too. So I know that they they find a lot of value in that. And they're very thrilled. And it's a very hands on support group on the face in the Facebook community.

Maya Acosta  09:10

It really is I you know, prior to being plant based, I wasn't active at all on Facebook or even a member of any of the groups. And then I joined a bunch of groups, but I find that I like learning from people as well as sharing resources. And it's interesting to me or just fascinating how active most people are in the Facebook groups in terms of doing their own research, staying on top of this literature, really adopting a lot of things that are being shared and it really these Facebook groups really truly are supportive for people that are curious, all from being curious all the way to fully on board with a plant based diet.

Kathy Davis  09:48

Yes, and I definitely do. I like to talk to all spectrums. You know, everybody on the spectrum whether you're an omnivore that's curious about eating plants and really want to wants to just add more cases. to your diet or try a new vegetable, like I love sharing recipes that help people you know, do that. But then I also like to take those seasoned plant based eaters or vegans that have been vegan since you know, tofu was really the only option and really help get their perspective because I find that that is just such a, they're just such a wonderful wealth of information. And they have such unique perspective. So I really tried to make that group very inclusive, and, you know, just get people talking about their experiences.

Maya Acosta  10:29

So what are some of the obstacles that you hear from people that are like the reasons why they're just not eating more plant based foods?

Kathy Davis  10:36

The biggest obstacle that I that I hear from my clients is time, you know, everybody is busy, we're all pulled in 1000 directions, and, you know, all the things in life happen, whether it's a COVID year or a non COVID year, people have really been just pulled into this busy, busy this buisiness and I, my life has really slowed down, I, you know, my commute to work as a few steps down the, you know, down through the RV, I have the convenience of being right here in my house to make the foods and my life just, you know, slowed down a lot more after we moved into the RV. But I found that because it slowed down, I had more time to cook. But my challenges, I don't have a dishwasher. So if I'm if a recipe takes six pots and 15 spoons and all this ridiculousness, I can relate to the people that have this buisiness or the time because my time isn't necessarily spent prepping the meal, it's spent cleaning up the meal. So I've really haven't worked really hard to create easy recipes that don't have a lot of cleanup or take a lot of prep time. I find that we're a society of convenience shoppers. And so you know, you can be you can use those convenient Whole Foods, you know, pre cooked veggies, pre cooked beans, pre prepped, you know, your cauliflower you buy already chopped up. Or if you want to be more budget conscious, you can buy the ingredients and prep them yourself. So I think there's two levels, you know, time is an obstacle, but then also there's the money in the in the prep work obstacle. So I, you know, I like to balance my recipes and say, you can do this potato and broccoli recipe a couple of ways, right? You can prep the potatoes and prep your broccoli, or you can buy shredded potatoes or pre washed potatoes or you know, the small little potatoes that you can just wash and throw in the pot. You don't have to prep them. But you may pay a little more for the prepped ingredients. So I you know, I try to preface that while I'm while I'm working with people and sharing this information both in my group and with my clients.

Maya Acosta  12:56

I agree with you that finding different ways to make it easier for the individual is key. What are some of the either appliances that you would recommend people just have to just make it so much easier and doable in terms of cooking? And what about storage? Because I know, when we have live off the grid and all of that, and we are always going to be limited on a sailboat, you're probably even more limited in terms of storage, I don't know what is that like for you.

Kathy Davis  13:25

So we are limited in terms of storage, but not in the way you think. We have room for all of the things we want to store, we have even stocked up on items for a month's worth of groceries during the pandemic, when we were traveling, we didn't know what the grocery stores would have. So we we stocked up a little bit. But our issue isn't space. Our issue is wait. So we have a fifth wheel. And there is a cargo weight limit which we're not really close to. But we have to be very cognizant of the you know, canned canned items and heavy grains and things like that. Those all add weight to what we're you know, to what we're towing. So, our storage challenge comes more from weight, not space. And so we do we did downsize from a, you know, a standard, you know, three bedroom three and a half bath house in, in Pennsylvania when we left so we did have appliances that we had to get rid of. But we also had to keep in mind the weight of the appliances that we were bringing with us and also the location. I mean it comes to a point when you you know there isn't you can't just keep expanding out right the camper is only so big

Maya Acosta  14:45

And what are some of the more typical foods that you guys enjoy cooking on in your RV?

Kathy Davis  14:50

So we eat a lot of potatoes, they seem to hold up really well and we with the three cats, we haven't had any rodent issues that goodness. We eat a lot brown rice, our probably our go to appliance is our rice cooker, we actually have a stove top pressure cooker. So we've never invested in instant pot. Because if we were if we had to cook on propane, if we didn't have electric, we wouldn't necessarily use the instant pot that you plug in right, we would have to use the pressure cooker on the propane stove. So we did not invest we hadn't invested in the Instant Pot before we left. So we kind of get by without it and we've been okay, we do have a rice cooker that we use all the time. But we could certainly boil rice in a pot if we needed to if we didn't have electric, if we weren't hooked up to shore power, we were using propane to cook. So we use so we use we cook a lot of potatoes, we cook a lot of brown rice. And then we are fortunate to have an RV that actually has a fairly decent sized refrigerator. So we are able to, you know, buy a week's worth of fresh produce. So we eat a lot of fresh veggies or roasted veggies. In the when we first Left, left home or person moved into this, our freezer didn't really stay as cold as we would have liked. So we did transition more to a lot of fresh veggies. In the colder weather. The freezer works great though.

Maya Acosta  16:19

So you can share with us some tips in terms of like daily habits and mindset that we can incorporate so that we can be successful on the diet. And then also some easy recipe idea. So feel free to share however you'd like.

Kathy Davis  16:36

Yes, so I have, I have two key tips that I think work really, really well for this. And if you are a VegInspired booty follower or You followed me for long enough, you probably already know what tip number one is because sometimes they say sound like a broken record. But it is all about planning. So in December of 2019, I stepped on the scale and weighed my highest WEIGHT EVER. And I was a little embarrassed and overwhelmed and was like I've got to make a change. And so I adopted a whole food plant based, mostly unprocessed way of eating. And it changed my life. But the number one success tip that I had, or that I learned was to plan my meals and my snacks. It It was a game changer. And so in that planning, I have two ways to I have two things that you can do to set yourself up for success with meal planning. One, treat your meals, like an appointment on your calendar. So when you sit down to make your grocery list and look at next week's schedule, you know, look at next week and what you're going to cook, look at your calendar if Wednesday nights are super busy, because you've got kids events and you know, a meeting that's late at work and you're not going to have time plan in an easy meal plan in leftovers from Tuesday. You know, like really look at your calendar so that you can alleviate the overwhelm when you get into the kitchen. There's nothing worse than that what's for dinner conversation that spent everybody spends 30 minutes going back and forth and you end up ordering out which it might be unaligned to your goals. So meal plan is number one. And then the first caveat to that is treat your meals like a calendar appointment, right? Put them in based on what your schedule looks like. Number two under the meal planning is plan. I like to call it routine planning. So Mondays I always eat like a meatless meatless meal option. So maybe cauliflower steaks, or maybe chick pea meatloaf patties, or maybe you do like a veggie burger. And then Tuesday's always tacos. So you know for for four weeks, I might have four different types of tacos that I'm going to eat. And then on Wednesdays, it might be a bootable or bowl meal. So maybe the first Wednesday of the month, I do burrito bowls. The second one, maybe we do noodle bowls. The third one might be a quinoa, you know, bowl. And the fourth one might be a potato bowl, I don't know. And then and just so continue through the week with a routine and then just rotate different recipes into that routine. So that's tip number one meal plan.

Maya Acosta  19:23

Can I add to that? I like that I if I don't want to interrupt your flow. I taught my husband two things. I bought him a wok. And so he does all the stir fries. Right. And he loves it. I made it very easy. And then cauliflower pizza. So I have all the ingredients we do buy the already made crust and then he takes over and does that.

Kathy Davis  19:41

That's one of the things I love about meal planning is that when I'm busy, I can say this is the this is the recipe I'm cooking tonight. The ingredients are in there, just go with it. And I'm like if something if something comes up right, you know, I mean, it's easy for those of us to kind of run our own business maybe to plan ahead and or if you work, you know If you work a pretty structured job, that's like nine to five, you may not have that late late late client meeting or that call as you're walking out of the office. But not everybody has that predictable night, right? So if something comes up, and you've already planned the meal, and you know the recipe, you can hand that off. Or if you have a sick child, or if, you know, a parent needs you, you know, it really allows you to kind of say, Okay, this is what we're cooking. And you can do it, it's, it'll be okay, follow the recipe.

Maya Acosta  20:29

Yeah, cuz, Kathy, you know, I found myself at one point, you know, I'm not the type of person that opens a fridge and stands there. It's not a criticism at all. I just, I'm not that person. And I know that a lot of people do that I kind of know what I want to do. And then I'm just looking for the ingredients. But what made it easy for me is to make a list of all the foods we've already kind of mastered that are plant based. So like tacos, like you said, burritos and soups and things like that. And so they're on, what are you craving? And I bet we have something it's either in a can or we just throw it in the rice maker or put it in the instant pot or you know, but it's a so that you're not sitting there trying to figure out what do I want to eat today, not having a plan.

Kathy Davis  21:08

I call it like the dinner overwhelm that moment when you walk into the kitchen at six o'clock, and everybody's hungry. And it doesn't matter if everybody is you and a spouse, you and your family, you and your kids, you know, it doesn't matter who's there, they're hungry, the dog might be whining for food, the cat two, I mean, everybody's hungry, and you're having dinner overwhelm. And it is so frustrating. And a lot of people pivot right back to their old habits. And so if you are looking to make a consistent change, meal planning helps to alleviate that overwhelm, and really keep you on track to that goal.

Maya Acosta  21:41

Awesome. Okay, and you have more tips I want to interrupt.

Kathy Davis  21:44

So tip number two is, and this is one that, you know, a lot of people do different differentiate a little bit on it, but it was what made me successful in losing those 35 pounds after adopting that whole food plant based lifestyle is progress over perfection. I tell this story. Every time I'm made a commitment on December 1 that I was going to eat whole plant foods, mostly unprocessed with a focus on high starch. And that was December 1, 2019. On December 7, we pulled our RV to Key West. Right, the paradise of all outdoor dining and fancy restaurants and little bars to go, you know, to listen to music. And I'm like, how am I going to navigate this lifestyle situation? When I want to stick to my when I want to stick to a way of eating the line with a goal to lose weight, right? Like I knew what my goal was, I knew how I wanted to eat, how am I going to navigate this. And so I you know, I came internally and was like it's about progress. So if we're you know, and again, I'm a planner, so I had a plan for the week. But if if we're out riding our bike, we know we wrote our bike from the campground into Key West. And we got down there and we were both like, wow, I'm kind of hungry, and I didn't really plan a snack. So we stopped at a little cafe and I was like, Oh, I could get vegan Key lime cheesecake that's not aligned with my goal, right, that's not going to help me lose weight. But I'm not going to eat that every day, I'm not going to make this an everyday habit, I can have this little afternoon snack with a nice cup of decaf, you know, black coffee, or a cup of tea. And it's, you know, it's a one off thing. So I really focused my whole time on not every, it's not about eating dessert every a little dessert every day. It's about eating what's aligned to your goal every day. And then if those circumstances situations and events that might lead you off, you know, for a meal or a snack, you just can pivot right back on and get on to that way of eating because your whole day isn't ruined because you made one mistake or made one intentional decision, you're right back on track. So you're focusing on this lifestyle change with progress, you know, tracking your progress, making, celebrating each wins, celebrating each success. And then you know, really sticking to what aligns with your goal on a day to day and an intentional basis. So that's tip number two.

Maya Acosta  24:19

So that's a great tip. I love it. Just be gentle with yourself and then celebrate your progress. Because the more you do or the more you practice those habits, the more you're a long term way of life, right? Maybe I'm just imagining by people that live in RVs and sailboats, they tend to eat more fruits and vegetables. At least that's what I keep saying, I don't know if that's true or not.

Kathy Davis  24:39

You know, I feel that could be because we tend to chase the climate and so those fresh, fresh produce is more readily available. I was having a conversation with a colleague the other day and we were talking about just the you know, the way that RV life has allowed me to really get in A whole lot more fresh produce, because I intend to follow the climate. So I have access to different growing seasons when I'm, you know, in South Florida for the winter, it's just a different, there's just different veggies and things available.

Maya Acosta  25:14

Let's talk about your being a recipe developer, what is your process? Do you try to take this standard American kind of diet or traditional and transition them into change them up to be more plant based? Or how do you even start with your recipes.

Kathy Davis  25:30

So I do a combination. My husband was actually the, the chef early on, and all of this, I call him the chef, but it was like a home chef. He loves to cook before we went plant based. So when we made the transition, I just let him cook. I mean, I didn't know, you know, I didn't really know what was going on. And so over the last six and a half years, I've learned a lot of the techniques and strategies on cooking without oil, and, you know, flavor profiles that I prefer. And, and so I, I like to make recipes that I call them, they're like, recipes that kind of mimic standard American meals, but also allow people who, you know, I don't really, you know, if somebody doesn't really like me, they're not going to want a meat, you know, a meaty patty. So how can we make this, you know, a fun recipe that a lot of people will enjoy with common ingredients that they probably already like. So that's been one of my big focuses the last you know, six months, especially when writing the 30 minute whole food plant based cookbook, was really to focus on ingredients that people already use, right? Do you already have oats in your in your house? Can we make your oatmeal that you add animal stuff to Can we make that vegan by doing substituting plant based milk? Or, you know, maple syrup or dates? Can we you know, do you already have Are you already eating beans, can we make the beans the center of your meal by adding flavors to them, you know, we make a chickpea gyro where we lightly roast the chickpeas with a lot of flavors, a lot of you know, spices and herbs and bit leaves a little bit of vinegar to kind of get them you know, to be really like have this delicious flavor. But they're the center of these of these of this meal. And then. So when I approach a new recipe or a new idea, or kind of, you know, going into something, how can I make this recipe easy and taste good, but also something that you know, will will appeal to multiple people, you know, could this be a black bean recipe, but if you don't like black beans, you could use chickpeas? So I do kind of I like the swaps and that swap mentality. And yeah, that's how I approach it. I have a lot of clients will say I just, I can't look at my pantry and just pull together a meal like you can. And I said well, it's a it's a lot of trial and error, right? I mean, you know, I pretty much will use potatoes or rice as a base to most of my meals or beans. And then what do I have that will go well with that I recently found that I really like sweet potatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes, broccoli, black beans, and a tahini sauce. I just think the combination of those four ingredients just is awesome. Who knew I just pulled things together that I had in the house that I need to do use up.

Maya Acosta  28:31

Yeah, I like that. You emphasize that as your base. You have the potatoes and the rice because I am very much about starchy meals so that I can feel satisfied and yet I don't feel stuffed. And so sweet potatoes, especially when they're roasted. Oh my goodness, that whole combination that you just mentioned are like some of my favorite foods as well. Your cookbook is available right now on Kindle.

Kathy Davis  28:53

On Amazon. It's a Kindle edition.

Maya Acosta  28:55

Okay, and it's called a 30 minute whole food plant based diet cookbook. Correct. Okay. And do you go over some of those recipes in your Facebook group?

Kathy Davis  29:05

I do share some of them. Yes. I've done a couple of videos on my YouTube channel of some of the recipes I did. I shared the skillet spinach and artichoke dip, which is not free a lot of people make it with a cashew based but we did not. And then I shared our whole food plant based tiramisu. And the cake is an ingredient that would surprise people so that's always fun. It was just it just happened one day I was like, You know what, what if I did this, and so I it all worked out and it tastes delicious.

Maya Acosta  29:39

I'm gonna have to look into the artichoke dip. I have yet to make one. I never even made it before it was plant based but I love those two ingredients of artichoke and spinach. So I'm gonna have to try that one. Do you have personal clients that you work directly with?

Kathy Davis  29:53

I do. I have a one to one coaching. But I also have a group coaching program and That program is very, very high touch. So it's, there's, you know, the time that you you get, the time that you put into it is really up to you. But the accessibility to me is very high in that program. So you have your one to one coaching during, you know, each month. And then we have group coaching every week things on meal planning, we co meal plan, so we all sit down with our calendars and plan together. So there's a lot of accessibility and training in that program that helps people both take the next step to their plant based eating goal, but also holds them accountable. So and the fun part is you get to do it with a, you know, a tribe or a group of people. And so it's been really, really well received. And everybody's just, they're just thrilled with the group aspect. It's more fun with friends, right? It really is.

Maya Acosta  30:53

And so I'm assuming Do you do those on zoom?

Kathy Davis  30:56

I do. Um, so I utilize both Facebook and YouTube for my my standard trainings, my standard live sessions, and then I do zoom calls, so that the so that the group can kind of interact together, and we do those weekly, and then the meal planning is monthly. And that's a, that's a group zoom call as well. And I really encourage people to come with some ideas, you know, if you try to really good chili, let's drop that in the chat. Or if you you know, the link in the chat, or if you had this awesome dessert or snack that you know, you really want to share. And so everybody in my group is on different levels. You know, I have some people who are whole food plant based, and they want to eat even cleaner with mostly unprocessed or no salt and oil. But I also have omnivores who just want to eat more plants. So it really is great to kind of expose everybody to these different ways way of eating because it usually stems conversations about Yeah, when I cut out oil, I felt better and, and just things like that. So I just love the conversations that come and the support that people get from each other as well.

Maya Acosta  32:06

I like participating in all of that, even though and I've said in the past, even though I'm plant based, I still like signing up for classes and being part of groups. And so you might have mentioned that earlier on by what was your level of skills? In terms of you know, cooking? Did you yourself ever take cooking classes in the past? Or? Because you seem to be very comfortable? Now? Of course.

Kathy Davis  32:29

Yes. So I, I have taken most I've been trying to get through the Rouxbe, the Rouxbe cooking school. But I've taken a lot of the like flavors and this the actual tactics in the kitchen knife skills. And honestly, the real reason that I took the knife skill section was because I when I'm chopping on video, I wanted to make sure my fingers were where they were supposed to be. Because there's nothing more frustrating than watching somebody on a YouTube video champion with their fingers in the way and thinking, oh, gosh, please don't cut yourself on camera. So I wanted to be the YouTuber that nobody thought that was gonna happen.

Maya Acosta  33:09

I know, I've noticed myself sometimes when I have made some food demo type videos, it's like, oh, I know better than and my husband, he's like, Oh my god, are you okay? You want me to come and help and cut that for you? And I always kind of tease them Are you sure you're okay? You can use a knife. He's like honey, I cut people open for a living. He's like I fillet he you know, he's he calls it having a finance when he's working. I know what you mean about getting to the Ruby course I signed up for it. And I want to say 2019. In my first class, I was on the sailboat. And you know how they tell you to do their Amazon class and kind of have all your ingredients and photograph it so that they know that you're doing the work. Oh, my goodness, I was so tricky. But I really want to complete it. So I can just have that certificate that says I know how to boil water at a proper temperature. But I think those are skills that we gained with practice. And the more time we spend in the kitchen.

Kathy Davis  34:03

I definitely know I mean, I'm a perfect example of gaining those skills in the kitchen. And one of the things that really helped me is actually watching cooking shows on TV. And I know that that's, you know, seems counterintuitive, especially for somebody when you know, there's not a whole lot of plant based cooking shows on TV. But I found such you know, joy and watching these chefs on TV share their passion. And my husband really gained a lot of like the science behind cooking information. And so, you know, I'll have these in depth conversations about if it's sweating, or saw tasting and you know, and it's sweating is really when you let them kind of steam in their liquid when they're covered. Those are all you know, those are all new things that I learned as I was, as I was, you know, getting into cooking over the over the last few years. So it's just been interesting. Kind of learning the tech learning the words associated with the techniques. I mean, I was doing it but I didn't know that's what it was.

Maya Acosta  35:08

I was watching this show, a cooking show this base of a movie. These are happen to be men in the kitchen. Sometimes they have a female guest. But this mainly men, and they're just whipping things together. And they're like, I know how to do kimchi. What do you have? I'll make some kimchi from that. Or what do you have in the fridge? And I started to notice that my husband would just go to the kitchen and take like more initiative in terms of putting meals together, it really brings back the joy of why you're coming together in the kitchen while you're cooking. And the joy of sitting down and sharing a meal that you guys, you know, prepared together.

Kathy Davis  35:44

Yeah, that's a great benefit to watching that show is having that that extra hands in the kitchen. I always tell people that. I don't watch the show and the cooking shows and think, think that that's actually animal products or unhealthy food. I actually think, ooh, how am I going to make that whole food plant based diet? I'm like, ooh, they just did you know, I don't know, buffalo wings. I grew up in western New York. So buffalo wings were huge, you know, a pretty regular thing. And I'm always looking for ways to get buffalo sauce into my meals. And so I'll be like, Oh, they did a buffalo, whatever wrap and I'm like, how can I make that whole food plant based? So that's my inspiration. I just kind of ignore the fact that it's not healthy or any or it's it's not vegan.

Maya Acosta  36:34

There's some art to cooking that I think it's in some Zen By the way, also, especially for me when I'm in the kitchen. So I was wondering, can you tell our listeners just give them a little bit of a hint of what they can find in your recipe book? Because they are 30 minute meals. So that's encouraging what kind of foods can they find in there.

Kathy Davis  36:54

So it's really a variety I you know, there's a there's a whole chapter on breakfasts if you're like me, breakfast was always something that I kept going back and trying to find another breakfast idea. And so we have a few recipes in there that are fun, kind of based off of our experiences and where we've been. And then there's actually a whole chapter on snacks as well. So I'm I struggled with breakfast, as you know, finding something other than a smoothie or oatmeal as an idea. And so I have a whole chapter on breakfast. And then I love snacks. That was my biggest weakness and where I really found I would eat a lot more processed foods, because I would you know, it's snacks or convenience, right, you want to just walk to the cabinet and grab a bag of whatever. And so the snack chapter really helps me kind of dig into other ways that I could get easy snacks that are ready in under 30 minutes. And then salads and handheld. So I like I'm really into flavor. So there's a lot of sauces and a lot of not heat spice, but a lot of flavorful spices and just really using a lot of the common ingredients that you have to really bring out the flavor. People often ask what what ingredients should they buy before they get the cookbook to cook with? That's what I've been question I've been getting. And I'm like, Well, I love lemon and lime juice. I love vinegars. I do use me. So some you know soy sauce. So there's a lot of you know, the other ingredients, you can probably pick up at your regular grocery store, right. But sometimes mizo can be a challenge to find if you're in a more rural area. So I always say if you if you really want to add that like saltiness, and that umami, grab a tub of miso, and then you'll be ready to cook pretty much everything in the book. Not that it's an every recipe, but there won't be something you can't find at your grocery store. Right. And then it ends with desserts and staples. So we have a desert chapter and homemade stables. And I will tell you that there's two recipes in their homemade stables that have changed our like, just fulfilled us so much. We made a homemade enchilada sauce. That is so good. And we make it at least every other week since since I created the recipe for the cookbook. And then also a homemade barbecue sauce and a homemade ketchup. And they are easy to make and again at your regular grocery store and they don't have all those weird ingredients that some of these, some of these condiments can have. And so I was I'm so thrilled with how they turned out that I just I love to share those and there's like it's like a no an odd recipe to be like so thrilled with but

Maya Acosta  39:44

No actually, that those two things I'm actually looking forward to because for example, you mentioned your enchilada sauce, which I don't typically make from scratch. I'm going to have to look into that one and also the catch up catcher can be loaded with sugar. So how do you sweeten ketchup?

Kathy Davis  40:00

Dried fruit.

Maya Acosta  40:03

Of course. Oh my goodness.

Kathy Davis  40:04

And here's a bonus tip. onion powder has a little bit of sweetness to it. So when you add onion powder to something, it can bring out some of that sweetness, especially in the tomato based, you know, because ketchups tomato base, and it really can balance that acid, the acid and the tomato.

Maya Acosta  40:23

This is awesome. And you mentioned also your hardcopy will be out in March,

Kathy Davis  40:27

the Yes, the paper the paperback will release officially released on March 2. And then yes, and the Kindle edition is available. You know, it was available starting on February 16. So it's available now. Okay, so

Maya Acosta  40:42

I'll provide those two links in the show notes. It's actually one amazon link. So we'll just put one amazon link in there. And how else are people finding out about your book?

Kathy Davis  40:52

Yes. So we're, I'm doing some pretty I'm going to say aggressive, I'm really just sharing about it on social media, like I love you know, I love to share on social media. So I'm sharing pictures from it. I'm sharing pictures of recipes from it on my Facebook business page and my Instagram. And then I we have a handful of reviewers that received early release copies. And so they've been sharing about it. So it's really been just wonderful getting the word out. And the best feeling is when other people have the book in their hands. And they're messaging me saying, Oh my gosh, I tried the sweet potato and Apple breakfast plate and I love it so much. It's gonna become a staple in my kitchen. And I'm like, Oh, I love it too. I'm so glad you like it. Like it's there's so much fills, just fills my heart with joy.

Maya Acosta  41:38

Yeah, I bet. So well. Let's talk about your social media and how people can learn more about you. Your website is veginspired.com

Kathy Davis  41:47

Yes, I'm on Instagram at VegInspired. And then Facebook is facebook.com slash VegInspired or the VegInspired foodies Facebook group, you can find that you can message me on Instagram or through Facebook, Kathy Allen Davis. And I can send you the link to those. What else on my YouTube channel is youtube.com slash VegInspired. I'm on Twitter, but I don't tweet very often. So you're more likely to find me active on Facebook and Instagram.

Maya Acosta  42:18

Awesome. So if our listeners do get Kathy's cookbook, make sure that you post photographs and tagger. Share the you know, your creation with her recipes. Is there anything else that I might be forgetting that you want to share with our listeners,

Kathy Davis  42:31

I'm just joyful about this way of eating the power of plants really changed just how I feel in my own skin and how I feel in my heart about you know, just being able to get this information out. So thanks for having me on here. I've absolutely enjoyed my time with you. And I appreciate being able to share my knowledge and information with your listeners of the show. So thank you.

Maya Acosta  42:54

Yes, and thank you and stay warm out there. I know it's kind of tricky right now with the weather. But you're you're still preparing all these hearty meals in your RV anyway, right?

Kathy Davis  43:03

Yes, lots of soups lately. Yeah, same here.

Maya Acosta  43:07

Thank you so much, Kathy Davis of VegInspired. Let us know what you think about this episode. And if you're preparing some of the meals from her recipe book. Thanks again for listening everyone. You've been listening to the Plant Based DFW Podcast show. If you like our content, please like, share and leave a review. Our goal is to provide quality episodes to help support the community.