118: Super Easy Plant-Based Cookbook with Kathy Davis

Kathy Davis  00:00

If you are saying "I can't have" that phrase, other people hear that, and then they come back at you with that, right? You're at a social event, and they're like, Oh, you can't have that. And that makes it feel very restrictive. And we want you to be creating the types of habits and the mindset that you can see yourself still doing in five to 10 years and beyond. So really, it's about, you know, looking at this as a lifestyle approach and really, you know, coming toward it with this open mind and this positiveness of, I'm making the meals that I want to eat. I'm, I'm eating the foods that I want to eat, I can have all this stuff. I'm adding all these new new varieties. So really reframing there.

Narrator  00:46

Welcome to the Plant Based DFW Podcast weekly show with Dr. Riz and Maya, a show broadcasted from the Dallas Fort Worth area that focuses on lifestyle medicine. This is the use of evidence based lifestyle therapeutic approaches, such as a whole food plant based diet, regular physical exercise, adequate sleep, and stress management to treat, prevent, and oftentimes reverse lifestyle related chronic diseases that are all too prevalent. Every week They feature a guest who speaks on one of these lifestyle medicine pillars. This show is for you, the person who is seeking to improve your overall wellness and quality of life. So whether you are driving, walking, or relaxing at home, we hope this show will provide you one more tool for your wellness toolbox. Let's meet today's podcast guest.

Maya Acosta  01:37

Welcome to Episode 118. And today's guest is Kathy Davis from Veginspired. She has been on our podcast before and today she returns to talk about her second cookbook and this one will be released on May 25. And it is titled Super Easy Plant Based Cookbook. And so make sure to check the show notes for the link to Amazon so that you can purchase the book and also you can find our show notes on our website Plant Based DFW podcast.com forward slash 118 for Kathy's episode. She 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. She and her husband 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. Today we're going to catch up with Kathy find out where she is on the road. And then we're gonna learn about her new cookbook. Let's welcome back, Kathy.

Kathy Davis  02:47

Hi, Maya. I'm great. Thanks so much for having me. Again. I'm super excited to be here and share with your audience some more exciting news about everything that's going on over here in the VegInspired World.

Maya Acosta  02:58

Yes. And you know, before we even move on to talking about plant based cooking and all of that. You've been on our show before we talked about you traveling with your husband in a fifth wheel. Have you been on the road for three years now?

Kathy Davis  03:13

Just over two and a half years? Yeah. Okay.

Maya Acosta  03:16

So I was wondering, last time we spoke you were in Texas. And so where are you today?

Kathy Davis  03:21

Yeah, last time we spoke, we were in Texas. We've actually moved we are all the way up in Sedona, Arizona. We were actually got the New Mexico State since we talked and the Arizona State sticker and tomorrow we move on to Southern Utah. And we will get our Utah State sticker for the side of our camper. So we're really excited. And we're going to hit some of those national parks as well.

Maya Acosta  03:46

It makes me want to get on the road. Where do you put your stickers either inside of your trailer or outside?

Kathy Davis  03:52

They're actually on the slide on the outside right behind me. So you can see that when you approach our front door. So yeah, 

Maya Acosta  03:59

How fun! I love it. So how are you liking Sedona?

Kathy Davis  04:02

We love it. We love it. We actually we don't do a lot of the I'm gonna say like the highly rated tourist things in areas that we go. We really love the national parks, state parks, things like that. But so many people recommended that we do a Jeep Tour. And so we looked into it. And we actually opted for an ATVs, side by side. And so Sunday we spent four hours off roading on like these bumpy dirt roads all over the back country of Sedona and it was so beautiful. And we got to see places that we never would have been able to see just driving our trucks. So it was really exciting.

Maya Acosta  04:40

Yes, I don't know if I told you but I grew up in Arizona and Sedona is one of my favorite places. And it seems like so many people I know right now are either going to Sedona have recently been in Sedona, or, you know are currently in Sedona like you so what's the weather like right now because I know in the summer Phoenix area I can get pretty hot.

Kathy Davis  05:01

it's hot. I think yesterday we were right, right, just a smidge below 100 degrees, we're parked up on a mountain with  a really, really nice breeze. So we're able to open all the windows in the RV and not not overuse our air conditioner because the breeze just kind of flows everything through. But it's very, very hot and very, very dry, which is new for me, I grew up in the in the northeast, where summers and this type of weather would be so humid. And so this is just a different experience.

Maya Acosta  05:33

I've mentioned also that recently, I've been on the road, I mean, I literally spent like 10 days on the road from going camping in one area, about an hour and a half away from us. Then I drove to Houston to spend time with family. And then I drove to Arkansas for a graduation. And I mean, I was more overwhelmed from the traveling, not from the eating plant based. So hopefully we'll talk about how we can stay healthy when we're traveling and like yourself, of course, you have your kitchen with you.

Kathy Davis  06:03

Yes, I am fortunate that I have a big kitchen and lots of lots of ideas.

Maya Acosta  06:08

So I have found my favorites when I'm on the road in terms of snacking, especially I don't know what it is about when you're driving that you tend to you know, crave foods, but I like watermelon. Sometimes I do jicama, the carrots and the the broccoli dipped in hummus is also nice. But when I'm on the road like that, I really don't have a lot of time to meal plan, because I don't know where I'm going to be if I'm gonna have a refrigerator or access to a kitchen. So, but we are going to talk about all of that, like how people can stay healthy when they're traveling, how they can cook simple meals, and also how they can meal plan. Is that right? 

Kathy Davis  06:45

Yes. Yeah. 

Maya Acosta  06:46

Okay, awesome. Just to remind our listeners, if they didn't hear the first interview, I'll place a link in the show notes. You are a health coach. And so I was interested in knowing that when you work with clients in your coaching program, what types of content do you share?

Kathy Davis  07:02

Yeah, so as a plant based lifestyle coach, I really focus on mindset, which I find most people don't really feel they, they need that until they start to explore their own mindset. You know, a lot of us know, you know what to eat, right? You want to eat plant based, so you want to eliminate the animal products, and you want to eliminate the maybe the processed foods, but you don't really know the the way to go about that. And so I work a lot on on mindset. I also focus very heavily on daily habits for success, something as simple as adding more water, or planning in the types of foods that you can have on hand for a quick snack between meals, right? So looking at what those day to day habits are really is, you know, one of the major pillars of my coaching program.

Maya Acosta  07:56

Okay, so you've mentioned mindset, which should be comfortable sharing a mindset tip for our listeners?

Kathy Davis  08:02

Absolutely. One of the big things that I teach early on in my coaching program is working with my clients on reframing their approach to this way of eating, right, seeing, eating plant based as a lifestyle change, not a short term diet is really one of the first things that we tackle. And I also help my clients really ditch those phrases such as I can't have, I can't eat good foods, bad foods, right? Because when you're approaching this as a lifestyle, I've found that more of my clients really find success, when we look long term, when we start to get away from those phrases, because what happens is, is you are saying I can't have that phrase, other people hear that, and then they come back at you with that, right? You're at a social event, and they're like, Oh, you can't have that. And that makes it feel very restrictive. And we want you to be creating the types of habits and the mindset that you can see yourself still doing in five to 10 years and beyond. So really, it's about, you know, looking at this as a lifestyle approach and really, you know, coming toward it with this open mind and this positiveness of I'm I'm making the meals that I want to eat, I'm I'm eating the foods that I want to eat, I can have all this stuff. I'm adding all these new new varieties. So really reframing their approach to plant based eating as a lifestyle is one of those big, you know, those big tips that I that I have early on from a mindset perspective.

Maya Acosta  09:40

That is so important, especially that negative self talk, like you said, the whole idea I sometimes find myself not so much related to food, but I find myself going I can't seem to relax or whatever that may be. Those are the words that I choose. And then I think about how I'm just kind of reprogramming myself to to really do what I'm saying, in many ways, so I was telling you that, you know, I've been on the road, and I want and this comes back to the mindset. So I've been on the road. And before we left, we really didn't do a lot of planning. We took an ice chest, water, and some ice. And then of course, a couple of other things. But we stopped along the way to, you know, here and there at Bucees, which you probably seen as you've been on the road. And, you know, you walk in, and before I went plant based, I would walk in and just I never ate any of that meat, because I stopped eating meat a long time ago. But I would pick up things here and there. Well, this last time we stopped in my husband said, Well, what are we going to get like in his mind it was like, Well, what is what is there to eat here? And I went straight to the vegetables and the fruit that they haven't containers for this trip, we just didn't have time to meal plan, like I said, and so but I have that mindset, Kathy, that I can always find something healthy to eat. And because I have that mindset, I believe I attract it.

Kathy Davis  11:01

I think that's that's exactly right. I mean, we definitely attract the things. And you know what? Having that mindset means you're open to it. Right? So you're not, oh, what am I going to eat here? I mean, yes, I I'm not a proponent of fast food. But there are some fast food restaurants that have plant based options that you can, you know, navigate around, right, you could get a baked potato from Wendy's or a salad. And then you know, you might have to bring your own dressing, but you can kind of mix and match takeout. This is what I always teach people mix and match takeout from different restaurants and make your own. Right, maybe you get some steamed rice and veggies from an Asian and Asian inspired restaurant. And then you know, you get or you get a baked potato, and you kind of mix and match everything. So now in your hotel room, you've got this smorgasbord of all these, you know, fun things that you can mix and match and eat.

Maya Acosta  11:54

I guess it starts with knowing what we should eat and then looking for that. So I mentioned that I didn't meal plan this time. Although when I went camping, I did and I did a wonderful job. I was very happy about that. What do you think about meal planning?

Kathy Davis  12:07

Okay, so meal planning is my number one tip for success. And I really approach it in a very specific way. I have found that if you meal plan, when with your calendar in front of you. So you know Monday nights you take, you know, a child to extracurricular activities, or Tuesday nights you have your own extracurricular activities, or every Wednesday, you seem to work late, there's a late staff meeting. And so you're there late, you start to learn your routines, then you plug in those easy meals into those routines. So if you know you don't have an hour to cook on a Monday night, you don't plan a recipe that's going to take an hour to make or you plan it and then you can delegate it to somebody else. So always, you know, plan according to your calendar. And then I love to use variety with routines. So I'll teach, you know, Meatless Monday. So if you have your routine of eating Meatless Monday and I don't mean that every day is not meatless because we're we're vegan and plant based, right. I just mean that you're focused on recipes that are like making a meatless meal. So maybe it's, you know, we meatless, meatballs, or chick pea crab cakes, or, you know, veggie burgers. So those are your meatless meals, I just gave you three ideas. And then you just rotate through those different meals, Taco Tuesdays, you could do potato filling and tacos, you could do cauliflower, you could do tofu. So now you've got three more ideas. So take those, take those routines, plug them in, and then rotate the recipes through. All you need is four recipes, four no recipe meals as I call those plugged into your weekly routines, and you can have your four per day you'd have a month's worth of meals. So it really takes the guesswork out. And if your family loves tacos, you can rotate through four different taco recipes.

Maya Acosta  14:07

Now you mentioned the no recipe meals. Can you tell us more about that?

Kathy Davis  14:10

Yeah, so my definition of no recipe meals are really recipes or meals I suppose that you can cook up without a recipe. So you might need to know the oven temperature to roast a vegetable or how long to cook the pasta. But typically it's more about tossing together ingredients versus following a detailed recipe. Now as you just said by I mean once you start to cook things over and over again and you have your favorites you almost don't even need the recipe. Right? It was a recipe at first but now it's second nature. Something of that effect for me might be a burrito bowl which is for me is brown rice, black beans, literally drained and rinsed from a can. Maybe some quick mashed avocado into some guacamole with maybe a little bit of garlic powder, some cilantro and lime juice to kind of brighten it up a little and then maybe go to GEICO or salsa from a jar? Or it might be pasta bowls, right? Do I cook my pasta, cook some broccoli, and then add some red sauce. So it can be something super easy like that. That is the sustainable meal. But you don't have to follow a long, detailed recipe. And really plugging in these no recipe meals takes the stress of having to find the cookbook, find the recipe, where did I get this recipe from? I don't know, I'll just cook something else. Like it takes that that overwhelm out, right? Like you know what to do, you don't need the recipe, you're just going for it.

Maya Acosta  15:34

I think sometimes we do get stuck in recipes in thinking that we just need to follow every detail in the recipe.

Kathy Davis  15:41

And I think sometimes we do get caught up in that. Like, I even think you know, when something's as simple as roasting veggies. And you know, like, we all know how to roast vegetables. And you know, even when I write a recipe for one of my cookbooks, I think to myself, I feel like I'm like boiled pasta according to pack instructions. Like I feel like I'm telling somebody something that they know. But if you left that out, they'd be like, Well, how do I cook the pasta. And so it's it's almost like we're relearning where you need to actually seek that information in or recipes. So you don't feel like you have to necessarily follow it detail by detail. And then I also teach people when I meal plan, that, read the recipes, when you're planning them, like don't just look at the ingredients, but read what has to happen because I found the other day, I had to do an entire recipe in a food processor. And I was like, Oh, I just watched the food processor. If I had read the whole recipe, I would have known that I should have used used it before I watched it. So make taking those easy steps to make it easier for yourself. Depends we think about things like that.

Maya Acosta  16:48

And also, I'm aware, you know that a lot of people that are now going vegan plant base, or probably didn't weren't familiar with some of the cooking techniques in the kitchen before. So yes, I understand that people need to understand how long do you cook pasta? How what how do you spice up beans, for example. But then it does become easier once we master something. And then we add our own ingredients and our own flavors. And it's just becomes easier, doesn't it?

Kathy Davis  17:16

It does. And I think you know, again, going back to like reading the recipe you might find when you read a recipe might be like, Oh, this is easier than I thought it would be it really is just cut all these veggies and toss them in the oven and roast them and then drizzle them with whatever sauce I mean. So sometimes it's about taking that step back and say, Oh, this is much easier than I thought it was. This really will become a no a no recipe meal for me. So.

Maya Acosta  17:41

So Kathy, you have been staying so busy. I'm impressed. You now have a second cookbook that will be coming out on May 25. And it's titled Super Easy Plant Based Cookbook. Can we talk about that cookbook?

Kathy Davis  17:55

Absolutely. So this cookbook is really exciting. If you are a fan of the my first cookbook, which is the 30 Minute Whole Food Plant Based Cookbook, I want to give you some really good news. This second cookbook is an entirely exclusive Collection of Recipes, no duplicates, so you get a double dose of all my favorites. And I'm so excited because this one is set up in four categories. So the recipes are either no cook, which means they involve no cooking, not even get some pre cooked stuff from the back of the book. These require no cooking. And I am an advocate for making sure that your meals are satiating. So not only that they are they know cook, but they also are pretty filling too. So I love that section. The next one is 30 minute meals. So it's another dose of more of those easy 30 minute meals that you love from book one. And then we also have in there five ingredient recipes. Now, what I loved about this chapter was really being creative with flavors that would allow you to maximize those five ingredients. So yes, you might need a barbecue sauce from this section or you know, as the salt free blend that's in the book, but you could also buy substitutes for that if you don't have time to make them. So it really gives you the option to make meals super fast, maybe that fast, super easy with just five ingredients. And then the chapter that I really felt like was is my most pride and joy is the one pot chapter. So you all know I travel full time in an RV these two hands right here are my dishwasher right? So when it's a one pot meal, I celebrate it, but those were really not meals that I had been used to making. I was always the one that pulled out all the gadgets and so this really allowed me to kind of embrace the one pot meal so we have everything from tacos, to breakfast dishes to sheet and meals. One of my favorite sheet pan meals is the scrambled tofu and potatoes cooked in the oven. How much easier is that than having to stand over that skillet while you cook tofu scramble like they are my favorite. So it's just a really exciting book. There's also a chapter on staples and homemade items, and a chapter on snacks and desserts. Because if you listen to me on any of my other, you know, places that you can hear me on Instagram or you follow me, you know that I am a snacker at heart and I love snacks. So there had to be a chapter on snacks and desserts so.

Maya Acosta  20:35

Well. So I have my favorite from your cookbook. I mean, there are a lot of recipes that I want to try but my favorite that or at least what I know that I'll start with are your lentil and potato soup. You have a cheesy broccoli soup, a creamy mushroom and noodles and easy mushroom farro. So I'm very much about soups, stews, and mushrooms. So I was like that is exactly what I want to try. Now, so going back to your no cook recipe, so my husband and I were going through your cookbook, and I was reading the categories that you have. And he said, What is no cook, as you can imagine, like, how that threw him off. He didn't understand. But basically those are recipes or dishes that are pretty much like raw foods like a salad, or can you tell us more about that?

Kathy Davis  21:26

Yes. So there's salads in there. There's also some sandwiches. And then there's even some, you know, there's some salads that you can actually enhance. One of my favorite recipes from that chapter are the artichoke avocado rolls. So it's like it has the like texture of the artichoke and then that creamy avocado with a bunch of spices, all placed in like your whole grain hamburger bun or hot dog bun. It was a play off of lobster rolls for those of you that are you know familiar with that that delicacy up north. But since we don't eat lobster in the plant based diet, we had to find something else equally as rich and luxurious. And the avocado just fit the bill.

Maya Acosta  22:10

I actually like that you have that quarter a category of no cook, because it's been on my list to make sure that I incorporate more raw foods into my diet, just so that I can get like all the nutrients in all of those foods. And so when I was on the road snacking on broccoli, and I actually like to just many times I don't plan like I said, recipes or meals I just eat directly like the cherry tomatoes or the grape tomatoes. I like to snack on those broccoli. And then I said carrots and things like that and I'm not having to think too much about what I'm going to eat because those foods to me are very satisfying. Okay, so now on Sunday I had to our sailboat and Kathy I feel like you know this is something we have in common in terms of kind of having small spaces and living on board for for us it'll be about a week or so that will be on the boat. And I'm already this time I will be meal planning So do you have anything you can recommend for me, I know that you have your one pot ingredients or dishes. Those might be easier for me I have like a little Instant Pot like the mini one and when we are in our slip I plug it in and I can basically cook everything in there. Otherwise, I don't have too many I have a propane stove and that's about all the options I have.

Kathy Davis  23:32

So I have a couple options. So one of my favorite things to do is to make some of those no cook salads. Fresh but toss in those hearty grains. So you could you know, you could make the you know, you could make a batch of farro and then add that to the heart the chickpea kale salad or the lemony kale salad, you could make up some of your favorite pasta and add that to the taco salad so that you have like a taco pasta salad so it could still be eaten cold on the boat, you won't have to be on the sailboat you won't have to be doing a lot of prep. But that pasta could be you know, sitting there in the fridge already pre cooked ready to be tossed in all of those with those delicious ingredients. So any of those soups could likely be trans transition to an instant pot soup. The caveat there is I don't actually have an instant pot we did not have an instant pot when we bought the RV and so we brought our rice cooker and we have a stovetop pressure cooker. That's kind of large and you know cumbersome to use so we don't always use that. So I don't actually I did not test those recipes in an instant pot but I would love to hear it if you do that potato and lentils could probably be done an instant pot. It would be done so fast.

Maya Acosta  24:57

Well aside from actually sailing which I love So much the second highlight of all of that is cooking on in the galley with it's such a small space, and it just really makes it forces you to be more creative with your space. And like you said, when we talk about washing dishes and things like that, you it's not like you can just continuously run the faucet, and you so much water either. So. So I'm excited about trying some of your recipes there.

Kathy Davis  25:26

Yeah, definitely. And you could even, you know, prep some of the seed bark, the chocolate seed bark could be prepped ahead of time and taken with you, because you just melt that. So you could probably melt the chocolate and a little pan over, you know, over your propane stove, and then pour that into, I don't know how big your freezer is. I know sometimes that's the challenge and the small, the small recreational, I'm going to say vehicles, but these these recreational luxuries that we have our sometimes our fridge and freezer doesn't accommodate all the prep that we want to do.

Maya Acosta  26:01

So going back to your cookbook. So you released what your 30 minute recipe cookbook last year, or was it this year?

Kathy Davis  26:10

February actually,

Maya Acosta  26:11

Are you constantly creating new recipes while you're on your fifth wheel?

Kathy Davis  26:16

Yes, I'm always test testing in the kitchen, I'm always looking at new ways that I can you know, maximize either my space or take you take a typically what I do is I look for cuisines I like I really like tacos. So there's a lot of taco recipes. And so I'm always looking at ways that I can incorporate new foods. And then the other piece of it is I really kind of had an outline to follow for both books. So the first book kind of finished, and it was submitted to all my all the editing process. And then the second book was like right in the pipeline to start on that because there were so many things that I left off that I had left out that you know, either didn't fit or that would fit in the second book. So it was like just kept right on going. When you build that momentum. It's hard to stop. Like I'm, I remember the first week that I didn't have recipes for the cookbook that I was that I was, you know, retesting and whatnot. And the manuscripts were submitted there for the for their editing round. And I was like, now what am I gonna cook like, what do I cook? What do I cook this week? Like, there's nothing directing my creativity, like I'm on my own.

Maya Acosta  27:33

That is so impressive. I mean, this is what you do full time. This is your life, you are basically on the road, and you're testing recipes. Oh, you know, last time we forgot to mention your YouTube channel, I think I don't remember. But I saw a video of yours where you were in Key West? I think it was and you talked about how you prep for some things, and maybe not so much. But I mentioned that because I wonder when you're traveling, do you find that visiting various areas actually gives you more ideas in terms of what you can prepare in the kitchen?

Kathy Davis  28:06

Yes. So one of the neat things about travel is that we're never at the same grocery store, which in the beginning was kind of like, oh, what are we gonna do about our favorites? Like we were like avid Whole Food shoppers, they love the whole foods products. This is not an ad I'm not sponsored by them. I'm just, I just love them. But when you are when they're not accessible, you're like, what am I going to buy. But then as we traveled around, we found all these neat ingredients, like I found dried mint at over at a and so I started adding that to some of my dishes just to see you know, kind of what it does. And it kind of spices it up in a different way, like adds this new brightness. And so I was able to use that and one of the recipes and just really starting to kind of learn other ingredients other flavors. We like I said I mentioned we love tacos, but we love to go and explore and try new things. We were in Sedona we ate at this great little tamale restaurant. Now I've got it I'm like hooked on making tamales like they are on my menu plan for next week, I will be making tamales and making my own my own VegInspired that spin on a tamale. So I'm excited to you know really does just add this new creativity and lend itself very well.

Maya Acosta  29:27

Yes, as a matter of fact, now that you're talking about tamales, so in 2019, I think it was I was in Orlando for a conference and we went to a particular kind of like a food. I don't know what they call them with this like four or five different little restaurants within a space. This was the best tamale I have ever had in my life. Because it was kind of like a fusion. I guess that's what they call it kind of a different variety, a different type of tamale that I had. never tasted before. And the presentation was awesome. And the flavors were very rich. But that's the fun part about traveling too is that you get to experience a lot of different foods. I find that to like in southern Florida when we travel and we're trying out different foods. I mean, I get so many ideas on what I can come home and prepare.

Kathy Davis  30:19

Yeah, definitely. So my family experience was very similar. So the tamale was there with the masa, and I think it had poblanos and corn in it. But then it was actually like, opened and talked with beans, and they and massaged spinach, and then guacamole and Pico de gallo and pickled radishes. And it was like this just delightful presentation. I mean, it was beautiful. And it was so flavorful to have this like array of, of topics. And I think it's so cool, because you could get it just playing but she was the person taking my order was like, No, I really recommend you try the the tamale Supreme. And I'm so grateful I did it was so good.

Maya Acosta  31:04

I'll have to get the name from you because I plan on going to Sedona maybe like, I don't know, the window for the good weather has passed, I think I probably will go around June or July and then it's going to be too hot. But either way, I want to try that tamale place this talk about your Facebook group. We talked about it a little bit. But also how often do you go live doing your food demos,

Kathy Davis  31:28

In my facebook group, the VegInspired Foodies, I actually offer a live a live training once a week, some weeks, it's me presenting, you know, similar to this style. Other weeks, it's me with a guest on there, you know, there's zone of genius, like bringing in people to really help support those folks that want to eat more plants, and maybe, you know, other things, we have somebody working on movement coming in, and somebody working with gardening coming in in the next few weeks. And then oftentimes, I will do you know, maybe talk about recipes or talk about foods, and then every now and then I'll turn that camera and do some cooking demos from the kitchen. So it really just depends on you know, what types of topics I see the need for. So I love one of the my passions is really to inspire people to eat more plants. And I take a lot of responsibility in connecting with my group members. And really, you know, finding out where they're struggling and finding out how I can support them in my free, you know, my free community and really how they, the information that I can share can take them to that next level, whether it's an inspiration, motivation, or just an educational tip. So yeah, I would love to connect with more people in that group, get you some free resources. Sometimes I send out meal plans, sometimes I send out, you know, links to videos, I helped curate recipes if you're looking for something specific. So I do offer a lot within that community. And then the community members themselves are amazing. They're always posting recipe ideas and, you know, things that they've tried or seeking help. And it's just, it's a really awesome group of people.

Maya Acosta  33:12

And that's what we find, right? That support is key. When you're learning to live this way. And finding people that who are like yourself, you're very involved with your group, and also they themselves can share and chat with each other. So you said in terms of what's next for you on the road, you're headed to Utah after Sedona, I think.

Kathy Davis  33:32

Yes, we're going to hit we're going to be in southern Utah. So we're gonna actually take the drive down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, because, as I mentioned, the national parks are our first, our first trip around the US. That's our goal. Then we are going to head up to Zion National Park and do a little bit of hiking and touring up there. And then we will actually move the camper up up into central Utah and visit Bryce Canyon Capitol Reef, we're going to do a little bit of a visit to Park City, Utah. And then we'll start to make the trek past the tee times in Yellowstone all the way up to glacier, which is for those of you that don't know it is way up north in Montana.

Maya Acosta  34:16

I imagine that you photograph a lot of these places as well. I mean, you're really building some memories.

Kathy Davis  34:22

Yes, we are. And we actually have we, we share those a lot. I try to share them on my VegInspired channel. But I also have an inspired we go channel on Instagram where I do share some pictures. I've neglected it a little bit because of the cookbooks and all that but we have been taking some really, really beautiful pictures of these national parks that we're hoping to get back up on on to Instagram to really share the journey with with our friends and followers.

Maya Acosta  34:50

Have you ever done meetups at any of these locations? Or have you ever considered meeting up with some of your followers at the locations where you're at?

Kathy Davis  34:59

We do We actually did a meetup. It was February of 2019. We posted it out we had about, I think there were six of us. So it was pretty small. We met at Ethos Restaurant in Orlando. And it was just so much fun to connect with my followers and my, they become my friends. And we would love to do meetups, I'd love to do book signings. So if you are on my route, and you heard, Oh, my gosh, I'm in Park City, like, let's connect on Instagram and see if we can't do something there. But I would love to get out and do some book signings, and maybe do some food demonstrations. But I know that we're still limited with the pandemic. So I've kind of held off on all of that. But I would, I would absolutely love to do meetups, and, like I said, book signings and just really share my joy and passion for plant based eating.

Maya Acosta  35:57

Yes, that would be a blast for people to meet you in person. And like I said, you know, to have a book signed, because, I mean, we already see you on YouTube. And so and follow you so just to know that you know, get a photo with you and, and all of that would be a lot of fun. Before I forget, was there anything else that we wanted to cover or anything else that you'd like our listeners to know,

Kathy Davis  36:21

You know, some of my my last, my parting words for all of you are, you know, take your plant based living one day at a time, take it one meal at a time, don't beat yourself up. If you know you accidentally eat a bun with eggs in it, it happens to us. And you know, you're making such amazing choices by taking control of your health, and the way that you're eating by you know, embracing a plant based lifestyle, enjoy it, find recipes that you absolutely love, and that you can see yourself eating in five to 10 years, and really make it that easy way of living.

Maya Acosta  37:01

And congratulations on your book out. remind us how we can get your either of your books.

Kathy Davis  37:06

Yes, so both of my books are available for order on Amazon. And then I actually did some some research and they can all be found at any place you order books from. So you may be able to get them at your local Barnes and Noble or small bookstores can order them oftentimes the bookstore will have to order it. But if you prefer not to shop at amazon or any of the big box stores, you can access them or ask them for from your local bookstore. If you need help with that, shoot me a message. I'm VegInspired on Instagram, and I can get you in touch with my sales rep so that you know your bookstore can have that. And if anybody's listening and they want to sell copies of the books, you can also do that I actually had a couple of places in in Pittsburgh reach out. So it's exciting to think that we can spread this message even further.

Maya Acosta  38:01

Your Super Easy Plant Based Cookbook. That one I really I mean, I like both of your books. But that one has such a great list of recipes that everything from you know spending some time in the kitchen to making something so easy without having to cook. And those are the recipes that we're looking for. It makes, like you said it makes life easier so that people are more likely to eat healthy, plant based meals. So thank you so much, Kathy, for coming on again. Appreciate it.

Kathy Davis  38:31

Yes, thank you, Maya so much for having me and to the listeners. Thank you so much for tuning in. We've i'd love sharing my passion with all of you. So thank you again for having me. I appreciate it.

Maya Acosta  38:41

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