About

Welcome to

The Green Penn.

After spending a several of my early adult years modeling and competing in fitness competitions while following mainstream diet and exercise advice, my body was in a state of total chaos. I was gaining weight quickly no matter how little I ate or how much I worked out. My hormones were completely out of balance, and I was diagnosed with infertilityin April of 2011. Doctors told me I’d never be able to conceive without hormone therapy, but after researching, I decided to take a different route. I delved into natural health and nutrition, allowing my body to heal itself. I saw few results with a paleo diet, which was the first drastic change I made. I’d never felt that meat was something my body processed well, and after lots of reading, I felt a raw plant-based diet was what I needed to heal. I also stopped hard, heavy workouts and switched to yoga for most of my fitness routine. I followed a 100% raw high-fruit, low fat diet and gentle exercise plan for almost a full year, and with no medical help, I became pregnant in the summer of 2012. As a matter of fact, I felt so amazing eating this way, that I didn’t even realize I was pregnant until around 7 weeks. Needless to say, it opened my eyes to the healing power of fruits and veggies and self-care.

Since then, I’ve gone on the complete yoga teacher training and the Living On Live Foods raw vegan chef program. I haven’t followed a raw food lifestyle in a few years, but I have been thriving on a mostly-whole food plant-based diet. I have learned to veganize so many of my favorite childhood recipes, as well as create new ones, which I share here. My weight and general health have been stable for 9 years now, and I’ve even grown my family, again with no medical intervention. I’m now the mother of two beautiful and brilliant children, Charlotte and Bodhi, who keep me inspired to grow and create, even when they also keep me too busy to share that creativity on this blog.

I hope that, through this site, I can inspire others to realize their potential for health and happiness. You will find mostly recipes here, along with gardening and general family life updates.  Thanks for visiting!