A bit about me

As this is the first post on my new blog, I thought I’d explain a bit about myself, and the inspiration for this blog.

I am an American girl living in Leicester, England. I came over in 2007 for an internship from the very sunny state of Arizona, fell in love and stayed. Just a regular girl meets guy story. The transition has been tough at times, but there are so many things I love about this country and city in particular: pubs, cream teas, seasons, canals, long summer days, delicious Indian food… the list goes on. And of course there are those things I don’t like quite so much: dark winter days, endless rain, narrow roads… and the lack of decent vegetarian food in Leicester.

Which is how I’ve arrived at this blog.

I grew up as a vegetarian in the midwest, and as a teenager in Arizona began to eat a bit of fish and chicken. Then, as an adult in England I began to eat red meat on very rare occasions. About a year ago my husband, who was very much a “meat and two veg” guy when we met, decided to go vegetarian for moral and health reasons, and I decided that I would support him and do the same. It wasn’t a hard transition for me, as I spent many years as a vegetarian growing up, and when I cooked at home during the week the meals tended to be mostly vegetarian anyway. The hard part is eating out.

Since turning vegetarian over a year ago, I’ve been on a quest to find decent vegetarian and vegan options at restaurants, and was amazed at the lack of options in restaurants around Leicester. But things are changing. Restaurants are starting to wake up to the fact that there is a fundamental shift in people’s attitudes towards their health and what they eat, and we’re starting to see a change all around us. More restaurants are coming up with creative vegetarian dishes, and we’re seeing more vegetarian only restaurants than ever before. So this blog is devoted to taking a look at the vegetarian restaurants around Leicester, as well as traditional restaurants offering vegetarian and vegan dishes on the menu.

I am by no means a food critic. I simply enjoy meals out and want to share my experiences for any other Leicester folk out there looking for a recommendation. I may also occasionally post stories and recipes I think are interesting.

Oh, and in case you are wondering about the name, I am a big Leicester City fan, so this is for all the Foxes fans out there!