Welcome to the Veggie Society, a Whole Food, Plant Based Recipe Blog!

I’m Florentina, the recipe developer, food stylist and voice behind the recipes you’ll find in this virtual vegan cookbook. So make a pot of coffee, pull up a chair, kick your feet up and stay awhile.

Enjoy classic family favorites, human tested and re-tested recipes that are sure to stand the test of time. No robots, no artificial intelligence, just a real girl trying to make it all happen with my currently 6 rescue street dogs tugging at my apron. Godspeed!
 Veggie Society Family
 

About the Recipes

  • I feature easy to follow, plant-based recipes with a heavy focus on nutrient packed whole foods: vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and tubers.
  • To stay WFPB compliant I do my best to limit or eliminate the use of oils. In most recipes oil can be replaced with a splash of vegetable stock or water
  • Always Vegan – No animal products ever!

What About Protein Though?

Great question and quick answer: All Protein Comes From Plants! So we get more than enough of it from the same place all other animals do: Plants! (Reference: Slaying the protein myth. Read this…)

 

The Veggie Society Mission

“To inspire the world to cook nutritious recipes at home. To help bring awareness about that which is on our plate and inspire humanity to embrace a healthy plant-based lifestyle, thrive and live in harmony with all life. We are all one and the same, animals are not our food, we all love and hurt the same!”

Peluci Havanese Dog
 

The Story

Many years ago I stumbled upon a photo of a mop looking dog at one of the Hugh kill shelters in Los Angeles. I was intrigued for some reason, and before I knew It I was talking to the front desk lady at the shelter. She informed me as a matter of fact that this dog  is unadaptable, he is kept away from public (you know that word…) and I simply was not going to be able to see him. According to her story he was an aggressive bad dog who was returned to the three times and they were done with him. End of story! Whaaaaat……?!

So I wondered through the kennel confused, trying to make sense of this insane story when I ran into a volunteer who went against the grain, let me see this damned dog and made sure I could take him out ofd eat row. But not before I signed a waiver about his medical condition “lameness in his left leg”. Whatever people, I used the last few dollars I had in my checking account and for better or for worse, the mop looking thing and I will ride into the sunset (literally on Sunset Blvd) living on a prayer.

And so we did! Fast forward 13 years and we are still making it through the wilderness. Remember that “lameness in his left leg?” Was not even real, I had him checked right away by a vet and trust me when I tell you: this one is a fast little booger! No lameness, no aggression and really as sweet as could be to all dogs, animals and humans.

Lucky Peluci – My Endless Love!

What happened after that is what made me question pretty much everything I believed about Life, Love, Right and Wrong! Although I grew up poor on a diet mostly of vegetables, I struggled deeply with the idea of eating animals in spite of everything we’ve been programmed to believe and accept.

Peluci Rasta Dog

The Common Question: Why Eat One and Not the Other?

After all, it is socially acceptable in other countries to cook and eat dogs, as a matter of fact they have festivals straight out of nightmares, no different than how we have them in the US for lobster, crab etc… Disturbing to anyone with a sliver of conscince!

So I Became a Vegetarian!

But I still ate some cheese and occasionally eggs, because those are good for you, right? And they do no harm to the animals, so they say. Until I started to dig deep and do some research that will shock me to my core.

So long story short, on Labor Day 2017 our family made a decision to completely stop consuming all animal products and embrace a whole food, plant-based lifestyle out of self-respect, love and respect for that which is sacred and has been entrusted to us to care for:

  • the ANIMALS
  • the PLANET
  • our HEALTH
 Plant-Based Vegan Rescue Dogs: Nala and PeluciKauai Plant Based Paradise

I ran out of all excuses and couldn’t stand looking myself in the mirror If I didn’t stop contributing to the problem myself. This was my clear moment to “Be the change you wish to see in the world” -Gandhi

And so I created the Veggie Society – a space for all people of the world to find real pure vegetarian inspiration and support navigating and thriving on plants.

Feeling amazing, powered by real nutritious food, not hurting others in the process and without depriving ourselves of delicious meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert!

I am fully convinced that a plant-based lifestyle is the only sustainable way to live and thrive in harmony with all life on Planet Earth!

 Rainbow Kauai Hanalei Bay

Life Changing Educational Resources

  • The China Study  – a book based on the 20 year study: the China-Cornell-Oxford Project! 
  • Before the Flood – Leonardo DiCaprio’s three year journey exploring the subject of climate change! You can watch the full movie for free here!
  • What the Health Documentary – the health film that health organization DON’T want you to see.
  • Food Choices (Netflix)
  • Plant Pure Nation
  • Fed Up
  • Live and Let Live (Netflix documentary)
 
 

Favorite Inspirational Quotes to Live By:

 
“ Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. “ ~ Hippocrates
 
“ Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. “ ~ Thomas A. Edison
 
“ Animals are my friends, and I don’t eat my friends “ ~ George Bernard Shaw 
 
“ Nothing will benefit healthier increase chances of survival on earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. “ ~ Albert Einstein
 
“ A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, If he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.” ~ Leo Tolstoy
 
“ I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they look upon the murder of men. “ ~ Leonardo da Vinci