Happy Friday, everyone!! Today we’re talking with the lovely, humorous mama and friend, Julie of @bauersgovegan. We connected on Instagram during the early stages of our journey with Willow’s speech. Her kindness, compassion and positive attitude was extremely comforting. As the months went by, a friendship blossomed and I grew to really admire her as a mother and person as a whole. Through Instagram, we see new recipes she’s tried, her adorable daughter and little snippets of her life.
INTERVIEW WITH JULIE…
Tell us a little about yourself…
Hello wonderful besolful.wordpress.com readers! I’m Julie Bauer, it’s nice to meet you. I’m originally from Morganfield, Ky. Home of the glorious Corn Festival–which I genuinely enjoyed going to growing up 😊. I think because I sat in my grandparents front lawn to watch the parade and they threw candy. Now I live near Atlanta–however we are looking to move to South Carolina. I started homeschooling my little girl this year. She has developmental delays–so the one on one attention has been awesome for her. I have a wonderful husband and a snuggly cat named Bob. I like to read, watch movies, play in the kitchen, be outdoors, and be with my family. I love to live healthy and believe in indulging.
When did you go vegan? What was your “aha” moment.
Ours was an evolution. We did a food test with my daughter and found out she was sensitive to gluten, casein, eggs, yeast, and peanuts. So July 2013 we eliminated those from her diet and reduced them in ours. Like I mentioned, she has developmental delays, so she gets things at her own pace. With the diet change, she started to get things quicker–still on her on pace, but quicker. It was awesome. As I experimented with recipes, the food was “eh” just ok mostly. Some web searching lead me to blogs with no casein and eggs–vegan and plant-based. So I began using their recipes and food went from “eh” to yummy. Using those sites got me thinking I should be more informed on veganism, so I first watched Vegucated. I would say that was my “aha” moment. Once my eyes opened, they stayed open. I asked my husband to watch it with me. After watching, I told him I wanted to try veganism with Audrey and I (wanted him to make his own decision). He was like “I’ll do it too” –like “duh, we are a team here 😊.” So April 2014 we began our journey and we haven’t looked back.
What’s the hardest part about being vegan?
Hmmmmmm…I find it pretty easy unless traveling. I need to work on my traveling eating skills. It’s tougher with my daughter due to the other food sensitivities. I visited family over Thanksgiving and brought cooler full of food with me. So it was really easy once we were there–just takes prep. My parents would have made us food–but I didn’t want her to stress about it. I went on a trip solo recently scoping out our potential future home. I only brought a few snacks with me that time and it went pretty well –easier since I don’t have to consider gluten. However I was hungry a lot. My husband said it’s easy because we’ve opened a door to so much more variety–said the way we ate before seems boring now. 😊
What does natural health mean to you?
Natural health to me is living my life kindly, considering the world and nature with my choices. I was mindful before, but it’s on a different level now. Being active, getting outdoors, and focusing on the day and choosing happiness are all a part of natural health.
What is your fave cruelty free product and why?
This area is my work in progress now. The Tom’s sensitive toothpaste is working well for me. Not that toothpaste is my favorite thing–but it’s important to me!! 😁
Who or what inspires you?
My husband inspires me. He has taught me so much about unconditional love. My daughter inspires me. She is a big observer of the entire world–we stop and smell the roses a lot. They give me so much love and I love to spoil them. (I guess my cat Bob inspires me to sit still! It’s hard for me to do!).
A kitchen gadget you cannot live without.
Oh that’s impossible to answer. I love my food processor and blender (xoxo guys). I use my mini cookie scoop about daily (not just for cookies!). I have a favorite skillet to cook with–is that weird?! My knives are vital and always in need of sharpening. My grater and I share a love/hate relationship–that thing is necessary but tedious to use (not to mention dangerous!).
What is your favorite meal?
Depends on my mood. I crave potato nachos. Mmmmmmm.
Three of your favorite cooking ingredients.
Hoy. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I have trouble picking favorites!! Ok, I can do this. Oats, quinoa, walnuts are what popped into my head first. I use them ALL the time.
Favorite resources regarding plant based lifestyle.
I have a special place for “Vegucated” because it’s the first documentary I watched. It’s not an in your face one–it eases you in. We’ve watched several since. I love the “Oh She Glows” cookbook. I have many others on my to-get list. I have a few books–but need to start them still (cue guilty look as I read fiction instead). You know what I find really helpful?? Blogs. Seriously, sooooo handy. My favorites are ohsheglows, thevegan8, theminimalistbaker, forkandbeans, veganricha, chocolatecoveredkatie, theplantstrongvegan, veggiesdontbite, dreenaburton, BESOLFUL!!! And I know there are tons more I’m forgetting.
Any tips or advice to anyone considering a plant-based lifestyle?
My advice would be to take it a step at a time–generic but true. Everyone has a unique transition I am sure. Blogs are a great resource for recipes, products, and advice. As we ran out of our current items in the fridge I replaced them with plant-based. “We’re out of milk” and in comes the almond milk. The recipe search is on. Make friends with Pinterest and tag recipes to try as you look around. Google works great–search “gluten-free vegan sausage” and up pops recipes to try. It took my husband about a month or so to let go of some things–such as eggs. It took me a month to not crave cheese. Once I let it go, it’s easy breezy and I have no desire for it. I think the thing that helped my husband the most was pointing out the protein in each meal. He’s an athletic guy and it’s ingrained in his head about “meat! protein!”. So I was very mindful of that and it seriously helped him evolve out of that programmed mindset that’s been drilled into us. So if your lucky enough to have a partner in crime–support those weak spots! If you are going at it solo–reach out! Instagram has been a great connector for me.
Favorite quote.
Again, I have trouble with favorites. But one I passed the other day speaks well to me. “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” Abraham Lincoln. I am the queen of perspective –it’s an art 😜.
Three words to describe you.
Determined. Honest. Loving.
Where can we find you via social media.
So far I’m just on Instagram @bauersgovegan but I have a couple friends who would party if I got on Facebook.
Thank you SO much, Julie!!! To those unfamiliar with Julie aka @bauersgovegan, please go check out her page and say hello!
Thanks for stopping by!
❤
Be Sol-Ful Living 
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