About

Hi there and welcome! My name is Celeste, the author of this here little blog, and the above photo is my favorite picture of me as a little girl. Home of the Compassionate Tummies was created as a hobby and outlet for myself and to share my passion, interests, and thoughts with any readers that might be interested. What does that include you ask? Well, there are a lot of things that make me tick.

The Compassionate Part

The root of this blog are my tasty vegan creations. Once our daughter was diagnosed with a soy allergy my recipes quickly took on a soy-free form. She may or may not outgrow this allergy, but for now we’re making the best of it. The latest news (as of September 2014), we have discovered she is also allergic to tree nuts and peanuts, which means more challenges and adaptations. Isn’t this fun! Most of my recipes are also gluten-free or easily made gluten-free with a few substitutions. The recipe index page can help you find any of my recipes a little easier.

I am by no means a professional cook, but it is my passion. My recipes range from kid-friendly to special occasion meals with a lot of comfort thrown in. We definitely eat a lot of different foods and hardly ever salad (papa tummy is allergic to raw vegetables). I crave a lot of Southern-inspired heavy meals, but I love elegant fresh and light dishes as well. We do have a budget (even though we bust that just about every time we go to the store) so I try to make do with what we have on hand and what we can afford. I love experimenting with new flavor combinations, but I do have my favorites that I frequently use. Like you would imagine, I get an idea in my head and I try to make it happen. Sometimes it’s a success and sometimes it should go straight in the trash.

I will occasionally post reviews for vegan books or maybe even a product or two. I have discussed how veganism has changed me, veganism in movies, and my thoughts on vegan-related issues. I created a few different vegan pages I hope you check out, which are: recommendations on books I own, what I keep stocked in the kitchen to create the meals I come up with, and reviews on vegan restaurants in Denver or those that have a note-worthy vegan selection. If you would like to know why I’m vegan visit this page.

The Tummies Part

My very first post might tell you how important family is to me. If that doesn’t explain it maybe this will, I dropped out of school to become a stay-at-home mom (now you know why this is my outlet to civilization). You could probably say I practice the attachment parenting style, but it’s more a mixture of a few different styles. I believe no one way is right or wrong as everyone is different and balance is important.

I had a natural water birth and hope to have the same with the next baby. I do exclusively breastfeed and I’m all about the babywearing. We co-slept in the beginning, but moved to separate bedrooms so that I could get some sleep (I’m an extremely light sleeper). We are still discussing the possibility of me homeschooling our children (I was seeking a degree in Art Education so I have an established teaching philosophy). I have and will continue to talk a lot about papa tummy (my husband, Eric) and little tummy (our daughter,  Twila). Our next tummy is due to arrive July 2015 (nickname to arrive shortly after). If you care to know more about us you can visit this page.

The Home Part

Anything that makes this house a home for me and my family are my interests. I love art, crafts, and DIY projects. Basically, anything that I can do with my own two hands I will. I am most naturally a ceramic sculpture artist. I have a pottery wheel, but don’t get the time to use it like I want. I enjoy sewing, although I’m not the best at it, and the whole scrapbooking thing is just too much fun. We try our best to live as green as possible, we’re taking baby steps in that area. We really hope to start a raised bed garden this year and do a bathroom renovation. I would like to document both. I really have way too many interests.

So there’s your answer. Not a very short one, I know. I used to have a specific posting schedule, but my life has become far too busy for me to bring more stress upon myself. Therefore, I will post when I can. Hey, this way it makes it a surprise and you’ll just have to check-in once in a while to see if there’s anything new.

All the recipes and photos on this blog are my own unless otherwise stated at the end of the post.

Thank you for stopping by and getting to know me! I’m glad I have this opportunity to share my thoughts and recipes with all who appreciates them. I hope you enjoy. Please come back soon!