This is the third life of this blog.

My name is Lauren, I’m a vegetarian, and A Tale of Two Veggies is my beloved blog.

I know what some of you are thinking: “Beloved?” you ask, “This is just your first post!”

Well, my friend, the truth of the matter is that Two Veggies isn’t a new blog, in fact, it has a long(ish) and varied history. Today I’m opening a new chapter in this blog’s book; a fresh start, a new page… but the nostalgia in me has a hard time just discarding Two Veggie’s old roots and moving on without mention of the chapters that came before. This little bloggy has gone through a number of drastic transformations, and before I kick off its new life with a bang, I want to pay homage to everything its gone through…

Melodramatic? Quite possibly. Super duper interesting? You betcha!

So for all my former (and new!) readers and subscribers out there who might be confused (and for whoever else cares…), below is the tale (thus far) of A Tale of Two Veggies:

A tale in three parts…

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in the summer of 2008, I lost a lot of weight. Like, A LOT of weight… like, 50 or so pounds. To help hold myself accountable, I started Two Veggies (under a different name) as a place to blog about healthy recipes and all the crazy ups and downs of weight loss. It was going pretty strong for awhile, but soon summer ended and I moved back to college, where I resumed a steady diet of Ramen noodles and dining hall fro-yo…

You can probably fill in the blanks about what happened…though I managed to keep the weight off for a significant period of time, my life was severely lacking in anything remotely resembling a vegetable, and so, little by little the weight crept back on and Two Veggies laid dormant and forgotten.

Chapter 2

Flash forward two years later. Me and my most significant veggie-friend graduated college and moved to Boston, where we knew no one. Jobless and friendless with a little too much time on my hands, I may have watched Julie & Julia one too many times, and decided to solve my newfound identity crisis the way any true foodie should — with a blog! But not just any blog; a blog with a challenge!

Having regained all my former weight, I wanted to do something that would make weight loss fun again — something that would challenge me to quit my bitchin’ and get my ass crackin’ in the kitchen.

Being the devoted Veggie that I am, I chose to cook my way through the Bible of all vegetarian cookbooks: Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.” Thus, A Tale of Two Veggies (Mr. Bittman and I, for all who haven’t caught on) was reborn.

Unfortunately, after a month or so of pestering the publishing company for the permission to reproduce the recipes on Two Veggies, my request was denied. I could still post pictures and blog about my progress, but the recipes themselves had to remain super top secret and, well, what’s the fun in that?

Bruised from my break-up with blog attempt numero duex, I tried my hand at rebound blog over on blogspot for awhile, but in the end, I came crawling back to Two Veggies, where I decided it was time for a reinvention.

Chapter 3

Here we are at the start of the third, yet unwritten chapter of Two Veggies. I’m thinkin’ these days, Two Veggies will be just a regular ol’ food blog where I post pictures that make me hungry and vegetarian recipes that make my tummy happy. As for the name of this blog, well, I’m thinking it’s here to stay… partially because there are still two veggies in my life (me and le boyfriend), but mainly because coming up with a clever name for a blog is hard work, and my brain doesn’t have the stamina for that sorta thinkin’.

You’re probs wondering what happened with the weight loss… well, it’s something I’m workin’ on. At the moment, other important things in my life have taken the front seat, but I’m 100% confident that when the time is right, I’ll get back to my ol’ skinny self. Happy and healthy go hand-in-hand after all.

The former lives of this blog will occasionally make an appearance: healthy recipes, minimalist Bittman style food, but for the third life of Two Veggies, I’m leaving the “theme” open-ended. In the coming weeks, months, years (maybe?), I challenge you to help me write the third chapter: send me your recipes, tell me what you want to see!

I know that was a pretty long introduction to who this blog is…all you newbies out there may still be wondering who I am. You can learn more about me here, or you can do me a super big favor and subscribe *hint hint* and learn more about me in upcoming posts. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me, I’m always happy to hear from you, ‘specially you little biddies that knew Two Veggies in its former lives!

Here’s to happy cooking and a successful start to chapter three!