About

Hi! Welcome to Plant-Powered Livin’!

I’m Jenn, a plant-based foodie, passionate home cook, obsessive vegan grocery shopper, and adventurous diner. I aim to make eating plants easier with delicious yet simple recipes, vegan product reviews and recommendations, and restaurant recommendations for the Bay Area and beyond.

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Easy Vegan Recipes

Inspired by my mom’s fabulous home cooking and entertaining growing up, I have always enjoyed time in the kitchen. When we transitioned to a plant-based household, I was on a mission to ensure that my family continued to enjoy delicious (and mostly healthy) food without feeling like we were missing out. 

I love to veganize recipes, recreate some of my childhood favorites, whip up quick semi-homemade dishes, and impress my guests with “can you believe this is vegan?!” food.

And while I may spend hours experimenting in the kitchen to create these recipes, my goal is to create straightforward, easy recipes for busy folks (like me) so that you don’t have to!

Because like many households, most nights there simply isn’t enough time to slave away at dinner, with all the kids’ activities…that is why I focus on recipes that are simple and straightforward to make, often using just one dish or saving time with hacks like using the air fryer.

My easy vegan recipes include appetizers, soups, salads, sauces, dressings, cheese, main courses, veggie sides, desserts, breakfast/brunch, and oil-free recipes. 

Superfood soup with lentils, sweet potato, kale, and more.

Vegan Product Reviews, Recommendations, and Assortments

These days the plant-based market is exploding, with endless new products to try! With 4 very hungry taste-testers at home, we LOVE to try new vegan items and share our faves with family and friends. When we all love it, we know we have a winner to recommend!

As a self-proclaimed Trader Joe’s junkie, I visit TJ’s weekly and never miss a new vegan item. My uber popular Best Trader Joe’s Vegan Food list has been running for over three years, and I keep it updated with the most remarkably tasty and uniquely Trader Joe’s vegan items.

In addition, I create more focused Trader Joe’s vegan lists and recipe ideas: from appetizers, salads, and quick meal ideas to vegan snacks, the dairy-free assortment, and best vegan frozen meals, Plant-Powered Livin’ is your go-to for all things vegan Trader Joe’s.

But that’s not all, Plant-Powered Livin’ offers tried-and-true product reviews and recommendations from a variety of retailers and brands…like the best vegan cheeses on the market, high-protein snacks to buy, and Costco vegan food worth bulk buying. And don’t forget the wine😉!

Collage of the best Trader Joe's dairy free items.

Vegan Dining Out Made Easier

My goal is to make eating plants easier…not just at home, but when dining out, too. And while it’s fairly easy to find the local vegan restaurant (if there is one), I find it much more challenging to eat out when dining with omnivores. That is why Plant-Powered Livin’ focuses primarily on restaurants that are sure to impress vegans, vegan dabblers, and omnivores alike!

Married to a fellow foodie, my flexitarian husband and I are on a constant hunt to discover the most delicious and unique food around. We follow all the latest restaurant happenings on sites like Eater, user review sites like Yelp, and other local news outlets, and then proceed to scour those menus for vegan dishes. Date nights are often spent checking out new restaurants, unique dives, and an overall eclectic mix of cuisines.

Our food-obsessed mindset follows us on our traveling adventures, too. Wherever we go, we undoubtedly spend more time researching restaurants than planning our sightseeing. We use travel sites like Trip Advisor, vegetarian and vegan sites like Happy Cow, and other local blogs to seek out the most delicious-sounding vegan food in the area. And then, we take it a step further by researching popular omnivore establishments to see if they offer intentionally vegan choices that are worth a visit.

Only after finding these spots, dining at them ourselves, and truly enjoying the food do we recommend them, often with tips on dishes to order (and dishes not to order!). Plenty of restaurants that we try don’t make to this blog.

Here at Plant-Powered Livin’, you will find carefully curated lists of restaurant recommendations (and specific must-try dishes!) around the Bay Area, plus other destinations around the world where we have spent a significant amount of time eating (and researching eating:))!.

Collage of vegan dishes from travels to Lisbon, Portugal.

Recognitions and Interviews

It was an honor to receive the Lux Life Magazine’s Food & Beverage Award in 2023 for Best Plant-Based Blogger in the U.S.🙏🏼!

It was also flattered to be interviewed on the local podcast in my community, Lamorinda Living, in 2021. You can listen to the interview on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

More about Me

I am a mom, wife, blogger, freelance writer, passionate home cook, and wanderluster living in the Bay Area of Northern California. I was pescatarian for over twenty years before transitioning to an imperfect vegan lifestyle in the summer of 2017, and I have never felt healthier and more genuinely myself than I do today.

With a business degree from Tulane University, I spent the first fourteen years of my career in Marketing at Old Navy. After having my second child, I pivoted to freelance writing to allow for more flexibility.

After contributing to a handful of food, health, and wellness blogs over the past decade, I was finally ready to start my own! A true labor of love, this blog launched in January 2020.

In my free time, I can be found driving my kids to their endless activities, hiking with my beloved mutt, taking a circuit training class, checking out some live music, or planning our next exotic travel (and eating) adventure.

Everybody is on their own path, at their own pace, and I am honored that our paths are crossing. My hope is to inspire and motivate my visitors to explore the plant-based world, one bite at a time. 

I always welcome your ideas and feedback! Feel free to contact me.

Finally, I offer 1:1 coaching for folks who are aiming to eat more plant-based meals and looking for some support to make it less daunting (and more fun!).

Cheers!

– Jenn