To continue that earlier thought...

Reigniting my passion for starting the website is that conversation I had about vegetarian food in the checkout line at Sunflower.

The lady wanted to know what to cook because her father just had major surgery and ever since, he's become a vegetarian. Problem is, she has no idea what to cook for him. He's grossed out by all his old favorite foods like gravy and bacon. She thinks you just feed a vegetarian broccoli...

Yikes!

Most meat eaters think you feed vegetarians vegetables and salad. People forget that everyone needs a balanced diet including protein, whether they are vegetarian or not. There are lots of malnourished people out there, vegetarians and meat eaters alike. It's not that hard to properly feed a vegetarian or a vegan, or someone just interested in altering their diet with veg type foods.

That's the whole idea behind starting this site. People are more interested in alternative foods than ever. I saw a lady in a doctor's office the other day talking about how hard it was to deal with a son who she had just found out was allergic to eggs. She was saying she couldn't believe how many foods eggs are in as an ingredient.

She could go to Sunflower, Sprouts, and Whole Foods and look for packaged foods marked "vegan."

The woman with a father who is now vegetarian in his 80s? She can go for vegetarian and vegan foods, learn to make some tofu, seitan, and many more veg-friendly dishes.

Lactose intolerant? That's me. It doesn't keep me away from those 3 Musketeer candy bars though! But I do know with some time and effort I can obtain good, lactose-free, vegan chocolate. It tastes so much better and is easier on my digestive tract!

So that's the idea behind HippyShoppingChick.com.

More to come soon!