When I get push back or skeptisism about going mostly plant-based it’s predictably two things:

(1) “How will you ever get enough protein?”

(2) “Must be nice, but that’s too expensive for us.”

Those two responses are as predictable as a total stranger telling you about their Cherokee princess great granny but she “got off” of the trail of tears and then all her papers burned up in a courthouse fire.

The average American gets an insane amount of protein for their average daily output needs. As a 49 year old woman, I don’t need to eat like I did as a college athlete. Here’s a protein calculator if you want to play with it. The World Health Organization pins the protein goals of a woman of my age, height and that truly exercises 4-5 times a week at about 68 grams. If you get little or no exercise, it’s more like 55 or 60 grams. But, I’ll save the protein debate for another time, except to say: I’ve been 99% vegan forover 7 months and have not wilted away, at all. Never got the “vapors” once. No apparently muscle loss. Every medical statistics heading the right direction.

I do want to talk about money and address the myth that being healthy is expensive. It’s just not. The way I grew up and was raised, I will ALWAYS pay close attention to money in and money out. If I hit the lotto and had 50 million in the bank, I’m still going to Dollar Tree sometimes. Imagine a monthly grocery bill with no meat, no dairy and no junk food in the basket. The 99 cent red bell pepper is not what’s “high” in the average grocery cart.

But this is a post about KNIVES, actually. The first post in a series highlighting where it’s worth spending some good money on kitchen tools, food storage and food prep. My theory is that you need to make things visually appealing to yourself and make the work enjoyable or you won’t stick with healthy cooking or healthy habits. For more on this theory, read the tupperware post. 🥴 This series also represents pretty stark departures from the homes I’ve lived in and many of the homes I’ve been in. Like everything else on this blog, just sharing ideas that might resonate.

Growing up, we had the large combo drawer of knives and other utensils. Maybe 25 different knives.You know why no one (miraculously) ever had to go get stitches after sliding their hand in that drawer? Nothing in there was ever REALLY that sharp, even the knives that had been recently “sharpened” where not sharp like the knives I’m going to talk about. One of the first things I noticed about rich people’s kitchens? The ones that actually cooked? Fancy really damn sharp knives. And they don’t keep them in drawers either.

Although I hate clutter, I have adopted the practice of keeping my “cutting things” out in the open. I prefer a magnetic strip mounted on the wall to save my countertop space from the wooden block. Everything highly visible and within reach.

And it is 100% worth the money to get ONE really really good knife. For me, that ONE knife, was a gift and it’s on the top right side of the photo above. I keep a few others handy for other people to use. That ONE fancy knife is solid gold. It makes food prep downright pleasurable. You don’t need the budget 30 pack of knives for $50 – $100. Spend that $50-$100 on ONE really good knife.

Remember: Never ever in the dishwasher. Hand wash and back on the wall magnet. Should last the rest of my life.