About | mysite

Vegans get a bad rap. I love rap. Well, not all rap – just good rap. Maybe I should introduce myself – my name is Michelle. I love the Lord, Hip-Hop, teaching yoga, and food! I adopted the name Vegan Pecan as an ode to all of who I am -- a Bronx girl, born to Puerto Rican parents and raised in the 80’s. Hip-Hop music and culture is a major part of my identity. As a kid, I truly believed Method Man’s raspy voice was personally shouting ME out when he said, “…one love to my butter-pecan Ricans for calling me Papi…”. I mean, I always wanted to be a B-girl and I think that’s why yoga is so near and dear to my heart. At times it feels like instead of yoga pants, I could be wearing an Adidas jumpsuit with bamboo earrings while positioning myself into a side crow (Parsva Bakasana) or even a headstand (Salamba Sirsasana).

As you can probably deduce by now, I also practice a vegan diet (except for my admitted weakness for an occasional slice of NYC pizza). This lifestyle found me and it has been a true blessing. I love finding ways to “veganize” cultural dishes and digging deeper into what my ancestors ate before meat became so affordable and readily available. I realize that many people in my own family and community believe you have to sacrifice fun, flavor and taste to eat and be healthy. That is sooo not the case! In fact, my vegan pasteles are a real hit!

Most of my clients are yoga newbies or are unfamiliar with the vegan diet - or both – and I am super encouraged by that. I live this way for my own personal health reasons and because I genuinely enjoy it — not because I want to take a political stance or make anyone else feel bad about what they do or don’t choose to do. HOWEVER, I do want YOU to be the BEST you possible and I don’t believe culture has to be lost on the road to healing. That has been the inspiration behind my cooking workshops, my contributions to the site Healthy Latin Eating, my Meatless Monday mailing list and, as a result, my Favorite Recipes e-book.

Ok let’s see, did I get it all out? Oh yeah, I use to live in Puerto Rico. I moved there to get in touch with my roots by living and caring for my 90 something year old Mama Maria. Then, while visiting family in North Dakota, I met my match and before I knew it I was married and moving to Maui. It has been quite an adventure but isn't that what life is? Now hubby and I are navigating new territories with family and friends thousands of miles away. This should be interesting...and exciting! I look forward to sharing it all with you through this site. Until next time...

¡Salúd y bendiciones!