Welcome! My name is Anastasia and this is my blog…Lettuce Attend.
Why “Lettuce Attend”? Well, first of all, I grew up as an Eastern Orthodox Christian. In the Orthodox Church Service at the beginning of the Epistle and Gospel reading they say “Let us attend” in order to capture everyone’s attention. Say it quick and you get “lettuce” and anyone who knows me, knows I love lettuce. And lettuce SCREAMS healthy, so Lettuce Attend was born. It’s the perfect combination of my love for lettuce and my love for Christ! While I no longer attend an Orthodox Church, I still keep the name Lettuce Attend to remind me of the traditions I grew up in! I am still very much a believer who grows closer to God daily. Think of me as a sister in Christ here to encourage healthy living!
So, a little bit about me…after many trial and error jobs, I finally landed on working for myself! I think my parents saw it coming since I was a very independent child. (First born syndrome…I like things done my way…). I now own and operate a small healthy cafe in my hometown. I married my husband in February 2022 after meeting as contact tracers in the height of the 2020 pandemic. He truly was the best thing to come out of COVlD!
So, what sparked my passion for food?
I come from an eating disorder background which you can read about HERE and HERE. While my eating disorder defined my life for so long, it seems like a whole lifetime ago. It was a very scary time in my life, but it sparked my love for healthy food and food photography so in a way, I am very grateful for that time in my life.
I grew up always loving food. I didn’t really grow up eating out much since my mom and dad placed an emphasis on the importance of eating a home-cooked meal as a family. Now, that’s not to say it was picture-perfect all the time. I mean, I had my 8th birthday party at McDonald’s. One thing that I think encouraged my love for food is WHAT my mom fed us. I grew up eating a wide variety of food. I remember friends coming over and thinking what my mom cooked for us was “weird” and it was just stuffed cabbage rolls. “Weird” to them was normal to me and stuffed cabbage rolls still remain my favorite dish! P.S. You can find my mom’s stuffed cabbage rolls HERE.
I used to feel like such a freak because I loved food in a way my friends didn’t. I get excited about food. I get giddy planning out what I am going to eat next or how can I cook certain vegetables, or even watching my mom make dinner so I can learn to cook meat. For a long time, I felt out-of-place for my love of food. But not anymore. Reading blogs, writing my own, collecting cookbooks from all over is such a passion of mine and I don’t apologize for it anymore.
Now, I eat “clean” about 90% of the time. I don’t want you to think I don’t eat chocolate chip cookies or drink margaritas because those are two of my favorite things!! However, roasted vegetables are my jammmmm. I could eat them all day, every day! Pb&Chocolate Protein Bites
If there is anything that I have learned from maintaining a healthy lifestyle its this: Everything in moderation!
What EXACTLY is my blog about?
Well, it’s about me and my life…and I don’t mean that in a “hey, look at me i’m so important” kind of way. I mean that: I hope you find nothing but positivity, healthy recipes, and a new perspective on life when you come to my blog! I hope you leave here feeling better about yourself, because you’re pretty darn awesome. I hope my blog inspires you to eat nutritious food, love who you are, and discover that living a healthy, balanced life doesn’t have to be hard.
OH! & this is OWEN…you’ll see him A LOT here.
I hope you stick around!
Don’t hesitate to email me at anastasia.pendley@gmail.com
P.S. All pictures/images are my own unless I say otherwise. In which case, I will give credit to the correct source.
P.P.S. I am not a professional writer, so there will be grammatical and punctuation errors. I’m only human, after all.
