Eating healthy, delicious foods isn’t a hard sell. It’s the matter of eating healthy foods on busy days or with limited resources that gets challenging–and that’s where Danielle Brown of HealthyGirl Kitchen comes in.

“I knew that I needed to make it my mission to help women in particular eat healthy, do it in a way that’s easy, quick and accessible and affordable, but also do it where plants are at the center of your plate,” Danielle tells Monica Royer in a new episode of The Mentor Files. 

Danielle grew up watching her favorite hosts on the Food Network cook quick and easy meals. But when she went to college and discovered the free-for-all that was the food hall, Danielle also discovered that eating copious amounts of sugar and dairy did not make her feel great. That led Danielle to embrace a plant-based diet (also known as vegan!) while still working with just a microwave in her tiny dorm room. 

“I learned to become an advocate for myself and made it work in this very limited environment,” she says. Motivated by how much better she felt and how delicious the plant-based meals were, Danielle went on to nutrition school and then started a blog. 

Fast-forward several years and after showing up consistently and with complete authenticity, HealthyGirl Kitchen has grown–with now more than 5 million followers on Instagram and a New York Times bestselling cookbook with 100+ plant-based recipes. 

Now that she’s a mom in a new phase of her life, Danielle shares recipes that work for a variety of lifestyles. And you don’t need to go to a fancy grocery store for ingredients either!

In this episode of The Mentor Files, Danielle and Monica discuss the benefits of plant-based eating, how to get started (even if it’s just meatless Mondays) and why delicious meals don’t need to be overly complicated. 

You can subscribe and listen to The Mentor Files on Apple Podcasts. You can also watch their conversation on YouTube!

Links:

• HealthyGirl Kitchen
• Follow HealthyGirl Kitchen on Instagram
• Listen to The Mentor Files on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to The Mentor Files on Spotify

“Plants are so amazing for your body, there are so many benefits. But people are confused about how to go about it the right way and that’s kind of where I came in.” — Danielle Brown, HealthyGirl Kitchen