Welcome to My Vegan Notebook

Talking about my vegan journey and introducing some upcoming changes to my blog

Aug 16, 2025

by Megan McFadden

Turning the Page on Plant-Based Living

Mischievous Monsters has been my little monster since 2019. I started writing my vegan blog in 2019 to have writing samples for a crime thriller manuscript that I haven't finished yet.

Fingers crossed, I plan to work ahead on my blog over the next few months, so I can complete the draft this November during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and publish it sometime next year (2026). I don't know how realistic that goal is, but setting a goal is a start.

The Timeline of My Plant-Powered Life

Here is the summary of the past 8 years of being vegan. A lot has changed since I began my vegan journey in 2017.

2017

I became vegan on March 1, 2017. I debated about it for a few months, and I decided to take the plunge. I was a junior in college at the time, and I lived with my parents. Shortly afterwards, my parents convinced me to get a smartphone after years of enjoying my annual tradition of charging my flip phone.

In May, I went on a college capstone in Cuba, mainly in Havana. I did a good job at sticking to my vegan diet throughout the trip. The main thing I didn't realize was that some veggies are cooked in butter, so there were occasions where I consumed it by mistake.

Since my family did not accommodate my veganism, I got a part-time job at Hy-Vee, which allowed me to buy groceries for myself and gas.

2018

I graduated with my undergraduate degree in Spanish and minors in Creative Writing and English-to-Spanish Translation. I did eat a decent amount of vegan food across Wisconsin and Illinois at our regional college speech tournaments.

On the bright side, I got my first full-time job in marketing at a manufacturing firm, moved out of my parents' place, and started renting a house an hour away from them. Sadly, 3 months after I moved out, my childhood home burned in a house fire while we were home for Thanksgiving weekend. At least every human made it out alive. One farm cat, Delilah, died a couple of weeks later due to injuries.

2019

I bought my first house almost a year after I moved into my new home. Shortly afterward, I adopted 2 cats: Edward and Crash.

I was the only sibling who visited my brother while he lived in Washington, DC, for a little over a year before he moved back to Iowa due to the Covid pandemic. We saw a decent number of museums, and we definitely should have spent an entire day at the Holocaust Museum, which is 5 stories tall.

I joined a writing group that met at the local library the year before. The writing group head suggested submitting short stories to literary magazines to increase our chances of getting a publisher for our future manuscripts. After not having any luck with that, I decided to create my writing portfolio by starting a blog.

That December, shortly after I brought Crash to his forever home, Edward and Crash were being naughty, and I said, "You Mischievous Monsters." That name stuck (Mischievous Monsters). I published my first blog post on December 15, 2019.

Shortly after, I decided to focus on vegan content for my blog. I wanted to have mixed content, but since my family insisted that I not mention them in it, I chose veganism as my blog's niche, since I was the only vegan in the family.

2019 Blog Post Highlights (Only 2 Total)

2020

After I started writing my blog, I significantly elevated my vegan cooking game. I used to throw things together and hoped it would taste good. Frankly, it tasted bland most of the time. I learned how to make some vegan desserts like pumpkin cinnamon rolls, build vegan charcuterie boards, and use Mason jars during meal prep.

I adopted my third cat, Patches. I had my first cat birthday party of many. It was pirate-themed, and I just baked a few things in the oven. I failed at making vegan angel food cake because I didn't put cooking spray on it before baking. It tasted good, though.

The only major update blog-wise was that I purchased my current domain name (mischievousmonsters.com). I originally started the site on my personal domain with WordPress, which I bought for my online resume and portfolio. I transferred it to my current domain name on WordPress after I determined that I was going to have Mischievous Monsters for the long term, rather than just serving as writing samples for my manuscript.

2020 Blog Post Highlights

2021

I had a lot of changes in my life in 2021. I quit my job to move closer to family. I sold my house and started renting from my parents. I adopted my youngest cat, Sabrina.

In terms of my blog, I started writing about ingredient spotlights, where I wrote about a list of vegan recipes about a particular ingredient. I wrote my first vegan travel blog post about our 2-week family trip to Alaska. I also started my YouTube channel because I had some extra time that fall, when I was between jobs.

2021 Blog Post Highlights

2022

At the beginning of the year, I started my second full-time job ever at a local church. That caused my blogging and YouTube schedule to slow down for obvious reasons.

I spent the weekend with my entire family in Duluth, Minnesota, and even wrote a restaurant review during that trip. I also traveled to Puerto Rico with my dad. The food was scrumptious, and hardly anyone was there. We understood why when Hurricane Fiona hit the island a week after we left. I finished my vegan Puerto Rico travel guide in 2023.

2022 Blog Post Highlights

2023

A couple of years ago, we went on a couple of family vacations. My youngest brother studied abroad in Valencia, Spain, so some of us headed there in June. I finished my vegan Valencia travel guide earlier this year.

We also went to Hilton Head, South Carolina, in August. Unfortunately, I had to cut that trip short because of work, so I did not have enough content to make a vegan Hilton Head travel guide. I'll have to come back another time to do that.

In terms of my blog, I did a decent amount of gardening vlogs. I need to finish repurposing them as webpages sometime. Unfortunately, I haven't published any YouTube videos since. I need to make more videos after I get a more consistent content schedule.

I also changed my content management system to Ghost. I switched because of backend issues with my WordPress site. I thought it was a better investment in money and time to start over, rather than paying thousands of dollars in tech support fees to resolve my issues. I've enjoyed the simpler platform. It's a lot faster to produce content on a less complicated backend.

2023 Blog Post Highlights

2024

Last year, I only wrote 1 blog post at the end of the year. I was dealing with a bit of writer's block. Because of the lack of blog posts and the change of Google's algorithms, my search engine optimization plummeted to almost nothing.

I also prioritized rebranding and website maintenance. If you see how the majority of my blog posts have my newer logo on them with green behind it, that's my rebranding. I haven't finished rebranding everything, but it has been a work in progress.

In August, we headed to Banff National Park on our annual family vacation. I was happy that I was still allowed to go on our family vacation. I was concerned for a hot minute that I wouldn't be able to go because of the change of administration. I finished my vegan Banff travel guide earlier this month.

2024 Blog Post Highlight (Only 1 Total)

2025

I wish I could say that I have updates with my personal life by now, but not really. I still have the same job. Edward, Crash, Patches, and Sabrina are happy and well. I'm not dating anyone, and I don't have any kids at this time.

In terms of traveling, we traveled to Acadia National Park in Maine. We didn't eat out much, but I had the opportunity to try a few flavors of vegan ice cream there. This Thursday's email newsletter will be my vegan Acadia travel guide.

At the end of last year, I changed the direction of my writing to focus on more vegan lifestyle content, instead of just recipe lists. The more consistent schedule and varied content have augmented my blog's reach across the web.

In May, I started a weekly email newsletter, and I also started saving them on my website as blog posts in June. The idea is that every Thursday, subscribers get an email about a "veganventure" (vegan adventure), from celebrating Juneteenth to enjoying Christmas in July.

If you haven't signed up yet, sign up below. I only send weekly emails on Thursdays (and occasionally on Friday or Saturday if I am running late on making the newsletter).
If you're already a subscriber, you can view previous newsletters here.

Since the year is not over yet, here are my goals for the remainder of 2025. I'm switching gears with more themed blog series. Just so you know, even though I have a different theme for each day of the week, expect 1-3 blog posts a week for the time being, and hopefully 1 YouTube video a week once I establish a consistent blog schedule.

Ingredient Spotlight (Monday Motivation): On some Mondays, I'll showcase a plant-based ingredient–from cinnamon to tofu–and explain why you should eat it, along with some recipes that you should incorporate into your future meal preps.
Vegan Declassified (Tip Tuesday): Sometimes, expect a vegan lifestyle guide, from a vegan movie night guide to my vegan picnic guide. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on some of the vegan guides that I've made this year, so be prepared for more coming soon.
VeganBusters (Wednesday Wisdom): Since becoming vegan, I've encountered a lot of myths, from protein deficiencies to vegans solely consuming salad. My goal is to explain some of these myths and show whether they are true or not with evidence, similar to MythBusters (2003-2018), except everything is related to veganism. Hopefully, I should have a vegan myth to bust at least once a month on a Wednesday.
Choose Your Veganventure (Travel Thursday): Each Thursday, if you're subscribed to my email newsletter, you'll get an email with the title "Choose Your Veganventure." These blog posts are dedicated to travel, adventure, or both. Some examples are this Amish auction guide and my wild blackberry picking guide.
Vegan for Beginners (Friday Fun): There are a lot of people out there looking for more insights into veganism, from family and friends of vegans to vegan-curious individuals. I hope to end some workweeks with shorter and easier vegan guides that are light reads, like vegan summer dessert ideas.
The Vegan Notebook (Saturday Reflection): I've been vegan for 8 years, and I have a lot of stories and lessons to share. Also, I share a decent amount of anecdotes in some of my blog posts. My goal is to dedicate blog posts to different experiences I've had as a vegan with the hopes of teaching you lessons along the way.
Compassion in Motion (Sunday Inspiration): Veganism is an act of activism, no matter how vocal or silent you are doing it. Your diet and lifestyle choices make a massive difference in the long term if a nonhuman animal lives or dies. This will be lighter content than a PETA protest. Instead, it will be more minor things like how to talk to a vegan and the differences between a zoo and an animal sanctuary.

2025 Blog Post Highlights

Final Scribbles

In 2017, I chose to go vegan with no plans of going back. Then, I started a vegan blog only 2 years later in 2019. The future is still a mystery, but I trust it will be even kinder and more exciting than I can dream. Until we meet again!