December Influencer Spotlight!

Food is one of our favorite love languages and Safura and Ubaid not only share that language of love with each other, but have dedicated time and effort to inspire the community of Jacksonville to achieve better health, starting with food, as well! After spending a decade in chilly Chicago, one of my absolute favorite cities, they made their way to sunny Jacksonville and haven't looked back since. They have been leaving a positive mark on the Vegan scene and have a wonderful blog where they share delicious Vegan recipes and valuable information about food and how it relates to our health. We are so excited to present to some and introduce to others Jax Vegan Couple as our December Influencer Spotlight!

1.) Tell us about your blog, Jax Vegan Couple and what inspired you to start it.

As the holiday season begins and the end of the year draws near, we would like to take a moment to express our gratitude to all of our followers and the North Florida Influencers. We are so proud of all we have accomplished in one year. Our hard work and staying true to our commitment to our mission, “Educate, engage and inspire is truly helping people and communities achieve better health. We started the blog one year ago because friends and family always came to us for health advice, recipes and information about whole-foods plant-based eating. Being vegan for about ten years, and having the knowledge and passion to help others, we launched our social platform JAX Vegan Couple in 2017. The name Jax Vegan Couple evolved from the fact that we live in Jacksonville (JAX) we are vegan and on a healthy quest as a couple.

On our blog Jax Vegan Couple you will find so much information grouped by tabs: About Us, Health RX, Recipes, Blog, Resources, and FAQ. In the Health RX section, we share health tips that you can utilize daily. Ubaid our Medical Detective (MD) is always doing research and participating on webinars with famous plant-based doctors to bring you the truth from GMOs Revealed, to Hidden ingredients in Food, to Tips and Benefits of whole-food plant-based eating lifestyle. The Recipes section has over 100’s of simple, quick, healthy and tasty dishes, and mentioned two of our favorite dishes to make for our non-vegan friends below. In the Blog section we talk about the events we have attended, tips, our travels and more recipes. The Resources section has tons of links to videos and other plant-based doctors to follow and finally the FAQ section answers all your questions from, ‘How do I get started?” to How do I get my Protein on a plant-based diet to many more. We provide this information as a free community service for all who might want to learn about whole food plant based lifestyle. Please share our information with your family and friends. We live by our motto, “Doing Good is Good for your Health”!

We are so passionate about spreading the message about this healthy lifestyle. We love to teach people through cooking demos, meal preps, grocery tours, cleaning out the pantry and fridge. We prepared a 21-Day whole foods plant-based meal plan e-book which has over 70 recipes, getting started guide, grocery list and healthful tips. All the proceeds from the sale of this Ebook go to local farmers here in Jacksonville. While 2018 has proven to be a busy year, we have helped make a difference in the lives of so many people in our communities. We look forward to the many opportunities in store for us next year and beyond. As we take time to reflect this holiday season, we

The Recipes section has over 100’s of simple, quick, healthy and tasty dishes, and mentioned two of our favorite dishes to make for our non-vegan friends below. In the Blog section we talk about the events we have attended, tips, our travels and more recipes. The Resources section has tons of links to videos and other plant-based doctors to follow and finally the FAQ section answers all your questions from, ‘How do I get started?” to How do I get my Protein on a plant-based diet to many more. We provide this information as a free community service for all who might want to learn about whole food plant based lifestyle. Please share our information with your family and friends. We live by our motto, “Doing Good is Good for your Health”!

We are so passionate about spreading the message about this healthy lifestyle. We love to teach people through cooking demos, meal preps, grocery tours, cleaning out the pantry and fridge. We prepared a 21-Day whole foods plant-based meal plan e-book which has over 70 recipes, getting started guide, grocery list and healthful tips. All the proceeds from the sale of this Ebook go to local farmers here in Jacksonville.

While 2018 has proven to be a busy year, we have helped make a difference in the lives of so many people in our communities. We look forward to the many opportunities in store for us next year and beyond. As we take time to reflect this holiday season, we wish everyone great joy and a very happy and healthy New Year. As a small token of appreciation, for those who follow us on our channels (facebook, instagram, twitter) @jaxvegancouple, and subscribe to our blog & YouTube and send us an email (contact@jaxvegancouple.com) you read our story on the NF Influencers Spotlight, we'll send you a copy of our 21-day meal plan for free!!

2.) I have tried some outstanding vegan dishes in the past and I have also seen some of the amazing vegan recipes that you’ve created. What is your favorite recipe to make for non-vegan foodies who claim vegan food has no flavor?

There are so many recipes on our website jaxvegancouple.com for non-vegan foodies. But our favorite to make when we have company is the Moroccan Spiced Roasted Cauliflower and Cauliflower Tikka Masala Curry. The secret is the special Moroccan spice mix with cumin, coriander, chili, turmeric, garam masala. We always roast a whole cauliflower and other vegetable and bring it to potlucks. It turns out great and the flavors are so delicious, everyone loves them. This also makes a healthy dish that is beautiful for Holiday parties. These are perfect dishes to serve when hosting non -vegans for dinner with a side of naan or basmati rice pilaf. The recipes for these delicious dishes can be found here: https://jaxvegancouple.com/moroccan-spiced-roasted-cauliflower/

https://jaxvegancouple.com/cauliflower-tikkamasala-curry/

3.) We don’t see many couples in the influencer community and I love seeing the two of you at events together! What do you love most about being an Influencer couple?

We love being a part of the North Florida Influencers network and attending their monthly events. It’s a great place to network, make new friends, check out the new venues that Jacksonville has to offer and try the delicious food.

We love helping and giving back to the community and have volunteered at Tour de Farms, Concious Mingle, JAX Veg Fests, C&S Citrus Farm, countless community vegan events and meet-ups. Being featured on TV JAX4News and Buzz MediaTV have been amazing sharing our health journey and tips, educating others on benefits of a plant-based lifestyle.

We were honored to work with the chefs at Sawgrass Marriott on their monthly vegan pop-up events and collaborated on an Indian vegan menu which was a sold-out event. We are also working with the chefs at TPC Sawgrass Nineteen to have more vegan dishes on their menu. We started a private Facebook group called Healthy Eating and Living. The group meets on a monthly basis and we discuss different health topics by bringing guest speakers and medical practitioners to the meetings and sharing in healthy potluck meals. We also teach cooking classes at the Jax Cooking Studio and how to make healthier food choices and cook whole food plant-based meals.

We are passionate about a healthy lifestyle, working out and staying fit. That means eating a healthy diet. So the whole-foods plant-based eating is not a diet it’s a lifestyle that we have incorporated over the years. We also love to help and spread good cheer in the community by entertaining other families in our home – it’s a great way to develop friendships, stay connected and teach them about healthier plant-based eating.

After a long day at work we come home at night to work on a robust content calendar of tips, recipes and resources to provide to our followers. And on the weekend you will find us at farmers markets, vegan meetups, tasting food at new vegan restaurants or just creating our own healthy recipes at home and entertaining.

4.) What are a few fun facts about you that people may not know from following your blog or Instagram?

· We were on the stage with Oprah a panel discussion on the Oprah Winfrey show when we first got married. The topic was marriages in different cultures, and Oprah was fascinated that we had an arranged marriage.

· We went to college together and got our degrees in IT and Marketing/Communications and we both worked at Accenture big 5 firm in Chicago for about 10 years.

· We both love to design and decorate homes, we built 4 homes together and love to entertain.

· We have two amazing, handsome boys in college, Farhan and Arman who are as passionate as us in healthy eating. You will often find them in the kitchen with me helping with the dishes and recording the IG stories.

· We love to travel and have been fortunate to go on a Vegan Cruise to the Caribbean islands where we met all the plant-based experts and doctors. We were featured in the VegWorld Magazine alongside these doctors after the cruise because of how passionate we are to help others on this healthy journey.

· We also traveled to Morocco, Spain with our boys and India this year as well. The best part about India was going learning about the culture, food and people – they are humble, kind and wonderful people.

5.) How can you be contacted? What are all of you social media handles?

JAX Vegan Couple is here to help you! Drop us a note to say hi, provide feedback, or let us know what you would like to see more of! Want to feature us, collaborate on a project, promote a product, or hire us to teach a class? How about grocery store tours, pantry & fridge resets, meal planning techniques, or invite us to speak at an event in Jacksonville, Florida?

You can contact us by Email - contact@jaxvegancouple.com or any of our social channels through, messenger and Instagram as well.

On the JAX Vegan Couple blog you will find many vegan recipes, tips and resources. There are many dishes for people to try from Indian/Fusion to sandwiches, smoothies & salads to lentils & grains. We also provide a getting started and resources section which elaborates on healthy tips, articles & video clips from famous doctors, nutritionists and holistic health providers. No matter what diet or lifestyle you follow, our hope is that there is something that you can take away from our social channels and website!

Website/Blog – www.jaxvegancouple.com

Instagram – Jax Vegan Couple YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/jaxvegancouple Pinterest – https://it.pinterest.com/jaxvegancouple/ Twitter – https://twitter.com/jaxvegancouple