Cooking with Peta: Great Vegetarian Recipes for a Compassionate Kitchen Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book four years ago, when I was fourteen years old and new to the world of veganism. I'd tried many vegan recipes and for the most part, they were really bad! It didn't help that I was an extremely picky eater and grossed out by tofu, even though I tried. I also didn't have much experience cooking and that didn't help any. I tried a few recipes from this book and thought they were good. To show how good this cookbook is, I'm no longer vegan, but this is the cookbook I use the most! I still make Wake 'Em Up Pancakes once a week or so because they're the best pancakes I've ever encountered. They're excellent made with any juice you have on hand, though they'll be pink if you use cranberry juice and purple if you use raspberry juice. I actually use this cookbook more now even though I'm not vegan anymore (though I eat little meat) because the recipes are great and I'm a much more experienced cook now and am no longer a picky eater. My copy is actually falling apart now. I definitely recommend this book to vegans as well as non-vegans and my other favorites are 150 VEGAN FAVORITES by Jay Solomon and NONNA'S ITALIAN KITCHEN by Bryanna Clark Grogan (this is vegan as well).

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Eat, Drink & Be Vegan: Everyday Vegan Recipes Worth Celebrating Review

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(More customer reviews)I should have written a review of this cookbook long ago, but I finally just put my fork down (literally) after eating another one of ED&BV's fabulous recipes and said, "People must know how great this cookbook is!" And here I am :)
What did I just finish? The White Bean, Walnut, and Spinach Phyllo Rolls with the Traditional Cranberry Sauce. This is the second time I have made it. It is unbelievable. So easy, but so elegant and delicious. That's how I characterize a lot of Dreena's recipes - easy, elegant, delicious. This book is full of uncomplicated recipes with easy to find ingredients (at least, for me - I have a decently stocked Stop & Shop, Shaw's Supermarket, Whole Foods, and health food store within a 15-mile radius). The results have all been spectacular. I've also made (and LOVED) the Olive Oyl Pasta, White Bean & Rosemary Soup with Jumbo Croutons (OMG amazing), Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto with Toasted Almonds and Pine Nuts, Sweet Potato Lentil Chili, Rosemary Cornmeal Polenta Fries, Lentil Veggie Chimichangas with Hide the Lentils Tomato Sauce, Coconut Lime Basmati Rice, Cashew-Ginger Tofu, Thai Chick-Un Pizza, Orange Sesame Tofu, Olive and Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus, Savory French Lentils, Cimmamon Lime Quinoa with Apricots and Almonds, One Wild Chick Soup (honestly, it is as savory and filling as the best chicken and rice soup you would have eaten in your "omni" days), Veggie Tempeh Muffaletta (I think I'm in love...probably the most time-consuming recipe in the book, but it is sooooooo worth it!), Beats a BLT Sandwich! (sure does!), Spicy Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew with Polenta Croutons, Cumin Lime Tofu, Autumn Puree, Smoky Split Pea Soup, Quinoa Chickpea Confetti Casserole, Moroccan-Infused Phyllo Rolls with Balsamic Maple Sauce (mmmmmmm so good!), and Monkey Minestrone. I literally cannot believe how many more of the recipes I want to try. I think I am going to try almost every single one in the book! Dreena makes everything seem so accessible. I'd never made anything with tempeh before (despite began a vegan for a while now!) but with her clear, step by step instructions and sidebars, Dreena makes vegan cooking approachable for everyone, vegans and omnis alike. I can tell you, I have not even come close to using as many recipes in my other vegan cookbooks as I have with ED&BV. Let me be frank... I own several vegan cookbooks...all the major titles by all the major vegan cookbook authors...and this is, by FAR, the best of the bunch. If you own one vegan cookbook, make it ED&BV. You won't regret it!

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In Dreena Burton's first two best-selling vegan cookbooks, The Everyday Vegan and Vive le Vegan!, she offered a dazzling array of healthy, animal-free recipes, many of which were based on her experience as a mother of two young girls she and her husband are raising as vegans. Dreena also maintains an active website (www.everydayvegan.com) and blog (www.vivelevegan.blogspot.com) and has cultivated an enthusiastic audience for her family-oriented, nutritious recipes. In this, her third cookbook, Dreena turns her attention to celebratory food—imaginative, colorful, and delectable vegan fare perfect for all kinds of events, from romantic meals for two to dinner parties to full-on galas. Many of the recipes are kid-friendly, and all are appropriate for everyday meals as well.

The book includes 125 recipes and sixteen full-color photographs, as well as meal plans, cooking notes, and advice on vegan wines and beers. Recipes include Lentil & Veggie Chimichangas, Thai Chick-Un Pizza, White Bean Soup with Basil & Croutons, Tomato Dill Lentil Soup, Olive & Sundried Tomato Hummus, "Creamy" Cashew Dip with Fruit, Crêpes with Maple Butter Cream, 5-Star Ice "Cream" Sandwiches, and Hemp-anola (Dreena's take on granola).

Come celebrate with Dreena and impress your guests with these tempting animal-free recipes.

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How It All Vegan: Irresistible Recipes for an Animal-Free Diet Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great cookbook. The best thing about it is not the yummy recipes, but the accessibility of the authors! You can reach them through their website and they are truly genuine and nice. The cookbook features cute drawings and pictures, fun comments, Jewish flair in some of the recipes, unique things you might not find other places, homemade health and beauty product recipes, instructions on how to make safe household cleaners, treats for your animal friends, a section on Kids' Stuff, and the ever-useful "45 Things to do with vinegar" section (that really came in handy!). This book is beginner-vegan-friendly. Most of the recipes are relatively easy to prepare and require minimum time and effort. The dessert section ROCKS! Try the Chocolate peanut butter cups...if you never thought you'd have them again, here they are, in full force! Yum! I've only tried a few recipes so far, and they've all been delicious. These Canadian punk rock wimmin have put together a great collection of vegan recipes. My only complaints with this book are that it lacks an index (which I'm told by the authors was supposed to be in there but didn't make it to the printer!), and several of the recipes contain bee products. bee pollen, beeswax, and honey are all used a bit in the book, especially in some of the smoothies and in the health and beauty products. I was disappointed about that, but have just avoided making the recipes that require those products. Other than that, the book is great.

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Cooking Review

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(More customer reviews)I love the style of cooking in this book: relatively simple recipes, most often with everyday ingredients; well written instructions; and a focus on whole foods (including the use of whole grain flours and unrefined sweeteners whenever possible). It is packed with recipes, 240 to be exact, so there options for new vegans (how to use tofu and seitan, for example), and vegan veterans who want wheat and soy-free recipes that creatively incorporate fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. That said those who are coming from fast food territory will still be welcomed by the author with some shortcut recipes for things like Tofu Dog Bites.
I have reviewed The Complete Idiot's Guide to Juicing (thumbs up) and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Total Nutrition (a disappointment), so I am well aware of the cutesy "Idiot's" format that some may love, some may feel neutral about, and some may be irritated by. At this point, I am pretty neutral, and able to look into the actual substance of the book.
The book starts with an informational section that is about 25 pages long, but it feels fairly complete for its purpose. Beverly touches on health needs and then dives into explaining milk and meat alternatives. Later in the cookbook is a chapter that is dedicated to making your own cheese and dairy alternatives.
Since I am already dairy-free, I chose to sample a recipe that also had a meat substitute vibe, the Savory Mushroom Sausages. The only changes I made were to cut the maple syrup in half (down to 1 ½ teaspoons) and increase the salt by ¼ teaspoon, as we aren't fans of the sweet flavor that many breakfast sausages have. They were awesome! I actually preferred the leftovers, after chilling overnight, as it really gave the various flavors time to meld. This was a soy-free and optional gluten-free recipe too!
I bake my own granola, so I was excited to trial the Vanilla Nut Granola recipe. It used a very different mix of spices, extracts, nuts, and seeds from my standard recipe. I really enjoyed the subtle sweetness and the very nutty tasting blend. All of Beverly's recipes are very easy to customize, so on the next go there are a few personal touches I will introduce. I think swapping the maple syrup for agave (which is half the price in my neck of the woods), and leaving out the pecans (which tended to burn easily) would make it an ideal blend for my household, adding just a slight touch of additional sweetness. Also, she ingeniously uses a blend of oil and water to keep the granola low fat, but we aren't calorie counters around here, so I will probably use all oil next time for a firmer crunch.
I loved the Carrot-Cashew Butter, a simple and thick spread with a light natural sweetness from the two main ingredients. I was also smitten by the Low Fat Miso Ginger Dressing. It was only my second time using miso, and the experience prior left me with a bad taste in my mouth, literally, but Beverly nailed it in the sweet, ginger-rich condiment.
This is definitely a cookbook that will get some mileage in my kitchen. Recipes that are next up on my list include the Maple Pecan Oatmeal Scones (made with rolled oats!), the Thai Peanut Sauce (I can never get enough of that stuff), the Raw Cheddar Cheese Spread (soy-free), the Raw ABC Nut Milk, the Red Lentil Bologneses (I am on a lentil kick), and the Blueberry Corncakes (a twist on traditional pancakes). But don't stop with my selections, there really are tons of different recipes to pick from in this one, from "Decadent Desserts" to "Marvelous Main Dishes."

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Delicious recipes for the growing vegan lifestyle. There are so many reasons to go vegan—health and nutrition, weight loss, green and sustainable living, and prevention of cruelty to animals. With over 200 mouth-watering recipes and tips for converting meat- and dairybased dishes into vegan ones, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Cooking will help readers enjoy a healthy vegan diet without sacrificing taste.

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The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been eating the Engine 2 diet for five months. I've lost 35 LBS. My cholesterol dropped over 60 points. This was all after a meeting with a doctor who told me my cholesterol would only be slightly lowered by changing my diet.
I had the good fortune to get a head start on the rest of the world by meeting Rip in person. He is one of the good guys. I have shared countless 'plant-strong' meals with Rip over the last five months. He lives and breathes this diet every single day.
This is the first time in my life I have practiced any discipline with my diet. It's important to note changing my diet was not easy at first. The book remains an invaluable tool that guides me through the process of choosing the right ingredients at the grocery store - which is over half the battle. I have to set myself up for a win before the hunger sets in (rhyme). It also provides a nice array of fast recipes (tackle the lasagna later in the diet - it takes a bit of work).
Eating out is tough on this diet. You will find the vast majority of restaurants are not run by people who want you to live a long, healthy, balanced life (not yet anyway). I would suggest forgoing the restaurant scene while you find your bearings. I've certainly saved a fair amount of money cooking my own lunch and dinner - and it's not that I don't go out to eat - it's just less often.
Rip relates the detailed science behind this way of eating in terms all of us can understand. It's important to note he was raised in the household of a plant-devouring cardiologist - Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Rip's data and experience driven understanding of how our bodies react when fed a plant based diet is proof that this IS NOT another fools errand for all of us looking to lose weight and return our bodies to health. It is a diet of the truth. What would you expect from a firefighter?
Stick to it for 28 days. Get some blood work done before and after. I've been able to watch twenty or so men and women start the Engine 2 diet. I can say with certainty that the average person will see dramatic numbers change with their cholesterol. Everyone will lose weight. We will all feel better and ready to take on this new uncertain world.
Best of luck to everyone who wants to live a longer more comfortable life.

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"I've known Rip for more than 20 years.In that time, he's been a great motivator for so many people. This terrific book will inspire all who read it to change their lives and optimize their health."-Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor, seven-time Tour de France champion Lose weight, lower cholesterol, significantly reduce the risk of disease, and become physically fit--in just 4 weeks. Professional athlete-turned-firefighter Rip Esselstyn is used to responding to emergencies. So, when he learned that some of his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, TX, were in dire physical condition-several had dangerously high cholesterol levels (the highest was 344!)-he sprang into action and created a life-saving plan for the firehouse. By following Rip's program, everyone lost weight (some more than 20 lbs.), lowered their cholesterol (Mr. 344's dropped to 196), and improved their overall health. Now, Rip outlines his proven plan in this book.With Rip as your expert coach and motivator, you'll transform your body and lifestyle in a month. His plant-powered eating plan is based on a diet of whole foods, including whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. This invaluable guide features:**Dozens of easy, mouthwatering recipes-from pancakes to pizza, Tex-Mex favorites to knockout chocolate desserts-that will keep you looking forward to every bite**Pantry-stocking tips will take the panic out of inevitable cravings and on-the-fly meals**Guidelines on menu choices that will allow you to eat out, wherever and whenever you want**Rip's simple, firefighter-inspired exercise program that will boost your metabolism and melt your fat away.Medically approved, easy-to-follow, and amazingly effective, this diet is designed for anyone who wants to make heroic strides in his or her health, weight, and well-being-all without heroic effort."Want to be as strong as a Texas firefighter?Or as healthy as a professional triathlete?Then follow the wonderful advice of Rip Esselstyn, who is both.His book can save your life--whether you're a man or a woman.Highly recommended!"-Dean Ornish, M.D., Founder and President, Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Clinical Professor of Medicine, U of California SF,author, Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease

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