Vegan Power

POWER PLATES

If you're a lifelong omnivore who loves variety and meat, the prospect of becoming a vegan can be awfully frightening.  No eggs, no butter, no meat ever?  Simply cooking a delicious meal for vegans struck fear in me.  Whether or not we are committed vegans, most of us do have friends who are vegan or vegetarian, and most of us are trying to eat healthier, better.

That's what I love about Power Plates.  Power to the all people who want to eat more nutritionally balanced meals.  While I'm not sure I can ever become vegan (never say never!), I am eating more plant-based diet, and enjoy organic gardening.  

One of my fears about becoming vegan is based on the fear that I will be eating the same boring thing after another.  This is where Power Plates really helps allay those fears.  The photos are full of color, vibrancy, and whet your appetite.   The butternut squash salad with red quinoa and pumpkin seeds looks wonderful.  Just picked up some tempeh, inspired by the balsamic-glazed tempeh and vegetables over soft polenta  The ingredients are easy to find, and recipes easy to follow -- a major plus as most of us lead busy, hectic lives.  

Power up, this book is a win-win.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

I Heart You

The American Heart Association loves you, and wants you to love your heart.  It isn't easy being healthy.  I'm working on it.  Perpetually working on it.  It's something I work on every other day.   Seriously, most of us want to live longer, healthier, fuller lives, but we don't want to sacrifice flavor. We want to eat real food.  We don't want to drink protein shakes every day.  This updated 9th edition of The New American Heart Association Cookbook is for you.

There's over 100 revised recipes with easy cheats like egg substitutes in your (avgolemono) Greek egg and lemon soup.  Cooking spray instead of tablespoons of oil.  Spice rubs to reduce salt, butter and fat.

The American Heart Association has taken the guess work out of our calorie count, sodium intakes, fiber, cholesterol.  A lot of us "estimate" these figures and figure well, if it's kale or resembles kale, I'm safe, it's healthy.  But when someone near and dear is sick, and under strict doctor's orders, keeping track of all these facts and figures can be a matter of life and death.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this honest review, but know a lot of people who would benefit from these recipes.  I only wish there were more photos as we eat with our eyes, and photographs would only enhance our desire to cook and eat more mindfully.