Vegan Goodness:
Today we ate:
- Breakfast: Green smoothies and lemon poppyseed muffins. These are the G-man’s favorite muffins, so LP and I got up early and made them for his birthday!
- Lunch: Leftover pizza from last night
- Mom snacked on peanuts this afternoon.
- Dinner: A great night out at Veggie Galaxy. Mom and LP went with a “breakfast” theme – Mom had a soy chorizo and jalapeno omelet and LP had pancakes with fruit. Dad had a club sandwich. Mom and Dad got some cheesecake to bring home for dessert.
Money Matters:
Today we spent the following:
- $57.63 on the G-man’s B-day dinner at Veggie Galaxy Everyone there was SUPER nice, and the hostess even help IP for a bit while I ate.
- $28.50 on a new cartridge for our soda stream
Friday Tips for Living Vegan and Living Cheap – with kids!:
One good cookbook
When I started on my vegan journey I went in search of a good, overall vegan cookbook. I needed something that would not only help learn how to bake without dairy or eggs, but also something that could help me figure out how to cook with vegetables as the center of my meal, not the side.
The cookbook I ended up buying was Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. It is a fantastic all-around book. I’ve heard it described as the “Joy of Cooking” for vegans, and I agree completely. This cookbook not only taught me how to cook as a vegan, but it also taught me how to saute an onion, salt an eggplant, press tofu and a myriad of other skills that are now second nature.
So, when you are making a change in your diet (hopefully towards a vegan one!) go out and buy one great overall cookbook! There are many choices out there, and I describe quite a few cookbooks in my Vegan Resources section. The ones I recommend most for “beginning vegans” are:
- Vegan Planet by Robin Roberston
- Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romano
- The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (if you are really just trying to figure out vegan baked goods and desserts)
If you are anything like me you will also want to explore other, more specific, cookbooks. We also own some great ones like Vegan Italiano, Vegan Soul Kitchen, and Vegan Brunch. But before you go crazy buying cookbooks for specific types of foods, get one of those overall ones. It will give you more options to explore and will also teach you about all the cooking techniques that will serve you well in your vegan cooking. Those other cookbooks are great and fun, but you can always borrow them from the library too!
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