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3 Giveaway Winners Announced

January 2, 2012 · by · 6 Comments

Happy New Year! What are your plans for 2012? Do you have some goals or resolutions?

I always start the year with lots of good intentions and too many resolutions. This year I have a list of projects instead and hopefully I’ll have the time to pull them all off. In fact, you could say my real goal this year is to manage my time better.

So for the winners…you guys are going to be as happy as Cheryl was to get her picture taken with the Grinch on our vacation!

Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites will be sent out to Lizzie (or wickedliz at her email address).

The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions is going to Karen Beth of http://zazazu.wordpress.com.

And now for the biggest prize – a copy of The Vegan Slow Cooker and a brand new slow cooker! (Try to hear that in Bob Barker’s voice…) goes to Amy of Miami-Dade Public Library. Amy I do not have your email address so you can send me your mailing address through the contact form.

If I don’t hear from Amy by the end of the week I will have to pick another winner, but hopefully that’s not necessary

Filed Under: Gift Ideas, Giveaway, Perfect for the Holidays, Product Review, Winter · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Subs – Review and Giveaway

December 30, 2011 · by · 82 Comments

Since you have already entered the Hearty Vegan giveaway and the Love Your Library giveaway – here’s one more chance to win a cool cookbook to start your new year off right. (If you haven’t entered the others there is still time!)

This book, The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions, is more than simple substitutions for meat, eggs, dairy, soy, gluten, and sugar though it gives you that too.

Each chapter starts off with a reference table with detailed substitutions. These are perfect for new vegans and a great quick reference for more seasoned ones.

The next thing Joni and Celine do are to dissect a traditional (non-vegan) recipe and show you where to change it to use the substitutions that they gave you. It’s a great way to get ideas to redo old family favorites. Joni and Celine are all about veganized comfort food and  their recipes are perfect to serve to people who aren’t quite sure about vegan food. (What is it they think we put in food anyhow?)

The very best part of the book comes after that with their tasty original recipes. I made their Eggs Benedict with Ham for Cheryl. She is not a vegan, though trying to eat less eggs and dairy for her health, so her love of this dish proves that it goes beyond a typical vegan recipe. I didn’t make the ham from scratch since I had some vegan ham to use up in the fridge. But the Hollandaise is the highlight of the dish for me (and Cheryl too).

Photo by Celine Steen

The other recipe I tried was the BBQ beans. I slow cooker-ized them and they turned out great. I loved the balance of flavors. I opted to use ketchup instead of tomato paste. They give you a choice in the recipe. Next time I would use the tomato paste because I think I would like it better slightly less sweet. The liquid smoke, mustard, molasses, balsamic, and other sauce ingredients meld together for a bold bean dish you really need to try.

The only downside in the book is that the recipes are organized by the kind of substitution they are using. This just means it will take a little longer to find something on the fly. But with Celine’s beautiful photos you really want to go through it a few times just to take it all in anyhow. I sat with my copy and bookmarked about 10 recipes in my first look through.

The variety of the recipes alone makes it worth the money. Breakfast, baked goods, stews, soups, burgers, ribs, vegan cheese, and more can be found in the pages of The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions. This book is a perfect gift to someone who wants to eat less meat but is afraid they will miss out on all their favorite foods.

To enter the giveaway do one or more of the following. You must leave a separate comment for each one you do to get the extra entry! The winner will be announced January 1.

More beautiful pictures from Vegan Subs. These were taken by Celine Steen.

Marinated Tofu Mozzarella, Baked Macadamia Brie, and Nutty Pepperjack

PB & J Waffle

Sushi Rolls

Salted Caramel Treats

Amaretti


Filed Under: Book Review, Giveaway, Vegan · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites – Review and Giveaway

December 19, 2011 · by · 95 Comments

Last week I promised you book reviews and here they are this week. Better late than never right? I’m not sure why but my to do list is growing quicker than I can do anything!

Today I want to share one of Joni Newman’s and Celine Steen’s books, The Hearty Vegan. I was fortunate to meet Joni at Vida Vegan this year. She is sweet and good-natured and cooks up some mad comfort food. I’ve gotten to know Celine better the past few weeks and she’s awesome too.

I just wish I lived closer to these awesome cooks so I could “happen by” around dinner time. They are both so inventive and make recipes that you can feed your whole family. Even Grandpa couldn’t turn down their Beefy-Cheesy Mac.

I can testify that my picky eater,Cheryl, would jump at the chance to eat Joni and Celine’s food on a daily basis. At least, until they started making her eat more veggies just like I do!

Photo by Joni Newman

So back to that Beefy-Cheesy Mac, I think it’s the most indulgent meal we’ve had in months.

On first glance, I had my doubts about the seasonings called for in the recipe. But I didn’t meddle at all and it came out perfect. It really was a bowl full of nostalgia and cheesy goodness!

Cheryl had a hard day at work and was super-excited to come home to vegan helper. I also had some guests who all thought it tasted great too!

Granted, it’s not going to be a beauty queen, but neither are a lot of the recipes that come from the slow cooker.

Joni and Celine are on our slow cooker wave too. Hearty Vegan Meals includes Slow Cooker Corn Chowder, Slow Cooker Russian Chick’n, and Slow Cooker Cocktail Weenies. Also many of the recipes can be slow-cookerized if you want to experiment with them.

The other recipe I made out of this was the homemade vegan Polish Sausage. You’d think since I make my own seitan I wouldn’t blink an eye at the mixing, rolling, and steaming involved. But until this recipe I’ve actually avoided link making.

Joni and Celine held my hand through their detailed recipe. So, if you’re a novice your first batch is bound to come out great. Cheryl is Polish and loved the sausage. I have the extras in my freezer waiting to go in my pierogi experiment at some future date.

To enter the giveaway do one or more of the following. You must leave a separate comment for each one you do to get the extra entry! The winner will be announced January 1.

More mouth watering pictures from Hearty Vegan. These were taken by Celine Steen.
Filed Under: Book Review, Giveaway, Uncategorized, Vegan · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Holiday Gift Ideas and 2 Giveaway Winners Announced

December 2, 2011 · by ·
First order of business is to announce the winners:
  • Jennifer S. is the winner of 2 jars of Nacheez
  • Jennifer of KiDoing is the winner of the TofuXpress
Congrats! I will be running more giveaways and possible a contest to in the next 2 weeks.

Rescue Chocolate

Not only is the chocolate amazing, but you are helping animal rescues by buying it. 100% of net profits goes to animal groups. You can take a look at their list of organizations and see where your money is going.

From their Peanut Butter Pit Bull to Feral (cat) Fig you really can’t make a bad choice. Some of the flavors will sell out, but keep going down the list and just try another delicious flavor. All their flavors are tasty and 100% vegan too!


Rancho Gordo Beans
A great company that has a huge selection of heirloom beans. They also share their seeds with the Seed Savers Exchange. My most wanted gift is their Year of Beans. 6 bags of beans four times a year, it also includes a cookbook and some heirloom beans that will be only available in this package.

Nacheez
This is a great vegan cheezy dip that you don’t have to feel guilty about. It’s only 140 calories for the whole jar and perfect for a healthy after the holidays snack. You can choose from mild or spicy. It’s great with chips but you need to try it on pasta for a Mexi-twist on mac and not-cheese.

TofuXpress
If you eat tofu in your household you really need one of these. Instead of piling up cast iron pans on top of tofu wrapped in paper towels to squeeze all the water out, you just put it in here and let the press do all the work. I use mine all the time and swear by it. I promise the veg in your life will love this.

Great Gift Cookbooks for Veggie Lovers:

  • Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas
    Nava Atlas is a veg cookbook icon and I’ve loved her since her very first book. This book is full of must try recipes and Susan Voisin’s photos are beautiful. You’ll use it everyday as well as the holidays!
  • The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions by Celine Steen and Joni Newman
    This is one case that the name does not say it all. Not only do you get a list of easy to use substitutions to use in your favorite non-veg recipes, but you get their original amazing recipes too. There is alot of goodness packed into this little book!
  • Vegan Lunch Box by Jennifer McCann
    For anyone that packs a lunch for kids or grownups. Her lunch ideas are inspiring.
  • Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robinson
    Perfect for the person on your list that’s on a tight budget, but wants to eat delicious meals too.
  • Candle 79 Cookbook by Joy Pierson
    A gorgeous book that I can’t wait to cook from. It includes Chickpea Crepes, Ginger-Seitan Dumplings, Live Lasagna, Chocolate Mousse Towers, Cucumber-Basil Martinis, and more upscale vegan fare.
  • Wildly Affordable Organic: Eat Fabulous Food, Get Healthy, and Save the Planet–All on $5 a Day or Less by Linda Watson
    This is a vegetarian cookbook with many vegan options. This book will get you planning tasty meals that are good for the environment and your wallet. (You can use her yogurt making tips to make your own soy yogurt too!)

Also make sure to check out the LightLife Blog to enter to win a copy of my book, The Vegan Slow Cooker! And sign up for my Lightlife giveaway here.


Filed Under: Gift Ideas, Giveaway, Perfect for the Holidays, Product Review, Winter · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,