Excellent Little Book!

I truly just stumbled across this book while browsing Amazon for something entirely unrelated. When I saw the forward by Dr. Esselstyn, I decided to give it a try.

The Vegan Cheat Sheet: Your Take-Everywhere Guide to Plant-based Eating

I LOVE this book! I bought it for the "cheat sheet" substitutions - so convenient - but the recipe collection may be one of the tastiest sounding I've seen in one volume.

I've been feeling somewhat uninspired lately, and falling into making the same meals over and over, or eating whatever's convenient, and it's taking its toll. I've gained weight and lost energy. I can feel the difference when I eat a whole foods, plant based diet. It's time to sit down with this book as well as a couple of my favorite other cookbooks, and get organized and PLAN meals for the week.

EDIT: I made the hot artichoke dip tonight. I'm testing recipes for a heart-healthy potluck next month, and this sounded like a winner. It tastes great, it's a winner, I would serve it to guests with pride, but I obviously need to upgrade my blender, and must start saving my pennies toward same. Many recipes in this book involve either a blender, food processor, or immersion blender. My food processor is 10 years old, my blender is slightly newer but cheap, and my immersion blender is definitely old enough to vote, and is drastically underpowered for any endeavor beyond beating lumps from gravy. A quick review of the recipes in many cookbooks makes it clear that I am beyond the technological times in kitchen gadgetry. Yeah, and my washer and dryer, Fred and Ethel, are quietly bludgeoning my clothes every time I do laundry, so a better food processor keeps dropping down the needs list. I get by.

My Asheville kids talked themselves into a Vitamix 5200s Black : Featuring Variable Speed Control and Large Capacity 64oz Container - Also includes Getting Started Plus Recipe Book, Instructional DVD, and 7 Year Warranty! and it is both scary and sexy, but I can't spend that much, and they have about four times as much kitchen counter space. (I'm not sure that is exactly the model they have; somehow I think theirs is even more intimidating.) I'll be looking for something with much more grinding power than my $50 blender, but also, shall we say, a helluva lot CHEAPER? Something I could stash in the closet when I don't need it taking up my modest kitchen counter space, because it doesn't weigh a ton?

It's pretty far down the needs list, so I'll just browse and ponder for a while.