Julie's Kitchenette

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Cookbook Review & Giveaway

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This review is way, way overdo. But you know how life gets in the way of things. Anyway, a Facebook friend (thank you Courtney!) had first told me about this cookbook, just after it came out. She was raving about the recipes, and said that I had to give it a try. So when I got the opportunity to give it a test drive and see what I thought, I had to agree. This is a great cookbook! The book is called Give Them Something Better by Sarah Frain and Stephanie Howard. They also have a website by the same name with recipes there too.

The book is plant-based, and the recipes are solid, and are the kind of recipes that you reach for again and again. They aren’t fancy or gourmet, but are hearty, delicious and satisfying. I even made a few of the soup recipes in the book at our food cart. I slightly tweaked the corn chowder recipe by swapping the canned corn for a bag of frozen organic sweet corn, and smoked paprika and chipotle powder for the dried basil. The soup was delicious, and always a customer favorite. That’s what I love about these recipes. They are solid and delicious as is, but you can also easily adapt them with stellar results. The author also keeps sugar to a minimum, and calls for maple syrup and alternative sweeteners in many of the recipes. I did notice honey called for in the Lemon Pie recipe, but I’m sure you could easily sub it with agave syrup. Most of the recipes appear to be gluten-free, or at least easily adaptable.

There are still a lot of recipes that I’m excited to try, like the Oatmeal Patties, which are a spin on veggie burgers and look delicious topped with homemade gravy, and the Chicken Stew, Unsausages, Better Burgers, Special T Loaf and more. The recipes are all easy to make, and would also be a great cookbook for those looking for solid vegan recipes that are easy, delicious, nutritious, and hearty.  And, while I’m at it, Stephanie Howard wrote a second book with Anneliese Howard called Kidlicious. This book is full of easy to make, healthy and delicious recipes, but all geared toward children. These are recipes that you can make both for and with your kids. All of the recipes are kid-friendly and very tasty too. I wish that we had this cookbook when my kids were young and we first went vegetarian. My kids would have loved it!

The recipes run from fun breakfast recipes like a fun version of banana splits (made with scoops of oatmeal), whole wheat pancakes, Gluten-Free Power Waffles, Scrambled Tofu, and Breakfast Pizzas to healthy snacks like Rainbow Fruit Roll Ups, Cauliflower Popcorn, Sneaky Green Zucchini Patties, Baked Kale Chips and more.  There’s also a  “Thinking Outside The Lunch Box” chapter, a “Family Meal” chapter, “The Occasional Sweet” chapter and a “Food Without Labels…Make It Yourself Chapter”.  The recipes all look delicious and most look to be gluten-free too (with the exception of a few), and all are clearly labeled. There are even mysteries sprinkled throughout the book for kids to discover and solve.

I think the publisher is an Adventist publisher, as there is an ad in the back of the book for The Bible Story and a few tiny references to scripture in the book. But you really have to look pretty hard to find them. This is a book geared to getting kids to eat healthy in a plant-based, vegan way. And, even though it’s geared towards kids, it has some great recipes! If I can ever get my son to start cooking regularly at college, I know that he will especially love some of these dishes! Lucky for you all that Stephanie Howard has sent me a copy of both books, to share with my readers. So, all you have to do is leave a comment along with your name and a way to reach you (should you win). I will pick 2 winners (one for each book) via Random Number Generator). I will leave this giveaway open until July 3rd. Oh, and unfortunately it’s only open to US addresses. Good luck everyone!

I received no financial compensation for this review, and shared my honest feelings about these cookbooks. I was given a copy of both books to review and giveaway.

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Comments

  2. Pick me! Pick me! I have these, and there are some GREAT recipes, but would love an additional copy of either one, as I think they’d be GREAT gifts for several newly vegan friends who are wanting easy-basic vegan recipes.

  3. I would love to win this! I am one of Mari Miller Hall’s newly vegan friends!

  4. The Kidlicious cookbook looks right up my ally! My husband and I both graduated with health related degrees and really want our baby boy to be as healthy as he can be as he grows up. I’m a vegetarian again, too, so this book seems perfect for my little family. It might be one I will just have to buy in the future anyway!

  5. I’m glad you (finally) got a copy! 😉

    I make the chicken salad sandwich spread all the time using Vegenaise. But I like making their aioli as well, it’s really good. Those oat burgers are good too!

    I need to try the new kids cookbook! The recipes sound good…

  7. Surprisingly, I haven’t heard of either of these cookbooks but they both sound amazing (especially the first one). Great review, Julie!

  9. My daughter is getting ready to start her third year of college and she is always cooking her own meals, so I am constantly on the lookout for books that she would find useful to build her collection. Either of these books would most likely be right up her alley.

  16. I am always looking for great vegan and vegetarian cookbooks to add to my collection and these look wonderful! I’d love to look through Kidlicious with my two boys to find new favorite recipes we can make together. This lady’s fingers are crossed!

  18. Never, with few exceptions, have I seen so many people in need of a cookbook. Julie, I just received Vegan Diner and it is wonderful. I will get this off Amazon and let someone else have the pleasure of winning. Like Isa says, you know your way around vegan meats. Many thanks for your posts and cookbooks. I enjoy them much. joe

  19. I really love the title of this book. Thank you for reviewing it, I’ve never heard of it before and will definitely check this out at the bookstore.

  20. An interesting book! Seems like it could give us some great ideas that will be popular with our family. Thanks!

  21. I’ve been trying to incorporate more vegan type meals into my repetoire,,,, Both of these books look like their full of interesting ideas. Thank you for the chance for winning one of them!

  23. Thanks for doing the review and giveaways — I hadn’t heard of either cookbook before, but they both sound great! The breakfast banana split with scoops of oatmeal is such a cute idea. 🙂

    By the way, I can’t wait for your Vegan Casseroles cookbook — I already pre-ordered it! 🙂

  26. I would love to win either but I think the kids’ recipes would be awesome and so helpful!

  28. Would love to win either of these books! Give Them Something Better by Sarah Frain and Stephanie Howard looks especially good.
    –Samantha Plotkin ssremington atgmail.com

  29. You had me hooked when you started talking soup – that’s my favorite food. I love the changes you made to the soup one.