Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Dec 16

12

Desert Vegan Box Set 2 in 1: 150+ Ice Cream Vegan and Chocolate Vegan Recipes by Sam Kuma: Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on December 12, 2016
Posted in Books Read in 2016 • Cooking • Vegan  | Tagged With: , | 6 Comments

Desert Vegan Box Set 2 in 1: 150+ Ice Cream Vegan and Chocolate Vegan Recipes by Sam KumaDesert Vegan Box Set 2 in 1: 150+ Ice Cream Vegan and Chocolate Vegan Recipes by Sam Kuma


My favorite part of a meal is desert.  When I go to a restaurant, I ask to see the desert menu before I order dinner.  That way I know if I need to save room for desert.  LOL!  In fact, neither my husband, Bill nor I can eat as much as we use to.  When dining out, we often share a main dish and sometimes desert.  At home, I cook full recipes and we eat the leftovers.  We always have vegan deserts on hand, either ones I make or buy already made.  So, I am always happy to try out more desert recipes.

The Vegan Desert Box Set is two desert books.  One is vegan ice cream recipes and the other is vegan chocolate recipes.

Vegan Ice Cream Book


In the Vegan Ice Cream book, not all the recipes are actually ice cream.  It starts out with slush and shaved ice recipes, and then moves on to sorbets, and then ice cream recipes.   Some of the recipes call for an ice cream maker, which I don’t have.  I have made vegan ice cream without one using a special technique with good success so I used that with the recipes I tried.

All the fruit based sorbet recipes I tried worked fine and were quite delicious.  I made both the Lemon and Berry Sorbets. The Chocolate Sorbet was too icy but perhaps the result would have been better with an ice cream maker. I also made the Soft Serve Ice Cream that doesn’t call for an ice cream maker.  It was delicious but not very original.  There are a lot of frozen banana recipes out there. They are a vegan staple when it comes to desert and this is the first recipe I learned when I went vegan over 25 years ago.  There were some really good ideas for ice cream flavors and I look forward to trying more of the ice cream recipes.

There were also some ice Cream topping recipes like a berry sauce and hot fudge. The Peanut Butter Hot Fudge was really good.  It is rich so use sparingly.  Chocolate and peanut butter together is a favorite of mine!

Chocolate Vegan Book


The Chocolate Vegan Recipe Book is not just deserts, in fact, it starts with breakfast.  I don’t eat a big breakfast very often.  I usually just have a super-foods cereal mixed with my home made vegan yogurt and a handful of dried cranberries on top.  I follow that with a glass of my home made kombucha (a fermented healthy drink).  However, about once a month I make a brunch on the weekend for Bill and I.  Sometimes we invite friends over too.  This weekend I made the Chocolate French Toast.  French toast is my favorite comfort food and the cocoa powder and peanut butter made this French toast extra rich and flavorful.

I also made the Raspberry Hot Chocolate.  It’s been unusually cold here the last couple weeks so that really hit the spot.  I haven’t had time to make any of the cakes, cookies, etc but am looking forward to trying some of those recipes as well!

I give the Vegan Boxed Set books 4/5 stars.

I received the ebook version for my review.

About Sam Kuma


Sam Kuma is passionate about sharing his culinary experience to the world. His work involves modernization of healthy diet plans. He is good at vegan, ketogenic, paleo, dash and several ethnic cuisines. His main focus is to make healthy diets like vegan and ketogenic mainstream by producing delicious, appetizing recipes. In his first two books regarding Vegan recipes, he has produced delicious Vegan Chocolate meals, Vegan Desserts, Vegan Ice Creams, Vegan Burgers and Sandwiches. #veganweightloss

Buy Desert Vegan Box Set 2 in 1: 150+ Ice Cream Vegan and Chocolate Vegan Recipes by Sam Kuma 

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Jun 16

16

PETA’S Vegan College Cookbook: Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on June 16, 2016
Posted in Books Read in 2016 • Cooking • Vegan  | Tagged With: , | 6 Comments

PETA'S Vegan College CookbookPETA’S Vegan College Cookbook


I have been a vegan for over 25 years and even though I am way past my college years, I was curious to see what the recommendations for college students was for eating.  During my college days, I was vegetarian, not vegan which, was a good thing as there were already too many limitations to what I could find in the cafeteria in my dorm!  I lived on a pathetic salad bar and pizzas that I had delivered on almost a daily basis.

I sure wish this cookbook would have been around when I was in college.  Although, my dorm didn’t have a microwave which, many of these recipes require.  I am sure there is easy access to one now a days.  I did however, have a small refrigerator in my room where I stored my leftover pizza.  How did you reheat it, you ask? I didn’t, I ate it cold! LOL!

The advice to vegan college students in this cookbook is good.  It goes over what students should keep in their “pantry” and points out some of the things they might be able to get in their cafeteria.  Some of the ingredients weren’t even around back when I was in college, such as the vegetarian meat alternatives.  We have come a long way!

None of the recipes require a stove, just a microwave.  However, there were some that required a blender.  How much space do they think students have in a dorm room? LOL!  The need a refrigerator/freezer, microwave, and blender.  Plus they need a space to prepare the food.  I can tell you that my room was tiny and I had a roommate.

I tried making a few of the recipes myself including the ‘Breakfast Parfait’ ‘Pancake In a Mug’, and ‘Freshman Frittata’.  The parfait was the easiest and taste good.  The pancake in a mug was acceptable, if a stovetop isn’t an option but it was a bit on the rubbery side.  I didn’t care for the frittata at all.  I don’t know about you but I like my frozen hash browns, brown in oil, in a skillet.  They turn out as you would expect in a microwave, mushy!

Would I recommend ‘PETA’s Vegan Cookbook’.  Yes, I would for students living in a dorm or somewhere that they don’t have access to a stove, etc.  As a student, you need to make do with what you have access to and this book will help students find and make vegan meals so they won’t starve.

3/5

I received the ebook format for my honest opinion via Net Galley.

Oct 15

30

Review: Food 52 Vegan by Gena Hamshaw

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on October 30, 2015
Posted in Books Read in 2015  | Tagged With: , | 3 Comments

Gena HamshawDescription of Food 52 Vegan by Gena Hamshaw:

An essential collection of hassle-free, vibrant vegan recipes, from the author behind Food52’s wildly popular The New Veganism and Vegan Lunch columns.

Omnivore or vegan (or anywhere in between), we’re all looking for memorable, flavorful dishes to cook for ourselves and the people we care about. If those recipes happen to be healthful, nourishing, and friendly to vegetarians and vegans, even better.

With her wildly popular New Veganism column on Food52, Gena Hamshaw has inspired home cooks  to incorporate plant-based recipes into their everyday routine—and even gained some nutritional yeast and cashew cheese converts. This vibrant collection of all-new recipes plus beloved favorites from the column—along with exquisite photography and helpful tips throughout—will show all of us innovative ways to cook with fresh produce and whole foods. 

From Savory Breakfast Polenta to Cauliflower and Oyster Mushroom Tacos to Ginger Roasted Pears with Vanilla Cream, these recipes are delicious, dependable, and deeply satisfying. Cook from this book just a couple of times and you’ll soon find yourself stocking up on coconut oil, blending your own nut milks, seeking the sweetest tomatoes at the market, and looking at plant-based dishes in a whole new way.

My Thoughts on Food 52 Vegan by Gena Hamshaw:

I have been vegan for over 25 years, so I have collected a lot of vegan cookbooks over the years.  They are an addiction so I rarely turn down the chance to review a new one.  So, I jumped at the chance to get the ebook version of ‘Food 52 Vegan’

It covers some of the basics but I would not call it a book for beginner vegans.  It does have some good recipes.

I made the Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Kale, and Pesto Vinaigrette.  It was good but not a favorite.  I also made the Snow Pea, Cabbage, and Mizuna Salad with Smokey Tempeh.  I loved this salad! However, I couldn’t find any Mizuna so used Arugula. The Jerk Chili with Quinoa and Kidney Beans was quite good.

I can’t agree that this cookbook is totally “hassle-free” since not all the ingredients are readily available.  I even went to Whole Foods looking for Mizuna and they didn’t have it.  They have quite an extensive produce section and I turn to them to stock up on ingredients I can’t find elsewhere. 

There are 60 recipes in this cookbook but not all sounded that appealing to our palettes in this household and we are not usually that picky. I would certainly make the Snow pea, Cabbage, and Mizuna (arugula), Salad again, in fact, I have already made it three times.  It is an excellent main course salad!

3/5

I received the ebook for my honest review.

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