Cookbooks and stuff.

I love weekends. It's on Saturdays and Sundays that my husband and I have time to spend together and we end up doing a lot of the same things we did when we were dating, like dining out, shopping for music and especially bookstore browsing. We hit up two stores today: one was a dollar used bookshop and the other mega-bookstore Borders. At the dollar shop I got lucky and found some great old cookbooks:


This is what I got:

Toll House Heritage Cookbook (1980): This book is chock full of dessert recipes that use Toll House baking products and loads of dairy and eggs. No matter. I will try and veganize some of these recipes using animal free products like soymilk, egg-replacers (like cornstarch or mashed bananas or tofu), vegan margarine and dairy free chocolate chips. Some recipes that sound good: Cookie Brittle, Oatmeal Marble Squares, Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies and Bourbon Balls. I know I'll have fun veganizing these. My neighbor Shannon is a vegetarian but loves to bake vegan and she takes on the challenge with great results. So I will follow her example with this book.

Veggie Lovers Cookbook: I scored with this one as it's completely vegan with a ton of simple and practical recipes such as Vegetable Loaf, Miso Macaroni, Curried Sauté, Carob Mousse Pie and banana ice cream. It looks like a very healthy book as the recipes do not contain sugar or salt but instead use things like date sugar, brown rice syrup and tamari.

America's Favorite Recipes from Better Homes and Gardens (1966): This one is going to be a blast to veganize. Such crazy sounding recipes like Oriental Chi Chow, Asparagus Delicious, Burger in the Round and Vegetable Trio with Zippy Sauce. I know with some of the meat dishes I'm going to have to use meat substitutes like tofu, tempeh or seitan. Can't wait to experiment!

The Simpler Life Cookbook from Arrowhead Mills: i wonder if this is the same company that makes the vital wheat gluten that I buy? (off to check online...) Why yes it is. This book is vegetarian (it has recipes with dairy and eggs) but most can be veganized. A lot of them utilize all kinds of grain such as whole wheat, millet, barley, bulgur, oats, rye etc as well as other healthy staples like beans, lentils, vegetables and nuts. Some recipes that look good and healthy: millet patties, barley rice burgers, millet casserole and garbanzo goulash.

Fit For Life: I've heard about this book after reading interviews with Bryan Adams (yes Bryan Adams, the singer songwriter) and his vegan diet. He recommended this book for it's healthy lifestyle full of fresh fruits and vegetables. It looks like a weight loss book about food combining and eating the right foods in the right combinations at the right time. Might give it a try one day.

And I also got a few non-cookbooks:


Twins: the book that was the inspiration for the film Dead Ringers.
The Forbidden Tower: oooh....scary! Haha! I'm a sucker for these gothic suspense novels that are from the 60's and 70's.
Doctor Who: The Pirate Loop: My husband got me this from Borders. Yay! I looooooove Who.

Oh, I should mention what I had for lunch: Subway $5 footlong! I had a Veggie Delight on white with mustard (no mayo, no cheese) and filled with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green peppers, onions, olives, carrots plus avocado, oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, pepperoncinis and jalapenos. It was yummy!