Oh She Glows Cookbook and Thrive Energy Cookbook Reviews

20140417-135945.jpg

 

I joked on twitter the other day that I’ve been buying cook books like they’re going to do my meal planning for me… which of course hasn’t happened.

That being said, I’ve found two cookbooks that are ABSOLUTELY worth investing in.  One is the “Oh She Glows” cookbook, by Angela Liddon, and the other is the “Thrive Energy Cookbook” by Brendan Brazier.

These two cookbooks are amazing, because every recipe in them is comprised of plant-based, whole foods ingredients.

When we first started transitioning to a plant-based diet, I went out and bought some of the top name vegan cookbooks.  Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegan Slowcooker – etc.  There have been some fantastic recipes in these cookbooks, and they’ve been instrumental in teaching me how to cook (and bake!) without using animal products, but I still found myself flipping past a lot of recipes because they called for things I didn’t really want to put into my body.

I don’t like using fake meat products, fake cheese products, processed foods, more than a touch of refined oil, or refined sugars.

That’s when I discovered that there are cookbooks out there that focus on using only ingredients I recognize and feel good about eating – real, whole foods!

My Thrive cookbook just showed up today – but Brendan Brazier is a well respected name in the vegan and whole foods plant based world… plus, he’s an athlete who specializes in plant-based food for ATHLETES.  I’m an enthusiastic jogger, not an athlete, but hey… I love food that’s designed to give me energy and help me recover.  Not to mention that my husband actually IS an athlete, who can throw down over 20 miles at sub 7:30 pace and deserves some darn good nutrition for fuel.

My Oh She Glows cookbook has become a joke in this house because I literally have been cooking from it EVERY NIGHT.  And most mornings.  We’ve been eating Vegan Overnight Oats, Broccoli and Cashew Cheese Quinoa Burritos and all sorts of amazing, whole foods based meals that taste so incredible I sometimes tear up when I try the first bite.

I’m not joking.  I’ve actually shed a few tears over how good some of this food is, because it feels so darn amazing to have food that tastes THAT good and is THAT GOOD FOR YOU.

With all the scary chemicals in our processed foods, and all the links being found between animal products and disease, it feels so calming and empowering and amazing to sit down to a meal that I feel confident is going to be good for me and my family and taste good.

I would say more, but I am going to go sit on my couch and flip through the Thrive cookbook with some post-it notes… after all, perhaps I could start cooking “Oh She Glows” every OTHER night.  Just for a while 😉

Share:

Leave a Reply