As a foodie, I’m always on the hunt for new, exciting dishes to prepare. After cooking day in day out, 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year, the recipe roundup can get banal. To keep that from happening I challenge myself to make at least 2 new recipes per month. Even if it’s a familiar staple like carrots, I love learning new ways to prepare them. In my house we typically go a month without eating the same thing twice for dinner. That just works for me as to not get bored or discouraged with my commitment to eating clean. By no means am I suggesting you eat something different every night of the week, I’m simply stating keep it fun and tasty.

Some of the new recipe ideas go over well and are incorporated in our rotation. Others are scrapped not to be tried again; and those are usually not because of taste but because they are just too FUSSY or time consuming to prepare.

As a busy mom of 5, I like making dishes that tantalize the taste buds yet are accessible and give a good return on investment for the time and cost to prepare.

With that said, at the end of last year I began cooking through two new exciting Vegan cookbooks. While I do not ascribe to a particular dietary title (you can read more on that HERE), we do eat 85% plant-based foods in my home.

You ever pick up a cookbook whose cover is oh so inviting? Then you flip the glossy pages and the dishes cause you salivate? You proceed to bring the book home with lofty ideas of cooking ALL the dishes only to find that they are too fussy, too complicated, or require eccentric out of reach ingredients?

Well my friend that is NOT the case AT ALL with these two books.

If you’ve committed to starting your New Year focusing on your health, these plant-based recipes will not disappoint. They will delight your taste buds while nourishing and honoring your temple.

Here’s some of the fun I had cooking my way through Nom Yourself by Mary Mattern & Happy Healthy Vegan Kitchen by Kathy Patalsky

Nom Yourself

I started following Mary on Instagram a few months ago because her pictures were so inviting. With every picture I thought, “I would eat that”. So I had to go pick up the book and give the recipes a try. The #1 new dish in my home for 2015 came from this book, Sesame Tofu Tacos.

Sesame Tofu Tacos

Her Jambalaya, Tortilla Soup and Buffalo Cauliflower Mmm, mmm, good.
 

Happy Healthy Vegan Kitchen

1^st of all, the burger on the cover just draws you in. My 11 year old exclaimed, “Mommy we HAVE to make that!”

I’ve been following Kathy for a few years now via her blog. Check it out HERE. Tons of great recipes. So as soon as the cookbook came out I knew I had to get my hands on it. I feel like Kathy is my cooking twin. The flavor profiles she conjures together are so similar to mine. I think our shared love for warm/cold salads is what virtually bonded me to her forever. I’m so proud of the work she’s doing in sharing her love of eating clean while keep in delectable and exciting.

From Spicy Peanut Soba Noodles (yay I keep most of these ingredients on hand daily) to Kale Salad to Gingerbread Bundt Cake this book is chock full of yum to help you maintain your clean eating goals in an exciting, tantalizing way. Oh and what I most wanted to make, the Peanut, Tofu, Kale Black Rice Bowl.  How I’d been waiting for a reason to cook this black rice that was just sitting in my pantry. No boring tasteless steamed broccoli here.

[bctt tweet=”So what are your plans to ensure you’re eating clean in 2016?”] Do tell. I’d love to hear it.

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!