Favorite Vegetarian Cookbooks

Thought I'd share some of my favorite vegetarian recipe cookbooks. The books have helped to make eating time a lot more pleasant for my family. Ethan has been eating amazingly well since we came home from vacation. He's been more willing to try new foods. I've been using the following four book quite frequently to prepare my weekly menus. They have also been a great source for information on the vegetarian/vegan diet.

Better than Peanut Butter & Jelly by Wendy Muldawer and Marty Mattore

This book has easy recipes with very basic ingredients. The best part is that each recipe has been given a "Vegan", "Vegan option" or "Vegetarian" heading so that you can create a meal that best suits your eating style. There is a recipe for the best vegan banana muffins I've ever had- and they're super easy to make. Some of Ethan's favorites include: Eggless Humpty Dumpty Salad; Howlin' Hummus; and Meatless sloppy Joes.

The Vegetarian Family Cookbook By Nava Atlas

This is also a must have for vegetarian families. With easy recipes and easy to find ingredients, this book is full of great ideas for any meal. Also has each recipes marked clearly with a "dairy","honey", "vegan", or"vegan option" labels. Another great thing about this book is that Nava Atlas offers suggestions for making each recipe into a meal.

From Animal Crackers to Wild West Beans by Carol Timperley

I love this book because the recipes are organized by age of the baby. For example, one chapter is called "First Flavors: 4-6 months" and another is called "Texture and Taste: 6-9 months." There is a lot of egg, milk or dairy which would require adapting for a vegan family, but most adaptions are simple to make. This book also includes little smiley and unhappy faces with the boxes under each recipe which is useful for checking off how baby reacted to the food. Snowflakes are marked for those recipes that can be frozen.

The Vegetarian Mother and Baby Book by Rose Elliot

I could definitely do without the parenting advise in this book, but I love the nutritional information and charts, the menu suggestions and great recipes. Ethan doesn't necessarily like these recipes as much, so I make them when I need a little more spice in my diet. We especially enjoy the Spinach Dal, Creamy Cashew Nut Korma, Spice Vegetable Pilau, and Felafel recipe