I've just published my book on amazon.ca in an e-book format!  It's available for download here:

http://www.amazon.ca/Cooking-Life-Vegetarian-Experience-ebook/dp/B00CCJB768/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1365935750&sr=1-1&keywords=cooking+for+life+total+vegetarian

Introducing.......my new Cookbook!

Welcome!  I've created this page as a website for promoting my new cookbook - "Cooking For Life - A Total Vegetarian, Wheat Free and Gluten Free Cooking Experience".  I am currently working on ways to effectively disburse the cookbooks and fulfill orders without having to incur the high costs of shipping them.

For now, I thought I'd share a few things from my book to hopefully get you as excited about it as I am!

To start with, I thought I'd share the inspiration for my book:

 

Before my family and I made the transition to a total vegetarian lifestyle, I had been dealing with a gluten and dairy allergy for several years.  I quite often found myself searching the internet and cookbooks for new recipes to try and would always come away discouraged.  Most of the gluten free recipes I was finding contained dairy products of one kind or another and I was beginning to get very frustrated with this.  One day, however, I was searching online for recipes and it occurred to me that I should search for gluten free *vegan* recipes because they would naturally contain no dairy products.  Once I came to this conclusion, my once-mundane task of endless searching for recipes seemed to be over…..for a while.  I did find, however, another roadblock once we adopted a plant-based diet: there is a very limited selection of plant-based AND gluten free recipes that actually taste good and aren’t loaded with unhealthy fillers like refined sugars, unnecessary oils and fats, unique and hard-to-find ingredients or pre-made alternative “convenience” foods (like vegan cream cheese, vegan mayonnaise, cheese-substitutes, etc.) that are both expensive and hard to find if you don’t have access to the large variety of health food stores and specialty markets that are common in larger cities. 

Since deciding to venture out and make a cookbook, I’ve had several people tell me that they are vegetarian or vegan AND gluten free.  In addition, some of those people are endlessly searching for good recipes to no avail.  I see the need for this type of cookbook and I hope and pray that it will be a blessing to those who have been searching for a collection of recipes designed to meet their dietary and financial needs.

And as a little treat, I thought I'd give you a sneak peak into one of my favorite recipes from my cookbook:

No-Bake Carob Oatmeal Cookies

Do you remember the classic “No Bake” Oatmeal Chocolate drop cookies?  This is them – only better! 

**Contains Oats**

Makes 25-35

·        1/3 cup pure maple syrup

·        1/3 cup honey

·        ¼ cup coconut oil, scented or unscented

·        5 tablespoons carob powder

·        ½ tsp cardamom

·        ½ tsp coriander

·        ½ cup peanut butter (or other nut butter of your choice)

·        1 cup wheat free quick rolled oats

·        1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

·        1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1.    In a saucepan over medium heat and using a whisk, combine maple syrup, coconut oil, carob powder, coriander, and cardamom.  Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. 

2.   Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, oats, coconut and vanilla until well blended.

3.   Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet and chill to set, about 30 minutes.   Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

**Stephanie’s Suggestions**

·        Carob is a wonderful alternative to chocolate!  Not only does chocolate quite often contain dairy products, it’s also full of caffeine which is a powerful stimulant.  Carob is naturally sweeter than cocoa, is high in calcium and is rich in vitamins and minerals.  It can be used successfully to replace cocoa in most recipes.  If you’re looking for a taste similar to chocolate but without the stimulating effects, carob is a great choice.

***Just a note** - with the exception of honey, all of the recipes are VEGAN and with the exception of wheat free oats (which many gluten-free individuals can safely tolerate), all of the recipes are GLUTEN FREE.  ``Gluten Free`in Canada means that it can`t contain oats so in order to keep with these guidelines, I have called the book `wheat free and gluten free`.  

Thanks to everyone for their support and I hope you will pass along this information to anyone you may know that could benefit from this type of cookbook!

For questions, info, and ordering, please email cookingforlifecookbook@gmail.com or visit https://www.facebook.com/cookingforlifecookbook