Plant-Powered Families: Over 100 Kid-Tested, Whole-Foods Vegan Recipes

I have had all of Dreena's books. I love "Let Them Eat Vegan" --in particular the snack and dessert recipes. This new one is going to be my go-to though because it really makes cooking wholesome meals simple with basic and short ingredient lists and the recipes themselves can be put together quickly. I work long hours and just can't stand intense meals at the end of the day to feed my family. I'm not a novice cook but I also don't like to cool elaborate meals. I like quick and delicious meals with simple to find ingredients and this book delivers. So far we have had: -Home-Style Gravy (A top gravy pick of mine along with the Rich Brown Gravy from Vegan Diner) -Motsa Dip-(YUM! Would never have thought the ingredients used in this would combine to make something that tastes so mozza-like) -Savory Chickpea Omelets (The only negative I can say here is I think turmeric was left off the ing. list to add yellow coloring like the picture) -Best Banana Bread (So light and fluffy. I made these without choc chips and was still fantastic) -Apple Spice Hemp Muffins (These came out a little dense for me. I'm going to try again though. They are a great way to refuel after a workout). -Chickpea Nibbles (A great basic snack) -White Bean Guac (Easy and filling. Great on tortillas. My 5 year old loves this-great way to get protein and healthy fat into her) -Red Lentil Hummus (I liked this but the rest of the fam felt there was a bit too much coriander. I'll try again with half the amount) -Seasoned Polenta Croutons (My 5 year old made these herself, except for the oven part. So easy and delicious. Great for snacking or lunch boxes) -Balsamic Glazed Seasoned Yam Fries (I'm a sucker for yams. These are awesome! Making a batch for myself for lunch this week) -Autumn Dinner Loaf (YUM! This might be my absolute favorite vegan loaf. I'm going to add Italian spices in next time and make "meat"balls) -Lentil Pumpkin Seed Pie (Easy and fantastic) -Chocolate Chia Pudding (I decided to take this recipe up a notch by adding maple syrup and peanut butter and wow-indulgent) -Peanut Butter Pudding with Berrylicious Swirl (I could eat this everyday. It's a great healthy and fun snack for kids.) -Lemon Kissed Blondie Bites (I love all of Dreena's date based energy balls and bars and these are no exception) -Pink-sicles! (really easy and delicious) -Crazy Brownies-just finished making and trying these and all I can say is I'm in love and this recipe alone is enough to have this book on your shelf. I am loving cooking my way through this book and also the wealth of knowledge Dreena has included in regards to raising weegans. This is an excellent book. I'm so glad to have it. Another plus is that because a lot of the recipes aren't difficult and with the addition of the photos I could see my daughter wanting to select recipes to try out and as she grows older even make by herself. It would be a great item to give to a college student trying to eat a healthy vegan diet away at school because all of the recipes are easy and the ingredients are inexpensive.

So, I have cooked exclusively from this cookbook for 2 weeks, and am ABSOLUTELY AMAZED by how good these recipes are! Here are the pros and cons for this book: Disclaimer: I am not entirely vegan (only 80-90% of the time when I can), but am very passionate about eating plant-based. I also went to culinary school in Paris, so I am experienced in making both vegan and omni recipes. PROS: 1. Although all of Dreena's cookbooks are amazingly healthy, this book is the HEALTHIEST yet! There is absolutely NO white flour, white sugar, proceed anything in this book. On top of that, this book is completely OIL-FREE. Although the recipes are higher in fat than, say, what is recommended in the McDougall, or Dr. Esselstyn's diets-- the fat percentage is around 20-30% in most recipes, they are fats from whole foods. Dreena has used beans, nut/seed butters, or coconut butter to add protein and additional nutrients, and not to mention creamy texture to her dishes. I especially enjoyed the dessert recipes, which taste even better than any other vegan or non-vegan recipes I have tried, and would definitely be perfect treats even for those doing low-fat vegan. 2. Gluten free, soy free, nut free options: one of the main things I observed with Dreena's last book, "Let Them Eat Vegan", was the abundant use of nuts, which is not a problem at all for me (I love nuts!), but may be a factor of concern for those who have nut allergies. In this book, many of the recipes that require nuts, soy, or gluten are either revised to be allergen free, or include thoughtful and creative options for those who are allergic. What's more, in place of nuts, Dreena has used vegetables to create the same creaminess-- which makes for even more nutritious recipes. For example, the cashew-based Vegveeta dip from LTEV, which I LOVE, is now made with potatoes and oats and is even yummier :) 3. DESSERTS and BAKED GOODS: oh wow-- I cannot say enough great things about Dreena's baked goods. I literally baked my way through every dessert recipe in LTEV, and am already halfway through the dessert chapter in this book, and so far every recipe I have made have been A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I recommend the Dreamy Baked Bananas (topped with Banana Butter Ice Cream), Crazy brownies -- which are made from potatoes, chickpeas, and tahini, but taste better than most of the non-vegan brownies I have had, and vanilla bean chocolate chip cookies (I recommend hunting down vanilla bean powder for this! yum!). 4. Pictures: what a treat! Almost every recipe in this book has a picture, which are beautifully photographed, and look absolutely scrumptious. This is a huge change from Dreena's previous cookbooks, and a great change indeed! 5. Balanced, fresh and bright flavors: I found the flavors of the dishes in the book to be very balanced. And although the flavors are quite mild, Dreena has skillfully brightened the flavors of her dishes with a restrained yet balanced use of acid and sweetness. Incidentally, on top of being kid-friendly, I found that the mild and fresh-flavored dishes to be very easy to digest as well. CONS (Which are non-issues for me personally): 1. Repeated recipes: as a few reviewers have pointed out, this book contains a few repeated recipes. These include 1) recipes that were already published elsewhere (these are mostly oil-free recipes from her Plant-powered 15 cookbook, and the China Study All-Star cookbook), and 2) popular recipes from her previous books, but improved and made allergen-free. I personally don't mind category 1), and LOVE the category 2) recipes. I was SO excited to finally see the greatist past "hits" made EVEN healthier and simpler! But again, if repeated recipes is an issue, or if you already are tweaking Dreena's old recipes, this a point to take note of. 2. Fewer recipes as compared to her other cookbooks: this, I suspect, is due to the need to include photos for the cookbook, which would take up twice the amount of space compared to, say, if there were no pictures. Again, this is a non-issue for me because i LOVE photos in cookbooks. RECIPES I LIKED. Just to name a few, these include: Breakfasts: Pumpkin pie smoothie, Chunky Monkey smoothie, Best Banana Bread Lunch Fixes:Potato-Meets-Egg Salad, Chickpea nibbles Dips and spreads: Mild Cheesy Dip (this is the variation of the Vegveeta Dip), Red Lentil Hummus, Pumpkincredible Hummus Soups and Stews: Smoky Bean Chilli, Cream of Cauliflower Soup Pizza and Pasta: Mac-nificient (this was even better than the Mac-oh-geez in LTEV! yum) Burgers n' Fries n' Such: Umami Sun-Dried Tomato and Almond Burgers (this was SO good and flavorful-- a must-try), "SweetBalls" Desserts Puddings, Creams and Sauces: Peanut Butter Pudding with Berrylicious Swirl, Milk Chocolate Fudge Sauce Cookies, Bars, and Energy Bites: Crazy Brownies, Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chip Cookies, "Nicer" Krispie Squares, Sticky Almond Blondies, Nut-Free- "Frosted Brawnies", Vanilla Bean Almond Butter Fudge (yeeeah I pretty much adore this entire chapter ;p) Frozen treats: Banana Butter ice cream Cakes and Frostings: Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake, Chocolate ganache Extras!: Dreamy Baked Bananas, (and I am also very excited about making The Great Pumpkin Pie!, which has an oat crust.)

As we've gotten more and more into eating plant-based, I have scoured the internet looking for recipes that everyone in my family likes and that aren't impossible to make or find ingredients for. That's ended up being a really hard to do. There are so many books out there that seem geared toward a cook that has a lot of time on their hands and seem to only publish recipes designed to impress instead of giving me the tools I need to create good tasting, wholesome, plant-based meals. This book does just that. There is not a recipe in Plant-Powered Families that we haven't liked yet and they are all simple and made with things you can find at your local supermarket. None of the recipes contain oil or brand name meat substitute, another thing that most other vegan-based books do, and nothing is so complicated that it'll take you hours just to make. Some of the recipes could even be considered too simple, like the ta'quinoas which is basically just "mix cooked quinoa with spicy chili and serve", but it gives ideas for getting more vegetables and grains into our old standbys, which is exactly what I was looking for. I'll also state that the desserts are equally great. The chia-based puddings are something that I've always though possible but never could get right. This book finally had a doable recipe that make it all click together and I now plan on experimenting more with these tips in mind.

I am vegan and I cook for my omni husband and daughter. I usually cook from Happy Herbivore cookbooks but I wanted to try something that was targeted to include kids. This cookbook impressed me mostly by the baked goods and desserts. I will say that there are a lot of ingredients needed for most of these recipes as opposed to Happy Herbivore whose recipe seem easier and more budget friendly. Almost every recipe in this cookbook uses hemp seeds (more on the expensive side) and coconut butter which can be made using coconut flakes in a high speed blender. Another ingredient I had a hard time finding was white chia seeds. I do cook on a budget and I am a busy mom so these recipes were not too friendly to those categories. Also some of the recipes maybe more for older kids. My daughter is 4 and won't eat some of the Spicer recipes. Overall all the baked goods turned out great and delicious. But it's not something I have the time or budget to make daily.

It all started with my desperate need to find a plant-based Caesar salad dressing that did not contain oil. Everything I tried tasted terrible. Then, my book arrived—Plant-Powered Families—written by the well-known mom and chef, DreenaBurton. I wanted to quickly thumb through the book, but it was hard to when every page—every recipe and photo—drew me in! Finally, I made it to page 106. YES! An oil-free Caesar dressing with ingredients I could find at my local Trader Joe’s. With company invited for dinner that coming weekend (and oven-roasted eggplant “parmesan” subs on the menu), I knew this would be the perfect complement. Let’s just say EVERYONE licked their salad bowl clean. The next recipe I tried was the Balsamic-Glazed Seasoned Yam Fries (p. 155). We were having homemade veggie burgers and these took the show away. My sons (who are not huge sweet potato fans) scarfed them down in seconds flat. From the Ultimate Teriyaki Stir-Fry (p. 166) to the deliciously nut-meggy Best Banana Bread (p. 48), everyone in my family has thoroughly enjoyed each and every recipe I have made so far. Even though my children are practically grown, this book has been a hit in my home. Having the boys home this summer, I was cooking for four again. I am so glad I had this book of gems to make me seem like a star mom in the kitchen. I especially appreciate that I haven’t had to skip over recipes because Dreena used all WHOLE food ingredients in every recipe. With my “no-oil” restriction, I always feel like I have to modify recipes. Thankfully, this has not been the case! Finally, please don’t miss out on Part Four of Plant-Powered Families. This is a section NO ONE should skip. It has a plethora of important information, including do-it-yourself staples recipes and helpful cooking guides. The sample meal plans make it really simple to find ideas for feeding your family, while the FAQ section offers answers to nutrition questions you might be wondering about. All around, the book gets 5 out of 5 stars. It will soon be another one of my "beat up" cookbooks because I will be using it ALL the time!

Plant Powered Families is an amazing cookbook! I have been cooking whole foods plant based foods for years, some things my kids liked, some not so much. These recipes got my kids "over the hump" and now they will pretty much eat anything I make! The recipes are all healthy and pretty simple to make with readily available items from any grocery store or Costco (hemp seeds, chia seeds, etc are super cheap there). The author has also started a Facebook page titled Plant Powered Families and it has become a great community of cool people sharing recipes and ideas. I love that she has allergy friendly substitutes for most, if not all, of the recipes. The pictures an added bonus and the print is easy to read. The #1 recipe loved by all on that FB page is Doreen's Chocolate Sweet Potato cake. It's fat free and crazy healthy (for cake). Some of our favorite recipes include Artichoke Spinach Dip, Almond Zen Granola, Sunday Morning Pancakes, Pumpkin Pie Smoothie, Best Banana Bread, Apple Spice Hemp muffins, Pumpkin Snackles, Southwest Quinoa Salad, Sniffle Soup, Sneaky Chickpea Burgers (all of her bean burgers are amazing), Zesty Raw Almond Sauce (all of the sauces are yummy), Motsa Dip, Autumn Dinner Loaf, and all of her chia puddings are delicious. Dreena Burton is incredibly generous as she shares tons of her recipes for free online so you can try it before you buy it. If you join the facebook page she also personally answers everyone's questions. I don't know how she has the time to do all that she does. No, we are not friends and I don't know her...just giving my honest opinion and sharing my experience with this book and the author.

I have been using Dreena's books ever since I became vegan 5 years ago. This newest addition is my absolute favorite because the food is so simple to prepare yet also very healthful and tastes good too. Ingredient lists are brief, and recipe instructions rarely exceed half a page. I do not have a family yet, but the simplicity of the recipes is appreciated as I am a busy graduate student without a lot of free time. There are also sections on meal planning, batch cooking, dealing with packing school lunches, kids' parties, etc. The format of the book is easy to navigate and is very aesthetically pleasing and has an interesting texture that I love. There is a picture for every recipe, which is a rarity in cookbooks! Recipes are all oil-free although not necessarily low-fat (many include nuts/seeds, nut butters, avocados, coconut products). I especially appreciate the section on snack ideas. So far I have tried simplest oatmeal, the green smoothie, zesty raw almond sauce (paired with rice noodles with raw veggies), sloppy joe's, sweet potato fries, chickpea nibblers, and rice krispie treats. The recipes in this books are the ones you will cook on a day-to-day basis and make up what normal, busy vegan people eat! Dreena makes eating healthy easy. Great book, great photos, tasty food.

I loved the title "Plant-Powered Families" and I really wanted to love this cookbook. I expected that this cookbook would have more kid-friendly foods that just happened to be vegan. But that's not the case and it's just okay for us. I'm not new to vegetarian cooking, but I am new-ish to vegan cooking and in this cookbook I bump against the same problem I usually encounter when I try to shift to more vegan recipes--too many unusual, hard to find (in my area), or processed ingredients. Some of the ingredients in this cookbook include: coconut aminos, coconut sugar, brown rice syrup, chickpea miso, hemp seeds, coconut vinegar, white chia (NOT the black chia that I CAN get at my grocery store). Whew! For my family, I'm trying to limit processed foods and maximize whole and "real" foods. Is coconut sugar any less processed than regular cane sugar? Some of these ingredients still seem like processed foods and it's not clear to me that they really are better for our health or the environment, but it is clear that they cost more--an 8 ounce bag of hemp seeds cost $8.99 at my grocery store. I'm not convinced I should spend the money on unusual ingredients I may use only once because we hate the taste. I'm so frustrated because I'd really like to embrace more of a vegan diet but without potions from a bottle. I'd really like to find a vegan cookbook that sticks to normal ingredients and doesn't do vegan "cheese" and "meat" substitutes.

Libro en inglés. Fotografías de gran calidad y recetas muy sencillas y deliciosas! Ingredientes sencillos y que todos tenemos (o cualquier vegetariano tiene) en nuestra despensa. (El único ingrediente que no conocía era la "chia blanca" ya que pensaba que toda la chia era negra) Esta escrito de forma muy amena y contiene también pequeños consejos y trucos para el día a día o para organizarte mejor con las comida y los peques. Lo recomiendo.

This is a very good cookbook if you are new to vegan cooking and want to raise a plant-powered family. What is not listed on the cover is that this book contains loads of recipes that are oil free (some do contains nuts and or cashews), in fact most of them are oil free. This makes the book excellent for use if you are on a Forks Over Knives kind of diet (Engine 2, Campbell plan etc.). If you own already some books by Dreena, she revamped some of her old stuff into new, even healthier ones in this book. I like the flavours in her recipes, there is great advice for different palates within the family (how to make it less savoury for wee ones of how to up the flavour whilst not turning in a restaurant cook with plate service). There is quite some advice on vegan parenting (how to deal with unwanted foods at parties, how to deal with feasts at school), some nutritional information (where to get protein, calcium, vitamin D etc.). What I do miss in this cookbook is, there is no little list at the beginning of a recipe to indicate recipe is gluten/ wheat or soy free (she does not use a lot of soy or wheat BTW). Her previous book (Let them eat vegan! ) did have that and I found that very helpful. It does have a little symbol to indicate recipe is suitable for batch-cooking. This book contains lots of pictures of the food which is very nice. The food is very nice and healthy, I am very happy with this book.

Fantastic recipe book. This may rival Oh She Glows as my favorite vegan recipe book! Nearly every recipe has a picture (which is so important to me), and there are plenty of unique recipes which I haven't seen in my other recipe books. We've tried the "Mac-nificent Mac N Cheese", the "Sneaky Chickpea Burgers", and and "Lemon Kissed Blondie Bites". They were all so tasty and simple to make. We'll be trying out the "Blueberry Lassy Muffins" and the "Baconut" today - can't wait to see how those turn out! Do yourself a favor and buy this book, you will not regret it! Edit: we tried the lassy muffins and the baconut last night. The muffins were great for breakfast, though the molasses flavor was a bit strong. I topped my muffin with raspberry jam and that made it so much better. The jam really evened out the molasses flavor! I was so impressed with the baconut! It really does taste like crispy bacon! Even the texture is similar to crispy bacon. There is a slight coconut-y after taste, but that didn't take away from the experience. I used it in a BLT, and plan to use it as a pizza topping in the near future.

I'd had my eye on this book for a while and so had high hopes when I finally purchased it - thankfully it did not disappoint. Very rarely do I open a recipe book and like the look of every single one of the recipes inside, more importantly it all tastes incredible and my children get excited about their food when I cook from it! The sweetballs and the sneaky chickpea burgers are standard in our house and I keep a stash of both on hand in the freezer, I'm never without a huge jar of the zen granola, and the sticky almond blondies, nicer crispy squares, vanilla bean chocolate chip cookies and best banana bread (to name a few) are happily devoured by my children's non-vegan friends during play dates! The soups and pasta dishes are always big hits too. My eldest starts school next week, and I was having issues coming up with nut free vegan packed lunch ideas - not any more. Part three of this book is all about how to handle school lunches, hosting kids parties and general advice and tips on dealing with peer pressure, all of which gave me a much-needed confidence boost. There are also really useful nutrient reference charts, including RDA's and how plant foods compare to animal products where protein, calcium and iron are concerned which would help put worried parent's minds at ease. Simply put, I have found this book invaluable and I am looking forward to purchasing many more by Dreena.

I got this book a couple of months ago and every recipe I've tried so far has been great. My toddler particularly loves the cookies, but other big hits have been the gravy (more like sauce for Brits) and the "sweetballs." I was initially a bit daunted by the number of ingredients some of the more complicated recipes use but there's very little that you can't get in Tescos or similar, and they are mostly a few main ingredients and then four or five different flavours to add from herbs or similar. I've also tried substitutions where I've not had something in and these are forgiving recipes to work with if you need to play with them a bit. In terms of value for practical use rather than keeping on the shelf, this is the best recipe book I've ever bought.