Betty Goes Vegan

linanil · **Posted:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:16 pm

mrsbadmouth wrote:

HOWEVER this book is already getting slammed on Amazon, which I figured because the people who review cookbooks on amazon want every book to be sugar/soy/gluten/oil/nut free and you have to be able to get everything you need from the Walmart in a midwestern town with a population of 5,000. I think there's room for books that use the pre-made products available to vegans.

I agree with this. I honestly don't eat vegan cheeses because for the most part, they don't taste good to me. Once in a great while, I'll have a pizza in a restaurant with Daiya because enough veggies cover it up and it is more about the experience of 'feeing normal' by having pizza in a restaurant.

I guess I know this book uses a lot of subs so I can pass on it, not buy it, not review it but even if I bought it and reviewed it, I wouldn't give a 1 or 2 star because I already know ahead of time what is in the book, more or less.

lavawitch · **Posted:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:22 pm

mrsbadmouth wrote:

akasha wrote:

I made the Ultimate Corn Chowder and the Salted Caramel Apple Whoopie Pies this weekend. The chowder is yummy, perfect on a cold day. And the whoopie pies are just ridiculous. I put most of them in the freezer but they probably won't stay there long! I probably will reduce the salt next time, but I usually do.

Aw shiitake, those sound good.

My thing with the mock meats/cheeses isn't even so much about what I can get, and it's certainly not because I don't eat those things. The specific use of Match Meats, which a lot of people can't get (they're St. Louis based and my health food store still only carries one of their products) is kind of bothersome. But if the recipes are creative, and it sounds like they are, it's NBD and I can work around it. Is there a basic seitan/cheese sauce recipe in there for people to use in place of the mock items if they can't get them?

HOWEVER this book is already getting slammed on Amazon, which I figured because the people who review cookbooks on amazon want every book to be sugar/soy/gluten/oil/nut free and you have to be able to get everything you need from the Walmart in a midwestern town with a population of 5,000. I think there's room for books that use the pre-made products available to vegans. Like I said, I bought the Sophie's shrimp and I have no clue what a good shrimp recipe is.

The shrimp is used a couple times. Gardein is what they use the most, and Walmart sells that, so I imagine that most people can find that. I do think they should have included a seitan recipe or similar, but the book fills a niche of sorts. They are up front about the purpose of the book, so it seems dumb to slam them for that, but that's Amazon reviewers for you.

I think the dessert chapter might be worth the price of the book as it has all sorts of yummy donut and whoopsies pie recipes Ive never seen anywhere else (I'm on a diet, so haven't baked anything yet! Baking is off my repertoire for a while.)

linanil · **Posted:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:26 pm

Target also sells Gardein, I didn't know Walmart did. Our Walmart though only has 2 half cold aisles so they don't sell much refrigerated/frozen stuff.

lavawitch · **Posted:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:32 pm

I've seen a Gardein product or two. My college town may have had a broader selection than others, but the store was half groceries.

Actually, Wegmans has their own brand of similar products now. I think I like some of them better.

I think the vegan meat subs are easier and easier to find. Stuff like Tofutti may not be.

I haven't made anything out of this book yet. I'll have to pick something weight watchers friendly to start with. Any suggestions? I've already decided that instead of a birthday cake, I just want honest to goodness DONUTS.

akasha · **Joined:** Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:54 pm **Posts:** 242

The whole thing seems overblown to me. I hardly ever eat that stuff, but I'm really excited about this book. 1) A lot of the recipes just call for your favorite vegan chicken, so if you want to use homemade seitan (my choice) or tofu or soy curls or whatever, you can. 2) It's great to see cool things I can do with them when I want to. 3) There's a whole section on whoopie pies! Sold. :)

mrsbadmouth · **Posted:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:54 pm

Some of the complaints are valid, but then there's the thing where it's like...if you want to make a vegan shrimp cocktail, yes, you're going to need the vegan approximation of shrimp. I think Sarah Kramer has a 'fish' seitan recipe in one of her books, but honestly I think if there was a good way to recreate seafood in the home kitchen, we'd have figured that out by now.

I haven't looked at the book so it may very well say 'use your favorite seitan recipe in place of the mock meats'. But I also think that if it does say that, it should have a seitan recipe. The thing with cookbooks is that you have to always assume that it's someone's first cookbook, they have no idea what they're doing or how to sub things out without you explicitly telling them.

But yeah, whoopie pies overrule everything.

linanil · **Posted:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:55 pm

I've never had a whoopie pie

bookwormbethie · **Posted:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:38 pm

linanil wrote:

I've never had a whoopie pie

tragic! but then again, maybe i haven't had an official one either ;) down in the south, we like oatmeal cream pies.

http://whoopiepiefestival.com/

akasha · **Joined:** Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:54 pm **Posts:** 242

I just flipped through a little to be sure, and they say "vegan chicken" and then sometimes recommend a specific one, usually Gardein but sometimes Lightlife, etc. Or the taco salad, for example, says Lightlife, Match, tempeh, or Tofurkey burger. So there are options.

I'm just tired of cookbooks being judged against some random standard people have. Vegan does not have to equal health food, nor does it all have to be soy/gluten/processed food free. And there's no excuse for not knowing what this cookbook is about - there's a whole blog! Anyway. Sorry. Amazon reviewers annoying me. :)

akasha · **Joined:** Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:54 pm **Posts:** 242

Whoopie pies are one of my very favorite things! If you go to the DC VegFest, Vegan Treats usually has them. Mmm...

annabazoo · **Joined:** Fri Nov 30, 2012 5:26 pm **Posts:** 179

I really like it! Yes, it does use a lot of fake meats, but they're in creative ways, not just "cook the fake meat and add it to the recipe." For example, there are some recipes that include injecting Tofurky with flavorings, and making fried "eggs" by injecting cheesy sauce into tofu. I don't have an injector so i haven't tried these but it's definitely a cool idea.
I made Baby Bluths, a mini-banana doughnut inspired by Arrested Development, and they're yummy. I've also made chicken marsala, which was super easy and a delicious mean, and BBQ Wings, which my wing-loving boyfriend loved.

creep · **Posted:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:46 pm

Why do I read the bad reviews? They always make my head feel like exploding. "This book contains sugar and fat!" SUGAR AND FAT ARE VEGAN. Suck it.

Efcliz · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:58 am

I would generally buy a book on purpose based on those type of negative Amazon reviews. I used to try and do battle with them but I've given up. This is my go to list of negatives:

Too healthy
Not healthy enough
Too many store bought products
Too many home made products
Too much gluten/soy/nuts/onion/other
Not enough raw food
Too many smoothies/desserts
Not enough smoothies/desserts
Not enough pictures
Book too expensive due to pictures
Too much recipe preamble
Not enough recipe preamble
Bizarre ingredients
Not authentic due to using normal ingredients

However, if you want your book to sell in places other than America it's definitely wise to not rely on too much brand named stuff like gardein or daiya, however many different US stores sell them you cant get them here. Sometimes I can get or make something to replace it with, but if you don't know what it's like at all, it's difficult. I'll probably buy it anyway.

bekki · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 7:09 am

Efcliz wrote:

I would generally buy a book on purpose based on those type of negative Amazon reviews.

<3

mrsbadmouth · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:39 pm

I am half-jokingly working on an amazon review drinking game. If you guys want, we can start a new thread about it but I think we've gotten of-course of the book discussion a little too much!

Also I am totes buying this based on the negative reviews.

mollyjade · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 1:08 pm

I think for established vegans (or maybe just me), the entertainment in this book is the kitsch. Lots of talk about Betty Crocker and the way people deal with having to make dinner every night over the past couple decades.

missmuffcake · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 3:15 pm

What could I use in place of the Gardein chicken? I am allergic to it...Besides the orange bit ones...

lavawitch · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 3:30 pm

Chik'n seitan from vegan comfort food, maybe?

mattomic · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:12 pm

Sometimes I buy vegan meats (particularly asian style), and I have *no idea* what to do with them. I never cooked meat as an omnivore, so I don't really understand and appreciate what to do. And I don't think it's as simple as swapping "vegan chicken" in for chicken in recipes.

I think this book would have done much better if it was marketed as a way of impeccably using the fake meats - and it would have been so useful! I can't get pretty much any of the products they use here in Australia, and our approximations aren't great.

missmuffcake · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:24 pm

lavawitch wrote:

Chik'n seitan from vegan comfort food, maybe?

Something premade in going with the Betty theme...

ijustdiedinside · **Joined:** Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:43 pm **Posts:** 8684

can you eat the morningstar chicken strips? they're made of the same stuff as gardein, but aren't breaded in any way.

mollyjade · **Posted:** Tue Feb 19, 2013 7:13 pm

I don't know what part of the gardein you're allergic to, but delight soy is wonderful if your Whole Foods carries it

Edit. NM. Looks like they're just in the southeast/east coast.

vijita · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:22 am

Efcliz wrote:

I would generally buy a book on purpose based on those type of negative Amazon reviews. I used to try and do battle with them but I've given up. This is my go to list of negatives:

Too healthy
Not healthy enough
Too many store bought products
Too many home made products
Too much gluten/soy/nuts/onion/other
Not enough raw food
Too many smoothies/desserts
Not enough smoothies/desserts
Not enough pictures
Book too expensive due to pictures
Too much recipe preamble
Not enough recipe preamble
Bizarre ingredients
Not authentic due to using normal ingredients

However, if you want your book to sell in places other than America it's definitely wise to not rely on too much brand named stuff like gardein or daiya, however many different US stores sell them you cant get them here. Sometimes I can get or make something to replace it with, but if you don't know what it's like at all, it's difficult. I'll probably buy it anyway.

Hehe. Totes. I don't have this one yet, and I do hate the vegan cheeses ('cept FYH) sold in N. America, but I'm sold on behalf of efcliz's negatives.

missmuffcake · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:02 am

ijustdiedinside wrote:

can you eat the morningstar chicken strips? they're made of the same stuff as gardein, but aren't breaded in any way.

I think so. I am allergic to quinoa and amaranth and I have never seen it in Morning Star.

creep · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2013 5:51 pm

From one of the reviews:

Quote:

or even the post punk kitchen cookbook has a lot of bean and tempeh and tofu type dishes.

wut?

Post Punk Kitchen Forum

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