Petunia's at Case Study Coffee

This week's newsletter, being sent out early Tuesday morning, includes a free recipe from my new Sauce Book! If you're not on the list yet, now might be a good time to sign up!
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We like to go to the Case Study Coffee on 10th, near the "designer" Good Will store, the grand old public library, and the less chic, but sometimes handy City Target. Case Study a coffee roasting company, so you know the coffee is good. It's also one of the nicer places to grab a little table and hang out for bit while you sip your espresso and people-watch through the big windows.

They offer several plant-based milks for our lattes, but until recently, all the baked treats were non-vegan. The last time we were there, we had smuggled in our own cookies, which of course is frowned upon, but we wanted something sweet with our afternoon caffeine. Better buzz that way, right? More festive too, and we're all about festivity.

I happened to glance at the bakery case as we ordered, and practically squealed with delight when I saw a pretty little square of - what else? - coffee cake from one of our favorite bakeries, Petunia's, which happens to be all vegan and all gluten free. Stuffing our baggie of cookies back in my purse, I ordered up the second to last piece of cake, two forks please, and was assured that they normally have a better selection. Hey, no problem! It's great news to me that the demand for vegan baked goods is growing!

Thanks Case Study! You've done a very good thing here!

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My new book, Change Your Sauce, Change Your Life, is getting great reviews!

It's just $5.99! Order one for yourself, and a few for your friends too! xoxo

How To Find Your Best Body on a Vegan Diet - A New Freebie For You!

Are you on my mailing list? Well, maybe you should be! Each week - and only once a week - I send out a cheery little newsletter with news from my world, links to other fun vegan happenings from all over, recipes, and anything else that catches my eye. There's a lot to sift through out there. I like to zero in on just a little bit of it for you each week, in case you don't have time to do all the digging yourself.

I've added a nice incentive to sway you towards allowing me the privilege of dropping you a note each week. I've written a simple guide called, "How To Find Your Best Body on a Vegan Diet." I wrote it because I get a lot of questions about weight loss and weight gain from new vegans. It's tricky! We think that eating a plant-based diet will solve all our problems, but the truth is, not all vegan food is healthy food. Dang!

I've been vegan for almost 5 years now, and I have a few tricks and some insights to share. Get the guide! I bet you'll learn something! And if you're already on my mailing list, I'll be sending you the link to the guide in my next newsletter. Open your email and enjoy! And thanks for being here. It's fun being on this ride with you all!!!

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Do you have my new book yet? If so, please leave a review on Amazon (preferably a good one!)

If not, get it on CreateSpace and Amazon for just $5.99, and on Kindle for $3.99!

Thank you!!!

Lunch at Los Gorditos

I love Mexican food, but I get tired of asking if the beans are made with lard, or if the rice is cooked in chicken broth, or if anything at all can be made without cheese... It's exhausting, and I'm often not sure I'm getting accurate answers, especially when there's something of a language barrier, which there sometimes is in a place that serves good, real Mexican food.

Imagine my delight in discovering that Los Gorditos, with four locations in Portland, has not one, but three separate menus, clearly labeled meat, vegetarian, and (yay!!!) vegan! We recently had lunch at the Perla (Pearl District) location, and as one well-known food guy is known to say, I'm hungry for more. 

There's nothing fancy about the place. You order at the counter, take your number to a table (several communal, plus a few small ones), and they deliver your food to you. Get your own forks and drinks, and forget about having a beer or margarita with your meal. They don't have a liquor license. We didn't care. We were there for the food!

Rick ordered a Soycurl Fajita Burrito from the extensive menu, and I had the Tostada, also with soycurls. Everything was wonderful. The burrito was fat and messy and stuffed with good things, and the tostada was perfectly topped with goopy-good refried beans, veggies, and vegan sour cream. It all tasted like real Mexican food, which is no small feat.

But here's the important part - It's all about the Sauce Bar. Once you have your food, wander over to the little station in the corner and sauce up to your heart's content. I asked two people, and was assured that all of the sauces are vegan. Pay attention to the heat warnings. Yep, that habanero sauce had some serious kick to it. No matter which one(s) you choose, your meal will leap into a whole new dimension of tastiness. Do not skip the Sauce Bar, my friends!

We'll be adding Los Gorditos to our regular route. Maybe next time I'll try the Chile Relleno Burrito, or the Chilaquiles, or the Nachos... There's so much to choose from. I think I could eat there, oh, just about every day.

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Rather make some great and easy food for yourself at home? Check out my new book, Change Your Sauce, Change Your Life! It's available now for just $5.99 on Amazon (paperback and Kindle) and CreateSpace. I really appreciate your support! Thanks!!!

Change Your Sauce!!!

I'm excited to announce that my new book, Change Your Sauce, Change Your Life, is now available on Amazon and CreateSpace!!!

This is so much fun! After much editing and tweaking I finally came to the "finished is better than perfect" point that happens in any creative project, and hit the Publish button.

This is a cute little book that gets right to the point. It's about sauce. Delicious vegan sauces that will blow you away, whether you're vegan or not. Eating a plant-based diet does not mean being deprived of things like Cheese Sauce, Creamy Alfredo Sauce, Hollandaise, and even Mushroom-Cashew Gravy. We can have it all, and it's all really, really good.

Many of the recipes call for raw cashews. That's where the creaminess comes from, and vegans love their cashews! However, in many cases, cashews can be substituted with cauliflower, tofu, or even beans. Feel free to experiment!

To round the book out, I've also included a few basic recipes for things to put under your sauce. A bowl of say, cheese sauce all by itself might not be such a bad thing, but I think it's nicer to give it something to wrap itself around.

This is a great book for people who are either new to plant-based cooking, or who don't really like to cook! Everything in it is simple to make, and all of it can be varied according to your own tastes and what you happen to have on hand.

I'd call this more of a cooking book than a cook book. There's a subtle difference. These recipes are adaptable, and exact ingredients are not important. I've left lots of room for your own Cook's Notes because I want you to write in this book! Make it your own, and keep track of what you do. It's so much easier to go back and do it again if you write it down.

What's inside? Here's the back cover. In a nut shell (stock up on raw cashews right now!) - there are 21 sauce recipes, 6 salad dressings, 6 easy meal un-recipes, equipment and ingredient lists, and blank pages for notes.

I need to do a bit of format adjusting before it's ready for Kindle, but I really think a cookbook is best on paper, in your hands, with good food spilled all over it. For $5.99 you can replace it if you mess it up too much!

I hope you'll buy a bunch of them and give them to your friends. And while you're all busy making and eating good new sauces, I'll be busy working on my next project. It's a secret for now. For the moment, let's eat SAUCE!!!

Get your copy of Change Your Sauce, Change Your Life for just $5.99 on Amazon or CreateSpace. 
(If you're curious, I get a better royalty when you buy from CreateSpace, but I know Amazon is easier. Please shop where you're most comfortable, and help spread the word to your friends!)
Thank you so much for your support!!!