More Peas, Thank You Review & Giveaway!

Did you know Harlequin offers more than Romance books? I know from growing up I thought they just offered fiction/romance books. I was very happy to have the opportunity to review a couple books from Harlequin that are not romance. Don't get me wrong I love romance books and that seems to be a lot of the books I have read as of late but I also love parenting/funny/non-fiction and of course food books!

Today I wanted to share a new cookbook I had the chance to take a look at called More Peas, Thank You by Sarah Matheny. This is a Vegetarian cookbook but you don't need to be vegetarian to enjoy the recipes in this book. As a mother I love to offer my children more fruits and veggies whenever possible, I also love to open up the food world to more than the regular meatloaf, spaghetti and mac & cheese world. Not that there is anything wrong with those dishes I like to have my kids to have a wide variety of food that they enjoy and so far so good. They are not that picky and will pretty much try anything once.

A bit about the author of More Peas, Thank You:

Sarah Matheny didn't always have a vegetarian-inclined diet. She used to eat meat and practice law. Then she became a mom. Sarah is the creator of the blog called Peas And Thank You.

"More Peas, Thank You deliciously pairs vegetarian recipes and stories from a mainstream family eating a not-so-mainstream diet. "Mama Pea" has lightened up family favorites like cinnamon rolls, tacos, lasagna and brownies, using fresh, nutritious ingredients. From hearty breakfasts to easy snacks and tempting desserts, there's something here for everyone to love."

Purchase More Peas, Thank You on Harlequin for $17.56. Also available in e-book format.

My thoughts:

I'm always a bit skeptical when I pick up a vegetarian cookbook as I try to keep our food budget low and always look for easy to find ingredients as we live in a small town and don't always have access to some more rare ingredients. Each recipe has mostly easy to find ingredients and are simple and quick to make.

I like that this book is more than just a cookbook, before each recipe the author gives a little story, something about when the author was growing up or about her family, etc. Each recipe has a nutritional value and little icons that tell you if the recipe is Freezable, Packable (lunches), Veg Value, Wannabe Recipea, and Pealightful.

With mouth watering photos I drooled looking through this cookbook. I am not a vegan and well my husband is very far from one but as we went through the book together we both saw TONS of recipes we would love to try out. We all enjoyed the recipe below.

Chocolate Cherry Cashew Bars
Makes 12 bars

INGREDIENTS
parchment paper, to line baking sheet
3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds (or approximately 2 tablespoons whole flaxseeds before
grinding)
1⁄2 cup maple syrup or honey (or a mixture of the two)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole almonds, coarsely chopped
1⁄2 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
1⁄2 cup cashew pieces
1⁄2 cup dried cherries
1⁄2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, combine ground flaxseed and sweetener. Mix well and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine salt, almonds, peanuts, cashews and cherries. Pour flaxseed-syrup mixture over nuts and cherries and stir until evenly coated.
4. Spread the nut mixture on the baking sheet evenly, from corner to corner.
5. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until nuts are slightly brown and edges are crisp. The nut layer will be soft but will harden upon cooling.
6. Melt chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave or over a double boiler. Drizzle chocolate over almost cooled nut layer. Chocolate will be wet but will set upon cooling.
7. When nut layer and chocolate have set, pull parchment paper from baking sheet and set bars on a flat cutting surface. Cut nut layer into twelve equal squares, and store in an airtight container. Bars will stay especially crunchy if you refrigerate them.

Nutrition information per serving: 210 calories, 12 g total fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, <5 mg
cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 17 g sugar, 5 g protein, vitamin A 0%, vitamin
C 0%, calcium 4%, iron 6%

Took a break from biking to have a yummy snack!

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~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn on behalf of Harlequin. I received the above book for review purpose. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

Posted in: Books,Food,Giveaways,Marvelous Mommy Meals,Review