The Abundance Diet: The 28-day Plan to Reinvent Your Health, Lose Weight, and Discover the Power of Plant-Based Foods Paperback – June 9, 2015

This is a long review. I really used and loved this book.I had never heard of McCowan nor visited her site, Vedged Out. I don't remember how I found out about this book. It was either from the new cookbooks coming out post on The PPK or was offered as a recommendation on Amazon. Whatever the avenue, I am so glad I found this book! I have never cooked so much from a cookbook before.Perhaps part of the appeal is that McCowan offers a 28-Day meal plan. I'd been looking for a vegan meal plan like this one for a long time. Some plans change what you eat everyday. That means buying and making at least 21 meals a week. That's too much. Instead, McCowan rotates the meals throughout the week. You still end up cooking a bunch, but not as much. Other plans do not require any real cooking at all--just salads, smoothies and steamed veggies. That is no fun. I enjoy cooking and wanted to follow a plan that allowed me to actually cook. It really is evidence of marketing brilliance to include the plan in the book. The plan made me want to cook more from the book. Left to my own devices, I would have just chosen three recipes as usually and not really used the book. Instead, I cooked around 40 recipes (I say around because some of the recipes have other recipes included). Wow!I started out taking pictures but then got caught up in all the recipes and just forgot. Plus, the book already has an abundance of pictures. Annie Oliverio did the photography for the book and they are great.So, instead, I'll just list my thoughts on the recipes I made.1) SmoothiesI drank green smoothies for breakfast for about a year. I thought I'd tired of them. Turns out I just don't like sweet smoothies. The smoothies in The Abundance Diet are not overly sweet. You do have the option of adding stevia, but I never did. Also, I'd always used just water in my green smoothies. The addition of unsweetened almond milk is so much better. It makes them smoother plus I get the benefit of added calcium.Apple Pie--just ok. I don't like the grittiness of apples in my smoothie. May try blending it more next time.Annie's Da Cherry Bomb--Liked this one a lot.Blueberry Vanilla--Liked this one too. Never thought to add vanilla extract to my smoothies.ChocoNana--Loved this one. Made it several times.Tropical Colada--This was just ok. It reminded me of the smoothies I used to make with added coconut. Too sweet for me.Poppy's Jaffa Cake-- This was good. Sorry, no cake added. Just chocolate and orange goodness. I had never used oranges in my smoothies either.Razzleberry Lemonade--Did not like this one at all. I may have even tossed it out.Chocolate-Covered Blues--Just ok. Tried it twice. The first time, I think I added too much cocoa. The second time was much better.2) BreakfastI haven't cooked anything from this section yet.3) Salads and DressingsIt felt good to get back into salads again. Like everything else, I had gotten bored with my same old salads. But, I felt forced to eat them anyway. This was a nice change.Roasted Red Pepper Dressing--Really good. I was afraid I wouldn't like this one. I use red bells often but don't really like them. Liked them here.Tahini Cream Salad Dressing--This was a good one too.Creamy Sesame Dressing--The jury is still out on this one. I attempted to make my own coconut butter from left over coconut flakes from the Tropical Colada Green Smoothie. Store-bought butter is too expensive. The butter turned out really grainy. I didn't have enough flakes to use my Vitamix so I just used my mini food processor. The coconut in the dressing was too overpowering. I may give this one another try.Creamy Vegan Ranch Dressing--This was good. I was never a ranch dressing lover so I could take it or leave it. I only got to taste a little of it. I made it twice and both times my husband ate the whole batch with raw veggies while I slept.Asian Cabbage Salad with Wasabi Chickpeas and Oranges--This salad was ok. I didn't use all cabbage. I had already bought a tray of spring mix and had left over purple cabbage so I just used those. The Wasabi Chickpeas were good. On a whim I bought wasabi powder a while ago so I just made paste from that. The peas didn't get as crispy as I'd hope. She says they crisp up as they cool. Not so much. Plus, they lose all crisp in the refrigerate. Still good, though.Black Bean Veggie Burger Salad with Avocado Ranch Dressing--The salad was alright. I did not like the black bean burgers. Next time, I may use another black bean burger recipe or just black beans. Even though I used her method of pan frying, they were still mushy. The Avocado Ranch Dressing was good.Chipotle Knock-Off Chopped Salad--I really liked this one. Simple but so good. I will make this again.Falafel Salad with Quinoa Tabbouleh--This salad took a while to prep. It has a lot of different components. The end result was delicious. I used my cookie scoop to make the falafel. I plan to make it again. But it is definitely a make the day before kind of salad.Lentil Taco Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Dressing--I was disappointed in this salad. Like I said before the Roasted Red Pepper Dressing was good, but the lentils were not good. I think I was also disappointed because I had already loved a salad a made with Vegicano's Lentil Chorizo.Vegan Egg Salad over Baby Greens--This was another recipe I ended up tossing out. I tried to save it. I tried "doctoring it up." Nothing worked. It may have been a mind thing. It looked like potato salad, smelled like egg salad but tasted like tofu covered with dill. Just couldn't do it.4) Soups and StewsI always forget that I like soup and stews. I rarely make them, but when I do I wonder why I don't make them more often. I halved all of these recipes. I had the forethought that they would make too much for just me. McCowan suggests halving recipes if you are just one person. Glad I took that advice.Cheesy Smoky Spicy Black Bean Soup--I liked it. It was simple and good.Chipotle Corn Chowder--This one was ok. I'd hope I'd like it more. My husband loves corn but not this soup. It may have been a technical error on my part. I could't get the consistency right. I blended it to make it creamy then added more tapioca starch because it was too watery.Lightened-up Laksa-- This was just ok. I liked the addition of thread noodles here. I added a few drops of chile oil to my servings. It seemed to miss a bit of flavor. It was a kind of bland.Cream of Broccoli Soup--This was good soup.Creamy White Bean, Potato, and Kale Soup with Mushroom "Sausage". I loved this stew. By far this was the best recipe in this section. Loved it. I couldn't get over how flavorful it was. I made it while my mother was visiting. She loved it so much that I ended up copying the recipe and giving her the seasoning, yeast and cashews (all measured out) in a snack bag to take home. She made it and loved it. Plan to make this again soon.Quinoa Minestrone--I didn't think I would like this one at all. But, it was ok. It tastes like minestrone soup. Simple.5) Dips and SnackageI feel like I didn't give this section a fair chance. It's a small section and I made half of the recipes.BBQ Roasted Chickpea Snack-- I used these in the Asian Cabbage Salad. Again, they were good. I plan to make more. Perhaps baking them longer will make them crispier for a snack.Cheesy Gluten-Free Crackers-- These are ok. I decided that I would make my own almond flour. I bought my mom a Vitamix for her birthday. The one I bought from Costco came with a dry grain container. The price difference between just the regular Vitamix and the added dry grain container was only $10. So, of course I got to keep the grain container (my mother would never grind her own flour--never!). To make the crackers I had to follower her recipe for gluten-free flour mix. Once that was done and placed in the freezer for safe keeping, the rest of the recipe was easy. The crackers crisped-up nicely but I wanted a cheesier taste. I fell in love with Earth Balance's Cheddar Flavored Squares and hoped I could make them myself. This was not it. I think I could use her method but use another, cheesier sauce. Who knows. Either way, I love crackers and chips so this was a treat.Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip--I have mixed feelings about this one. I made her "moxarella" which is ok. I like hot spinach and artichoke dip usually. The flavor was good. But, I wanted it with bread. I wanted the restaurant experience of dipping it in bread. Raw veggies, as suggested, was not going to cut it. I just put it in the freezer with the thought that maybe I would eat it later.Oil-Free Hummus--I can see how this may have been a good recipe. I actually took the time (stupidly) to remove the skin from the chickpeas. Don't know why. I'd heard that it makes a creamier hummus. Without the addition of oil, I thought I needed to do my part to make it as creamy as possible. Half-way through I realized what a complete waste of time this was. Because I was almost done, I just pressed on and removed all of the skin. Anyway, the hummus was ok. I really like Sabra hummus so I think I will stick with that.6) Main DishesBBQ Tofu and Avacado Spring Rolls-- I really enjoyed these. I've wanted to make spring rolls but was nervous about using rice paper. Her instructions were easy and clear. Now, I can't wait to make more rolls. I loved the peanut butter dipping sauce and used the left overs for salads.Cheesy Herb and Vegetable Crust Pizza--This was ok. I love pizza. really. I'm like a kid who lists pizza as her favorite food. I love all kinds of pizza. No pizza snobbery here. This was just ok. It took more work than it was worth. I like that she adds veggies to the crust for extra oomph. But, I probably won't make it again.Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Bake--I liked this one a lot. I think I made it twice. I used to not like cauliflower but I like it in this recipe. It gave me enough cheesiness to remind me of potato au gratin. I must admit that a put a dollop of bbq sauce on the side to dip it.Homestyle Mexican Casserole--this was just ok. I didn't like it as a main dish but it worked as a snack (with tortilla chips).Roasted Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Garlic-Ginger Sauce--This was ok. It was just your typical tofu veggie stir fry. The sauce was good but nothing unique or special."Cowboy-Special" One-Pot Pasta--I liked how easy this was but didn't really like the outcome. The finished product was a but mushy. This may be due to my overcooking the pasta. However, the pasta itself seemed still firm. Who knows.7) DessertsI did not make much from this section.Easy Applesauce Snack Cake--I made cupcakes here. The first day they were good. I tend to like hearty, grain-tasting, not too sweet breads. I was also introduced to date paste for this recipe.No-Bake, No Stovetop Cookie Bites. These were good. I think I made them two or three times. Instead of making squares as she did, I used my cookie scoop and made balls. So good--rich. Dangerous. They reminded me of my short-lived experiment with raw foods.Whew!!! That was a lot. Like I said, I have never cooked so much from one cookbook. Plus, there are more recipes to try.Criticism: The Shopping plan is misleading. When I saw it on Amazon, I thought all I would have to do is copy the list for each week of the plan and shop. This is not the case. She only lists some of the ingredients you will need with the assumption that you have already stocked your pantry following her General Pantry Checklist. I have a well-stocked vegan pantry but I still had to go through each recipe for each week and draft a list. This is not a deal breaker but it was disappointing considering I thought the intention of the shopping plan was to replace scouring each recipe.Another criticism I have is the lightness of the front matter. I wanted more solid nutritional information. I recognize that she is not approaching the book as a nutritionist, but some information would have been helpful. For instance, how did she formulate her meal plans? Are they based on making sure each day is nutritionally sound or did she just go through her recipes and plant each one on a day to cover her basis? Plus, I was a little confused by her personal story. It seems that she lost weight and got healthy before turning to a gluten-free vegan diet. I wish she would have explained this more clearly.Overall, I obviously loved this cookbook. I like that she puts vegetables into nearly everything. I love that there is very little oil used. I particularly appreciate that I was introduced to new cooking techniques. I felt like I was learning a ton. I like the idea of a meal plan (although I followed it only about 80% of the time). I liked being introduced to gluten-free cooking. I don't have a gluten allergy and would not enjoy giving up food with gluten, but it was nice to cut back on it.

I hadn’t heard of author Somer McCowan or her VedgedOut blog before pre-ordering this book, but the idea of finding a vegan cookbook that focused on low-calorie recipes appealed to me since I’ve put on a bit of weight this past winter, and need a way to take it off. This book is full of delicious, low-calorie recipes that also look to be easy to make!As Somer mentions in her introduction to the book, the premise behind it is that you won’t need to count calories if you follow the recipes and meal plan ideas in this book. She explains that her use of the word “diet” in the title is more in the sense of eating nourishing, healthy foods on a habitual basis, rather than using it to mean deprivation and hunger. I’m definitely on board with that idea! :-)After a foreward by Dr. Neal Barnard, the book opens with "Part I: Getting Started," which details Somer’s own journey losing 100 pounds and healing her autouimmune disorder after watching the _Forks over Knives_ documentary and switching to a plant-based diet, as well as providing information about how to set up your own plant-based kitchen.The two chapters in "Part II: The 28-Day Plan" give an overview of how to plan your menus and shopping lists (for singles, couples, and families of four -- which is really helpful!), information which will make following this plan much easier. For couples, she suggests making 1 1/2 of each recipe, and for families she suggests doubling each recipe; doing so will give you three of those meals that week.However, a misprint is that while this chapter includes shopping lists for four weeks of recipes, the meal plans for the four weeks aren't actually included! Thus, the shopping lists on their own mean that there is no way to tell which of the recipes you're supposed to be making each week. I contacted the author on Facebook yesterday, and she mentioned that leaving out the meal plans was a printing error. I'm not sure if Amazon will let me keep the URL here since Amazon doesn't usually let us post outside URLs, but here it is anyway: [...]. If Amazon removes the URL, then search under "veganheritage press" and "p2726" to find the weekly meal plans.Also, I wish that the shopping lists were laid out a bit more clearly -- so be sure to pay close attention so you don't make the same mistake I did at first. I had planned on starting the diet yesterday and xeroxed off the shopping list to bring to the store with me. Before leaving home, however, I did a spot-check to see if the ingredients for some of the recipes were on the lists, and I thought that the shopping list for Week 1 was missing a few items (like oranges, lemons, carrots, etc.). I contacted Somer, and she drew my attention to the fact that at the bottom of page 34, there is a small list that says to keep plenty of produce on hand for items like the ones I mentioned. Personally, I would have found it more helpful and easier if those items were added to each week's list, but now that I know they're there, I can stock up.As another suggestion, it also would have been great if the weekly meal plans had included the page numbers for each recipe next to each listing, but I was able to write them in fairly quickly with the help of the Index.Although there were some problems with the meal plans, I still give this five stars since the recipes are good, and I love Somer's common-sense approach to eating whole foods.If you follow the meal plans exactly for four weeks, there will be quite a bit of cooking involved since she has you cooking five or six meals a day, including a green smoothie every weekday for breakfast (and healthy waffles or pancakes on the weekends), a salad for mid-morning, a soup for lunch, a snack in the afternoon, and a main dish for dinner. Desserts are allowed on Fridays and Saturdays . Although this seems like a lot of prep work, in the chapter that discusses the plan,Somer encourages you to batch cook two days a week (on a weekend day and on one midweek day), so that you have your lunches and midday meals ready ahead of time. When I've done this in the past, it has worked well since it's easier to grab something that's healthy if you've already made it ahead of time."Part III: The Recipes" is the heart of the book, and it contains eight main chapters:• Green Smoothies• Breakfast• Salads and Dressings• Soups and Stews• Dips and Snackage• Main Dishes• Desserts• Bonus 1-3-5 Juice FeastThe last main section, "Part IV: Fitness and Maintenance," gives a good overview of how to incorporate fitness into your lifestyle. The two chapters that comprise this section are about eight pages total, which I was glad of since I’d personally rather have a book that focuses on the food, rather than workouts.Since the book just arrived, I have only made one of the smoothies (the Spotted Peach Green Smoothie, which was delicious!), but I plan to follow this for a month and will be sure to report back on my results. As mentioned above, all of the recipes look fantastic, and I love how most of them include color photos since that always inspires me to cook recipes. There is a nice mix of standard items like waffles, and also more interesting things like chia puddings.All of the recipes are gluten-free, and Somer even includes a a recipe for a gluten-free flour blend that uses almond and oat flours, tapioca starch, and sorghum flour. (She also includes substitutions in case for this recipe in case you want to use alternative ingredients like coconut flour.) They also use no oil, and everything is made from whole-foods ingredients, with nothing artificial or processed.Several recipes do use tofu, but she includes a recipe for Burmese tofu (which I had never heard of before), which is a soy-free tofu-like product made from chickpea flour. I love that she includes this in case you're soy-free.The Juice Feast chapter also contains about eight recipes that you can use to do a juicing regimen either before or after you begin the twenty-eight-day plan.Although I've been vegan for two years and try to eat healthily, I've been struggling with my weight since I've been working at home more and haven't been as active. On top of that, my sweet tooth has gotten the best of me lately, so I'm eager to try out the healthy foods and desserts that Somer has put together. I’m excited to try out this meal plan, and will be sure to update my review as I use the recipes!

Wow and Wow! We are fairly new to eating plant based meals, now we are wondering why we waited so long! I found Somer's blog page on the internet and decided to try a few of the recipes before purchasing this book. They were simple, easy to follow, no complicated steps and not a million ingredients like many other plant based recipes I have found. Besides that, the taste was amazing!! We tried the Meatloaf & Cheezy Sauce recipe and no one could believe it wasn't a ground turkey or chicken, that it was meatless!! And there were requests for 2nd helpings all around!My only criticizing of the book would be the pictures are missing the name of the recipe on them, as some I am not sure if they belong to the page before or the page after where it appears. I am sure as I breeze through the recipes, this will be rectified.If you are considering making a lifestyle change, in particular, your diet, to a plant based manner of eating, then this would be a great place to start, before looking into the more complicated recipes and books that are out there. I have a few of them and while they are great, I think they should follow as another stepping stone on the path.

Bought this book and we are loving it so far. Just finished Week 1. However, we went to make the Vegan Chocolate Buttermilk pancakes and threw out the whole batch. The pancake batter looked more like a lump of bread dough and in no way would it form into "3 inch rounds". They sat in the skillet like a congealed mass. Pictures/videos of how the recipe would look in stages would help - because I guarantee the recipe as written in this book will not form anything remotely resembling pancakes.The Mexican casserole also will never look like the photo. Misrepresenting how a meal should look is not a clever way to promote the book.

I was put off this book to begin with by the suggestion that you should clear all the unhealthy food out of your cupboards because it is so bad for you and then present it to a food bank so that poor and homeless people could eat it. I thoroughly dislike the suggestion that this will make me feel 'like a saint' to give to a food bank food which has been described in the previous paragraph as 'not real food anyway.' I almost gave up the book in disgust at that point.I'm pleased I didn't because it has some excellent recipes. I have been a vegan for years so don't need converting to plant-based eating but am always looking for interesting suggestions for meals. And this book has some very good recipes for very tasty meals - vegan recipes can often be very bland. My problem is that many of them are very fiddly and time-consuming. I guess if you are following this for 28 days only you might not mind putting in all the effort required but if you're already vegan and using this for meal ideas, that's a problem.I've given the book 3 stars for this reason and because of the suggestion of donating rubbish food to a food bank.

This book is great for those starting out on their plant-based journey as well as those who have done it for awhile. Like any recipe book there are recipes that I like and those I don't but that is more personal preference. Because I have an allergy to nut products, I substituted sunflower seeds in the recipes. It has been exciting to prepare a week's worth of meals and learn new things to cook that are both filling and wonderful to eat. Like the title of the book states "abundance" is what we have in our freezer with all the leftovers after four weeks.

The recipes I've tried are delicious, but there's not a lot of variety. I got bored with it pretty quickly, actually. Again, the meals are totally delicious, so maybe it's just me. I'm glad I bought it, for sure, but I don't use it as often as I had thought I would.