Book Review: Meals Made Easy: Fat Man's Essential 40 Plant Based Recipes.

 Whew Hoo!  It's time for a cookbook review!  

A few weeks ago I was thrilled to receive a review copy of Fat Man's Essential - 40 Plant Based Recipes.  The subtitle explains the purpose of the book :  Quick and Easy Plant Based Food.  I have a LOT of cookbooks on my shelf.  This one stands out from the rest, because it is chock full of recipes that work in real life, are easy to follow, and don't take a lot of time.  Every single recipe that I have tried has been unanimously voted a "make again" by all of my boys!

Author, Tim Kaufman shares with the reader his story of being told by his doctor to "get his affairs in order".  Approaching middle-age, he had young children and a long list of medical disorders. He was obese with out-of-control blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides.  It was a "change or die" situation.  He chose to take control of his health, beginning with his diet.  You will not believe the transformative photos in the cookbook!

Here is the best part of this cookbook: You all know that I am the queen of stretching my food dollars to the utmost.  I don't like to waste a penny, prefer to eat seasonally, and consume a whole food/plant based diet.  This cookbook is masterful at allowing the reader to do exactly that!  It is not a large book.  But, you won't be disappointed with your purchase.  Every recipe has been equally delicious and is comprised of easy-to find ingredients and easy-to-follow directions.  There is a full page color photo of each recipe.

Here are a couple of photos of my versions of some of Tim's recipes.



In the Smoky Cauliflower Chili recipe Tim noted,"Do not be afraid to substitute and experiment.  It's hard to screw up."  I did.  And he was right.  I had a bag of Normandy vegetables - which was a mixture broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and summer squash. Although the recipe called for just cauliflower, I made the substitute and the finished product was fantastic!  His choice of herbs and spices is spot on!  Like most recipes in the book, the portion sizes are very generous.  This recipe filled my pressure cooker to capacity and lasted us for several meals.

Smoky Chili before pressure cooking

Finished soup - thick, spicy, and delicious!

The Fat Man's BBQ Meat Ballz are hands-down the BEST vegan meatball that I have ever made or eaten!  (And I've made quite a few.)  The texture felt identical to ground beef when I was forming the "meat" balls.  They cooked up beautifully, froze perfectly, and were very versatile.  I made a double batch, which made nearly 60 "meat" balls.  They lasted my family of five for several meals.  Even my grown son, thought that 4 balls covered in sauce was a generous and filling portion.  I served them with some of Tim's BBQ sauce (recipe included in the cookbook).  You could add a bit of nutritional yeast or vegan cheese.  My non-vegan kids added a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.  With a side of roasted beets and sweet potato, our meal was complete!

The quinoa corn fritters were very unusual, tasty, and were actually about the size of burgers when I made them.  The recipe made 15 generous-sized fritters.  We actually served them on buns for a couple of meals like a burger.  The kids loved them!

Quinoa Corn Fritters with Cheesy Onion Tater Cubes

Tim's Cheesy Onion Tater Cubes were divine!  They crisped up perfectly on parchment paper without a bit of oil.  My kids topped them with ketchup and then begged for them to be served again. 


As I mentioned, I have a lot of cookbooks on my shelf.  Fat Man's Essential has already become one that I will go back to again and again.  Well done, Tim!  I can't wait for the sequel, scheduled to come out in a few short months. 
 

Fat Man's Essential - 40 Plant Based Recipes is available as a Kindle download for the amazingly low price of $2.99.

Here is the link from Amazon to get your copy.
https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Mans-Essential-Plant-Based-Recipes-ebook/dp/B07CGB5BKY

Love Your Life, Not Theirs

Last week my nearly 20 year old son stood dejectedly in the kitchen.  “Mom, there is something wrong with my car!”  

I told him I was sorry for his trouble and then reminded him.  “Remember, you have an emergency fund.  It has enough money in it to allow you pay for the car repairs.” 

We talked about the repairs, the importance of living on a budget and saving for the future, and how great it was to pay cash for what you need.

But, my son's money habits are an exception to the rule.  My heart is burdened for the debt I see his peers taking on in the form of student loans.  They don’t realize that it will take them DECADES to pay off those loans and a job is not guaranteed when they finish their education.  I fear for young couples getting married and having no plan to manage their money.   I see those closer to my age and nearing retirement, who are wondering if they will ever be able to afford to quit work. 

That’s why I am SO grateful for Rachel Cruze’s newest book, “Love Your Life, Not Theirs.” https://www.rachelcruze.com/book?ectid=10.10.6877   She teaches financial common sense in a way that makes sense – especially to those who are age 16-46.  But, believe me, this book isn’t limited to that demographic!  Rachel is brutally honest about her own mistakes and flaws and she’s funny, to boot!  When she pointed out that we are in a constant state of comparing our life with others, I completely understood.  Even in your 50’s,you find yourself comparing your drab living room furniture to your friend’s whole house makeover or your 20-year-old car with their shiny, new red convertible.  None of us is exempt from the game of comparisons! 

 In her book, Rachel gives you seven practical steps for enjoying life, living within your means, and planning for a fantastic future.  She encourages you to STOP comparing, have a plan for your money, learn to enjoy life on your own terms., and ignore the barrage of advertising that comes to your in-box daily!   I’ve read dozens of budgeting books and Rachel breathes new life into the subject.  She makes you actually excited to have a plan for your money. I give Love Your Life, Not Theirs “two thumbs up”. https://www.rachelcruze.com/book?ectid=10.10.6877 It would make an invaluable Christmas, graduation, or wedding gift.   

Retiring Inspired

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am a budgeting queen!  I can show you my original budget from our first year of marriage – 1988.  In fact, I could show you budgets for every year since then.  I have flowcharts, itemized expenses, lists of goals, and more!  It’s a really thick file folder.  I love to crunch those numbers, break life into short, medium, and long-term goals, and shoot high for saving and giving.   But somehow the long-term goal of retirement remained a mystery to me.  Sure, we saved money.  We even had a financial planner.  However, I had no concrete idea of a timetable for retirement. How much money we could really expect to have at that time and much of the terminology was like Greek to me.  I know, given my love of figures with a dollar sign behind them, this admission will surprise many of you.

Thankfully, I was recently given the opportunity to be a part of the launch team for Chris Hogan’s new book “Retire Inspired”.  Released just 4 weeks ago, it’s already a number 1 best seller, and for good reasons! Chris stresses that “retirement is not an old people thing, it’s a smart people thing!”  He makes this whole “investment strategy” thing understandable to us “Non-CPA” folks.  Not only that, he will add fuel to your fire of living within your means, saving for the future, and having a dream for retirement that is attainable.  He assures us that one thing is certain, “If you are going to have a real dream, you need a real plan.”

People often approach retirement in the same manner they approach budgeting… they ignore it and hope that somehow it will just “work out.”  Really!  Only about one third of Americans live on a written budget and less than 40 percent have saved even $25,000 toward their own retirement.  Chris Hogan’s “Retire Inspired” takes the mystery out of saving for retirement and puts you on a whole new path to freedom.  Chris Hogan breaks down saving for retirement into understandable, bite-sized pieces that make sense.  

To me, the most exciting part of the book was Chapter 8, entitled, “Use the Time You’ve Got: Retirement by the Decade”.  Chris compares each decade of life to innings in a baseball game.  He then gives you a plethora of ideas for investing.  Are you in your 20s?  Great!  You are in the first or second inning.  You’ve got time on your side.  Get started, live within your means, invest regularly and you’ll be a millionaire before you know it!  In your 40’s?  You’ve still got time to “get in the game” and score some financial runs.  Even in your 50’s, Chris assures that it is not too late to make strides toward retiring with resources. 

The whole concept of approaching retirement not as an age, but as a number is a unique part of this new book.  Chris gives you an on-line tool for matching your dreams for retirement to your age, the amount you already have saved, and the number of years you have until retirement.  The magic of compound interest (and saving regularly) then reveal how much money you should have in your retirement nest egg by the date you wish to retire.

Chris Hogan’s book helped me to see retirement as an extension of the goals and plans that I had already made!   The principals of good money management are transferrable to the retirement stage of life.  Invest early.  Invest regularly.  Invest in what you understand.  Invest for the long haul.  Have a plan.  Keep your eye on the prize.  Don’t get weary in well-doing. 

Get the book!  Read it!  Use it!  Live well and live with a dream.