Some Advice

If you decide to embark on a similar journey of trying to transition to a more plants-based diet but don't know where to start as far as cookbooks are concerned then hit up your library. I always recommend checking a cookbook out prior to buying to make sure it is worth the space it is going to take up on your shelf. My theory is that if I am interested in trying at least 5 of the recipes in the cookbook, then it may be worth the investment depending on if those recipes turn out well during the trial run while the book is checked out. If that doesn't apply but there is a recipe to be had, then i simply right it down and put it in my recipe box or binder. That way I have it without having a book collecting dust.

An example of why I encourage this. I found a vegan cookbook, clever title, awesome pictures, sounded lovely. . . Checked it out at the library and it turns out there is not a single recipe in it I would have actually wanted to make. Don't get me wrong. The food looked and sounded quite delicious. The recipes were more complicated than what I was looking for on top of having ingredients that are harder to access when you aren't a private chef in someplace like Los Angeles where the authors are from. On the other hand, back in my veg-curious days I found a cookbook that at the time I merely checked out, wrote down a few recipes from, and returned. That same book is now an integral part of my collection along with 4 others by the same author because the recipes are consistently tasty, have accessible ingredients for the most part, and are not overly complicated to make on a regular basis. Had I not been wandering that section of the library to try to find healthy recipes to use at the time, I might never have discovered the book that would show me how "easy" a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle could be should I ever go that route entirely.

While the vegetarian/vegan cooking is still just a hobby of mine for now, utilizing my resources available for free at my local library has helped me do research, discover new ideas to implement, find out more about food substitutions, and develop my own ideas to try out. In essence, my library is helping me on my quest to become my best version of myself.