Today I am back with another book review because Melisser’s book is finally out! It’s called The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life and it is fabulous!

It is a book about everything that you might want to know when going vegan. Melisser’s book covers nutrition, vegan living, shopping, vegan food and of course it includes lots of delicious recipes. Melisser tells you how she went vegan and what a vegan is. There’s a wonderful paragraph on why honey isn’t vegan and another great one on how to answer questions from non-vegans. In the nutrition section you can get tips on how to get your protein, calcium, b 12, and iron. The chapter also answers some questions about soy, vegan exercise, and about the connection between health and veganism.

The chapter “Vegan Living” is about eating out, the vegan community, companion animals, and traveling. In the chapter about shopping you will find a ton of tips how to shop not only for food, but also for shoes and clothing, make-up, beauty and cleaning products. Melisser did all the research for you and gives you many tips on where to shop (the companies are mostly based in Northern America) for your favourite products.

In the chapter on food, you can learn how to make your own vanilla extract or how to frost and decorate a cupcake, how to replace eggs and other non-vegan ingredients in baking and cooking, and how to feed a non-vegan. There are also some really great DIY projects, like this one.

As you’ve seen by now, The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life covers many aspects of the vegan lifestyle. It is a great book for everyone going vegan (not only girls!) and it’s also a great book for long time vegans. In my opinion the best part about this book is that it is all about the vegan community, about friendship and dedication. Melisser includes interviews with fellow vegan bloggers, with vegan business owners, and vegan friends. This is so great because, in my opinion, it tells you so much about the vegan lifestyle. It’s not only as cruelty-free as possible, it’s also about making the world as vegan-friendly as possible, it’s about meeting new friends through veganism and about living a compassionate lifestyle. It sets such a good example that vegans are not a grumpy bunch of people whose life is hard and miserable because they have to sacrifice so much. Instead it’s about being positive, broadening one’s horizon, getting creative, and of course, making your own cupcakes.

In the recipe section, you will find not only recipes by Melisser, but also by other vegans, like Celine, Hannah, Jenn, or Kittee. I tested some of the recipes and really liked all of them. They reflect the richness and variety of vegan food and they vary from simple to elaborated.

This pasta dish was perfect during asparagus season. I used fresh white asparagus which matched so well both with the pasta and the sauce.

Pasta with Asparagus in Lemon Cream Sauce

Melisser’s lentil soup was way beyond basic. I reminded me of the lentil soup served in my family, flavourful and filling.

Basic Lentil Soup (which should be renamed into Fantastic Lentil Soup, if you ask me)

Kittee’s mac and cheese was the best mac and cheese I ever had. So, so, so good! It’s smoky, people!

Kittee's (best ever if you ask me) Mac'n'Cheesie Casserole

Now that we’ve come to the end of this post I have to brag about the fact that Melisser also asked me to contribute a recipe. Here’s my cake! (I always forget its name. It’s so long.)

Almond-Lime Cake with Lime-Rosemary Icing

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