Need a new book to start the new year off on the right foot? Well, Marisa Miller Wolfson has the perfect read for you! Living Vegan for Dummies just hit the shelves and is a total must-have! Why, oh why do we love this book so much? Well, you’ll just have to read the Weekly Mission to find out!

Weekly Mission: You’re No Dummy

This week your mission is to read about my new favorite vegan how-to book, Living Vegan for Dummies.
If you’re considering a more plant-based diet, that automatically disqualifies you from the dummy category. But sometimes vegan cookbooks with weird ingredients or friends who ask tough questions can make you feel like a dum-dum.

Luckily, there’s a new book out that will make you feel more informed, more empowered, and more excited than ever to transition to a more plant-based lifestyle. Living Vegan for Dummies is the most comprehensive yet accessible how-to book for vegan living that I’ve read.

Some of the info is helpful for beginners, but this 8-year veteran vegan has benefited from several helpful tips, random bits of info, and creative ideas, including the following:

-1 cup of collard greens has more calcium (350 mg) than kale (180 mg) but not as much as self-rising cornmeal (483 mg).

-Red Star Nutritional Yeast contains a good amount of zinc, not just B12.

-The RDA of protein for men age 19 and over is only 56 grams. (I tracked my protein consumption for 3 weeks last year and found I consume 62 grams/day. It is not hard to get 56 grams.)

-1 cup of tempeh contains 41 grams of protein.

-Placing 1 to 2 inches of kombu or kelp (sea vegetables) in your pot of beans will aid in digestion, add nutrients, and soften the beans.

-Famous Amos Sandwich Cookies (vanilla flavor) are vegan.

-Redhook Ale, Pilsner Urquell, Killian’s Irish Red, Rolling Rock, and Woodchuck Draft Cider are all vegan (no fish bladders, gelatin, milk or honey in these brews!)

-When trying to get your family to incorporate non-dairy milks, it’s fun to buy a box of several kinds of milks and hold a “vegan milk taste test” and give everyone a scorecard to rate each milk. This taste test can help the family decide which milks they like to drink plain, use over cereal, and add to tea or coffee.

-Cut your tofu in half before you press it (includes a handy illustration).

-A Harvard study from 2000 showed that diets relying heavily on animal protein were shown to produce earlier onset of menstruation in girls by 3 to 8 years.

The book covers so much ground, from handling social, work, and family situations to vegan pregnancies, kids, athletes, and on and on. You can check out the impressive table of contents, click on the sample first chapter in the upper right hand corner, or read the reviews on Amazon. Feel free also to check out the author’s website and nutrition services. If you’ve seen Super Size Me, you’ll recognize her as Morgan Spurlock’s girlfriend (now wife.)

I highly recommend this book for any aspiring vegan, newbie vegan, or veteran vegan who wants to arm himself with more knowledge. Feel free to order a copy today or put it on your gift wish list!