Peas and Thank You Cookbook Review

Finally, my review of Peas and Thank You cookbook by Sarah Metheny.  Some of you may know of the blog Peas and Thank You. If you don't, check it out! It's full of fun stories, relatable moments, delicious recipes and Mama Pea's great witty humour! 

The book is like the blog but in, uh, book format, I feel. She still has fun, sweet stories, laugh out loud moments and of course, awesome recipes.  I got it for my Nook so I can easily take it to the grocery store or have it with me when I'm on vacation and want to make something delicious. The recipes are vegan but she does let you know when you can use regular milk instead of non dairy and that sort of thing, so don't be "scared" off by the fact that it's vegan. Her husband is vegetarian but not vegan.  I really enjoyed reading about her family and the way they eat. When I decided to become vegan, I wondered how  my husband would feel and also how would raise our kids if I was vegan and he wasn't?  I won't give away what it is in the book but I feel that Mama Pea really put my mind to rest there!

You can get a free sample of the book on the blog which gives you a few recipes. As soon as I did that and read the recipes, I knew I wanted the book.  Sold!  It's the only cookbook I own where I want to make everything it, I have most of the ingredients and I have HEARD of all the ingredients before and in most cases tried them (still haven't tried tempeh yet, soon!). That's pretty awesome.  So far I have made three of the recipes but am eager to make more! All three have been so good and become staples in the home. My husband has tried 2/3and loved them.

Here's a few pictures of me making her french toast. Mmm. I was afraid I would have to go without french toast when I went vegan but nope! This was the best french toast I've ever had and I just used boring wheat bread! Super flavourful.

dip!

cook!

eat!

I also made her pancakes. See, I bought the book at the start of a weekend which is when I like to make indulgent breakfasts, so of course I had to make these.  These were delicious!  You wouldn't know they were vegan, they just taste like pancakes. I used all purpose flour instead of pastry. All of her recipes use pastry flour and I have had a hard time finding that stores...which seems odd. I'll have to look at Trader Joes/Henry's soon.

 Now I have a recipe for you guys. This is loosely based off of the "fun nuggets" recipe in Peas and Thank You but I was at a friends house and didn't have all the ingredients listed so I improvised. I have since made these again (my way) because they are just that good. They are simple, healthy and delicious. They're also pretty customizable. I'm thinking about trying them soaked in buffalo sauce instead of teryaki to see if my husband will eat them! He is scared of tofu but loves buffalo sauce, so we'll see.  Oh and I actually prefer these to chicken nuggets which is what they are similar to. I never liked how chewy chicken nuggets were and the fact that they had different textures like some really tough parts. These have a nice even texture inside.

I've only made half recipes. Once for my friend and I and then for just myself. You can definitely double this though.

Nuggets

You will need:

1/2 block extra firm tofu (pressed to get as much liquid out as you can. I buy the Trader Joes one and can get away with only pressing it for 30min because it's so firm already!)

3/4cup teryaki sauce

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/2 tbsp flaxseeds (optional)
1/2 tsp onion powder

dash of salt

dipping sauce of choice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Step one.
Cut your pressed tofu into bite size pieces. Easiest way is to slice it in half horizantally and then cut each piece into 8.

Step two.
Pour your teryaki sauce into a shallow dish. Add your tofu nuggets and let them marinade for up to an hour (an hour is best but I get impatient)

Step three.
Combine your dry ingredients in a shallow dish. When the tofu is done marinated, dip each piece into the dry mixture until it is coated.

Step four.
Place the panko covered tofu nuggets on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 25min, flipping once half way. Serve with dipping sauce, if you like!

Easy right? I'm sure the original Peas and Thank You version is even more delicious. It has a homemade teryaka where as I used Soyaki from Trader Joes. It also uses some hummus, yum! I'll have to try it the proper way soon.