Celebrity spokesman Alec Baldwin was in attendance, and although I didn’t get a picture with him this time, I can tell you from past experience that Mr. Baldwin is not only a top-notch actor, but he’s also a die-hard activist for social justice, environmental, and animal rights issues. I was close enough to smell his cologne, and gave him a wink as he ran out the door for his summer stage play in East Hampton! Always affable, with something funny to say, Alec Baldwin shared his thoughts on how great PCRM is and why we should dig into our pockets to promote their work. So I did! I gave some money and got Dr. Barnard’s new cookbook, The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook. With over 100 recipes, it’s a great deal and is chock-full of important information on heart health, diabetes, and weight loss.

Founded by Dr. Neal Barnard, PCRM is at the forefront of humane science. Having developed top-of-the-line studies and tests that help doctors treat humans with better science, PCRM has also saved the lives of countless laboratory animals by ending animal testing and implementing better medical practices. I’ve known Dr. Barnard since he was interviewed for Super Size Me back in 2003, and am always ready to lend a helping hand for any of their good works. Wether it’s their programs for getting better food into public schools or publicizing their amazing Airport Food Reviews, that every business traveler should check out, PCRM is doing great work and deserves recognition.

While laying out the reasons why veganism does a  body good, John’s energetic, wild-man writing style entertains and gives the distinct impression that he walks his talk. While sharing detailing important health information about training, weight lifting, energy, and food input, the author shares stories from his life that bring the subject matter into full, technicolor reality. One of my favorites is about when his mother was served a greasy hamburger and fries in the hospital just three days after heart surgery.

Stories like this, pictures of vegan athletes and body builders, recipes, and a seven day workout with food plans make this book the perfect gift for any man who might be interested in living a healthier life but isn’t sure a plant based diet is “manly” enough. Men will be inspired to take ownership of their food choices and health, as the book shows how truly hard core, old school, and rock solid John Joseph has become through this diet and lifestyle. Like his quote says “Trust me, you can be a compassionate warrior.”

Want to win a signed copy of John Joseph’s Meat Is For Pussies!?

Leave a comment here on my blog and I’ll pick a winner at random on July 30th!

Filled with delicious, macrobiotic inspired recipes and tantalizing pictures, The Kind Diet offers good information on how what you eat affects the rest of the world. From journaling exercises, meditation recommendations, information about global warming and the environmental impact of the Standard American Diet, Alicia provides convincing arguments for how a plant-based diet is the ultimate ecological choice for eating.

The recipes are lovely and delicious. Everything from chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cups, egg-less salad sandwiches, polenta casserole, to udon dishes, hijiki-tofu croquettes and more old-school macrobiotic dishes like sea vegetables and pressed salads are here for the eating.

I highly recommend this book for anyone beginning a diet transformation. It’s also a nice way to weave together your political eco-consciousness and your foodie sensibilities.

Happy reading!

Alexandra

Mine is my friend Annie. When Annie says “Here, read this!” I read it!

Annie showed me a copy of Jennifer Katzinger’s

Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book and I could hardly believe my eyes. Katzinger, owner of the Flying Apron Bakery in Seattle, has written a lovely, workable, informative cookbook. Every recipe makes sense. They work! And there aren’t a lot of confusing ingredients and steps. This is a fabulous book for beginners and experienced chefs alike.

Everything from pizza crusts, cookies, cupcakes, pies, cakes, maple bars (my personal favorite!), tarts, pastries and breads are covered in this handy, pretty book. I give this book 5 STARS!

The good people at Sasquatch Books have given me a few copies to give away to my readers! Leave your comment here about why you would love to receive a copy of this book by this Friday the 5th of February.

Enjoy,

Alexandra

Just leave a comment here on this blog about why you want to check out my book!

(You can also order a copy here to give away to friends or loved-ones)

“The second diet revelation I had was reading the book The Great American Detox Diet by Alex Jamieson. Alex was the fiancée of Morgan Spurlock, the independent documentary filmmaker who made Super Size Me.

In that documentary, Spurlock ate McDonald’s fast food for all three of his daily meals and took the Supersize option whenever it was offered for 30 days. Jamieson’s book details the physiological changes he went through and the diet that she, a nutritionist and chef, put him on to bring his system back from the brink of total collapse once his experiment ended.

The book does a fantastic job of helping you understand food as it is produced for mass consumption in the US today; educating about processes the agriculture and food processing industry use to make food cheap and plentiful that rob us of much of its nutritional value….”

Read the entire article here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/blogs/article/el-tour-de-tucson-the-final-countdown-23915

Lately I’ve put aside the health books and cookbooks to focus on an entirely new arena of deeply important tomes: autobiographies and biographies of amazing women.

These books are completely inspiring to me. I now realize that these women not only changed the course of the world, made history and became household names, but they often did it with few resources, fought against a well-entrenched system, and often had children or family members to care for as well. 

Here is my most recent discovery that my readers might enjoy and get inspired from, as I did:

A Taste of Power by Elaine Brown

This young woman of color rose from extreme poverty to become the head of the Black Panther party – a truly revolutionary accomplishment. This woman was at the heart of an organization that, while you may not have agreed with their politics or tactics, changed America. They started the free breakfast program for kids, and many other incredible social programs. 

Elaine Brown was fiercely brave in the face of physical danger, helped to mold the political and social theories of a national, grass-roots organization, was the backbone of the party’s newspaper and raised a daughter. She is truly and inspiring woman, and her story has given me a lot of strength. I hope to meet her some day and shake her hand.