Birthday Loot!

From my Amazon Wishlist, I got:
The Complete Vegan Kitchen 
The Spunky Coconut Cookbook (not vegan, but casein, gluten and sugar free, so I just need to sub eggs in recipes that include them)
Naturally Nutritious (not vegan, it turns out, but some vegan recipes and others I'll have fun modifying)


Also from my Wishlist my mother-in-law got me:
Bake Deliciously
The Flying Apron's Gluten Free and Vegan Baking Book


Getting into these books I was really excited to try out the recipes and adjust the ones with eggs and meat to make them better.  It's funny how, quite frankly, I'm not really one to follow a recipe.  I love cookbooks though because they give me ideas about flavor combinations and ingredients I might not otherwise try.  I saw a recipe for quinoa tabouli and made my own that night without reading the original recipe.  My mom is a complete tabouli fanatic and says it was the best she's ever had.


For my own presents, I took some used books into Tidal Wave, a local used book store, and got Vegetarian Nights (a Hawaiian vegetarian- not vegan- cookbook.  I can't wait to get some hijiki and try out some of her salad recipes!)
This Crazy Vegan Life (So far this one feels a lot like a diet book, which kind of turns me off.  The recipes look interesting though.)
I also got three board books for my baby girl.  It's great to be reusing to benefit her!  Plus, the books are great for when she's on the potty ;)

ALSO, because my husband enjoys spoiling me, I was given two necklaces and a bracelet from the local Grassroots Fair Trade Store.  If you have a fair trade store in your area, they are a great way to support those around the world.  One of my necklaces was made from rolled magazine beads by women in Uganda.  My bracelet is made from Tagua nuts, which are like ivory (though mine is painted bright green) and one tauga tree makes as much of the false ivory as one adult female elephant.  We love elephants, so this made my bracelet doubly special!

Finally, when I went into the garage there was a new kayak!  I kayaked until 5 days before I gave birth using rented kayaks from REI, so I am very much looking forward to paddling soon.  The REI rentals are very nice and inexpensive, so I highly recommend them for someone interested in occasional paddling.

I will post some recipe reviews once I'm deeper into my new cookbooks.