@Sonja: Veganomicon is awesome, but I have two more great recommendations.

1] Isa’s more recent book, Vegan Reduction, was actually written in conjunction with a licensed dietician and does a really great job at breaking down what’s in each dish and talking about vegan dietary needs in the intro. I bough the book just for the salad dressing recipes, but I love everything I’ve tried so far. (Two words: Eggplant bacon!)

2] Get it Ripe and Ripe Around Here (okay, so that’s two more books) by Jae Steele. Jae is a dietician and midwife-in-training. I bought Get it Ripe specifically for the multiple chapters on nutrition. They take up a third of the book!

@zerowastelifestyle: The Joy of Vegan Baking is a great one to start with, but the recipes are a bit decadent – definitely not something you want to make every single time you bake, if you bake often. (And especially if you’re baking for children.)

I would check out Have Cake Will Travel’s website for healthier options that you can bake daily without worrying about it being too rich for young kiddos. Many of those recipes are in her cookbook 500 Vegan Recipes.

And Waits is ADORABLE.

@ Sarah – It’s never, ever to early for guac. =)

@ Whitney – Raw granola is aoooo amazing and the texture/feeling of it can be just the thing to stave off cooked food cravings. I don’t have a recipe up yet, but check this one from Gena: http://tinyurl.com/4x3zap2

@ HetherG – Aw, thanks lady, I’m having so much fun with this series. Glad you guys like it too!

@ Lydia – Thanks!

@ Ginger Baker – Hey lady! Yeah, Jet Blue completely blew me away. I’ll fly into random small airports from now on just to use them. Hopefully they can keep (and build) their business. Both our flights were really empty, so here’s crossing our fingers!

@ Camilla – Well you’re welcome, but really – thank YOU for sharing it all with us. Also, are you eating raw these days?

@ April – Well, without juicing/smoothies/soups/salads, that does kind of limit your options, haha. I think pesto is a fantastic idea. Anyone else have ideas of creative ways to use radish tops?

@ Kathryn – Totally possible. Car trips are the best. I’m all about apples/bananas and nut butters while on the road. =)

@ Tori – I know, the avocados in SoCal are soooo amazing. I miss them!

@ Jen L. – Thanks so much, our fearless leader!

@ Sonja – Hmm, I actually don’t know of one book that has both a total nutritional overview *and* recipes. But I *highly recommend* Becoming Vegan for a fantastic explanation of vegan nutrition. There’s no recipes, but there are sample meal plans with nutritional breakdown, which really helps.

There are also a few web resources. I love http://www.theveganrd.com/, written by a registered dietitian. Read through the old entries and you’ll get a good sense of what you need to pay attention to and more importantly, what you *don’t* need to worry about (most stuff!). Jack Norris is another RD (http://jacknorrisrd.com/) but his stuff is more dense, better to seek out if you’re looking for info on one particular nutrient.

For cookbooks, there are so many! Everyone has their fave, but most would agree that Veganomicon is essential. Luck with everything, and congrats!

@ zerowastelifestyle – The Joy Of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Hands down, no questions. =)