VB6...must read, actually it's a must cook book.

I have always been a fan of Mark Bittman.  His writing about cooking is very straight and clear, and there's no pretentious in his writing, whereas other cookbook authors there's this air of pretentious.  I first read about his VB6 concept in Outside magazine and I thought that was a very neat "diet".  I'm always trying to find how to better my nutrition and eat healthier, especially raising three kids and teaching them on how to eat healthy.  I was intrigued with Vegan Before 6 and wonder if that is doable and will my kids enjoy. When I saw this cookbook, I knew I have to read it and check it out.






Received the book and went through it cover to cover.  This is a cookbook after all so there is not a lot of reading. But his first couple of chapters explained how he came to VB6.  The introduction gives good background of how he came to this VB6 diet and it's a result of his health. I love how Mark reason is so simple and relevant for us today.  Each natural, unprocessed food, more plant and fruit, less meat and processed food.  That I can go for. He stressed this isn't a fad diet but it's a lifestyle change which I appreciate.  I can't stand the "fad" diets that goes around these days, I always tell my wife, it's a lifestyle to eat healthy.

The next chapter he gets into how to use this book and it's really informative.  He has his own food groups of: Unlimited (plants and fruit), Flexible (some fruit, oil, grains) and Treats (meat, fish, sweets).  It's easy to follow and understand he gives some really good explanation of what goes in each food group, how to store and use them.  Then he give you a 28 days menu, not necessary to follow recipe by recipe but as a general guideline.  This is not easy for someone who has never done Vegan diet but Mark points out that this is not end all and there's no penalty for "messing" up.  He gives examples of how there at times he'll "treat" himself to eggs and bacon in the morning and then he'll go Vegan rest of the days.
The rest of the book is recipes, broken out into six different chapters of: Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner, Dessert and VB6 building blocks.  He said that breakfast was the hardest for him but he has sever great recipes for vegan breakfast.  I have incorporated now smoothies in my breakfast and at time lunch.  What I appreciate about his book is that all the recipes are surprisingly pretty simple and the list of ingredients are very very manageable and easy to find.  What I expected from Mark is that his recipes are not end all but he gives "more ideas" of how you can alter the recipe.
This is a really good book for someone to explore the vegan diet and this is perfect for me to try it out on my family and kids.

Below are some links to the book:
More Info On theVB6

Chapter One