One of the most challenging times to stick with plant-based is around the holidays. I remember early on, when my daughter was vegetarian, and I was still learning, I’d bring a crockpot filled with soup or pasta she could eat. Then I’d fill in where I could – a few veggies from the appetizer tray. Mash potatoes without the gravy.

Quite frankly, I think that’s just one of the reasons why the holidays are not my daughter’s favorite meals.

Now I understand why. When you’re eating minimally at best, who would look back on those times with fondness?

That all changed as I myself moved into a vegetarian, vegan, and finally adopted a plant-based lifestyle.

Holiday dinners were often meat, meat, and more meat. (Literally, three kinds of meat.) Drippings in the gravy. Bacon in the beans. Outside of the bread and maybe a lettuce salad, there wasn’t a lot to eat.

Once again, I’d be lugging dinner wherever we went. We’d volunteer for all sorts of “sides” to ensure we got a good meal.

Why meat has become the mainstay, I’m not quite sure. Especially as I’ve learned to cook up such delicious meals today.

So I knew in my year-long quest to bring you gorgeous cookbooks to put into your collection, I needed to give you some good ideas for what to cook during the holidays. I’m bringing you two. And I’m bringing them to you now in October, so you can get them, plan, and create a different holiday season this year.

Vegan Holiday Cooking by Kirsten Kaminski gives you 60 gorgeous recipes. What I love about it is how it’s organized. An entire section for “Fantastic No-Meat Christmas Feasts.” And another for “Classic Thanksgiving Feasts.” A section for “Festive Appetizers and Drinks” provides even more. And don’t worry about desserts – they’re included in each of the sections.

It’s hard piecing together several dishes that go together and fill you up. Now you don’t have to – just use this, choose several dishes, and you’ve got your meal all planned out. I’m not a big pumpkin pie person, so the Poached Pear Chai Bread has my eye. And the Mushroom-Chestnut Tart is already on my list.

Cookbook number two is Vegan Holiday Cookbook by Katie Culpin. What I appreciate about this cookbook is how simple most of the recipes are. Who wants to spend hours in the kitchen? We celebrate all Thanksgiving weekend in my house, so I’m always looking for new dishes I can create quickly and will be something a bit out of the ordinary from my everyday meal planning.

She organizes hers into menu plans, too. She expands it beyond dinner, and provides breakfast and lunch ideas too. I love cauliflower – her Spicy Orange Ginger Baked Cauliflower Wings are scrumptious.

So there you go – two cookbooks to meet your needs in the next few weeks. You may even find some of the recipes are too good to only pull out once a year.

About the GorgeousWellth Cookbook Club

Each month, I select a cookbook for the month and use it as inspiration for dinner at least once a week. Each month, I’ll choose a favorite I’m working with, and share a thing or two I learn.

Wanna play along? I’m keeping this pretty informal – I just want to inspire you to pick up a great cookbook and start cooking, too. Hopefully, you can get a lot of these from your local library. If not, you might be able to pick them up gently used through Amazon. Or if you choose to use them for your inspiration as much as I do, maybe it’s time to invest in these and have them ready and waiting on your shelf.

I won’t be sharing the recipes, but I will share some of the results. Let me know if you try any of these, and let me know what you think. Be sure to tag me on IG or use #GorgeousWellth Follow along as I’ll be adding new cookbooks each month!

Happy plant-based cooking!