
Member Reviews

"Are you the best version of yourself?"
This book contains some beautiful images and delicious recipes. However, it is also a book of wellness, including chapters on yoga, sleep, massage and reflexology.
I initially assumed that this was a straight forward cookery book; I wasn't really looking for the wellbeing sections. I was also surprised to find that although the author claims to avoid meat and consumes minimal dairy, many of the recipes included meat and eggs.
Her go-to is lean animal proteins, zero gluten, minimal dairy, and natural sweeteners such as maple syrup and dates. If this is your type of cooking then this book is perfect for you.
The author previously published The Anti-Inflammation Cookbook, so her recipes are sure to be good for the body.
I particularly liked the sound of Crustless Mini Quiches with Roasted Pepper, Basil and Goat Cheese (Pg 35)
Wild Rice Salad with Butternut Squash, Cherries and Mint (Pg 105)
Strawberry Basil Smoothies with Almond Milk and Honey (Pg 29)
There were some expensive ingredients such as matcha, and some items I have no idea where to find, such as
Asian pears, Meyer lemons, or stone fruit. There were also explanations about some of the food products I'd heard of but never tried.
For me, this was an interesting publication and I will refer to my on-line version for some delicious recipes, but I don't think it's one I will get enough use out of to warrant buying the paper edition.

This gorgeous book is like a guide to healthful and tasty cookery, and a lifestyle guide all at once. As usual, Chronicle Books has published another beautiful, relevant and exciting cookbook.
The Vibrant Life is packed full of inventive and colourful recipes, balancing the sweet and the savoury, the healthy and the tasty. Amanda Haas tells us the beautiful ways that food can be used to heal and enhance our bodies, and gives brilliant tips for picking ingredients and pairing flavours.
Intertwined with the recipes, there are sections on various healthful practices such as yoga, acupuncture, massage and spending time in nature, which make this a truly holistic book. Interviews with professionals in various fields give this book that extra oomph, and lend credence and poignancy to the various health claims and recommendations throughout the book.
The recipes range from showstoppers to weekly meals, all based on real ingredients and whole foods. I am genuinely excited to try some of these recipes and ideas.
Thank you to Amanda Haas for sharing your ideas and your passion, and thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

If you're making a resolution for a healthier lifestyle, whether it is today or down the road, Vibrant Life would be an excellent place to start. It starts out with an informative foreword by Ayesha Curry and a heartfelt story by author Amanda Haas as to why she write Vibrant Life. This is more than just a cookbook, it embodies the wise recommendation of combining heathy eating with meditation, yoga, sleep, exercise, etc, with extensive tips for all of these imperative factors. Anti-inflammatory cooking is heralded as the foundation for healing inflammation, which is a host to many maladies, through food. The recipes are easy to follow. I made the Sheet-Pan Smoky Sweet Potato Hash which was a big hit with my family! The information on tips for all other health factors are represented well through the book. Although this book is described as being for people “who want to enter or live their midlife with grace and good health”, it’s applicable to all ages!
~ Cheers to 2020 and a healthy lifestyle!💕
Thank you NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the free review copy!

What a great Book! Amanda Haas has put together an all-purpose self-help book that seems to cover all bases for living a good life. The Vibrant Life: Eat Well, Be Well (Holistic Beauty and Nutrition Cookbook, Recipes for Health and Wellness). It covers not only nutrition, but also daily exercise, yoga, sleep habits, and everything in between to feel good. Being a foodie, I was most interested in the recipes - usually books of this type include recipes only suitable to eat if starving. Haas, however, has skipped the kale and tree-hugger garbage and included recipes that real people will want to eat. In fact, even though the recipes are gluten-free, they are delicious, and obviously tested, since they turn out perfectly.
Especially impressive are the wide choice of heavenly salads: Strawberry-Arugula Salad with Toasted Almonds and Mint, Green Bean and Snap Pea Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette , and Late Summer Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes, Stone Fruit, Goat Cheese, and Pistachios to name a few, and she has also included all purpose salad dressings that are easy and delicious. There are mouthwatering soups, breakfasts, meat, seafood, and poultry dishes, and desserts that are also very good. All the recipes are fairly healthy, and are family-friendly. Most are even suitable for guests.
The prose in the book is well-written and easily understandable, as well as easy-to-follow in the cases of yoga and exercise, since there are photographs to help those who are unfamiliar. The recipes are also well-written and easy-to-follow; they are suitable for both beginning and experienced cooks. Unfortunately there aren't photographs of every recipe, but the photographs that are included are beautiful and make the recipes look mouthwatering.
This excellent book would make a great gift for anyone who wants to make their life better. It?s a great thing to give daughters, and a good book to cook from.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

If you are one who likes to sit and read cookbooks as I do, this is the perfect cookbook to do that with. The author has expansive headnotes for most recipes, which I always love, and occasionally breaks up the recipes with small essays on topics like massage and taking care of your skin. (There are even chapters on yoga and strength training.) The author adheres to an anti-inflammatory diet and has some personal preferences which are definitely reflected in the book. She uses dairy very sparingly, preferring alternate milks and even sometimes making her own. She believes in eating a lot of green vegetables and lean protein but completely avoids gluten. The recipes I looked at seemed inventive yet refreshingly simple. These two adjectives do not always go hand-in-hand with recipes! The book has a typical organization, starting with breakfasts and drinks, moving on to veggies, then looking at dishes based around different protein choices, and her twelve staple recipes before ending with dessert. The recipe titles essentially say what the ingredients are. Ones that sounded particularly good to me include Quinoa Salad with Butternut Squash, Toasted Pepitas, and Raisins; Chai-spiced Cashew Milk; and Late Summer Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes, Stone Fruit, Goat Cheese, and Pistachios. Before the recipes, there's an introductory section that includes her food philosophy, favorite ingredients, and must-have tools. If you're looking for a cookbook that's a great read as well as filled with healthful recipes, this book might be right up your alley.

This book gets me in the healthy self-care feels. It's taken me a while to get it, but I've finally made the connection that our bodies and what we put into them directly correlates to what we get out of them. I have a lot I want to do with this body, and Amanda Haas' Vibrant Life is a testament to everything she wants to do with hers. The book is a lifestyle guide, sure. But for every chapter on sun salutation and the importance of anti-inflammatory diets, there's a really great matcha green tea latte recipe or a hopeful anecdote about how change is possible at any age. Amanda Haas' Vibrant Life might be somewhat typical, but it's also beautiful, simple, and uplifting. I'd suggest it to all my other self-care gurus.

So beautiful, so informative, and so packed with fabulous-sounding recipes. Plenty to help avoid inflammation, with a great deal of FYIs on assorted health issues. A refreshing change from the usual anti-inflammatory/healthy aging books out there, with fresh info and inspired recipes.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review, and I loved it so much, I bought a print copy to keep.
I've already recommended this book to friends and family. This is a good one!

VIBRANT LIFE by Amanda Haas and Erin Kunkel has good intentions in that it promises to provide recipes "that boost immunity, strengthen memory, lift moods, [and] support digestive health." However, I found the preview quite difficult to read and navigate. Plus, its 240 pages contain only 70 recipes so there is quite a bit of other reading material. That seems to be a trend in recent cookbooks, and that may also be contributing to my rather negative reaction, especially when much of the information provided seems redundant with other works. If you would like a sense of those sections for yourself, see the amazon page for VIBRANT LIFE. The pictures are beautiful – just wish there were more. The recipes are relatively complicated with some unusual ingredients and contain no nutritional information. Haas does offer helpful commentary throughout like "don't forget: where there's turmeric, there should be black pepper. It increases the bioavailability of turmeric by 2000 percent!"

The Vibrant Life is much more than just a cookbook. It is a resource for living well and living healthy. Besides creative recipes, there is information on exercise, meditation, reducing stress, and how to create a whole new outlook on life and health. The authors also relate the reasons that prompted them to not only change their own lifestyles but also why they decided to write The Vibrant Life. I’m sure this will resonate with many readers.
The format of the book is easy to use and the layout is outstanding. There are many lovely photographs as well as drawings to help the reader understand exercises and yoga positions.
For someone who is interested in making changes in their life, be it large or small ones, this book could prove to be a valuable resource.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

I thought I was just getting a cookbook but it was so much more! I love the holistic approach to living a healthier life. Sure there are some yummy and easy to follow recipes throughout the book (including gluten free, some vegetarian) but there is also a lot of information about keeping your whole self- mind, body and spirit- fulfilled. She offered information about yoga, meditation, getting outside in nature, exercise, strength training, talk therapy, healthy relationships, self-care and more. Beautifully written, beautiful photos of some of the meals and the yoga and strength training portions have pictures along with instructions on how to do each thing. Highly recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

So viel mehr als nur ein Kochbuch:
Neben Rezepten gibt es Tipps und Tricks rund um den gesunden Lebensstil. In einem lockeren Erzählstil wird der Leser fast wie nebenbei in allen Bereichen des Lebens aufgeschlaut und mit den aktuellsten Lebensweisheiten vertraut gemacht. Teils subjektiv, aber auch objektive Fakten sprechen für sich.

** Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review **
Es mas que un libro de cocina, en primer lugar porque no tiene solo recetas, sino ejercicios y diversas recomendaciones relacionadas al estilo de vida, como son masajes, terapias, etc. Da la sensación de que fuera una amiga o una persona contándote lo que hace en su vida diaria y aconsejándote, no se siente como un libro estricto de cocina.
Esta bueno que plantee una lista de ingredientes imprescindibles al principio, ya que sabemos que teniendo eso, podemos llevar adelante cualquier propuesta del libro, detalle nada menor, que contribuye aun mas a que no se sienta como un libro de recetas lejanas e imposibles de implementar a la vida diaria.

When I first saw this book, I expected a typical cookbook with a few little blurbs here and there about healthy dietary, preparation or ingredient choices. I was well off the mark, but pleasantly surprised.
There are recipes, very appealing ones in fact. The recipes use mostly accessible ingredients, with the few potentially harder to find ones being optional and easily omitted or substituted. For example, pine nuts, fresh fingerroot or sheep’s milk feta. She also discusses ingredient choices & kitchen tool recommendations, which would be a great help for someone just starting out in the kitchen and home food prep. The recipes are all from-scratch and dairy & gluten-free, but not particularly complicated. Most recipes are actually quite easy and are even entertaining friendly. I found quite a few recipes that I look forward to trying.
But the bulk of the book is a discussion of ways to improve your general well-being and quality of life, with the author referencing, interviewing or sharing guidance she received from a variety of specialists and sources along her personal journey. She covers a variety of topics including, but not limited to: Yoga, massage, strength training, sexual health, laughter, meditation, skin care and even some more unusual topics like cryotherapy.
Despite its healthy living focus, the author’s writing style is refreshingly non-dogmatic and encouraging in its approach. More like a friend enthusiastically telling you in detail about what they learned from some class or new fitness program they tried over coffee and recommending you try it too.
Overall, I was very pleased with “Vibrant Life” and would definitely recommend it. I’m on my own personal quest to improve my general health and well-being and found quite a few inspirational and intriguing tidbits through out the book. It provides a lot to think about and to look further into. I even intend to buy a print copy to add to my shelf, as well as am adding it to my Christmas shopping list as gifts for a few family members I know would enjoy it as well.
* I received a digital copy of this book to review on #netgalley

I LOVE this book! The combination of recipes, essays, information on nutrition and exercise is a perfect roadmap for the kind of life I'm trying to lead. I'm already pretty healthy, but I'm trying to do even better. This summer my resolution is to drink more water. It sounds simple but it's not (for me, anyway) - however, I can already see the benefits in the skin on my face. If I manage to succeed at that resolution (and I'm hopeful) I'll be using this book to help me figure out what my fall resolution might be. I'm thinking it might be the simple yoga practice in this book.

This book is filled with fresh recipes, workouts and ideas on how to live a vibrant life. It really focuses on a holistic approach as topics such as talk therapy, sex, meditation and acupuncture are discussed, in addition to eating healthy and working out. I enjoyed the mixture of topics and the beautiful images.

Beautifully written, I gained knowledge to a few things i could change in my daily life.
Will continue to look back and take more notes. my head is still zooming with so many things.

Amanda's motto, "Eat well, be well" is explicit and feels right! This book, introduction included, I believe, is a must have if you want to improve your health. Amanda shares her experience and explains how she started to feel alive and vibrant again. She selects important ideas such as being weary of known irritants which create inflammation (chronic inflammation actually). She shares her advice about food (organic, natural sweeteners...), her recipes, and guides us to a better health.
A must have reference book which we can turn to whenever in doubt.

Lots of recipes using fresh ingredients, all gluten and dairy free. Beautiful photos of many of the dishes. What I liked more was that beyond being a cookbook, this is a guide on how to have your best life and includes lots of sections addressing other aspects of physical and mental health and well-being. The yoga and exercise sections have photos and steps, and the meditation section explains how to do it. Good book for those looking to be better versions of themselves.
I received an ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review.