Hot Damn and Hell Yeah: Recipes for Hungry Banditos/The Dirty South Vegan Cookbook is quite an intriguing title for a cookbook. OK, it's actually two cookbooks in one. Details, details.

This has to be the bible of crunk vegan cuisine from the South. Both cookbooks—Hot Damn and Hell Yeah: Recipes for Hungry Banditos by Ryan Splint and The Dirty South Vegan Cookbook by Vanessa Doe—feature down-home recipes that are happily unhealthy and loaded with flavor.

The offerings range from "buttermilk" biscuits to Johnny cakes, from seitan dirty rice to fake fried chicken, and from turnip stew to onion "quiche." My friend Lindsay raves about the cookbook and "praises every day" the person who gave it to her. She supplied the photo here of biscuits and chunky white gravy. Yum.

Now, your queen of crunk—no, not Ciara, it's me—is giving you a chance to win a copy of the cookbook here! Just leave a comment about your favorite Southern vegan food—include a recipe if you'd like—and the best comment wins. It's that simple!

The contest ends on October 19, and the winner will be notified by October 26.

Just so you know…by giving us your details here, we're taking that as acknowledgment that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy. And by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

A few months ago, I wrote about a fantasy involving a swimming pool filled with vegan Twinkies. That fantasy may soon become a reality, thanks to Vegan Honey, the Brooklyn-based bakery that offers up mouthwatering treats online at Etsy.com.

Vegan Honey sells pies, pastries, doggie treats, and more and even has a "Fauxstess" line, which features chocolate-covered vegan Twinkies! Just about every dessert I can think of is available on the site, and lucky for you, you now have a chance to win some of them.

Vegan Honey has been kind enough to donate a $40 gift certificate to Etsy.com that will go to one lucky winner. All you have to do for a chance to win is leave an interesting comment about your favorite vegan dessert—we'll keep it simple. The most unique, witty, inspiring, or delicious comment wins.

The contest ends on November 27, and the winner will be chosen and by November 30.

Just so you know…by giving us your details here, we're taking that as acknowledgment that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy. And by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

I'm really not trying to bombard you with contests. Seriously. But there are only two days left to enter our veggie turkey giveaway, so you better hurry! If you're the lucky winner, you'll receive—in time for Thanksgiving—four "turkey" breasts that are loaded with rice and cranberries.

Having these little prepackaged wonders delivered to your door will give you more time to get creative with your preparation. My friend Corey recommends baking them, but after I did a little more questioning, she fessed up that they can be deep-fried! Now that's right up my alley.

I have been told that you need to bring the oil to temperature before adding the still-frozen breasts. As they cook, the outside will become crispy and golden brown—an updated version of a Southern classic. I think even Paula Deen would be proud.

If you're not chosen as the contest winner, you can buy the "turkey" at most Whole Foods through January. Let me know how you end up preparing it or if you have creative suggestions for other ways to serve a faux turkey for the holidays.

Can you smell the cookies and cakes baking in your oven? If not, then get baking! For me, the holidays are synonymous with baking, but if you don't have the time or don't know where to start, don't worry. There are vegan baking mixes to help you, and they're available at most grocery stores nationwide—you just have to know what you're looking for. Here's a quick rundown of some of my favorites:

• Cherrybrook Kitchen: This company offers a variety of all-natural baking mixes that are peanut-, egg-, dairy-, and nut-free, including mixes for making chocolate or vanilla frosting, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, fudge brownies, cakes, and pancakes. Yum! In addition to the tasty results from the mixes, Cherrybrook Kitchen provides adorable packaging and sells its products in major grocery stores. Or you can just enter to win a Cherrybrook Kitchen variety pack here!

•Duncan Hines Wild Maine Blueberry Muffin Mix: Start Christmas morning off right with fresh blueberry muffins. I've been told that these muffins couldn't be easier—just add egg replacer and soy milk and you're left with surprisingly delicious muffins. Tracy, known to only make "hamburger" pizza bagels, said, "If I can make them, anyone can!"

•Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Gingerbread Mix: This mix is an easy way to sneak a little whole wheat goodness into your holiday baking, especially when it's in the form of an adorable gingerbread man. Or you could make them into any shape you'd like with the "Make Your Own Cookie Cutters Kit."

This is just a very short list of products I like. For more ideas, check out "I Can't Believe It's Vegan," or maybe some kind, holiday-spirit-filled readers will share their favorites here!

We're a couple of weeks into the new year, and if you're anything like me, you've already blown your resolution. But that's OK, because "if at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again."

If your resolution was to lose weight, then you're in luck. PETA is having a contest to give away copies of Skinny Bitch and Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, which will help you recommit to that resolution of yours.

The contest says that the Skinny Bitch in the Kitch cookbook offers "vegan recipes for every craving—desserts, 'bitchin' breakfasts,' and 'PMS (Pissy Mood Snacks).'" And the authors, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, say the book offers "Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!)." Sounds like a fun way both to keep this year's resolution and try out vegan recipes—how can you resist?

My resolution this year is top secret—I'll never tell—but if you made a food-related resolution this year, please share. Oh, and enter the contest!

Grab a towel before clicking on the link to the Allison's Gourmet Web site, because the pictures of gourmet desserts are going to make you drool. The boxes of chocolates are just like those my dad gave me for Valentine's Day when I was a little girl—except they're better because they're vegan.

Now is your chance to win the six-piece vegan chocolate assortment of truffles and caramels and the organic vegan peanut-butter cups. Even better, Allison's Gourmet is going to ship them to your door in time for V-Day, so you can give them to that special lady friend or man in your life—or just protest the holiday and eat them all yourself.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment below describing your favorite vegan Valentine's Day food. It can be a candy, a dessert recipe, a decadent savory item—anything goes! The most intriguing comment—as determined by me—wins the prize.

The contest ends February 10 at 12 noon, and the winner (one person will receive both the six-piece assortment and the peanut-butter cups) will be notified immediately.

Don't forget to check out all the delicious offerings at Allison's Gourmet. Good luck!

The feisty stars of The Post Punk Kitchen and authors of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, have delivered yet another masterpiece. You could say that their most recent effort, Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, is pretty much the bible of vegan cuisine. It includes a little bit of everything, using easy-to-find ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions.

You can enter to win a free copy by visiting GoVeg.com by February 28. Good luck!

Vegans can sleep well at night knowing that they're not missing out on the strange snack that is jerky, now that there are many meatless varieties on the market—one being the Slim Jim-esque Primal Sticks.

The long, skinny, tubular, individually wrapped "meat" sticks remind me so much of their distant cousin that I can even hear "Macho Man" Randy Savage's voice growling away in my head. And that's not surprising, since Primal Spirit—the company that makes both Primal Sticks and Primal Strips—believes that "a meat alternative product should be completely satisfying to both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diners. Doing that requires that a product have the texture and great flavor of real meat."

Whether you're a meatless-jerky lover or, even better, highly skeptical of this meatless wonder, now is your chance to win some Natural Smoked Flavor Primal Sticks. Three lucky winners will each receive one box containing 24 sticks to gnaw on. To win your free box, just leave a quick comment below sharing a little something about your favorite faux-meat product—whether it's a prepackaged, frozen item or one you make at home. The three most interesting comments win.

The contest ends on March 14, and the winner will be notified by March 21.

Just so you know…by giving us your details here, we're taking that as acknowledgment that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy. And by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

During her senior year of high school, author Hannah Kaminsky juggled the production of her first cookbook (My Sweet Vegan), schoolwork, and various hobbies. During my senior year of high school, I remember juggling slightly less, including finding ways to check out of school early, hanging out with friends, and working a not-so-demanding part-time job. To say that Hannah has one up on me, and many others, at the young age of 18 is in no way a stretch.

Even more impressive than Hannah's ability to create a vegan dessert cookbook at such a young age is the fact that many of the delicious recipes she included are surprisingly sophisticated, and she took every single beautiful photograph in the book herself.

Lucky for me and you, Hannah agreed to do a short Q&A with us and peta2. Learn more about Hannah by reading her answers below, and then enter to win your own copy of My Sweet Vegan. To win, leave a short message explaining the extent of your culinary skills at the age of 18. The most interesting response, as determined by me, wins (see complete contest rules below).

Hannah Kaminsky, Author of My Sweet Vegan

When did you start baking?

I would occasionally help my mom in the kitchen when I was much younger. She would measure everything out and work the oven, while I handled the mixing duties. However, my solo baking adventures began around the age of 14, when I became vegan.

What was it that made you decide to go vegan?

I began experimenting with vegetarianism when I was a freshman in high school, but before I knew it, I was enmeshed in the issues of animal rights. I decided that no matter how hard it might be to make the transition, I wanted to do all I could to help the cause. To my great surprise, I had no trouble at all going vegan! Not once have I ever regretted that decision, either.

What is your favorite recipe?

While it's really hard to pick favorites, one that I find myself making over and over again is the Root Beer Float Cupcakes. Most people are just curious about how they will taste, but once they try a bite, they get hooked on the flavor and can't get enough of them! Beyond these cupcakes, the Green Tea Tiramisu is one of my personal favorite indulgences.

Chocolate or vanilla?

Oh man, tough one. When manipulated properly, both can be incredible flavors that go well with just about everything else. Seriously, don't make me choose! Can't we all just be friends and bake a marble cake instead?

Pies or cakes?

Cake, definitely. I love pie just as much as any other baked goods, but the extra step of making a crust can sometimes be a real pain. But…if we're talking about a graham cracker crust, then that's a different story altogether.

Cupcakes or cookies?

Honestly, after making so many thousands (probably millions, even) of cupcakes, I am starting to get a bit tired of them. Cookies take my vote right now, but of course that could change with little persuasion.

Any advice for the novice vegan baker?

I know that this has been said countless times before, but the best advice I can give is to be unafraid and try things out. Don't know how to replace the eggs? Who cares! Look around your kitchen, find things of similar textures, nutritional profiles, chemical properties, anything, and just give it a shot. No one has a definite answer as to what makes great vegan baking, just like regular baking, so never close your mind to the many possibilities that exist in terms of ingredients and methods. Most importantly, though, make note of your mistakes so that you can improve upon them and start cranking out awesome baked goods!

What's next for you?

I just started attending UMass Amherst, so a few more years of school lie ahead. However, whenever I'm lucky enough to get a ride home for the weekend, I go straight into the kitchen to work on my second dessert cookbook! There are so many exciting things brewing right now, I just can't wait to see where it all leads.

We will be giving away one copy of My Sweet Vegan. The contest ends on April 3, and the winner will be notified by April 10. And just so you know…by giving us your details here, we're taking that as acknowledgment that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy. And by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

It was a pleasant surprise when I received an e-mail a couple of weeks ago from VegNews magazine offering up a free gift pack for a contest on this blog. VegNews is the first magazine about vegetarianism that I remember seeing in "normal" stores, and it looked just like all the other "normal" magazines. Something about that was quite comforting to a vegetarian teenage girl (me). At first I didn't know any other vegetarians, so seeing an entire magazine about my lifestyle—and in full color with glossy pages, no less—made me realize that I was not alone.

That's exactly why I'm happy to offer up the VegNews gift pack as a prize to one of my lucky readers. The pack includes the magazine's signature oversized tote bag, six jumbo vegan cookies, a copy of the current issue of VegNews, and a one-year subscription! Entering is easy. Just leave a short comment below telling me why you deserve to win the gift pack, and I will choose the best answer. That's it!

Details, details: We will be giving away one VegNews gift pack. The contest ends on April 18, and the winner will be notified by April 25. And just so you know…by giving us your details here, we're taking that as acknowledgment that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy. And by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

Good luck!

VegCooking is now holding a contest where you can win free copies of Robin Robertson cookbooks, including Vegan Fire & Spice, so I decided to take a few recipes from the book for a little test drive.

One of the best that I tested was the Jamaican Jerk-Spiced Tempeh Nuggets. The recipe calls for boiling the tempeh for 30 minutes, which really helps soften the tempeh and make it slightly less nutty. I must warn that if you've never tried tempeh, you shouldn't expect this to taste like tofu or frozen faux chicken nuggets you buy from the supermarket. Tempeh has a very unique taste that you may need to learn to love.

After boiling, you then brown the tempeh in a skillet until there's a nice golden color on all sides. Next you're supposed to toss the tempeh with the jerk seasoning, but I feared the nuggets might be a little dry for my taste, so I added another tablespoon of oil and then the seasoning. Perfect.

I'll stop giving you the play-by-play of my tempeh nugget experience so that you can head on over to enter the contest. Hurry and enter now because the contest ends on April 30! Good luck!

If you saw my post yesterday for the Southwest Veggie Burger and suspected that I would hold a contest for the featured product, Match Meats, well…you were right! Now is your chance to win a sampling of gourmet meat alternatives from Match.

One lucky winner will receive a 1-pound package of each of Match's top-selling vegan meats, including the "beef" I featured in my post yesterday. Just leave a comment below telling me what recipe you would love to use the product in, and the best answer, as determined by me, wins! The contest ends on June 13, and the winner will be notified by June 20. And don't forget that you can order the product on the Match Meats Web site if you're not the chosen one.

And just so you know…by leaving a comment, you're acknowledging that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy and our terms and conditions. Good luck!