Nicole Axworthy and Lisa Pitman, seasoned cooks and long-time vegans, know it's difficult to understand what you're getting from a store-bought item unless you become an expert in analyzing labels. When you're in the supermarket, it's almost impossible to avoid buying a prepared item that doesn't contain animal-based by-products.

In their new book, DIY Vegan: More Than 100 Easy Recipes to Create an Awesome Plant-Based Pantry, Lisa and Nicole show readers how easy it is to make their own vegan pantry staples at home. Using easy-to-find, whole food ingredients that amp up flavors and nutrition, they've created over one hundred recipes that will stock pantry shelves, refrigerators and freezers: vegan milks, ice creams and butters made from a variety of nuts and seeds, home-ground flours, yummy sauces and spreads, snack foods (including a recipe for incredibly delicious vegan Pop Tarts) and an array of artisanal make-them-yourself cheeses. There's even a recipe for that beloved orange cheese sauce that coats everyone's favorite boxed mac and cheese! All of the recipes are vegan and have gluten-free options and some are from their list of raw food favorites.

Whether you are vegan, vegetarian or someone just wanting to kick the packaged-food habit, DIY Vegan by Nicole Axworthy and Lisa Pitman will show you how to create an awesome, more compassionate kitchen powered by a pantry filled with healthy, homemade, plant-based staples.