Eating well truly is about balance, not sacrifice

I have always loved good food-not just sweets or comfort food or a certain ethnic variety. I love well made food in almost every category. I savor fresh ingredients, complex flavors and unique cooking methods. I also have a deep love for cooking- for preparing the best dishes I can for my loved ones and yes, myself as well! As a young, single woman I would think nothing of spending a decent amount of my paycheck on gourmet ingredients for the best looking dish in my latest issue of Bon Appetit. A relaxing evening in meant curling up on the couch and watch the Food Network.

 But after marriage and 3 kids later, I find I don't have the time, energy or finances to cook my beloved gourmet way. On top of that, I don't have the metabolism of my teen self to indulge daily without feeling the consequences on the scale. Having done my nutrition research and choosing what sort of diet would be the healthiest and most sustainable for my family, I feel I can adapt most recipes to meet both our tastes and needs.

 

 

 

I was excited to delve into a beloved Food Network star, Giada De Larentis' newest cookbook-Happy Cooking:Make every meal count....without stressing out. That sounds like my kind of cooking! I wasn't disappointed; Giada's style really resonates with where I am when it comes to life in the kitchen. She is a busy mom, juggling hectic life with a desire to provide her family with real, good food. I loved the introduction she wrote explaining her philosophy on cooking and her desires for this book. I stole one line and used it as the title for this post. ;) That truly is the words I try and follow when it comes to food. Good food is a huge pleasure in life for me so I refuse to completely sacrifice that love. But I do try hard to find a healthy balance between clean, low carb style meals most of the time to allow for some true foodie indulgences every once in awhile!

 

 I am the most naturally uninspired when it comes to breakfast dishes, so I was very excited to see the varied and delicious breakfast recipes in the book. I will definitely be trying the American Breakfast Rice Bowl! This cookbook has a diverse and fun selection of recipes for every kind of meal and occasion you could imagine. I am excited to jump and get to cooking some of Giada's offerings. I especially love some of the unique, fun appetizers and dishes that would make great "company's coming for dinner" food. And I appreciate that being balanced out with very healthful, personally minded recipes scattered through the book as well.

 

 I have a feeling this book is going to become very well loved in my kitchen. In fact, I'm already planning on making these delectable looking Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze as my holiday giving cookie of choice!

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Want satisfying meals that also trim your waistline? This is the cookbook for You!

Awhile back, I told you about a diet change I made for my family and I that has been only for the better of all of us. The Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle  has given me a great grasp on nutrition and how to prepare healthy, delicious meals that can also be slimming for Mama! In my previous post, I shared about the Trim Healthy Mama Plan Book. Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison-the sisters behind the THM revolution-wrote this great resource, chock full of all the research they spent years compiling to build their "diet plan". It is a lengthy read but I highly recommend taking the time to truly understand the foundations of this lifestyle change. Once you have a good grasp on S, E and FP meals and some of the other THM jargon, You have to get your hands on the beautiful Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook!

  The recipes in this book are really where the rubber meets the road with this diet plan and the THM Sisters have done an amazing job making that a delicious and fun adventure! At just over $15 and giving you more than 350 recipes, I feel like this book is a real treasure for a steal of a price! The original THM book was an amazing resource but very hard to navigate; it contained many wonderful recipes but the preparation directions were lacking and there were no pictures for inspiration. This new cookbook is the answer to all of those issues! This is a very well made book full of beautiful photos that make you want to get in the kitchen. I love having this cookbook on my kitchen shelves at the ready to provide me with delicious and healthful meals. Some of my favorite recipes include the egg roll in a bowl and chicken jalapeno popper soup. My husband just loves this "diet"- he gets to eat hearty food and lose weight while doing it! There's also some unique, fun treats like the lemon pucker gummies and the singing canary drink.

The Trim Healthy Mama plan has been a blessing to me and my family and I know will continue to benefit us through many changing life seasons. I was intentionally vigilant about following this way of eating during my last two pregnancies and saw a marked difference in my weight gain and well being in general. There is a noticeable learning curve and some "special ingredients" required that may make this diet seem a bit daunting, but I highly recommend making the investment in your health!

These drink recipes will be a regular in house during the holiday season!

If you want to get a feel for what THM is about before making a "commitment", I would encourage you to check out the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook page! The THM Sisters are very generous with sharing recipes and tips there!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

My New Roots: the perfect garden season cookbook

We are in no way, shape or form a vegetarian family. In fact, being a family with 3 growing boys and a big and tall dad and living on a beef ranch, we are pretty much the farthest thing from being vegetarian. Meat is pretty much an essential for every dinner time meal for the approval of the men in this house. That being said, we also currently have a very abundant summer time garden that is putting out more produce than possible to suffice as just an occasional side dish or salad. These farm fresh veggies and greens need to be incorporated into as many meals as I can- out of necessity and to give my family the most nutritious diet I can provide. 

 

 

  My New Roots by Sarah Britton could not have gotten into my hands at a better time, right before the peak of the kitchen garden season here in Southern Oregon. It has been so empowering to skim they the recipes and realize how many of the vegetables and ingredients I have on hand, or rather growing in my garden right now! No running to the store to hope to find the veggies needed for one of Sarah's inventive dishes. All I need to do is walk out to my overflowing garden beds and harvest my ingredients right before preparing the meal. There are few things that make me feel more capable and self reliant than growing food and then being able to turn around and turn it into a delicious, even gourmet meal for my family and friends.

 

 

   My New Roots is an absolutely gorgeous book full of innovative vegetarian recipes that are even more enhanced by the entrancing photos of said recipes. I enjoyed reading the introduction where Sarah explains how as a designer she became enamored with food for its artistic traits which started her blog and later led to this beautiful cookbook. Sarah explains how she chose to divide up the cookbook into seasons, which I love, and the benefits of eating in season. She goes on to share some of her "essential techniques" that I found to be very helpful knowledge in the kitchen.

The first season in the cookbook is Spring- which is then further broken up into categories of breakfast, small plate dishes, main dishes and desserts. The Carrot Rhubarb muffins look like a decadent breakfast treat. I have made a strawberry chai seed jam before that I loved. I would be curious to try out Sarah's recipe and see if it elevates this sweet, yet healthy spread even more. From the small plates, I am intrigued by Sarah's "life changing bread" recipe that she is apparently pretty famous for on her blog. And I may just have to run quickly and use up the last of my fresh, spring Oregon strawberries for her strawberry chamomile no-churn frozen yogurt!

 

 

 

Having a large summer garden full of produce that ripens each in their own time table, I appreciate that Sarah breaks up the Summer section into early and late summer. The rooibos ginger sun tea sounds like the most refreshing summer staple drink ever. Another amazing drink recipe is the "real deal ginger ale". I love ginger ale and have been wanting to try my hand at perfecting a homemade version for some time. I also really like that you are given 2 extra alternative versions to try- hibiscus lemon and orange clove, yum! The caramelized onion, olive and kale calzones look like a delicious, hearty veggie main dish.

 

The Late Summer section just keeps the amazing flavors of summer coming. After going for our traditional annual blueberry picking trip in August, I will be giving the blueberry cardamom chia pudding a try! And when my tomatoes finally ripen up, I will definitely be making up a big dish of the heirloom tomatoes with oil cured olives and crusty bread. The buckwheat crepes with creamy purple string bean slaw sounds perfect for my crop of purple beans coming into season as we speak.  The grilled peaches with blackberry sauce will be an amazing way to use the multitude of berries my little boys bring home to their Mama.

 

 

Then we are on to the Autumn section where we come into more hearty fare, such as a warm spinach, bacon and egg salad for breakfast . I am intrigued by the 10-spice chocolate chili for a fall dinner idea. The chai spice upside down plum cake will be a most comforting dessert.

 

The Winter section follows suit with comforting vegetarian based dishes such as chunky banana bread granola and a delicious looking cranberry carrot loaf. I look forward to have a big stockpot of the four corners lentil soup simmering away in my stove top this winter. The salt 'n' pepper chocolate chip cookies just have to be made to at least try once!

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review and it has been the perfect summer addition to my cookbook collection! I cannot wait to try out so many of these recipes.