Cookbook Club

Menu Planning Troubles

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The newest Cookbook Club starts tomorrow- we will be reviewing Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook. I ordered my book from Amazon the other day and received my copy yesterday and was so excited to get down to menu planning for the next few weeks, however my excitement turned into shock and disappointment.  As I flipped through the cookbook I came to see that most of the recipes are centered around oil/Earth balance, faux cheese and SUGAR! The most appalling thing for me was how much sugar is used in many of the recipes I really just can’t believe it and on top of that they list the nutritional value for each serving of the recipes but don’t include sugar which is just strange to me- they include calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, protein, fiber and carbs but not sugar- why not sugar because you probably wouldn’t buy this book if you saw how much they use?

Maybe I’m being a little too quick to judge this cookbook since I haven’t made any of the recipes yet so I am going to spend the next few weeks testing out the recipes and letting them speak for themselves.  However, there are a few recipes that sound really good but are just not healthy (or at least healthy enough) for me that I will be making modifications of.  So after two hours of reviewing the cookbook and planning my menu here are the next two weeks:

Have you tried out this cookbook yet? What are you thoughts? Have the book and want to test it out with us?- send me an email and I’ll add you to the review list!

Recipe Special- Lets Have a Fiesta

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Over the past few weeks I have really been lacking in the kitchen; less recipe creating and more eating up grains and veggies.  I also have been unable to spend as much time focused on blog writing as I would have liked.  This will continue on for a few more weeks.  At this point you are probably wondering, well why??? Well I am getting ready to finish up my certification from IIN to become a completely 100% certified holistic health counselor (coach – which term do you prefer?).  In addition to finishing up my work to complete the program the Hubz and I have been spending a lot of time working on my new website for my health counseling practice (by the way if you know a graphic designer who would like to do a logo on the cheap let me know).

So between the IIN completion, website launch, working on new ways to expand my business, I have also been working on recipes for the Cookbook Club and on a number of new projects which I will discuss when things become more concrete.  Needless to say this is a busy month and I hope that come April things will quiet down a bit more and I can get back in the kitchen working on new recipes, new and interesting blog posts and discuss the new projects.

Lastly, I would like to put it out there that if you have blog post requests please let me know because it really helps to drive me to write more, and to write better posts.  I have had a few health and wellness requests lately and will be working on these requests posts- so let me know what you want to read about.

For now I will leave you with a recipe from my last E-book for you to try out:

Cookbook Club: Book#3

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  • Start Date: March 20, 2011
  • End Date: April 16, 2011
  • Post By Date: April 23, 2011

When doing your final review of each months cookbook each of us will address the topics in our blog post:

Layout

Is the layout clear?
Are you able to easily tell the ingredients apart for the instructions and the notes?
Are the instructions easy to follow?
Are the recipes numbered or is the section labeled?
Aesthetics

Does the cookbook feature photos?
If yes, is there a photo for every recipe?
Do the photos of the recipes look like the actual results?
What kind of paper is the book printed on?
How is the quality of the photos?

Recipes

How many recipes are in the cookbook?
What kinds of recipes will you find in this cookbook?
Is there a theme to the recipes?
Are the recipes complex or simple? would they be good for seasoned cooks and/or beginners?

Ingredients and supplies

Are the recipe ingredients easy to find?
Are there any items that stand out as being expensive or specialty?
Are there particular appliances that will be required such as blenders, juicers, dehydrators, ect?
Information
Does this cookbook provide additional useful information?
What additional information beyond recipes does this cookbook include? Is it easy to follow?

Other important Information

You need to make the recipes! Yes, to get an accurate representation of the cookbook you need to try out at least 3-5 recipes. Additionally when you right your review you should make sure to include your experience while cooking the recipe:
How did the recipe turn out? How did it taste?
Was the recipe easy to follow?
Be honest when discussing the recipes you tried- if you didn’t like it then explain why.

Okay now that you know what this is all about are you interested in participating? If you answered yes then please email me your name, twitter handle (optional) and blog URL to lindsay@cookingforaveganlover.com by March 20, 2011 put “Cookbook Club” in the subject line. Additionally if you have not yet please vote here for future books. Also remember you are not required participate every month pick the books that interest you!

This months participants:

Lindsay (http://cookingforaveganlover.com/) (twitter: @cookveganlover)

Menu Planning

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In order to accomplish my pantry cleaning challenge I have decided that I have to work on menu planning.  This weeks menu is based around Appetite For Reduction due to the pending deadline- and mentioning the Cookbook Club what should our next book be?????? Check out my menu and shopping list for this coming week (shopping day is Saturday):

Do you menu plan?

Cookbook Club: Book #1 Veganomicon

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Important Dates

Start Date: January 16, 2011
End Date: February 19, 2011
Post By Date: February 26, 2011

When doing your final review of each months cookbook each of us will address the topics in our blog post:
Layout

  • Is the layout clear?
  • Are you able to easily tell the ingredients apart for the instructions and the notes?
  • Are the instructions easy to follow?
  • Are the recipes numbered or is the section labeled?

Aesthetics

  • Does the cookbook feature photos?
  • If yes, is there a photo for every recipe?
  • Do the photos of the recipes look like the actual results?
  • What kind of paper is the book printed on?
  • How is the quality of the photos?

Recipes

  • How many recipes are in the cookbook?
  • What kinds of recipes will you find in this cookbook?
  • Is there a theme to the recipes?
  • Are the recipes complex or simple? would they be good for seasoned cooks and/or beginners?

Ingredients and supplies

  • Are the recipe ingredients easy to find?
  • Are there any items that stand out as being expensive or specialty?
  • Are there particular appliances that will be required such as blenders, juicers, dehydrators, ect?
  • Information
  • Does this cookbook provide additional useful information?
  • What additional information beyond recipes does this cookbook include? Is it easy to follow?

Other important Information

  • You need to make the recipes! Yes, to get an accurate representation of the cookbook you need to try out at least 3-5 recipes. Additionally when you right your review you should make sure to include your experience while cooking the recipe:
  • How did the recipe turn out? How did it taste?
  • Was the recipe easy to follow?
  • Be honest when discussing the recipes you tried- if you didn’t like it then explain why.

FYI: Some corrections have been made in subsequent editions of Veganomicon.

This months participants:

Twitter hash tag: #vegancookbookclub

Weekend Wrap Up: Art Shows, Cooking and Movies

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The Hubz and I started off our weekend with a bagel and coffee from City Market and then headed to my G-Ma’s to visit, have lunch and then we headed to her art show.  Over the past 10 or so years my G-Ma has taken up painting and each year there is a seniors art show where she features her art work- check it out:

G-Ma's Art

G-Ma and Aunt Carol with G-Ma's Art

'rents and G-Ma art the art show

After spending the afternoon at G-Ma’s art show we headed to my parents house to visit with them before they head to warm, sunny Florida for 6 weeks *colour me jealous*. When we arrived we were greeted by this site:

The roof on the old barn at my parents house caved in last week due to the heavy, wet snow causing the entire barn to crumble.  It is a huge loss for them and sad to see.

We spent the remainder on the night relaxing, looking over old photos:

My G-Ma and Grandpa (Dad's parents)

I love looking back at old photos and checking out the fashion back then- don’t they look so classy? Whatever happened to nice dresses and suits?

For dinner I decided to try out some of the seitan that Upton’s Naturals sent me in one of the recipes from Appetite for Reduction for the Cookbook Club. I made the Caulipots and the Portabello Pepper Steak Stew – my first recipes from Appetite for Reduction and both I really liked and so did the ‘rents and Hubz.

The Portabello Pepper Steak Stew does not call for kale but my mom had some that needed to be used up so I added it to the stew and it was a great addition.  The stew was nice and peppery and the sauce was so tasty.  I have to say salt was the only thing that the recipe needed a little more of but that may have been do to the vegetable broth that I was using.  The Caulipots were good but I think I would try one of the variations that the cookbook includes because I really felt that there was a lack for flavor- again may have been partially due to the broth.  Overall though I liked both recipes an it is a good start to this months Cookbook Club.

Sunday we headed home early so that the Hubz and I could get some work done at home (on our computers).  We spent most of the day except when we headed out for groceries sitting on the couch enjoying leftover stew and caulipots as well as a few Oscar Best Picture nominated movies in preparation for our Oscar party next Sunday.  We watched:

Out of the four we watched Winter’s Bone was by far my favorite- the movie is not weighed down by A List celebrities and the acting and story is really amazing. I would recommend that everyone see this – it is really a powerful movie.  We still have to watch The King’s Speech, The Fighter, True Grit and Toy Story 3, however we are only planning to watch the first 3 and if we have time we will watch Toy Story 3 before Sunday.  So far my top three nominated films are Black Swan, Inception and Winter’s Bone. Which one is your favorite? Are you planning anything for the Oscars?