Book Review - Nourishing Meals: 365 Whole Foods, Allergy-Free Recipes for Healing Your Family One Meal at a Time by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS, CN

Photo Credit - Amazon

A family friendly cookbook geared towards raising a healthy family. The recipe book contains 365 whole food, allergy free (such as gluten, dairy, and soy) recipes. The book contains chapters on "why to choose whole foods" and discussing the rise of food allergies. Each recipe chapter is broken out by the type of meal - smoothies, beverages,  snacks and treats, desserts, main meals, soups, and stews. The recipes do not list calories and nutritional information for anyone following a doctor specified diet. There are several whole pages of gorgeous photos and recommendations for specific products. A must have for anyone who has allergies or wishes to eat a "whole food" diet!

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Book Review - The Best and Lightest: 150 Healthy Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner by Editors of Food Network Magazine

Photo Source - Amazon

Food Lovers Rejoice! No longer do you have to sacrifice taste when cooking healthy. As a longtime fan of Food Network, I couldn't wait to get my grubby (hopefully, I can lose some of my baby fat -- you know the fat I had for 30 years now :}) hands on this cookbook.

If you read the Food Network magazine, the cookbook has a similar layout. The book is divide by categories such as sandwiches, poultry, meat, seafood, eggs, pasta, side sides, sweets, and etc. Each of 150 recipes is accompanied by full color photos along with nutritional facts. In between each chapter is little mini recipes for quick snacks like eggplant chips, pesto-tomato crostini,  corn-bacon guacamole, and etc.

**Disclosure - I received an copy of this book in exchange for honest opinion.**

Book Review - Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes

Photo Credit - Random House

I was so excited to see this cookbook in my mailbox. I have heard of Lucky Peach but never read anything by the editors before.  I have always been a fan of Asian cooking but found a lot of the recipes to be very complex and complicated along with requiring many specialized ingredients. 

The cookbook starts off with an introduction along with basic information on equipment needed, types of noodles, rice, basic pantry items (such as soy sauce, peanut, fish sauce, rice vinegar, etc.), intermediate level pantry items (such as white pepper, nori, curry paste, shrimps chips, etc.), and expert level pantry items (such as maltose, takuan, dried lotus leaves, etc.) along with providing descriptions of each item. I love how they separated the types of pantry items by levels -- it seems a bit like video games.

The cookbook has 101 recipes all depicted in beautiful color photos.  The cookbook is organized by types of recipes for example, breakfast, chicken, super sauces, dessert, seafood, warm vegetables, meats, etc.  All the recipes are accompanied with a brief description about the recipe or history behind the recipe. The recipes are usually very clear and simple to follow. Granted I haven't made any of the recipes, yet but I probably have bookmarked at least 15 recipes ( Garlic Shrimp, Kung Pao Shrimp, Beef Satay, Pad See Ew, and a couple more). This is definitely one of new favorite cookbook addition for this year.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book for my honest opinion, this had no affect on my review**

Book Review - American Heart Association Grill It, Braise It, Broil It: And 9 Other Easy Techniques for Making Healthy Meals

Photo Credit - Random House

Ah, a cookbook that has different techniques to cooking delicious and healthy foods!  The cookbook employs 12 different cooking techniques to help put nutritious food on the table. Readers will learn how to make many great recipes like stir fried pork tacos and risotto with edamame from the microwave.  The cookbook is packed with 175 recipes and is organized by cooking technique used. Each easy to read recipe is accompanied by nutrition facts and along with helpful tips. There are also blurbs in the beginning of each recipe that provides additional information.

The one downside of the cookbook is that it only has 8 full page colors photos and it seems to be placed in a random locations. The book also has instructions on each technique, helpful guidelines on cooking and preparing foods, how to stock a healthy kitchen along with many other useful information. There were a couple of recipes that look delicious and have minimal downtime. A great cookbook for people who are actively trying to eat healthier.

**Disclaimer - I received a free copy for my honest feedback**

Book Review : Fried Chicken by Rebecca Lang

Photo Credit - Random house

Two little words that bring happiness, joy, love, and excitement to my heart. No, it's not "love you" from my significant other, but the words "fried chicken" when I ask what is for dinner.  When I was given the opportunity to read the cookbook for my blog, I jumped for joy. I have tried cooking fried chicken in different ways before, dredge in flour, covered in panko, sprinkled with black pepper and even saturated with beer batter. As soon as I cracked opened the book I realized I was in a different level when I saw there was three types of frying - skillet, deep frying and combination. Combination frying? I had never heard of it but oh, how the recipes look so enticing and delicious! 

The cookbook is packed with over 50 family friendly recipes. The Southern classic takes a global trot around the world with ethnically inspired flavors such as Saigon Street Wings, Chinese Lollipop Wings, Mexican-Lime Fried Chicken Tacos, and Korean Fried Chicken with Gochujang Sauce along with mainstay recipes such as Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Chicken Fingers and Gluten-Free Southern Fried Chicken. Most of the recipes are beautifully photographed in color. The instructions are clear and concise and easy to understand. The author also includes the recipes for all sauces and sides (if included) as a separate recipe. Which is nice, because I really wanted to make the chicken and waffles but I am a more of a frozen or mix type of gal than making it from scratch. In the beginning, Rebecca Lang spends some time explain smoking points of fats, types of chicken and even how to cut, wash and prepare the chicken. The cookbook is a comprehensive guide for how to make the fried goodness.

I think no matter how hard I want to cook every recipe like in Julia and Julia, it might be best if I don't otherwise I may not even fit into my fat pants. I didn't try an exact recipe from scratch but I used some of the recipes as inspiration for my own cooking. I never knew adding a bit of curry powder in the flour would add a nice complex flavor to the chicken. This book is a definite treat for anyone who loves fried chicken or likes to experiment with new flavors.

Disclosure - I received this book for free to provide my honest opinion.