My Favorite Cookbooks and Menus

Hey all you cooks out there! I've gotten some fervent requests to post recipes, so here we go...

But first, I have to tell you where I get all these recipes. Good cookbooks are essential for yummy food. Below is what I use for inspiration, followed by the much-coveted "weekly menu" for all who have requested it.

Cookbooks

Eating for Life¹ - I love, love, love this cookbook. It was Joel's, and it's wonderful for a lot of reasons. First of all, it's insanely healthy (all fresh ingredients, very light, etc). Second of all, the recipies are for entire meals with step-by-step instructions of what to fix and when (no more rice getting cold while you're waiting for the chicken to cook). You can just open it up and your whole dinner (or lunch) is right there on the page. It even has the ingredients pictured--how fun! I think this is a great cookbook, especially for someone who's just starting out...the recipes are simple and easy to follow.

George Foreman: The Next Grilleration² - This cookbook comes with your George Foreman Grill. Again, this is a Joel contribution. I love this cookbook AND the grill itself--I use it all the time to cook meat, since I'm a vegetarian at heart and am not good at cooking up chicken, pork, etc. This cookbook has cooking times and temperatures for anything you'd want to grill, as well as great marinades, sauces, etc.

4 Ingredient Recipies for 30 Minute Meals³ - I recieved this cookbook as a shower gift (I think cookbooks make GREAT shower gifts), and I haven't had the chance to dig too far into it, but I tried the apricot-glazed chicken recipe and it was EXCELLENT. This is another book that gives you entire menus. Their recipes are a little more down-home and there is a LOT of meat involved, which is why I haven't ventured too far into this one. But I know I'll be looking for more recipes soon, and this book looks great.

Betty Crocker's Vegetarian Cooking⁴ - I love this cookbook and if my husband wasn't such a meat lover, I'd probably cook out of it more often. The recipes are incredible, and the pictures will make your mouth water on the spot. I think I'm going to be using this one more because I realized that I can use one of the recipes and then grill up a small chicken breast for Joel on the side.

Betty Crocker's Cookbook⁵ - Okay ladies, you've just got to have this one. It's THE cookbook that gives you the basics (and the not-so-basics) on EVERYTHING. Don't know how to boil an egg? Just look it up in the index. If there's a recipe you want, it's probably in here, and it probably tastes great. The older the edition, the better, in my opinion...I really enjoy my 1978 edition, but honestly, if you can get one even older, I'd recommend it.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook⁶ - Very similar to Betty Crocker (both are ringbound and organized by category). My grandma gave me the one I have, and I'm not sure how old it is, but again, we're talking 60's or 70's here, and it's just great.

Smoothies & Ice Treats⁷ - This is a smoothie-only recipe book that Joel and I got this Christmas from his grandma. Joel has a Smoothie Pro, which is a smoothie maker that basically looks just like a blender, only it has a spout for easy pouring. Smoothies are a lot of fun and so easy--just get the ingredients, dump them in a blender, and push the button!

Recipe Box - Okay, this isn't a cookbook, but some of my favorite recipes are ones I have interited from my mom, grandma, or friends. Never underestimate the flavors hiding in your little recipe box.

Menus

I said I was going to post recipes, but this is actually our dinner menu. If you'd like to see a recipe, just post a comment to this blog and I'll type it here for you.

This is our dinner menu for the week of 4/17 (I'd post this week's but I like to keep them a surprise for Joel!)

Monday Red Pasta (a Heather original)

Tuesday Orange Roughy Italiano (Casper family recipe); french bread with olive oil and parmesean

Wednesday Fettuchine w/ red sauce; french bread

Thursday Apricot-Glazed Chicken (from 4-Ingredient Recipes); Red Potatoes (Casper family recipe); Green Beans

Friday Dinner at a friend's house

Dessert of the week Strawberry Cake

Smoothie of the week Raspberry Reliever

So that's a sample week of dinners (plus dessert and smoothies; I try to make one of each a week). It varies a lot--right now I'm not in the habit of repeating too frequently because I want to try lots of different things until we find our "favorites".

If the main dish I've chosen isn't very filling or doesn't have a vegetable and grain included, I just add one of my own. I keep canned vegetables on hand as well as rice and mashed potato mixes.

I also try to balance the menu so we're not eating chicken 5 days a week (or no meat at all, for that matter)...so there is usually 1-2 nights of fish and 2-3 nights of meat mixed in. That way, both the meat lover and the veggie lover are happy :)

On Monday mornings I plan the menus for the week and then I go grocery shopping for everything I need in the afternoon. That way, all I have to do when I'm ready to make dinner is check the menu for the night, grab the recipe, and start cooking!