Can anyone recommend a healthy cookbook that doesn't have lots of processed foods in the ingredients? Like no white sugar or flour and cans of cream of mushroom soup? Natural foods, not low fat, non fat stuff and no artificial sweeteners?
Also, without too strange or complicated or gourmet recipes. Just normal types of foods in the American diet, but modified to not include the processed and artificial stuff. Plus we are not vegetarians. And things that picky kids would enjoy. Is this an impossible request?
Thanks!
Have you tried allrecipes.com? You can enter the ingredients you have on hand (and enter the ingredients you DON'T want) and they will give you recipes for free that have been submitted by users, with ratings to go along with it! I love this website. Self.com also has a lot of healthy recipes.
I really like a lot of Jamie Oliver's recipes. He cooks mainly with fresh food and the recipes are fairly easy to cook.
I would go to the library and check out different cookbooks to see if there is anything you can work with before you commit to buying it.
Emeril has a bunch of cookbooks for all sorts of things - he's not big on processed foods, he'd rather shop at a farm stand, etc. Try Barnes and Nobles for his books. Or oganic baby food books - you'd be surprised how many "adult" easy recipes are in those.
Good Luck
How about the Sue Gregg cookbooks? Sounds exactly like her stuff! :)
I like www.heavenlyhomemakers.com I just found her recently and everything I have tried has been delicious! My kids love her bread, the pizza is better than any we've ever had....I could go on and on. The pancakes are my favorite, and I've tried a lot. She uses only whole wheat, and never any sugar. GL!
Not a cookbook (although their chefs all have them), but check out the recipes at http://www.foodnetwork.com/
I particularly like Tyler Florence, Mario Batali, The Neely's, Emeril, Jamie Oliver... but all you have to do is type: Roast beef, canneloni, chicken, blueberry pie, chicken enchiladas, macaroni and cheese, etc... and you get dozens of recipes. I just click through and find 1-5 I like and either follow or alter them.
You'll be surprised how simple and easy sooooo many of these recipes are.
For even SIMPLER (we're talking 5 or 6 ingredients tops, in *most* of their recipes, Italians are big on simple simple simple) check out this AMAZING Italian Cookbook.
http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Spoon-Phaidon-Press/dp/07148...
Check out Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. The premise of her book was how to get her kids (and spouse) to eat healthier foods without feeling like they were on a grass-and-granola diet. The answer she and her co-author, a nutritionist, came up with was to hide veggie purees in things like coffee cake and mozzerella sticks. Sound a little weird, but we've really enjoyed the recipes we've tried so far. One thing, though - since these are all natural foods, leftovers do not keep more than a couple of days.
Isn't cooking food processing it?
I collect cookbooks and read them (and cooking magazines) all the time. The best recommendation I've found are the EatingWell series. Nothing artificial, nothing too crazy. I have almost all of their cookbooks and get the 6 times per year magazine and that's the best of everything. They have a free newsletter and an online site with all their recipes and both are terrific.
My kids and meat-loving husband have really liked almost everything I've made...more than 20 recipes.
your best bet is acctually to go with an older cookbook- I have Farm Journals Country Cookbook- it has timeless recipies but most date back to before a lot of processed foods were available (it has instructions on how to can when you had to use your own wax to make the seals!)
If that's the kind of book you are looking for, I bet others are too. Why not start compiling that type of recipe and contact a cook book publisher. You don't have to be done to get paid. Just have a good concept, working title, and a list of sample recipes. If they like the idea, they may finance it. Dang, that's good advice. I might try that myself! Not with your concept though - I'll leave that to you!
I like Rachel Ray's cookbooks...very simple, easy ingredients. And it's all scratch. I have the 30 minute meals and made quite a few recipes from there, the other resource is Cooking Light magazine. Between the book for easy meals and the magazine to stretch my -limited- creative boundaries I've got a nice set of go-to recipes.
I'm with you on no low fat, artificial sweeteners and semi-homemade stuff. GL!
I prefer blogs over books and have had great success with the following:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
and
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/
and
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/
We really watch the foods that we eat, more natural, unprocessed and organic when it can be afforded. I have not made a bad meal from any of these sites. Rachel Ray has been mentioned and her 20 minute meals are great as well.
Two cookbooks that I have had good success with are:
Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead and Don't Panic--More Dinner's in the Freezer: A Second Helping of Tasty Meals You Can Make Ahead
I like Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. Also, wholefoods.com offers online healthy recipes.
I really wish there was!!! You have no idea how many times I have looked through cookbooks hoping to find THE ONE and to no avail. They are usually too complicated, require too many ingredients, or are too weird. I know there are a few Clean Eating cookbooks out there. THat would probably be your best bet, although I think they may be a little complicated. I second the Heavanly Homemakers website. I used to recommend it a long time ago and kind of forgot about it. All of her food is made from scratch and it is normal food like pudding, sloppy joes, pancakes, you name it. She is awesome.
Good luck! I will keep checking to see if anybody does know of a cookbook like you are describing :-)
