Saturday, March 2, 2013

Cookbooks and Weekly Meals

This week, I am making some old favorites but also some new recipes. I got a new cookbook for my Kindle: The 150 Healthiest Slow Cooker Recipes on Earth.


It was only $2.99, and the recipes sound really good and “beyond” what I would usually consider making in a slow cooker. The authors also stress the importance of buying pastured meat, chicken and eggs, which I like.

I have also been re-reading The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook .


Mireille makes a big point that eating should be a pleasure, something I think we often forget, which is a shame. However, she also points out throughout the book that it’s important to balance things out. That is, if you splurge on something, you’ll have to cut back somewhere else. It all has to balance itself out in the end. I really like her approach. I also enjoy all her little stories and most of the recipes are simple and showcase fresh ingredients. Many of the recipes are not very different from what I normally cook, but they are nice reminders of “forgotten” ingredients, and there are some combinations I hadn’t thought of before.

Here the meals for the week:

Meal 1: Slow cooker chicken soup with veggies. I’m not following a recipe. I’ll simply put some bone-in chicken in the crock pot with spices and cook on high for about 3-4 hours, until the chicken is done. Then I’ll remove the chicken meat and return the bones to the pot. I’ll continue cooking the bones on low for another 10 hours or so (which turns the soup into a flavorful stock). I’ll also cook some veggies in the soup. Before eating the soup, I’ll cool it so that I can remove the fat, which forms on the top.
Meal 2: Meatballs from The Healthiest Slow Cooker Recipes on Earth cookbook, mashed potatoes (which have been on the kid’s “wish list” forever), carrots & peas. I would have never thought to make meatballs in the slow cooker. I’m really curious to see how they’ll turn out.
Meal 3: A big salad with a few Crepes with mushrooms. I’ll follow the crepes recipe from The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook.
Meal 4: Spiced lentil soup with carrots, onions, and celery, flavored with curry, cardamom, and turmeric.
Meal 5: Leftovers.

Questions: Do you like to read cookbooks? I enjoy reading cookbooks with stories, but I honestly don’t follow recipes very often. But they do inspire me to cook. What’s the last cookbook you’ve read? What’s the last recipe you cooked from a cookbook? What’s on your menu this week?

Be well,
Andrea