Healthy Cookbook Ideas Please?

[fitfoxie]

Hi Everyone,
I just was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for cookbooks that offer healthy, fairly easy and (is this asking a lot or what ) inexpensive recipes? It's been an ongoing thing with my DH for the last few years with dinners. On the one hand I eat as healthy as possible and like to have lots of fresh vegetables, whole grains and minimal fats. On the other hand I really can't cook (I've often felt pretty bad when I hear of all these people who can throw wonderful meals together);( I have tried, but my DH says that it's tasteless and boring. The only things he really likes I make I won't end up eating, and then he hates that I don't eat with him. So please anyone? There has got to be some kind of a balance, but I don't have a ton of money to spend either. Which is another thing that I hear about a lot how expensive my food is. x( Anyways, thanks so much for any help you can offer.....
Lisa

 

[allwildgirl]

Do you have the Cathe cookbook yet? If not, throw me an e-mail at [email protected] and I'll send you a copy. There are lots of great recipes in it, none are too complex and most are pretty healthy.

I've also heard great things about Vegan Planet. The Moosewood cookbooks are also fantastic. The newest one is called Simple Suppers.

 

[NY25]

The Cooking Light Annual cookbooks are really good. Lots of variety, mostly quick and easy to prepare (with a few more sophisticated suppers thrown in for good measure), and all healthy, to boot. I have several years worth and use them regularly.

 

[lorrayne]

I highly recommend Bill Phillips' Eating for Life cookbook. These are easy to make healthy meals. Each recipe has its own picture!

 

[truton]

Another vote for Cooking Light. Thru AOL I have free access to CookingLight.com. DH raves about some that I've gotten from there and he can be hard to please sometimes. You do have to read the nutrition analysis pretty carefully because some are not particularly low calorie.

 

[amyg]

Lisa-
I think you've gotten some great suggestions here! I really like one of mine (we have a ton, my DH and I both enjoy reading them, so it appears we do not collect knickknacks, we collect cookbooks!) called "Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen [Daelemans]". It's fun because she had her dad taste-test some of the recipes and she reports his comments on some recipes. They're all easy and to the point, including ways to make preparation even easier. http://product.half.ebay.com/Cooking-Thin-With-Chef-Kathleen_W0QQprZ2008868QQtgZinfo

I'd recommend shopping a bit on Amazon and then going over to half.com to actually purchase them. You can get a lot of great cookbooks for far less if you use half.com. HTH!!! PM me if you want to bounce any more ideas off me, or if you have more questions!

 

[dcat]

The New Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen is a vegetarian classic if you want to try meatless recipes (which will help cut down the expense). I really don't enjoy cooking...my husband is the "chef" in our little family... but for something quick/easy (that usually means meatless to me!) and creative I would give this one a look.

 

[rjroubi]

Lisa,
There are also wonderful healthy links on the web for so many recipes. I have tons and tons of healthy cookbooks from all the way from dear old Jane Brody (whatever did happened to her?) to Vegetarian Slow Cooker recipes to new age Vegan World Fusion Cuisine (what a gorgeous glorious cookbook), but I find myself using the web the most. I print my favorite recipes, place them in plastic sheet protectors and put them in a simple three ring binder for future use. Some of my favorite sites (these are all vegetarian):

http://www.ivu.org/recipes/chili/gregs-j.html
http://www.veganoutreach.org/starterpack/recipes.html
http://www.vrg.org/recipes/index.htm

I just recently bought this book and the pictures are incredible. They give you some sample recipes. I have yet to make any of the food:
http://www.veganfusion.com/recipes.php

I use these two sites the most:
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?list=byIngredient
http://vegweb.com/recipes/

I have at least 30 cookbooks but honestly I found word of mouth, recommendations and the web are the most useful. I've always loved what the other Catheites have recommended so I would definitely download the Cathe Cookbook from Shelley.

Oh, and if you ever get stuck and really need a recipe put a call out (or post) to Michele (mf545)...she must own over 100 cookbooks and can find absolutely any recipe you need. I've found that she is incredibly knowledgable about good tasting food and really helpful.

HTH,
Robin:9

 

[Miss Lee]

>Oh, and if you ever get stuck and really need a recipe put a
>call out (or post) to Michele (mf545)...she must own over 100
>cookbooks and can find absolutely any recipe you need. I've
>found that she is incredibly knowledgable about good tasting
>food and really helpful.
>
>HTH,
>Robin:9


Robin, you are too kind! Thank you for the lovely compliment. And yes, I probably have 100 cookbooks, if not more--LOL! After reading your post I may have to add one or two to my collection. I only have a couple of vegetarian cookbooks and they're pretty old. The one (can't think of the title just now) talks about good foods for satisfying the munchies after an evening of smoking pot

Lisa, I agree with Robin. The internet is a vast resource for recipes of any and every kind imaginable. Once you learn the basics of healthy cooking, it's easy to adapt your unhealthy recipes as well, so don't get rid of your old cookbooks!

I would suggest cookbooks that teach techniques and methods because once you learn that, you can cook anything. I like How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson. It's not loaded with healthy recipes, but it's a handy reference for cooking technique and really helps you get a meal on the table in about 30 minutes.

ETA the chapter on salads totally revolutionized the way I put a salad together. I loved this book--it really taught me HOW to cook. Once you learn that, you can cook anything and even develop your own recipes.

HTH and good luck!

Michele