My Favorite Bodeci-ful Cookbooks
I thought I would have more to offer up for this post. But the fact is, I am picky as all get out when it comes to food and there really aren't many cookbooks I feel are bodeci-ful. (What is bodeci-ful, you ask? Bodeci is:
an attitude of 'I'm human and flawed' mixed with excellence. Pleasure with responsibility? Get your ass moving and stop eating so damn much. Take a look at a
past post for an even more abstract definition.)
The
Bodeci-ful requirements for a cookbook are:
- Delicious recipes.
- Emphasis on health without limiting food groups.
- Easy to prepare recipes without hard to find ingredients.
- Use of fresh, local and organic ingredients whenever possible
- Nutrition facts including calories, fats (broken down between the good and the bad), carbohydrates, protein, sodium, cholesterol and fiber.
- Attractive pictures.
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One of my favorite recipes from Ellie Krieger's cookbook, The Food You Crave.
Soba Noodle-Vegetable Salad |
Ellie Krieger has two great cookbooks, but my all time favorite is "The Food You Crave". What sets it apart is it has real family appeal. Even kids enjoy these recipes. My husband got into a mood last year and actually cooked nearly every recipe in it. The other really outstanding feature is that she is a nutritionist, a mom and works outside the home. There is some valuable nutrition information and pantry/ grocery lists that educate us so we make better choices. It is the book I give to my clients when they want to make changes with their weight and diet.
In "So Easy" she moves things forward into emore simple meal plans and creative recipes. Both cookbooks are fantastic and I love her gentle spirit.
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Ellie Krieger is just so darn beautiful, simple and REAL!
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These two cookbooks have tasty and easy recipes with tight calorie budgets: "Easy Healthy" and "Just 100 Calories" are both a
Parragon Book. I am guessing this means there is no author. I cannot find an author's name anywhere, only a little heart logo with "love food" written over it.
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Parragon Books seems to have a simple model for their books; attractive, glossy photos and simple, tasty recipes.
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Easy recipes, tight calories, YUMMY
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The only "diet" cookbook I really like is the "Flat Belly Diet Cookbook" by Liz Vaccariello with Cynthia Sass, MPH RD. It is filled with mouth-watering recipes and has all the bodeci-ful bells and whistles. I do not endorse weight loss diets but I do recommend a the type of eating lifestyle these gals offer up in this book. The main ideas for the promotion of weight loss are: eating less calories, certain fats are helpful and a primarily Mediterranean diet is the best model.
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| Once again, the food is really delicious. |
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Yes, pasta! Yes, cheese! Yes tomatoes!!!!
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Do you have a favorite Bodeci-ful cookbook? Perhaps you have a recipe that you have made Bodeci-ful. What can you not live without when it comes to food? I must know!
What a great selection of cookbooks! My latest favorite is Ina Garten's How Easy Is That?...though it does not have all the qualities of a Bodeci-ful cookbook. She has great ideas for putting a new spin on old standards, like adding thyme to baked butternut squash and tarragon to chicken salad.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I cannot live without pasta and cheese. ;-)
Hi Debra - first off thanks so much for coming over to my blog and for your kind comments... so naturally I was interested to pop on over to yours!!
ReplyDeleteAnd so strange - don't know in life whether you find people or things you are looking for just at the right time or whether its a huge coincidence but I certainly feel that I have found your blog at the right time and am very happy..... The first post I read -the one before this one could have been written just for me!! Have suffered for nearly 4 weeks now with a bad back and am visiting the physio... THen I read on about healthy eating etc. and your lovely post about cook books... And again, just this week I have been down and despairing about the extra 6lbs that seem to have come out of nowhere (!! - meopause most prob. I guess) and settled all around my tummy....Anyway, you have lifted my spirits with your advice on your blog and general outlook... SO a HUGE thank you and I am a new and avid follower !!
p.s. sorry comment is so long....
Sarah
Hi Debra,
ReplyDeleteFunny that you did a post on this. I guess my Bodeci-ful cookbook would be "The Healthy Kitchen" by Andrew Weil & Rosie Daley. (Oprah's former chef)
I was just looking at it tonight earmarking some healthy recipes. Even though I think we eat pretty good compared to alot of people, I know there is room for improvement!
I'm with Janice, I love my cheese!
Linda
Janice,
ReplyDeleteI love Ina Garten and have one of her books. I, along with about 90% of the pupulation, am with you on the pasta and cheese! Bodeci-ful is that 80-20 thing remember? (20% is not about health, but pleasure) and as far as I'm concerned there are health benefits to both. It is a quantity thing!
Sarah,
Thank you for stopping by! I love it when the universe points me in the direction I was supposed to go. I went through menopause about two years ago. (It is so hard to tell when it is actually official) and put on, you guessed it, six pounds! I have been on a mission to remove the last four and now have three to go. I have found I need a bit more FAT in my diet! The last cookbook I highlighted is all about Monounsaturated fats: olive oil, avocado, nuts. Bottom line, we may gain some weight, but we will balance out. Thank you for coming on over to visit. Talk with you again!
Linda, I will have to get that one! Andrew Weil is just about as healthy as you can get so his input, I am sure, is great for Rosie, I have a problem with Oprah's diet mentality. I do understand how it happens and have empathy for her, but the "all or nothing" mind set is not a good one. (ie, running marathons and eating lean vs. minimal exercise and fried chicken).
I love the flat belly diet cookbook. Found some really good ones that I still stick with in there. I did try to "do" that diet but I love my snacks too much and that plan did not allow much wiggle room for that. A set up for failure for me. Really, really yummy turkey meatloaf in either that book or the original flat belly diet plan book that had some recipes but not as many.
ReplyDelete