Notes on Cookbooks

I was sitting in my apartment livingroom and looked at the massive collection of cookbooks I have on one bookcase. I thought to myself, "How often do you really use them?" I am always looking for the perfect recipe, but usually "throw" something together from things I have in the kitchen or from the tastes I want to quench. So, I looked through them and realized I don't use most of them at all. Others of them, I have used a few times. And two were missing from the collection. That's because they were in the kitchen on the counter for easy access.

The two cookbooks I use most are:

1. Deliciously Healthy Eating. It is a part of the Keep the Beat series trademarked by the United States Department of Health & Human Services. Distributed by the National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (Division of National Institutes of Health). You can purchase a hard copy or you can download specific recipes using the interactive tool on the website. Click on the title to go directly to the website.  It is a beautiful cookbook with vibrant photographs of the food. It has simple, easy to follow recipes, with quick tips for novice and experienced cooks. It also gives the nutritional value of the recipes per serving and offers suggestions to round out meals. One of my absolute favorite recipes is "Savory Brown Rice." It is a rice pilaf dish that uses instant brown rice, celery, portabella mushrooms, onions, and chicken stock. So easy, so simple, so delicious, so healthy! You must try it. 
2. Juicing For Life by Cherie "The Juice Lady" Calbom & Maureen Keane. It is available at Amazon.com. Additional information on juicing can also be found on Cherie Calbom's website. Click on the book title or Cherie's name above to be taken to those respective websites. This book is more than a recipe guide to juices, but also a guide to diseases, illnesses and ailments that can be improved or cured using raw foods...fresh fruit and vegetable juices. I use this book as an encyclopedia for issues or concerns that I have at the moment. If I feel my eyes are stressed, I will try carrot and apple juice. The betacarotene in the carrots have been known to help with vision problems (not a cure for blindness). For exercise or menstrual cramps, I will try a ginger-celery pick me up.  The ginger helps the muscles relax and easy the cramping. The celery helps hydrate the body allowing the blood to carry repairing nutrients to distressed areas. I can go on and on but this book is full of information regarding our physical and mental health concerns as well as how juicing can help combat those issues.

I will talk more later about the benefits of heart healthy dieting, juicing, and diseases as this blog moves forward. I wanted to open my bag of cookbooks to you today to help you on your journey.

Have a favorite healthy recipe or tip? Post it!

Have a healthy meal...your life depends on it!