5 cookbooks for the not-so-great cook

Happy Thursday, sweet friends! It is no surprise that this girl, me, loud and proud, is not a cook. When it comes to cooking, if something takes over 15 minutes to prepare, it’s basically not an option for me. In the past, I’ve tried meal delivery services which were great and helped me try new things when I was sick of eating rotisserie chicken and brown rice. However, even with some of the boxes and meal kits, their receipes can take 20 minutes of prep plus 30-45 minutes to actually cook. By that time, I’ve already gone to Chick-Fil-A and got a milkshake, fries and *hopefully* a salad but probably a chicken sandwich. Sad, but true.

However, next year I really want to expand my very limited cooking skills so I can eat healthier. Over the past few months, I’ve relied on having lunch at work (which is great) but when it comes to the weekend, I realize I don’t have food then end up eating out. It’s pretty much the same week after week.

Thanks to my friends at Workman Publishing, I am now challenging myself to try 1 new recipe once a week and hoping to build up from there.

One | Food to Live By – Growing up in the suburbs, I pretty much knew nothing about farming, farming as a profession, what it took to grow healthy vegetables – nothing. (This is not the same for all kids who grew up in the Suburbs but I recognize that I was quite ignorant) We went to farmer’s markets and great fresh grocery stores but since I never had a desire to cook, I did’t really pay attention. Since I’ve graduated college, especially going to college in rural eastern North Carolina, the farming industry has become so much more clear to me. In Food to Live By, there are stories starting the book about basics of farming, the industry and what actually is organic. This is probably where I spent most of the time in the book just trying to soak up all the information I could. When it came time to find something I want to make, I landed on the raspberry pecan muffins and y’all, I was impressed by how good they actually tasted.  Since they are from scratch, they required a lot more baking items than I’ve had in my home so it did take an extra grocery trip to prepare. They are a great entertaining type of snack or extra sweet treat to add when making breakfast.

Two | Unicorn Food – Okay, confession time: I have an entire group of Instagram photos saved of cool plant-based dishes that I swear I’m going to make every week and never do. Honestly, I think I love looking at them more than the thought of actually making them. Same as the previous book, this one has a ton of education in the beginning specially around foods to add color to your diet and what to keep stocked for a unicorn food lifestyle. If you need a place to start and don’t actually know what to buy, the first few pages will get you right on track. I didn’t make this at home, but I did try a new bowl place this weekend where I ordered the probiotic rainbow brekkie bowl, minus the edible flowers and coconuts. It was an interesting mix of textures but I was surprised how well the flavors played off of each other. Since this was tried at a shop and not at home, I’m sure some of the ingredients were a tiny bit off but nonetheless, it was amazing. And definitely not something I would have tried on my own without learning from the book.

Three | Sheet Pan Suppers – If there is one thing I can do in the kitchen, that is throw a ton of different things onto a pan, season them well and pop everything into the oven. The author literally walks you through the main ingredients you need for sheet pan dishes included types of salts, oils and parchment papers. The Philly chicken sausage & peppers with garlic bread was incredibly simple but so good for a beginner. However, the most helpful part of this book is the DIY or BUY notes sections on recipes. For me, when I read a receipe that has one dash of this and four sprinkles of that and 6 eyeball drops of something else, I count that recipe out. Since I wouldn’t use some of those ingredients ever again, it’s basically a waste of my time and energy to get them and let everything expire. With this fun little section on the recipes, it helped me figure out if I should just buy the sauce or topping pre-made and save myself the trouble.

Four | The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris – This one isn’t a cookbook but I found to be helpful since I was planning a trip a London for holiday season and wanted to travel to Paris. Even though this trip has been put on hold, I still found myself wanting to learn more about the restaurants, especially tips on how to order when in Paris. I have never been out of the country and know even when traveling inside the US, cultures in different states are very different. Etiquette is very different. Food is very different. And all those things are important to know when traveling. You would 100% catch me being that person drinking coffee in Paris while reading this book. I’ve heard so many strange things about ordering water in Paris and ways to order wine which are all outlined the book with how to guides.

Five | The Wine Bible – Need I say anymore? Wine is basically my love language and in my dream life, I would be a traveling Sommelier. When I retire, which is questionable for millennials YAY, this will hopefully be my job: reading about wine, making wine, drinking wine, sharing wine, educating people on wine, then drinking more wine. That’s it. That will make me happy. Y’all, this is a thick book. Since it’s not a cookbook, I didn’t feel pressure to try to learn as many recipes as possible, instead, it’s a education tool for me to understand the wine making process; what are tannins and why is it important; what makes a great wine; and how to find great wine. Though some of this you can learn one by one when reading the description on the back of a wine bottle, if you’re really a wine lover and want to be as educated as possible, The Wine Bible is 110% for you. If you’re looking to expand your wine palette and want to get away from the mainstream wines such as Chardonnay, Moscato and Red blends, this book will help you find less popular alternatives.