My Current Favorite Cookbooks

I have quite an extensive collection of cookbooks. From baking to ethnic to regional to celebrity chef, you name it, I have it. I keep my all-time favorites on a bookshelf in my office, and the others are tucked away in the kitchen. Every six weeks or so, I pull a few from the shelves and choose several recipes from each book to focus on.

With the kids out of school for the summer, my focus has shifted. With more time to enjoy breakfast and lunch, I need some recipe inspiration. And on rainy days, we love holing up indoors and baking. Here's where I am turning to find that inspiration.

1. Buttercream Dreams by Jeff Martin
This book is filled with 30 signature recipes from the author's Smallcakes shops. From cupcakes to ice cream to other sweet treats including cookies, pies, and fudge, Martin has your sweet tooth covered. On our baking list this summer are the coconut-chocolate chip cupcakes and the strawberry lemonade cupcakes in a jar.

2. Baking With Kids by Leah Brooks
This book is not only filled with a selection of fabulous recipes, but it also gives detailed explanations of safe kitchen practices and how to use basic kitchen equipment. As you and your little ones are having fun, you will also be learning a thing or to as you bake together. What I love about this cookbook is that it isn't filled to the brim with sweet treats. There are recipes for French baguettes, soft pretzels, pizza dough, olive oil crackers, and more. On our to make list this summer: cheesy cheddar puffs, lemon poppy seed muffins, spring onion scones, and pizza dough.

3. America's Best Cookbook for Kids With Diabetes by Colleen Bartley
This cookbook is designed to help parents of children with diabetes provide delicious and kid-friendly meals that the whole family will enjoy. With a focus on foods that are low on the glycemic index, Bartley's recipes deliver the supervised diet that children with diabetes require without ever making them feel deprived or left out. Of course, the biggest plus is that the carbohydrate counts are included as well as other pertinent nutritional information. Here are a few of the dishes we'll be cooking up this summer: pina colada snacking cake, garden burritos, crunchy French toast, and BLT wraps.

4. Fondue by Lou Seibert Pappas
Fondue is the ultimate fun food. It easy to prepare. It's delicious, and it's a crowd pleaser no matter the occasion. We love cheese fondue, and it's surprisingly simple to turn into a main meal. This book has plenty of recipes for cheese, entree, and dessert fondues for any palette and any size gathering from an intimate dinner to a family gathering. This summer we can't wait to try queso fundido, Japenese tempura, and the cappuccino fondues.

5. Weelicious by Catherine McCord
When McCord became frustrated by the lack of healthy, easy recipes for kids online, she created weelicious.com. This book is a spinoff of the popular website that shares it's name. It's filled with fresh and delicious recipes that the whole family will enjoy. From breakfast to evening snack, McCord has meal solutions for anytime of the day.

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Celebrate Spring with Tuttorosso Tomatoes {Giveaway} *CLOSED*

I love spring! Blooming flowers, planting seeds, and chirping birds make me happy. I also experience a renewed love of cooking with veggies. Whether they are fresh, canned, or frozen, spring time makes me want to eat healthier and cleaner.

Tuttorosso is my go-to brand for canned tomatoes. Whether I am in the mood for a robust red sauce, a light marinara or a hearty meat sauce, Tuttorosso has a canned tomato product that is perfect for whichever sauce I am making. When you combine Tuttorosso tomatoes with fresh spring vegetables such as zucchini, you have a delicious and nutritious combination.

Starting today through April 6, 2015, Tuttorosso is offering a Facebook promotion: "Inspiralize the Spring”. During this promotion, Tuttorosso will give away 650 aprons, 15 copies of Ali Maffucci's cookbook Inspiralized, 60 of Ali's custom Inspiralizers, and a Grand Prize package  that includes an Inspiralizer, a signed copy of Inspiralized, a Tuttorosso apron, and a collection of kitchen gadgets packed in a picnic basket.

Created to help people live healthier, the Inspiralizer tri-blade vegetable spiral slicer is a great way to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into every meal. It’s perfect for creating spiral slices or “pasta” strands from firm fruits and vegetables like apples, onions, carrots, zucchinis, cucumbers, cabbages, beets, turnips, rutabagas, cucumbers, and more. 

WIN IT!

Tuttorosso is offering one lucky Pieces of a Mom reader the chance to win the following items:

• Ali Maffucci's Inspiralize cookbook
• a selection of Tuttorosso coupons for canned tomatoes to cook up a delicious springtime meal using Tuttorosso tomatoes and spring's freshest vegetables.

Enter using the widget below:

"Inspiralized" Cookbook by Ali Maffucci and Coupons for Tuttorosso Canned Tomatoes

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Friday's Fresh Picks: Favorite Cookbooks Right Now

When the weather starts to turn cold, I just want to hunker down in my kitchen to cook and bake. This kind of weather just begs for satisfying comfort foods that fill the house with sweet aromas.

This week I headed to the book store to stock up on a few new books for the upcoming months. There are so many great cookbooks out there, and I especially love how many of them are written by fellow bloggers.

Here are a few of the cookbooks I am loving lately. I have a few recipes picked out, and I plan to make them this weekend. Do you have a favorite cookbook you turn to over and over again for tried and true recipes?

{Southern California comfort food recipes from the modern cafeteria Lemonade now available in this pretty and mouth watering book}

{When it comes to simple and comforting food and baked goods, Joy the Baker NEVER disappoints}

{My favorite celebrity chef is Ina Garten. I have all of her cookbooks, but Barefoot Contessa at Homeis by far my favorite}

{I met blogger and cookbook author Gina a few years ago at a conference. We sat next to each other at lunch and chatted about our blogs. Her Skinnytasterecipes are amazingly healthy and incredibly tasty}

{When Harper was diagnosed with diabetes in February, her endocrinolgist gave us a copy of Dishing It up Disney Style - A Cookbook for Families with Type 1 Diabetes. I have turned to this cookbook time and time again for healthy, reliable, and delicious recipes that our entire family enjoys.}

{Oh, c'mon. You can't expect me to get through the holidays without a few fun Candy Cocktails}

Friday Fresh Picks are hand-picked favorite items, reviews and highlights from the amazing women you see above.

Visit their websites to learn about other amazing picks from this week!

Sarah from Finnegan & The Hughes

Hilary from A Fancy Girl Must

Tina from Life Without Pink

To view all of my Friday Fresh Picks posts, click here.

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{Cookbook Review & Giveaway} Meals in a Jar: Quick and Easy, Just Add Water

Summer is here, and for many of us that means less of a desire to be in a hot kitchen.

Summer is the perfect time for ready-made meals. Meals where you can reach in the cabinet, pull out a jar, and add liquid, are perfect for busy and hot summer days.

Meals in a Jar to the rescue! Meals in a Jar is a step-by-step cookbook the includes instructions for preparing 125 natural meals from breakfasts to desserts.

I wasn't completely sure of the concept, so I gladly jumped at the offer to take a look at a complimentary copy of the cookbook for myself. I am not a big fan of the types of pre-packaged meals sold in grocery stores. The fresher the meal, the better. But Meals in a Jar offered the convenience of pre-packaged meals without all the preservatives and high levels of sodium.

Here are my thoughts on the book:

PROS

• I liked the wide variety of recipes in the book. Everything from breakfasts (eggs, breakfast burritos, and granola) to desserts (cookies) was well-represented.
• The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow.
• There are tips for where to find many of the items included in the recipes such as powdered eggs and powdered sour cream. (Great! Because I would have no clue where to buy that kind of stuff).
• The jarred-meals make great gifts and you can have fun with the presentation too.
• They are easy and healthy alternatives to preparing meals for most occasions.
• The book also includes tips for canning and vacuum sealing.
• Most meals will last up to a year if properly canned and sealed.

CONS

• In most cases, specific equipment is needed such as a dehydator or a vacuum sealer.
• The recipes are for bulk preparation, often requiring that you make 8-12 meals per recipe.
• Many recipes use ingredients that are not readily available in most household pantries, such as powdered milk, eggs, sour cream.
• There is an initial time commitment required to prepare the canned/sealed meals. Although time is saved during cooking, you must set aside a huge chunk of time up front to make the meals.
• One recipe makes anywhere from 8 to 16 meals. My family of 4 would never eat all of those meals in a year.

This is not the cookbook for me. However, if canning and vacuum sealing are your thing, this book would be the perfect addition to your cookbook collection.

The recipes did sound really yummy though. Most had me drooling. White chocolate cranberry cookies. Green beans with bacon. Mexican bean soup. Who wouldn't love those recipes?

WIN IT! 
If you think you'd like this book, you can enter to win your own copy.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


*Winner will be chosen at random using Rafflecopter and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond. If winner fails to do so, an alternate winner will be chosen. Same rules will apply to the alternate winner.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Meals in a Jar to facilitate this review. I did not receive monetary compensation to write this review. All opinions are my own.

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{Cookbook Review and Giveaway}: Ten Dollar Dinners by Melissa d'Arabian

When you look for new recipes to add to your repertoire, what qualities do you look for? Are fresh, local ingredients important to you? How about ease and quickness of preparation? Wouldn't it be ideal to use fresh ingredients that won't break the bank, are easy to find, and can be prepared easily after a tiring workday?

I've got a cookbook that meets all of these requirements. And it includes recipes that the whole family will love!

Ten Dollar Dinners by the Food Network's Melissa d'Arabian is a book written by a busy mother for busy mothers. d'Arabian adeptly uses her experience as a wife and mother to develop recipes that are easy, healthy, and delicious. I like to cook, but I am not good at whipping up a meal without a recipe. It's just not my thing. But I don't want to spend hours in the kitchen preparing meals. I want meals that are quick and easy to make and use ingredients that I can find in my local grocery store for under $15. Ten Dollar Dinners is the perfect resource for all of my needs.

Ten Dollar Dinners takes ordinary everyday meals and elevates them by adding a special ingredient or a unique sauce. And all recipes cost $10 or less to prepare for your family.* I love that!!

The book is divided into 11 sections. The sections include such items as soups, appetizers, dessert, seafood, and more.

How many times have you made a fruit salad? How many times have you wished that you could add something to the fruit salad to jazz it up? In the Desserts section of the book, d'Arabian features a recipe for fruit salad with lemon-mint syrup. The syrup makes an ordinary fruit salad extraordinary!

Summer is coming! How about the perfect burger? The grilled two-cheese burger will satisfy any burger lover. Both mozzarella and grated Parmesan top this plump, juicy burger.

My favorite recipe from this book, spinach and cheese-stuffed chicken with lemon butter (complete recipe is included at the end of this post), has become a household favorite. I make it gluten-free by substituting cup4cup gluten-free flour for regular flour.

I love this cookbook for many reasons, but the primary one is that Melissa d'Arabian's perspective as a mother equates to easy, affordable, and accessible meals. She's not preparing foods that I am certain my kids won't eat, such as parsnips and lamb.

I can easily get the ingredients together after a long workday and have any meal in this book on the table within an hour. Every recipe in the book includes the amount of time it takes to both prepare it and to cook it. For those evenings when you know your time is short, choose a recipe that takes the least amount of time to prepare and cook.

WIN IT!

One lucky Pieces of a Mom reader will win a copy of Ten Dollar Dinners. This giveaway will end on April 15, 2013 at 11:59 pm ET. It is open to residents of the continental U.S. who are 18 years of age or older.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you just must get your hands on a copy of the book immediately, you can order it through Amazon.com.




Spinach and Cheese-Stuffed Chicken with Lemon Butter (serves 4)

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 23 minutes

• 8 ounces of thawed frozen chopped spinach (about half a 1-pound bag)
• 1/4 pound (4 ounces) sliced, shredded, or chunks of cheese, such as Cheddar, mozzarella, provolone or Swiss.
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 6- to 8 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the thawed spinach in a paper towel, squeeze out excess liquid, and transfer spinach to the bowl of a food processor. Add the cheese, cream cheese, lemon zest, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Pulse until the cheese is broken up into small pieces and everything is nicely mixed, about five 3-second pulses. Set aside.

2. Place the flour in a shallow baking dish and set aside. Place your palm flat on top of a chicken breast and, using a sharp knife and starting about 1/2 inch from the tip, make a long slit in the side of the chicken, working the knife about three quarters of the way through to the other side, but not cutting through the breast completely, to make a good sized pocket. Repeat with the remaining 3 breasts and then stuff each with a few tablespoons of the spinach stuffing. Thread 2 or 3 toothpicks (or shortened wood skewers) from top to bottom through the edge of the pocket to fasten it shut. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and then roll each breast through the flour, lifting out and gently tapping each one to knock off extra flour.

3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts, smooth side down, and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Use tongs to turn over the breasts and brown on the other side, about 3 minutes more. Drizzle lemon juice over the chicken and sprinkle the butter pieces over the chicken. Place the chicken in the over until cooked through and firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Serve drizzled with sauce from the pan.

I ask my butcher to cut the chicken breasts to create a pocket. It saves me time, and I know it's done correctly.

Serve with any side dish. We like rice or roasted red potatoes.

For more information about Melissa d'Arabian, the book, and book tour dates, visit her Web site.

* All recipes are based on a family of four.

All photos appear courtesy of Melissa d'Arabian.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Ten Dollar Dinners by Melissa d'Arabian to facilitate this review. I did not receive monetary compensation to post a review. All opinions expressed herein are mine.

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What Should I Cook for the Kids?

As a mom, one of my biggest daily struggles is deciding what to feed the girls. I never want them to fall into the mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza trap. I've always wanted them to be adventurous eaters. But eventually, I ran out of ideas. That's when I turned to my most knowledgeable friend, the Internet. I researched all sorts of cookbooks geared towards meal preparation for children. There's a plethora of them...it's big business these days.

Armed with a list of about 25 books, I headed for Barnes and Noble. I can buy just about anything online, sight unseen, except for a cookbook. I need to see the book, look at the pictures and review the layout before I make a commitment to buying it. I found two fabulous books that have saved my life several times over.

My favorite, Kitchen Playdates by Lauren Bank Deen, is filled with over 70 healthy recipes, menu ideas and activities that get kids involved in meal prep and cooking. What I love most about this book is that it includes ideas for cooking style playdates. We've used the suggestions for several of Emma's playdates, and her friends have loved cooking and baking. What's even more surprising is to hear how so many of them don't do this type of thing at home. I LOVE to cook and bake with the girls. It's a great opportunity to teach math skills.

The other book is The Toddler Café by Jennifer Carden. This book encourages parents and caregivers to make mealtime fun and interactive by getting kids to identify with their food. Carden suggests playing "food" games. As a result, we've devised a game called "The Ingredients Game". Whenever the girls are getting ready to sit down to a meal, we ask what types of ingredients were used to prepare the food that they are eating. An example is salsa. The answers are tomatoes, onions, peppers, cilantro, and salt. The Toddler Café also includes over 50 recipes that encourage families to cook and eat together. Jennifer Carden has a wonderful spin off blog, The Toddler Café which follows a similar format to the cookbook.

Don't let mealtime mean madness. One or both of these books can put the spark back into your kitchen. Both books can be purchased at Chronicle Books and Barnes and Noble.

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