Weekend Cooking: New Year’s Resolutions

Weekend Cooking is hosted at Beth Fish Reads each week. Check her post tomorrow for links to reviews, raves, and rants about food whether cooked at home or out in the world.

I’ve started a New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge to read books related to resolutions as a way to be, well, more resolute about them. I’d like some help from the Weekend Cooking crowd. What books would you recommend for people with these and other food-related resolutions:

cook more
eat healthier
take my cooking to the next level
lose weight
gain weight
become a vegetarian or vegan
eat like a caveman
appreciate food (and beverages) more

What food books have made an appreciable difference in your life?

If I get enough responses, I’ll write a round-up post for next week’s Weekend Cooking, just in time for the New Year’s Resolution season!

Signature of Joy Weese Moll

Comments

Weekend Cooking: New Year’s Resolutions — 11 Comments

Meryl on December 21, 2012 at 8:26 pm said:

Anything by Jamie Oliver, but particularly “Cook with Jamie” and “Jamie at Home”. He does such amazing things with food, but a good majority of it is still stuff you can put together on a week night. Love him!

Reply ↓
Beth @ Too Fond on December 22, 2012 at 3:40 am said:

I was really impressed with Eat Naked and The Naked Foods Cookbook by Margaret Floyd, which I reviewed on my blog this past year. I like the idea of getting away from processed foods as much as possible, and this book has a great approach to eating naturally, with lots of support. Recommended!

Reply ↓
Janel Gradowski on December 22, 2012 at 8:42 am said:

I love anything by Nigella Lawson. I sit down and read her cookbooks like a novel. She is a master of description. Also, I recently got a new cookbook called Saltie by Caroline Fidanza. It details many recipes offered by the small, sandwich shop in NYC. Full of homemade condiments and unique sandwiches, along with drinks and some entrees. I love it.

Reply ↓
Tanya Patrice on December 22, 2012 at 9:22 am said:

I don’t read a lot of books like that, but I do like the Cooking Light magazine for recipes.

Reply ↓
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz on December 22, 2012 at 9:24 am said:

I love the idea of centering your reading around your resolutions. I love to bake, and I finally broke down and bought a wonderful baking book a few months ago. It’s an e-book so it’s handy for searching. I read over the advice for cookies before I made mine this Christmas season and I read over the info on bread baking before I made some homemade bread, so it has been quite useful.

Reply ↓
Beth F on December 22, 2012 at 9:36 am said:

The Mom 100 Cookbook and Dinner: A Love Story (I reviewed them both) are great ways to help you cook more. I second Cooking Light magazine.

For the next level: Anything by the American Test Kitchen (Cook’s Illustrated) and anything by King Arthur Flour (for baking of all kinds; including gluten free)

Reply ↓
SprungAtLast on December 22, 2012 at 10:17 am said:

For weight loss, I’ve had good luck with Eat To Live. The basic principle is eat leafy greens, veggies, and lots of them. I’ve tried the diet (and will do it again in January) and the most remarkable thing, apart from the lost pounds, is how my sense of smell and taste improve.

Reply ↓
Ann on December 22, 2012 at 11:15 am said:

Eat healthier: the book that changed my life (not hyperbole) was Gary Taubes WHY WE GET FAT. I learned a ton, and it totally changed both my outlook and the way that I eat.

That led me to, as you put it, “eat like a caveman.” The best resources I’ve found for that so far are THE PALEO SOLUTION by Robb Wolf and IT STARTS WITH FOOD by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. For a “kinder, gentler” version of the paleo diet, I’d recommend THE PRIMAL BLUEPRINT by Mark Sisson.

Reply ↓
Andrea on December 22, 2012 at 12:14 pm said:

I have a bunch of Jacques Pepin’s cookbooks. I’ve been collecting them for about 20 years. I’ve learned so much from him and tried many of his recipes. He also had many fast and fresh recipes that are light and healthy

Reply ↓
Carole on December 22, 2012 at 1:01 pm said:

Happy happy Holidays to you and yours!

Reply ↓
Diane (bookchickdi) on December 22, 2012 at 3:36 pm said:

For your healthier eating list, I like Marlene Koch’s Eat More of What You Love. Her recipes sacrifice calories and fat but not taste. Happy Holidays to you!

Reply ↓