Problem 2 - I've been lacking inspiration in the cooking department.
Problem 3 - I've seriously dropped the habit of menu planning, and desperately need to get back to it. I hate the afternoon panic attack of "What are we going to eat tonight?"
I'm hoping to cure all three problems by starting a personal cookbook challenge. My goal is to pick one cookbook on my shelf each month to really dive into, try some new recipes, and hopefully find some new favorites.
For the last month, Simply in Season has been a standby on my kitchen counter. I love how this cookbook is organized by seasons. Flipping to summer found many ways to use my garden bounty.
My goal isn't to talk you into purchasing a new cookbook, but to encourage you to use what you have. But since I know many of you have this cookbook, I'll share a few of the recipes that have been winners at our house.
Focaccia - pg 90
Zucchini Garden Chowder - pg 95
Fahita - pg 148
Chicken Caccciatore - pg 147
Pesto Pizza- pg 123
Stacked Vegetable Quesadillas - pg 134
And that is just in the recipes I've tried recently in the summer section.
In the past, I shared the recipe for Roasted Summer Vegetables and Great Green Vegetable Pasta.
Some of the summer desserts we enjoyed were whole wheat peach kuchen, fruit platz, yogurt fruit pie, and fruit custard pie.
But since we are now into fall, I'll share a recipe from the fall section of Simply in Season - Apple Cake. But that will wait until tomorrow.
This month, I'm sitting my crockpot on the counter and diving into Not Your Mother's Crockpot Cookbook.
I'd love to hear about your favorite cookbook!
OOooo... would love a tried-and-true favortie from this book! {hint}
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea. I tend to use the same recipes over & over & forget about the hundreds of others I have in my kitchen :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should give this a go.
Have fun
Renata:)
What a great idea. I too have too many cookbooks. I was actually telling a friend yesterday that I need to find a support group like cookbooks anonymous. I like the idea of using one cookbook each month and really getting into it deeply. I think the first one I'd get into is my Hay Day Market cookbook. It was given to me many years ago and there are many recipes I use from it. However, there are many I want to try and haven't done so. Thank you for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the " I don't want to cook "issue. I think all that canning the last month makes me want to escape the kitchen. I am wanting comfort winter foods these days and am making casseroles to last two meals. Eat one day freeze the rest for two weeks time. That said, I am not inspired to cook.Glad to hear I am not the only one. Good idea about the cookbook dive in.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like me! I have so many cookbooks and wouldn't dare part with any of them.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of choosing one and going through it to find something different for a change, because it can be easy to get in a cooking rut.
My favorite cookbook is one I found at an antique sale. It's a Gold Medal flour cookbook from 1915, very worn but it's so dear to me and I paid very little for it! I have other favorites, but that one is tops on my list. :)
Hope you'll let us know how your cookbook challenge goes. Sounds like fun!
I just mixed up the Hearty Oatmeal pancakes for breakfast tomorrow before coming to the computer! I do use this cookbook a lot. One of my favorite fall recipes is Liberian Pumpkin (I blogged about it here: http://thriftathome.blogspot.com/2010/01/dark-days-week-8-liberian-pumpkin.html)
ReplyDeleteI'm ready for some more inspiration :)