HUGE sale on real-food cooking resources!

Everything you need to know for real-food cooking!

TODAY begins a short window of opportunity for you to get seventeen real-food cookbooks that contain over 800 recipes--enough for you to make a new one every day for over two years! These books contain resources that will help you make main dishes, sides, desserts, smoothies, condiments, and more: all with ingredients you'll feel good about feeding your family.

Disclaimer: this post contains my affiliate links. If you purchase the cookbook bundle via my blog I will make a percentage of each sale. THANK YOU for supporting Living in the Light!

The value of all these cookbooks is over $150.

But in this bundle you'll get all of them for less than $15!!

My new cookbook, Real Food for the Real Homemaker, is included in this bundle. Normally it's $12.95. In this bundle you'll get it for 90% off, and the same goes for the other sixteen books! In essence, you're getting sixteen books for a total of $2. For resources this valuable, that's an incredible deal.

(If you've already bought our book, get the bundle anyway. It's still an amazing deal. Then you'll have a spare copy of the cookbook to give as a gift!)

There are a couple books in particular in this collection that I am really excited about. One is Cooking with Coconut Oil. From author Jennifer Saleem:

Are you new to coconut oil and looking for creative recipes that feature this amazing oil? Have you been using coconut oil in your cooking for years but need some new recipe inspiration? Are you simply looking for creative ways to sneak more coconut oil into your diet? Cooking With Coconut Oil is the answer to all this and more! This book is not only packed full of simple, delicious, family friendly-recipes, it also contains a wealth of information about coconut oil and other nutrient dense ingredients (27 pages to be exact). The best part? It is compatible with gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and vegetarian lifestyles.

I absolutely LOVE coconut oil, and I'm looking forward to perusing this cookbook for new ideas and ways to use it!

Design a Dish is another book that will be perfect for me. Author Millie Copper says,

In Design a Dish, I share how to use formulas rather than recipes to design dishes with the ingredients that are available so that you can reduce food waste and save money! Once you start using formulas for your meals you will discover just how easy it is to nourish your family for less! 

Does this sound like me or what?!? I'm so bad at following recipes... but with this book, I won't be expected to. This is exactly what I need to increase my cooking and making-up-recipe skills!

Finally, I'm psyched to use Real Food, Real Easy by Angela Montgomery. Angela wrote this about her book:

Real Food, Real Easy, Cook Once Eat Three Times focuses on four different pantry staples that are healthy and fast! They are Oatmeal, Black Beans, Rice and Quinoa. Each of these are nutritional powerhouses that you can feel good about feeding to your family. The key to making things easy is cooking the pantry staple ahead of time and using it in several different recipes!  

I already use oatmeal, black beans and rice a LOT, but boy do I need ideas for more ways to use them-- and I definitely need to learn how to use quinoa (I have some sitting in my pantry just begging to be made delicious)! Can't wait to put the ideas in this book to good use.

Okay, if I haven't convinced you yet, go to this post for more information about the bundle! These are just three of seventeen books that you'll put to good use! A lot of them include paleo, gluten-free, sugar-free, and grain-free recipes, so no matter what dietary restrictions you and your family have, you'll be able to use these books!

Remember, this sale only lasts five days: Today (Tuesday the 17th) through Saturday the 21st.

There will be no late sales whatsoever--this is your only chance EVER to get this bundle of books for this deal! Sure, you could buy the books on their own, but you'd pay over $150 for all of them. $15 is just over the price of one of them, so you're getting all the rest for pennies!

Bonus Offers

15% off Real Salt orders. Get healthy, unrefined sea salt delivered to your kitchen.



5% off Wise Choice Market orders over $50. Pick up mineral-rich stock, soaked nut butters and cereals, or even potato chips made with coconut oil.




Simple Natural Health by Nina Nelson of Shalom Mama. Keep your family healthy this winter not only with food, but with homemade remedies.




One month FREE premium membership to Tradishen. Your premier 100% real food recipe and meal planning site.

  

Giveaways

In addition to the already awesome package we have here, one lucky reader is going to get the chance to win a Healthy Surprise box! If your family struggles with snacks, this company offers packages of healthy snacks that are delivered to your door once a month. There are three box sizes with different amounts of snacks in them. These snacks are all allergy-free (top 8), grain-free, vegan, and mostly organic. They're appropriate for almost any family! No purchase necessary to enter.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

 View the FAQ.

If you have any other questions, feel free to comment or email me (see the Contact page).

Disclaimer: this post contains my affiliate links. If you purchase the cookbook bundle via my blog I will make a percentage of each sale. THANK YOU for supporting Living in the Light!

How would you use these cookbooks for your family? I'll share more about the other books later this week!

17 Ways to Become a Better Cook

My life and my husband’s have been changed for the better since we started eating real food.

Growing up, my mom definitely taught me how to cook healthy meals. But after I got married, I started reading about what really goes into so many of the things we eat—vegetable oils, margarine, sugars, processed chemicals that are made in a lab instead of in nature. Why would I want to put that stuff in my body?!?

So I kept doing research. And I learned that there are better things to eat and cook with than I had been using. I started making little changes here and there, and noticed a difference. My husband and I started feeling better. I was able to spend less money on groceries (by buying very little pre-packaged convenience food, which is expensive), and then my husband lost about 75 pounds in a year, just because we were eating better, and because he started drinking more water and being more active.
I discovered how easy it is (and how cheap!) to make things at home that I thought I had to buy. Salad dressings, beans (like black and kidney), chicken stock, and yogurt are just a few things I make myself now, instead of buying in a bottle, can, or carton.

However, I also realized that there is an overwhelming amount of information available on real food. Sometimes doing a Google search for a recipe was frustrating, because I had to wade through recipes that used ingredients I wasn’t interested in eating (corn syrup? Canola oil? No thanks!).

However, I have the immense privilege and joy to present something that is exactly what I need right now to help grow my real-food cooking skills. This library of real-food cookbooks covers all the topics I’ve been wanting to delve into but haven’t had a chance yet, like making all your own homemade condiments. I can’t wait to try those recipes! And there’s a cookbook in this library that’s all about cooking with coconut oil. I am slightly obsessed with coconut oil, so I know this one is going to get a ton of use!

Plus, I am honored to tell you that MY COOKBOOK is part of this library! I can’t express how thrilling it is to offer my book alongside these other amazing resources. If you haven’t gotten Real Food for the Real Homemaker yet, this is a great way to get it at an incredible price. (And if you do have it already, go ahead and give away the other copy to a friend or relative!)

Hundreds of Recipes, At Your Fingertips

The Traditional Recipes Collection is a group of 17 different cookbooks from popular and up-and-coming bloggers.  In total, there are over 800 different recipes, spanning all meals and snacks! In this collection, you'll find:

• Lots of allergy-friendly books (half or more are GF/CF)
• Books to teach you to cook with what you have on hand
• Meal planning
• Snacks on the go
• Freezer cooking
• Printable recipe
• cards
• Health benefits of
• various foods
• Healthy desserts
• Gourmet meals
• Simple, everyday
• meals
• Make-your-own sauces
• and condiments
• and so much more!

There is truly something for everyone.  It is a really amazing and well-rounded collection, too. There are books for dinner, books for snacks, books for breakfast, books for gourmet cooks (not too many), books for brand-new cooks, books to teach you to make your own condiments, books for smoothies.... You name it! If you're a beginning cook, new to real food, or just tired of the "same old" for dinner, this is an entire library of how-to-cook just about anything (including plenty of bonus information on kitchen tools, techniques, pantry staples, meal planning, and more).

What's the Deal?

A collection like this might run you over $100.  In fact, the actual value of this collection is around $150. But next week, for five days only, it will be only $14.97. To give you an idea of how great a deal that is, my book by itself is about $13. You're virtually getting 16 other resources (not to mention the bonuses!) for $2!
The sale dates are Sept. 17 (Tuesday) through Sept. 21 (Saturday).  The sale begins at 9 AM EST on Tuesday, and ends at 11:59 PM on Saturday night.  There will be no late sales. Many of these books are brand-new, and have never been included in a bundle before.  Out of the 17 books, 10 have never been in other collections.  This means that if you choose to purchase, you won't be getting "the same old" stuff.
These cookbooks are new, unique, and totally real food. This is also a smaller collection and at a lower price point.  There have been other bundles before...plenty of them. A lot of readers want a bundle that’s a smaller/less overwhelming collection, lower price, and more focused. That's exactly what this bundle is.

What's In the Bundle?
You might be wondering, what exactly is in the bundle, anyway?  Let me tell you all about it.

Kitchen Help

Cooking With Coconut Oil by Jennifer Saleem of Hybrid Rasta Mama (68 delicious recipes featuring coconut oil) (This is one I am SO excited about!)

Design a Dish by Millie Copper of Real Food for Less Money (6 basic formulas for creating recipes with what you have)

Restocking the Pantry by Kresha Faber of Nourishing Joy (57 sauces, condiments, and more) (And this one. I won’t be buying condiments anymore!)

Real Food, Real Easy by Angela Montgomery of Real Whole Health (13 frugal, easy recipes)

Real Food for the Real Homemaker by Jami Balmet of Young Wife’s Guide, Jaimie Ramsey of Living In the Light and Elsie Callender of Richly Rooted (78 basic recipes + printables + how-to-anything in the kitchen -- NEW!) (Our cookbook is one of the biggest in this group!)

Main Dishes

7 Day Real Food Meal Plan by Roxanne King of The Holistic Mama (7 days of a plan, complete with 38 recipes for 3 meals a day, all GF/CF)

Much Ado About Chicken by Debra Worth of Sweet Kisses and Dirty Dishes (52 delicious allergy-friendly chicken-based meals, GF, NEW!)

Stretchy Beans by KerryAnn Foster of Intentionally Domestic (13 frugal, bean-based meals, GF/CF, NEW!) (Super-excited about this too. I have got to find new ways to cook beans!)

Divine Dinners by Lydia Joy Shatney of Divine Health From the Inside Out (92 gourmet dinners, sides, soups, and more, GF)

Snacks and Sides

The Veggie Book by Danielle Tate of More Than Four Walls, Sara Shay of Your Thriving Family and Debra Worth of Sweet Kisses and Dirty Dishes (52 recipes featuring 10 different vegetables, creatively; GF, NEW!)

Healthy Snacks to Go by Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship (40 classic snack recipes that are travel- and lunch box-friendly) (As busy, on-the-go college students, I really need something like this. Thrilled to get this resource!)

Steeped by Katie Stanley of Nourishing Simplicity (56 recipes for tea treats like cakes, scones, sandwiches, tea, and more; GF, NEW!) (TEA is all I needed to hear. Can’t wait to try all the recipes in this one.)

Toadally Primal Smoothies by Primal Toad of Primal Toad (150 unique smoothie recipes, primal/paleo)

Desserts, Baking and Special Occasions

Festive Traditions by Jill Marks of Modern Alternative Kitchen (32 holiday and special occasion recipes)

Treat Yourself: Real Food Desserts by Kate Tietje of Modern Alternative Mama (30 delicious, healthy desserts)

Sourdough Goodness by Anna Drozdova of Thought For Real Food (13 sourdough recipes, NEW!) (You might know that my sourdough attempts were not phenomenal. This is exactly what I need to fix that!)

Travel Foods by KerryAnn Foster of Intentionally Domestic (13 recipes that go with you easily, NEW!)

As you can see, there are many amazing selections in here, possibly some you've had your eye on.  In this collection, you can get them all for 90% off.

Is There More?

Actually, there is more. :) We'll be offering a few bonus items that anybody who purchases the bundle will get.

A coupon code for Real Salt

A coupon code for Wise Choice Market

A free premium trial membership to Tradishen

Simple Natural Health, by Nina of Shalom Mama

...and more (we're still talking to a few excellent companies!)

We'll also be offering a giveaway (and no purchase is required to enter) of a $75 "Healthy" size Healthy Surprise box.

Whew. So, that's the deal.  17 great books, over 800 recipes, for just $14.97 -- plus four or more great bonus offers and a chance to win a Healthy Surprise box.  The only catch is that the sale only lasts for five days, Sept. 17 - 21. I know this is going to be an incredibly valuable resource to ALL my readers! I hope that you're looking forward to this as much as I am.  Don't forget to visit right here, Tuesday at 9 AM to get your copy!

Which book(s) intrigue you the most?

A Foray into Freezer Cooking

I've read quite a few blog posts that explain freezer cooking: what it is, why to do it, and how to do it. It has always sounded like a great idea (basically, spend a lot of time cooking several meals at once, freeze them, and then just pop in the oven or slow-cooker and voila, a freshly-made meal).

But it also sounded cost-prohibitive: do I really have to buy a whole month's worth of groceries at once? (We usually shop for groceries twice a month, after each payday.)

It also sounded exhausting--spending a whole day cooking and cleaning up. I have a small kitchen, and it doesn't take much to turn it into a disaster. Plus, with no dishwasher, I'd have to be doing dishes as I was working. I usually don't have a whole day to set aside to just cook.

Plus, we have a tiny freezer. Our fridge and freezer are side-by-side, and the freezer is so narrow I can barely fit a 9x13 pan in lengthwise. It doesn't have a lot of room for storing several frozen meals.

But this school year, I wanted to make preparing meals a little easier. So I started cooking some things in bulk: chicken. Beans (of the black, white and red varieties). Stock. A friend graciously gave us a lot of corn, which I helped her cook and prepare for freezing.

courtesy Jami Balmet, www.youngwifesguide.com

To my surprise, I discovered that it was easy to, if not prepare several meals ahead of time, at least get ingredients cooked and portioned into meal-size containers (or plastic bags). My freezer is now full to bursting, and I'm looking forward to less work preparing meals for the next few weeks.

I took inventory of the contents of my freezer. It's way more than I thought I could make:

Chicken stock, 6 bags, 2 cups each

Mixed cooked beans, 12 bags, ~2 cups each

Cooked corn, 8 1/2 bags, ~2 cups each

Cooked chicken, 4 bags, 1-2 cups each

Tomato paste (homemade), 1/4 cup

Saute'ed mushrooms/onions/garlic, about 1 cup

White rice, 6 bags, 2+ cups each

Plus

1 lb ground beef

a variety of frozen vegetables

a bit of pepperoni

ice cream

flax seed

wheat germ

bread crumbs

It's amazing what my little freezer is currently holding!

And it really wasn't hard to make any of the items I cooked in bulk. For the rice, I just cooked two pounds in my biggest pot. I cooked some chicken in the oven and boiled the rest, and then took the meat off the bones. Then I used the bones to make stock, in my slow-cooker and in a pot on the stove. The beans were also cooked in the slow-cooker and a pot. The mushrooms are leftovers from a meal a couple weeks ago. The tomato paste was an experiment I tried yesterday; I'll share more about that another time, but it was easy and very successful.

My point is, anyone can freezer-cook. It doesn't matter how much time you have, how much money you have, how big or tiny your freezer is, or how good a cook you are. The things I've prepared ahead of time are SO easy to do!

My friend Jami has shared a wealth of information on freezer cooking in our new cookbook, Real Food for the Real Homemaker. There's a huge, detailed chapter on freezer-cooking, as well as recipes for making things like slow-cooked chicken, cooked beans, and chicken stock--all things that are in my freezer right now.

Currently, the cookbook is on sale, including all the things shown above for only $9.99. But this deal only lasts till MONDAY, August 26, at midnight-- so don't wait to take advantage of this! After Monday, the price will go back up to $12.95.

Find out how to do freezer-cooking, how to save money at the grocery store, how to plan meals (and get an electronic meal planner, too!), and SO much more. Plus, the cookbook contains nearly 80 recipes that your family will love.

What do you think about freezer cooking? Is it something that would save you time, work and money? What kind of things would you put in your freezer? What should I add to mine?

thankful thursday--blessed by those around me

Every day is a day full of blessings, but I am in awe of the new ways God constantly finds to heap his gifts on me. This week has been no different.

I am so incredibly thankful that I and my wonderful co-authors were able to release this book-- a labor of love, the physical representation of what we have learned so far in our marriages about cooking and feeding our families, the book that enables us to call ourselves authors.

Becoming a published author has been a dream of mine for years, and it is absolutely surreal that I can say that dream has come true, much sooner than I would have expected. God is so good. I am also SO thankful for the wonderful people who have already bought this book!

I'm also incredibly thankful for my two cookbook co-writers, including this beautiful woman, who you might recognize as Elsie from Richly Rooted. Yes, we got to meet in person! I'll tell you more about that soon, but I am so blessed to have been able to meet her face-to-face. Without Jami and Elsie, this book never would have happened. I am so grateful to be able to call them friends!

Words do not express how grateful I am for this man-- my best friend, my partner and teammate, my husband. He has supported me though every step of this writing process and I know he'll be by my side for whatever comes next. He has put up with me being on the computer for hours, trying out recipes on him, geeking out over food, and bombarding him with confusing chatter about book- and blog-related things. This man is my greatest gift.

None of these blessings are things I deserve, but thanks to the loving kindness of my heavenly Father, they are gifts he has delighted to give me. He is so very good.


What people have been a blessing to you this week? What ways has he provided for you to be a blessing to those around you?
Also, is it just me, or do other people geek out over food, too?!?

Company, Chicken Pot Pie, and a Cookbook

So last night we had some very special houseguests.

I'll tell you more about that soon! We love having company, and I love cooking for them. I didn't even do it intentionally, but everything I made for our friends were dishes that are included in Real Food for the Real Homemaker.

That's how great this cookbook is--- it's full of recipes and techniques you will use daily.

For example, last night I made Chicken Pot Pie, and for breakfast this morning we had Banana Bread and Homemade Yogurt. All three of these recipes are in Real Food for the Real Homemaker! Every day I make at least one thing that's included in the cookbook. The recipes I've written are the best, the basics, backbone of my recipe repertoire.

This is a cookbook that you will use daily, too. Here's what a day's worth of meals might look like--

• Breakfast-- Best-Ever Scrambled Eggs, Granola, Yogurt
• Lunch-- Tomato-Cheese Sandwiches, Cucumber Salad
• Supper--Slow-Cooked Pork Chops with Gravy, Salad with Italian Vinaigrette, Strawberry Pie

Not only does the cookbook include recipes that you'll use every day, but it has all sorts of other resources that aren't recipes. Have an abundance of lettuce and veggies from your garden? There's a section with suggestions for making a variety of salads. If you're like me and have twelve pints of cooked beans in your freezer, there's a list of suggestions for meals based on beans.

If you're looking to stock your freezer and pantry with homemade baked goods, we include recipes for tortillas, pancakes, biscuits, and more, that you can bake in large batches and freeze for the convenience of store-bought, prepackaged food.

Plus, you can easily create menu plans like the sample one above, and use the included Excel spreadsheet to automatically create a shopping list from the recipes you plan to make! I am SO excited about this new tool--I'm going to use it constantly!

Because we're fellow homemakers and know that budgets can be tight, we're excited to offer Real Food for the Real Homemaker ON SALE this first week!

After this week the price will return to $12.95, but for this week you can get the book (both PDF AND Kindle versions!), the printable recipe cards, and the Excel meal planner for just $9.99.

If you wanted to get the book on Amazon, it would cost the same for JUST the Kindle version!

Our dream and goal is for this cookbook to be a resource you can use and consult on a regular basis. Don't miss out on the chance to add this to your cookbook collection, especially for such a great deal!

Launching Real Food for the Real Homemaker!

Today is definitely the most exciting day of my blogging and writing career thus far--especially if you consider that it's been one of my dreams (since I was six years old!) to become a published author.

Today, that dream has come true.

I am thrilled to announce, along with my amazing co-writers Jami Balmet and Elsie Callender, the release and launch of our new book, Real Food for the Real Homemaker.

This book is a compilation of what the three of us have learned in our first few years of marriage about cooking, whole-foods eating, frugal grocery shopping, meal planning, entertaining, and so much more.

Not only are there nearly 80 recipes and over 60 photos to go with them, we've included 8 other chapters on some of the topics listed above, plus freezer cooking, our favorite and most-recommended kitchen tools, and more!

Our goal is to put in your hands the resource the three of us wish we'd had when we began homemaking.

We're offering a great deal for just this week. In about two days, the Kindle version of our book will be available on Amazon for $9.99. For a cookbook almost 200 pages long and packed with content, that's already a great deal!

But to celebrate the launch of the book, we're offering-- also for just $9.99-- all this:

• the PDF copy of the book
• the Kindle copy of the book
• a set of recipe cards with each recipe printed on a card
• an Excel spreadsheet that works as a meal planner and shopping-list generator (see below for details)

So this week, if you buy the PDF copy of the book from our website, you'll get for FREE the Kindle copy, the recipe cards, and the Excel spreadsheet.

Starting next week, that bundle of awesome products will be $12.95, so don't wait to take advantage of this!

We want to make this book affordable to you, because we know that budgets are often tight (as young married women, we understand!). But we want this resource to be easily available to other young homemakers like us, as well as experienced homemakers and singles. It's got something for everybody!

Check out the great things we're including with the copies of the cookbook:

Jami designed these beautiful, full-color, printable recipe cards--one for each recipe in the cookbook! I personally love being able to use recipe cards when I cook because they take up less space on the counter than a book, and they're easy to store. I will definitely be making use of these!

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to create a real food diet in your house while sticking to a budget! So Jami's husband, Jason, developed this menu planning and shopping list spreadsheet that works in Microsoft Excel.

Just pick whichever you want of our 75+ recipes from the cookbook from a drop down menu. Select the dates of your menu and viola! You have an instant grocery list that you can print off and take to the store – complete with an area for additional notes. I can't wait to start using this for my menu-planning: it's going to make that such a quicker and more pleasant task!

Get step by step instructions for using the shopping list in the FAQ section on the website.

For more information, to order the book, and to sign up for our mailing list so you can find out when the paperback copy of the cookbook releases (which should be in about two weeks!), visit our website, www.realfoodcookbooks.com. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section and I'll get back to you!

We are praising and thanking the Lord for the amazing blessing that this cookbook has been already to us, especially in the process of writing it and preparing it for you to use. I pray that this book will be a blessing to everyone who reads it!

Linking with The Better Mom, The Modest Mom, Exceptionalistic

(Finally) announcing: My new book!!!

I know I've been keeping you all in suspense lately with this "super-secret surprise."

Well, I can finally tell you:  I've been working on a cookbook, and it's coming out in a week!!!

Real Food for the Real Homemaker is a labor of love written by me, Jami Balmet (of Young Wife's Guide, A Biblical Marriage, and Homemaking from Scratch) and Elsie Callender (of Richly Rooted, formerly Back to the Source).

We've written this cookbook to be a resource for young homemakers (like us), who are learning how to cook real, wholesome foods for their family. Besides recipes, it includes eight non-recipe chapters on everything from freezer cooking and frugal grocery shopping to hospitality. It's also packed with recipes (nearly eighty of them!) and photos to guide you in making simple, delicious real-food recipes from scratch. This book will also be great for college students and singles looking to cook better for themselves and their friends (all the recipes can be adapted to serve one or two people), as well as families with lots of children (there are lots of kid-friendly recipes and they can also be adapted to serve six, eight or more people).

The book will come out immediately as an e-book in PDF form, and it will also be available on Amazon for Kindle. And (this is what I'm really excited about), shortly after the e-book comes out the book will be available in a physical paperback copy from Amazon! That means you'll get to hold this book in your hands, add it to the collection of cookbooks on your shelf, and let it get used and loved.

Visit our website to find out more information about the books (and how to become an affiliate for it!), as well as to sign up for e-mail updates so you can find out as soon as it's out!

Also be sure to like our Facebook page for updates. We'd love to get to know you!

I'll have more to share with you later this week. If you have any questions, feel free to email me, comment on this post, or visit Real Food Cookbooks or Living in the Light on Facebook!