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?

Kombucha {Foodie Friday}

I've been making and drinking kombucha (somewhat sporadically) for about three months now.  I quit drinking it for about three weeks straight and toward the end of those three weeks I got the first stomach bug I've had since I was 15.  I don't know if the two are connected or not, but it's an interesting coincidence.

I've already written a post with some basic information on kombucha and the making of it, so check out that post if you want some more detailed info!

Recently I made my own SCOBY.  (What's a SCOBY?  Click here to read all about it!)  I had let my big one go bad (don't EVER do that, by the way, the smell is nasty), but I still had some already-made kombucha with "bits" of SCOBY in it in the fridge.  So I added about 1/3 cup of sugar to a cup or so of kombucha, put it in a warm place (on top of one of the heating vents in the floor), and let it hang out there for about a week.  Sure enough: at the end of the week I had my very own mother SCOBY floating on top, and I made it myself!

This was a pretty exciting breakthrough.  It's good to know that even if I don't make kombucha for a while, I just have to keep some of it back and I can always make a new SCOBY.

I thought of several other food items that started with "K" that I could have used, like kale (still meaning to buy some and make chips, like my mom does), kefir (haven't made that yet either...maybe someday), kiwi (yum, but how many recipes use kiwi?), kebobs (I didn't have time today to write a whole recipe post), kidney beans (I cook them myself, starting with dry ones, in a pot or slowcooker--so much cheaper and better for you than the canned), or key lime pie (the thought of which is making my mouth water, but again, no time for recipe-making/writing lately).

...that's what was going through my head when I was trying to come up with a post I could write in a hurry today.  Homework has been catching up with me lately.  Maybe next week will be better... Q!  What on earth will I come up with for a food that begins with Q?!?

You'll just have to come back and find out. :)

My first experiences with kombucha!

About three weeks ago I jumped on the kombucha "bandwagon."  Kombucha has been around for a long time, but it has recently become popular among the whole/raw/fermented food crowd, at least as far as I have noticed.  Several blogging friends of mine, Shaye in particular, are regular kombucha makers and consumers, and they got me interested in the concept.

For those of you unfamiliar with kombucha, it is, simply put, fermented sweet tea.  The tea is fermented using a SCOBY, a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeast.  The scoby, sometimes referred to as the mushroom, is not a very pretty-looking thing.  It is alive, and it grows and "reproduces."  It is the scoby which turns sugary tea into a lightly bubbly, healthy-bacteria-filled, tart and delicious beverage.

I started making my own when my mom got a scoby from a friend and started making kombucha herself.  Homemade kombucha is FAR cheaper than buying the expensive mass-produced version found at specialty stores (you can get it at Trader Joe's, among others).  Each time you make a batch of kombucha, the scoby "reproduces" and creates a baby scoby, which can be separated from the mother and used to start another batch, or go in with the mother in a new batch.  (It's like Amish friendship bread--the starter keeps reproducing, so you keep getting more starter.)  Apparently you can actually eat the scoby, although given its rubbery texture and unappealing looks, I don't think I would.  But, to each his or her own. :)

The history of kombucha is quite interesting--it was first made in China and from there spread to the rest of Asia, Europe, and eventually the rest of the world.  If you'd like to read more about it, this Wikipedia article is very informative.

I could go on about what I've recently learned regarding the uses for kombucha, the varieties, the different techniques in home brewing.  But you can Google that for yourself.  And check out my friend Shaye's post on kombucha-making (that's basically the recipe/technique I used), and some more info from foodrepublic.com.

My own experience with kombucha so far has been an enjoyable and tasty one.  I got two scoby's from my mom so the last time I started a batch I detached the original two and just kept the one from the batch I made.  Yes, I just tossed them in the trash... maybe at some point I'll decide what to do with the extras.  They're kind of a pain to mail, but if you live in my area let me know if you want a scoby!

I have been keeping just a small batch going, because I just drink half a cup to a whole cup a day.  I make about eight cups at a time.  Instead of using bottles with rubber stoppers, my kombucha goes in large glass jars and with a piece of plastic wrap under the tops to make a more airtight seal.  The first batch I made I neglected to use the plastic wrap and my kombucha went kind of flat.  Flat kombucha isn't nearly as fun as fizzy kombucha.  :)

I used Earl Grey tea for my first two batches.  The batch I set to ferment today I made with plain black Lipton tea.  I'd like to try it with a good green tea, just because of the healthy aspects that green tea already has.  The taste and smell take a little getting used to.  Finished kombucha has a distinctly vinegary smell and taste; it's quite tart.  It's good by itself and I often have it with breakfast.

I have to say that at this point I haven't noticed significant health benefits.  I know it's good for my digestive system, but without going into detail, I haven't noticed much of a difference since I started drinking kombucha.  I'm sure the long-term benefits will definitely be noticeable, however.

If you're still curious about something I didn't cover, feel free to comment or email me!

UPDATE:  This page has posts by quite a few people about kombucha: Kombucha Challenge Linky Carnival. Many of the posts have additional links as well.  There are a lot of great ideas, advice, and suggestions included there!


Linking with Real Food Forager.

The results of the soap-making experiment...

I'm sorry I don't have pictures.  It's plain white, nothing very interesting, and I just put it into sterilized glass jars and my shower-gel bottle.

I had to laugh yesterday when I came home from work and the stuff had "gelled" already--it only took about six hours!  It was like not-quite-set jello in the pot, so I whipped it up with a whisk, and then with my hand mixer.  And I'll be honest--the reviews I read saying the consistency was "snot-like"?  They were absolutely right.  It is. :)  It was hilarious pouring the stuff into the bottle and jars... such a funny consistency!

But you know what?  It smells good.  It cleans my skin and leaves it feeling perfectly soft.  It's workable in the shower.  I won't force my husband to use it--but hey, now I won't have to buy shower gel for probably three or four months or more!

Most of all, I'm proud of myself for trying something new.  For sticking with it.  And for not having high expectations of myself or my project for once--I couldn't be disappointed, just amused! :)

Next on my list for do-it-myself, natural beauty products is to switch from regular shampoo and conditioner to baking soda water and apple cider vinegar water.  Have you heard of this method?  I'm most interested in it as a money-saving enterprise (a little baking soda and acv is waaay cheaper than a bottle of shampoo or conditioner!), plus as another effort to use more natural products on or in my body.  I'm getting there...slowly but surely. :)  Probably in another five years you'll be able to label me a "crunchy" homemaker--but I'm good with that!  See this site, this one, and this one for info on the "no-poo" method.  I'm excited. :)

What about you?  Have you started making any homemade cleaning/beauty products?  What works for you?