cookbook clean up 63&64 and a rumination

 ok so in the month since i last did a cookbook clean up, our decorating plans changed and I did not lose my bookcase after all.  but i would like less cookbooks on it so i could maybe put some of my journaling stuff on it - and truly, many of these books have not been used in years.  why am i hanging on to them?

book 63 to go is a Guy Fieri one - first my kids wouldn't eat most of this and second, all the recipes have too many damn ingredients.  this guy (hee hee) just can't have a simple basic recipe.  I've sat with this book out for months and no matter how many times i go through it, i can only find 3 recipes i am even remotely interested in trying.  

this second one hurts a bit more but like i said, some of these books I haven't looked at in years - and this is one of them.  again, not the kind of food my family will eat.  i have real hesitations about donating this one, but realistically i just don't think i'm going to cook from it any time soon.

 and lastly, some motivation to myself to keep going in all things - 

cookbook cleanup 62 - The Best of Friends The Restaurant

we are talking/planning about doing some redecorating in the house and moving some stuff around, and i might be losing my bookcase that I keep my cookbooks on, and have to move them to another already pretty full bookcase, so it's time to get real and realistic about the books i keep.  

 and so it pains me, but i'm going to donate this book.   i just haven't been able to find a way to cook from it yet, and maybe there is someone out there who will.  it's a sweet little book.  sad face emoji.

Back on the bookshelf - 21 Donated -41

cookbook cleanup - books 59-61

 Sometimes I am just a few breaths away from getting rid of every single cookbook I own as they sit there mocking me, full of recipes I will most likely never make because my kids are picky as hell and I have no time or desire to cook elaborate meals.

And then I just ignore them once again and carry on with my day.

I was cleaning off the bookshelves to donate to the upcoming Symphony Book Sale, and as much as I wanted to sweep armfuls of cookbooks into boxes to donate, I realized that most of them I am just not ready to let go of yet.  

Maybe I should (re)read them one more time.  What if THE best recipes are lurking somewhere in the pages and I haven't tried them yet?

 Fortunately/unfortunately, I did let go of these 3.  I am feeling badly about getting rid of Smoke and Pickles and Vegan Lunch Box - I like them both, BUT I'm just not going to cook out of them.  I can't afford or get most of the ingredients in S&P, and as much as I love VLB, it's just not the fit for my silly family.

Back on the bookshelf - 21 Donated -40

cookbook clean up 58 - one part plant by Jessica Murnane

 I bought One Part Plant off the sale table at Chapters a few years back and promptly forgot about it.  Luckily for me I grabbed it off the shelf for the clean up, fully expecting for it to hit the donate pile but instead it's become one of my favorite books. 

 Jessica spends the first part of the book talking about her past less than stellar eating habits (ding ding says my inner bell) and how she came to start eating better which led to her feeling better.  It's like this book is speaking TO ME (hint hint, me)

The recipes are divided into 6 chapters of mornings, salads, snacks and more.  The first 2 recipes I tried were The Crunchy Chunky Granola - simple but AMAZING, and the Baklava-ish Toast.  I swooned.

Next was the chocolate chunk cookies made with almond flour that the whole family went crazy for, including The Grandpa who went out and bought me a new bag of almond flour so we could have them again.  The Roasted Potato, Corn and Leek Chowder was one of the best soups I made last year.  Incredible.

The Peach Ginger Tea became Watermelon Ginger Tea when I tried it because I had some frozen watermelon, and SOOOO good.  I've made this a bunch of times with a bunch of different fruits.

The Curry Popcorn was so delicious as was the riff I made on her Turtle Eggs - walnuts, dates and chocolate. 

This is SUCH a good book, I absolutely love it.  I will be trying out more recipes as well as all the ones I've already made for sure.

Back on the bookshelf - 21 Donated -37

cookbook cleanup 57 - The Book of Burger by Racheal Ray

 Next up is The Book of Burger.  We do love a burger around here.

 Lasagna burgers.  Grilled cheese burgers. Lamb burgers with walnuts. Hog dog fries (???).   It's all here.  I've had this book for ages and I'm pretty sure I've never cooked out of it before.  A lot of these were too far out for my family to consider, but I made myself a short list from the over 200 recipes.

 We started with the Cubano burger which had you chop some ham up and add to your ground turkey along with some garlic and other seasonings, cook and top with cheese, pickles and mustard.  I was confident that this would be a hit - but it was not.  The kids HATED this burger.  With a fiery passion.  The adults ate them, but after a couple of bites, it was not with much enthusiasm.  These were not a winner.

This book sat idle on my side table for quite a few months after that, but I was determined to decide if it goes or stays so we moved on to the Shepherds Pie burger.  Basically you make little meatloaf patties, cook them, place on garlic bread, top with mashed potatos and gravy and try not to cry while you eat them because they are so dang good.

 

Then we tried the Satay sliders, except made regular burger size and with pork instead of chicken.  This was another amazing burger - the cucumber onion relish was to die for.  Even The Girl ate it!

Even with two hits and one miss, this one is leaving the shelf.  While there are a few more - just a few - that I'd like to try, I know the kids won't eat most of them so what's the point.

Back on the bookshelf - 20 Donated -37

cookbook cleanup 52-56 - big summer blowout part 3

 

 

 Back on the bookshelf - 20 Donated -36

cookbook cleanup 47-51 - big summer blowout part 2

 b

  Back on the bookshelf - 20 Donated -31

cookbook cleanup 42-46 - big summer blowout

 A lot of things happened this summer, including both The Mister and I having less than stellar checkups with our doctors.  The Misters was a bit of surprise, mine was not.  I have been avoiding taking care of both my mental health and physical health, and that has come to bite me in the ass.  Let this be a lesson to you - take care of yourself, you are worth it, even if you think you are not.

The day before we left for holiday I decided to stop doing laundry and packing and instead focus on what was really important - cleaning out my cookbook shelf.  

Most of these are going because having so many cookbooks makes me tired and anxious, and I wanted to get rid of that feeling.  And also, will I ever cook from most of these books again/at all?  It was a hard question because I have loved cookbooks for so long, but it just isn't realistic for me any more.

So these 5 have hit the road.  Another 5 tomorrow.

 Back on the bookshelf - 20 Donated -26

cookbook cleanup 41 - Aloha Kitchen by Alana Kysar

 Honest, I promise I am buying WAY less cookbooks than I used to, both new and used.  But when I saw a blurb on this one, I just could not resist.  I love Hawaii and I love their food.  

I am so crazy about this cookbook, I can't even tell you.  Buy it.

We tried a lot of recipes, and everyone of them was AMAZING.

I bought a musubi mold for the Spam Musubi, and also Onigiri molds and we made both as well as rolls.

They were SO SO  good and the spam on it's own was delicious as well.

We made the pickled onions and the Namasu.  Amazing.

The mac salad is now our go to mac salad recipe.  We also tried the Local Style BBQ chicken, the Shoyu chicken, and the Mochiko chicken. 

We loved it all and I have a long list of things to go. This book is beautiful to read, look at and cook from.

Back on the bookshelf - 20 Donated -21

cookbook cleanup 40 - All Together by Chrissy Teigen

 This is Chrissy Teigen's 3rd cookbook.  I own all 3.  I have cooked a lot of her stuff over the years, from her books and from online.

I don't know if it's me or the book, but I really struggled to find recipes I really wanted to try from this one.

I also made all these ages ago - this book has been sitting out for a long time, waiting for more inspiration.

The sour cream blueberry pie was good.

 Pull apart Parmesan dusted buns.  Good, and I got to push The Mister out of the way and bake some bread.  I never get to do that any more.

 We also made the Spicy Sausage Pasta Fagoli, which was good, and the pancakes and the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, although I subbed out regular chocolate and other nuts.  And it was all good.  It was fine.

There are a couple more recipes that I for sure want to try - definitely the quiche lorraine baguette - but I just..... can't get back to this one yet.  I'll keep it, and we'll wait and see.

Back on the bookshelf - 19 Donated -21

cookbook cleanup 39 - Time to Eat by Nadia Hussain

 I got Time to Eat for Christmas 2020 after we had binge watched her show and loved everything about it.

 

In addition to the Olive Crown bread and savory french toast mentioned here, this is what else we've made - 

Hasselback Squash and Avocado Pesto

 

Sausage and mushroom Toad in the Hole

 

As well as pancakes, Tandoori Chicken, and Chicken Shawarma.  All so good, and so many more good things to try.

Back on the bookshelf - 18 Donated -21

cookbook cleanup 38 - Simply Julia by Julia Turshen

 Book 38 is Simply Julia by Julia Turshen.  I am a big fan and was excited to get this as a gift (that I bought myself and then handed to the Mister and said here give this to me for mothers day).

 This is a really cool, easy to read book that is divided into 10 interesting chapters - Eleven chicken recipes,  Eleven favorite breakfasts.... with lots of stories and asides sprinkled throughout.

We've tried 6 recipes so far - 

Blueberry Crumble - classic and delicious

Stewed chicken with sour cream and chive dumplings

 

Sled Dog Muffins - the only "fail" for us - these were too dense and healthy for the fam.

 

Llubav's Green Spaghetti - spinach and kale and basil and feta....mmmmm

Sticky Chicken - a bit too salty, but easily fixed next time

 

We also tried Doug's Tex Mex Turkey Meatballs which were delicious,  and the Carrot and Chickpea Korma which was outstanding and the best dish we tried.  There's a lot more I want to try and will get back to this book soon.

Back on the bookshelf - 17 Donated -21

cookbook clean up 36 and 37 - another one bites the dust untested

I tried to consolidate all my cookbooks into one area in the house and give The Mister an area for his bread books - both the ones he's stolen from me and his own.  I underestimated space before I started and so they don't all fit on the bookshelf but maybe that's incentive to be a bit more ruthless with my cookbook cleanups.

The area behind the books stacked vertically does not have cookbooks in it, but some stuff that for now I don't have another place to put.  But by gathering them all together I discovered some books that I completely forgot about and am excited to get to.  I have not been cooking much interesting food lately but reading through cookbooks isn't appealing either.  Is ANYTHING appealing these days???

Anyhoo, say goodbye to - 

 Which just isn't sparking any interest, so goodbye.

We'll also say goodbye to this one, which I think I have already gotten rid of?  Or misplaced? Not sure.  But if I find it still here, it's on its way too.

 

 

 

Back on the bookshelf - 16 Donated -21

cookbook clean up 32-35

 

These 4 books hit the road a couple of months back when I was trying to clean and organize the bedroom and make some room on the bookshelf.  I bought Whole 30 a few years back when I was delusional and thought I could follow it to lose some weight and get healthier.  Didn't happen.  The Star Wars one was a gift to The Boy years and years ago from his cousins, and Scooped was a dollar store find.  quick fix vegan was brought home from the thrift shop by The Mister and the funny part is that we have already owned and donated this book, so this could very well be our original copy.  

Back on the bookshelf - 16 Donated -19