Every Day Gluten-Free, A Rich Resource Review of A Must-Have Cookbook

A while back, Kim Wilson from Simply Natural Health was kind enough to send me a review copy of Everyday Gluten-Free.  I so appreciated this, as I am seeking to move my family along from being Casein-Free (CF) to Gluten Free-Casein Free (GFCF) in an effort to see if such a diet can help with a few different issues we have noticed in our children. 

When Everyday Gluten-Free first arrived in my mailbox, I was excited to read it and to start trying recipes from it.  But, as life would have it, a bout of super food-pickiness/obstinacy took hold of one particular member of our family, so I thought it best to wait until we had gotten through that.  Praise God, with the help of our fantastic Food Specialist and a huge (often tested) amount of patience, we did.  Double praises, we have been enjoying testing out recipes from Everyday Gluten-Free ever since.

A Review of Everyday Gluten-Free

Our First Everyday Gluten-Free Recipe Test

* * * * *

A * READABILITY

Everyday Gluten-Free is a 5x7 spiral bound cookbook, so not only does it slip handily onto the counter or tabletop among my three young children’s hands, my own and our cooking supplies, but it also lays flat – something I wish all my cookbooks did!

With one to two recipes per page and ample (but not too much!) white space, it is easy to refer to while cooking, and indexes for both recipes and information make finding what you need in the cookbook a breeze.

Also, where many cookbooks can lean to the dry, no-personality side, Kim has sprinkled Everyday Gluten-Free with tidbits that help readers feel like she is a friend trading tried-and-true recipes.  Everyday Gluten-Free contains:

• brief commentaries, such as, “This dessert is always a hit with company and at parties and potlucks.
• tips, such as, “These cookies freeze well, so don’t worry about making too many!”
• reminders, such as, “every recipe in this book was created through trial-and-error!

and an excellent first chapter that includes helpful information on Gluten-Free Ingredients, Breakfast/Snack/lunch Options and how to deal with traveling and Special Occasions.

A * for RELEVANCE:

Whether, like my family, you are going completely gluten-free, or, like my mother, you seek a resource of recipes for when GF friends and family members are visiting, this volume is fantastic.  It provides 90 simple, family-pleasing recipes for home fare- including pancakes, muffins, pizza, biscuits, breads, cakes, plus snacks and more. 

Better still, unlike many GF recipe books, Everyday Gluten-Free takes into consideration that many with gluten allergies or intolerances also cannot handle eggs, soy, sugar or dairy.  Thus, recipes do not include these ingredients.  And, there are recipes that either do not include, or provide alternatives for, corn and oat products as well.

Everyday Gluten-Free also rises above other GF cookbooks I have browsed in that it does  not depend upon refined ingredients, gums and starches and other ingredients that are devoid of nutrition, fiber and even flavor.  Instead,  it offers a menu of real foods, made with healthy oils and sweeteners in small amounts and nutritionally superior ingredients.  Plus, it does this while avoiding the pitfall some other popular GF cookbooks fall into:  basing too many recipes on mixes that you have to pre-prepare or keep flipping back to, doing calculations to make the right amount of mix for the recipe you are making.

I love that Everyday Gluten-Free helps my children and me prepare straight-forward, nutritious and palette-pleasing foods that we can happily dig into daily!

A * for PRACTICALITY

"I want my GFCF donut!"

As I already mentioned, Everyday Gluten-Free is replete with helpful information and healthy recipes and is organized in a way that makes both information about going GF and also recipes for staying GF easy.

In the first pages of the cookbook, there is an explanation of the main "specialty" ingredients one needs to make the recipes in the book.  I copied this onto my grocery list, made a jaunt to lour local natural foods store and have been good to go since.  No opening to a recipe to find I need a particular item that is not in my cupboards. In limiting necessary ingredients for recipes, but providing a wide variety of ways to prepare those ingredients, Everyday Gluten-Free has made daily cooking easy and economical.

My family now turns to Everyday Gluten-Free recipes regularly for breakfast, making many varieties of GFCF pancakes, muffins and waffles, which I can feel good about serving my family and which my family wolves down!  I also recently used the Chocolate Cake recipe in it to make donuts for a Halloween celebration.  These were a hit with my husband, my children and even my niece, who eats a very typical diet.  And, we are making our way through other recipes, which include:

• Breakfast and Snack Options
• Baking Mixes, Biscuits and Scones
• Breads and Crackers
• Dressings, Sauces, Dips and Gravy,
• Salads and Entrees
• Cakes
• Cookies, Bars and Brownies
• Puddings, Pies and Other Desserts

So far, everything we have tried has been a success.

Oh, and before you ask:  I know chapter titles above do not make the book sound chock-full of healthy, whole-food recipes, but, trust me, it is!  Beans (that don’t hinder taste) in the brownies.  Whole brown rice and millet in coconut Blender Cookies.  Milk made from bananas.  So far, the recipes we have tried are all kid-pleasers in my house!

 

A  * for LONGEVITY

Our family is still phasing in GFCF foods, so I know I will use Everyday Gluten-Free for quite some time.  And, should our GFCF experiment not work out, will I pass the book along to someone else?  No way!

A few minutes after the photo at the top of this post was taken,
this is what out table looked like.
Pancakes?  Happily Devoured!

Everyday Gluten-Free is a cookbook that offers more than juts GF recipes.  It is one that contains many simple, satisfying recipes, packed with fiber and nutrition and made with relatively inexpensive, whole ingredients.  In my opinion, that is what makes this cookbook such a keeper.  GF or not, Everyday Gluten-Free offers my family and me a way to focus on nutrition while enjoying what we eat.  My kids have asked for seconds of a number of recipes we have made from the cookbook already.  That makes this mama smile!

A * for VALUE

In my initial Rich Resource Review post, where I explain my rating criteria, I stated that if a book is one that I would find myself taking out of the library for more weeks in a year than I leave it on the shelves, the book gets another star.  Although my local library does not carry this cookbook, I can definitely say it is a cookbook that has not found its way from my kitchen shelf to my cookbook cupboard.  True to its title, we’ve been using the book every day.  Thus, I think that it is a good value at $13.95.

One caution I will make for those cookbook aficionados that like pretty pictures of foods:  There are none in Everyday Gluten-Free except those on the cover.  This does not bother me in the least, since the book gives me what I want and need – well-written, healthy, family-pleasing recipes without gluten and other common allergens – but I know some others may want the glossy photos.

If you want to test out Everyday Gluten-Free yourself, you can purchase it and other cookbooks by Kim at Simply Natural Health, where you will also find links for recipes and a newsletter.  If my family’s experience is any indication, you won’t be disappointed!

If you prefer e-books, her new one Good and Easy Eats,  is fantastic!

I am linking this post to my BloTaAcMo initiative, as writing this post has been on my task list for weeks.  Please feel free to link any blog tasks you accomplish this month at my initial BloTaAcMo, too.

This post is also being linked Heavenly Homemakers Gratituesday,

since Kim Wilson’s awesome cookbook is a cookbook we are very thankful to have found.  It is certainly helping our family eat healthier, tasty GFCF food.