What’s Rachel Reading? 100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous

If you’ve been following any of the recipes here on Mashup Mom, you probably already know that easy, simple, and tasty are pretty much the watchwords around here. I’ve subscribed to the weekly emails from Lisa Leake over at 100 Days of Real Food for years and did enjoy her first cookbook — but was even more interested in this second one. When it came to 100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous, she got me with all of those buzzwords on the cover: Fast, easy, and delicious reeled me right on in. 🙂

My new focus on avoiding refined sugar this year inherently means that I’m now avoiding a lot of processed foods, so 100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous showed up on the new bookshelf at the library at just the right time. If you haven’t checked out the associated site before, it all stems from a 2010 pledge to avoid all highly processed food — including: Nothing out of a package that contains more than five ingredients, no refined or artificial sweeteners (only honey & pure maple syrup in moderation), as well as several more “real-food rules.” While I’m not at the moment following all of these rules, they provide some pretty useful common-sense guidelines if you’re trying to eat less processed food.

In this second cookbook, Leake begins with a useful guide to what to look for and what to avoid while food shopping and some useful products to pick up at various stores & to keep in your pantry, as well as a discussion of naturally occurring sugars vs added sugar and a few basic seasonal meal plans & shopping lists. The bulk of the book, however, is devoted to quick & easy real food recipes — the very first one being a kicked up version of basic avocado toast, so again: I’m hooked, because… avocados! lol

Each recipe is marked with its level of difficulty as well as allergy notes (gluten free, nut free) and whether or not it is freezer friendly, and each is accompanied by a full-page color photo. At the end you’ll also find a recipe chart by dietary need, so can easily glance through and see which recipes are, say, gluten free, vegetarian, freezer friendly, and more.

The true measure of any cookbook, though, is how many recipes you mark while reading to go back and take another look at later.

Here’s how my copy looks right now. This is due back at the library soon, so I need to go weed that down and figure out which recipes I really do want to try — but I think that her souped up avocado toast, weeknight mushroom & kale pasta, and slow cooker black bean soup (with more spice and garlic for our taste) are definitely going to be on the list. I also liked some of the ideas for real food school lunches, especially a little Bento-box-ish taco salad concept, and am intrigued by ideas like “apple-cheddar side salad.”

If you’re a busy mom (or busy anyone!) looking for quick and easy weeknight recipes that avoid processed foods, 100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous is definitely worth a look. The recipes mainly stick to easy-to-find ingredients that most readers will be familiar & comfortable with, and many really just provide a healthier whole foods twist on familiar favorites. Especially recommended if you’re a newer cook, are just starting to cook without processed foods, or if you’re in a weeknight cooking rut.

What are you reading this week?

What have you been reading lately? Tell us about it! ?