The One Cookbook You Need to Buy ASAP

My kitchen never looks this clean before/during/after dinner...but today it did!  

I have quite a collection of cookbooks. My husband jokes with me about how much money I've probably spent on them over the years...and by 'jokes' I mean that's his defense mechanism preventing him from being actually frustrated with me. I did go through a cull my collection about a year ago, freeing myself of 1/3 of my library. It felt great, especially since most of those books were given to me as 'payment' for my recipe and photo work (i.e. before I knew to stand up for myself and demand to be paid actual $$$) and they had pretty much never been opened. What's left are the best of the best. I use these books in spurts, typically using one book for my meal planning for 1 or two weeks at a time.

I would love to share my collection with you one of these days, but for today let me just say this: if you don't already own Skinnytaste: Fast & Slow, you need to get on it. IMMEDIATELY. I've been cooking out of that book for the last 3 weeks and have not been disappointed! My slow cooker has been getting some serious usage and my kitchen has been cleaner than ever on a daily basis thanks to the simple, make ahead and quick meals in this book.

Something else I love about this one is that it hits all the right cravings for this time of year without the excessive number of calories. As the title suggests, the recipes are much healthier than their counterparts. Many are kid-friendly, all are gluten-free but don't have to be, and 100% of what we have eaten at the dinner table has been DELICIOUS.

So add this book to your Christmas wish list, give it to your friend who just had a baby, or to your friend who wants a little help getting a healthy dinner on the table for the family in the midst of busy weeknight schedules. You will NOT be disappointed, friends!