Gluten Free For Good by Samantha Senevirantne (Cookbook Review)

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Blogging For Books in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

No meal should be defined by what's not there. Gluten-Free for Good has 100 easy, healthful recipes that are so delicious you’ll never miss the gluten.

Here are weeknight dishes you may have thought you'd never enjoy again—not without resorting to expensive packaged gluten-free foods that aren't as delicious or healthful as the real thing. These quick-cooking meals are for any time of day, all made from scratch without hard-to-digest processed additives like xanthan or guar gum. Recipes include:

Miso Shrimp with Snap Peas
Roast Chicken with Whole-Grain Sausage Stuffing
Leek and Carrot Brown Rice Risotto
White Pizza with Blistered Tomatoes
Spanish Tortilla
Parmesan Cheese Crackers
Loaded Oat Bars
Upside-Down Skillet Plum Cake
Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting 
Blondie Bars
 
The best way to eat more of what you love is to cook real foods at home. With inspiring photographs and a simple pantry primer, Gluten-Free for Good shows how cooking gluten-free can be seamless, instinctive, and appealing.

My thoughts-

My family has recently made the switch to a gluten free lifestyle to support the way my daughter needs to eat. I figured it would help us all maintain a healthier gut so we might as well all eat gluten free. I have dabbled in gluten free fare off and on for a few years but never dove completely in until now, so it is nice to have a book like Gluten Free For Good with a great introduction for how to go completely gluten free. I liked that there is a section at the beginning that breaks down the things you need to stock your pantry with and the equally as important break down of all of the different types of flour that a gluten free pantry might need to utilize. There are great recipes in all of the usual types of categories and I love that they are all colorful and healthy choices. My only complaint would be the lack of pictures. While there are some pictures of a few dishes, I am the type of person that does better when I have a visual aid, so I love having a picture of each recipe in my cookbooks. That alone wouldn't keep me from recommending this book as I think it is full of great information and good eats and I think it will really help us go gluten free for good. 

Pizza, Bread & More- Delicious Recipes for More Than 100 Italian Recipes (Cookbook Review)

*Disclosure- I received a free copy of the book from Taunton Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book:

Direct from Italy’s best chefs, here are authentic recipes from every province of the countryside, all featuring easy-to-follow cooking instructions. Traditional bakery favorites such as rolls, focaccia, and flatbreads are all included, with tried-and-true techniques for great results—even if this is your first try at making bread. There are also recipes for a mouthwatering range of calzones, and pizzas of every shape and size: Savor the fresh flavors of the Buffalo Mozzarella-topped Pizza, sample the light, tangy Arugula and Parmigiano-Reggiano Pizza, or revel in recipes for such classics as Four-Cheese, Pepperoni, and Neapolitan-style pizza. Each recipe is developed and tested in the test kitchens of the Academia Barilla’s own cooking institute, and each wonderful dish is bursting with the rich, sunny flavors of Italy.

My thoughts:

If you like cooking from scratch, you will absolutely love this cookbook. I have always wanted to create pizzas from scratch and there are several bread and other dough recipes that I also don't mind having around. This book is set up nicely. The first chapter is full of tons of pizzas, pretty much any pizza you can think of is included- and if it isn't, you could easily adapt any most of these recipes. Stand outs in this chapter include onion pizza, four cheese pizza, ham and mushroom pizza and four seasons pizza. These are but a glimpse of the many recipes to be found here. The second chapter is devoted to flatbreads and focaccia. I am a huge flatbread fan and there is not a bad recipe to be found here. I will be trying each and every one. The next section contains recipes for bread and rolls. There are loves and rolls and many things in between. There are also several recipes here for crackers and breadsticks, and not just your run of the mill fare. Several of the cracker recipes are bursting with flavor such as the orange, sage and pistachio crackers, the oregano crackers or the wine crackers. There are also a few gluten free roll recipes included, which I really appreciated. The final chapter of the book focuses on specialty recipes. Some of the recipes I found the most interesting were fried dough, saffron croissants and several fruit brioche recipes. Pizza, Bread & More is a book for both beginners and more advanced cook. There are some basic recipes and then there are some that could be considered a little intimidating that you will need to work your way up to. I would recommend this cookbook to anyone who is a fan of cooking from scratch or just enjoys being in the kitchen trying something new.

Pizza, Breads & More is now available on BarnesandNoble.com.