Book Reviews: 3 Healthy Cookbooks I Love
Thanks to my obsession with burning hours on Amazon while my baby snoozes, I found a new book (and new to me blog) called Deliciously Ella. Ella Woodwards, the young lady behind the blog, has created 100 dairy-free, gluten-free and sugar-free recipes that supposedly will make you feel great which is the most important thing in life right? Because your health, mental and physical, can really make or break you. I've been off of white and brown sugar and honey since January 6th and cut out most diary (I use rice, almond, coconut milk or oat milk now) and already feel so much better after the initial detox headaches and cravings subsided. I'm no longer in sloth-post-holiday mode. I'm ready to take on projects again with gusto and get movin' at the gym. Health equals wealth and not just financially. When you feel great you become rich in so many other areas in your life. I'm learning that the reason why so many highly successful people are fit and work out daily is so they can stay or become more successful. It's true. You get more accomplished when you feel amazing and your energy levels soar. Why do you think the fabulous Martha Stewart can sleep only 4 hours nightly for so many years and be such a powerhouse?
Ella's personal story and motivation behind her work is quite inspirational, "In 2011, nineteen-year-old Ella Woodward was diagnosed with a rare illness that left her bed-ridden, in chronic pain, and plagued by heart palpitations and headaches. When conventional medicine failed her, Ella decided to change her diet. She gave up meat, gluten, dairy, sugar, and anything processed—and the effects were immediate: her symptoms disappeared, her energy returned, and she was able to go off all her medication. A self-confessed sweet tooth, Ella taught herself how to make delicious, plant-based meals that delight the palette and improve overall well-being." Sounds wonderful! This book promises simple prep and raw, natural ingredients so I'm definitely going to grab a copy and start using it. Here is a peak inside of Deliciously Ella below straight from Anthropologie, where you can purchase it or buy it on Amazon UK (with cover shown in this post) or on Amazon US with a different cover, same content.
Now to share with you a few books that I do own and love that share the same approach to eating healthy.
1. It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turschen (Amazon US/Amazon UK)-- I love that Julia lost a lot of weight eating the foods in this book while creating it. When someone loses weight writing a health cookbook I feel like ka-pow! That's the book for me! Julia made it a huge draw because I love GP but she is so perfect that I often feel like she's just not relatable in all of her gorgeousness (I mean did you see her at the Oscars in that fantastic pink Michael Kors dress? How can we compete?), but Julia is one of us and is also super gorgeous minus a full staff and access to top trainers and fitness gurus and unlimited cash. Don't get me wrong, GP rocks and she is why I bought the book in the first place, but learning about Julia through the pages of It's All Good instantly made it my fave go-to guide for healthy eating. That combined with all of the book photography by one of my top five photographers in the world, Danish-born Ditte Isager, and I was hooked. Plus I got my hands on a signed, dedicated copy from GP herself so hey, I can't complain. In fact, I tell everyone about this book and even buy it for my friends. You can see some of the gorgeous pics in this book on Ditte's blog.
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2. Honestly Healthy by Natasha Corrett (Amazon US or Amazon UK - German version here which I also have). British-born Natasha turned me on to OMbar (chocolate sweetened with coco milk) and I just love some of her recipes in this book and her amazing website and videos, too. I'm dying to attend one of her supper clubs or cooking classes in London because meeting her would be interesting since her mom is Kelly Hoppen and I think Kelly is just the best but even more, I just want to watch her cook and learn some new tips. I actually love the idea of scheduling a private cooking class with Natasha and a few of my dear friends, this would be so much fun and would make for a great blog story, don't you think? Perhaps I'll connect with her for a story like that as I'm looking to bring more lifestyles to decor8 this year that encourage us all to life our best life. I like Natasha's cookbook because it lives alongside her online content so I feel close to her - like I can watch a video (What's In My Fridge is so great), flip through her book, make her recipes, read her blog, follow her on Instagram, etc. It's dynamic, alive, fresh. I love when authors have a very active online presence and do video work too (if they are, in fact, good on camera and not awkward of course. I often wonder if I'd be good or awkward, I have to try it for my next book and you can let me know). It just brings it all together.
In addition to these three titles above, has anyone picked up a copy of Nourish by Amber Rose, Holly Davidson and Sadie Frost yet? I'm in love with the cover, it makes me so SO happy. I love lifestyle book covers with either photos of people or multiple lifestyle photos so you get a preview of what's to follow on the pages inside. The cover alone for Nourish makes it very interesting to me to look into further.
What is your favorite cookbook at the moment? Have you made any health or fitness goals for the year? Tell me about them. I'd love to know what you're doing.
Here's to better health for us all in 2015! And congrats to Ella for the new book and much success to you!
(images: anthropologie)