Cooking Light Magazine

This is an older cookbook that I found a copy of at the thrift store a whiiiile back, but have just recently really went through, reading over recipes, marking ones I am interesting in making, and cooking from it. First of all, I have a ton of pages marked. I have cooked 6 recipes from here recently and each one has been amazing. The ones that I have made so far have been: Nonstop, No-Chop Chili; Sloppy Joes with Corn; Southern Shrimp and Grits; Sirloin Steak with Tarragon-Garlic Sour Cream; Penne and Chicken Tenderloins with Spiced Tomato Sauce; and Parmesan Chicken and Rice. Both my husband and I have commented that each one would be something we would want to make again.

Besides the great tasting recipes, let me get into some of the other reasons that this is one of my favorite cookbooks. I love a cookbook with pictures! I have made some recipes from books without pictures, and don’t necessarily only make recipes that have photos, but it makes it so much easier to flip through and decide what you feel like making for the week plus it shows you what the end result should pretty much look like. This in particular can be helpful with something like the Sloppy Joes I made, to see how thick or thin their resulting mix from the recipe was. Each recipe in this book includes a photo.

Another reason I really like this book is the general layout of the recipes with the ingredients, the instructions, the serving size and nutrition facts, quick tips, the photo, and a side bar Menu that gives you side options and even short recipes for simple sides to go along with the recipe. This side bar also includes a “Game Plan” that gives you tips on when to prep which parts, including making the provided sides, to be most efficient in getting everything done at the same time.

Lastly, each one of these recipes has been so quick and easy it has kind of surprised me. I am so used to spending longer on cooking things that either taste about the same or not even as good as the recipes from this book. I will say that some of the recipes recommend short cuts like buying pre sliced and chopped, frozen, or otherwise prepared produce and I typically opt out of those choices and just do fresh, but even then it didn’t take that long to make the recipes that I did. I am excited to try out some of the others I have marked very soon!… (more)

So I went with this book because I'm a big fan of Cooking Light Magazine and I figured that it would offer me a little bit more assistance in choosing foods when grocery shopping. I specifically choose this cooking light version of the popular "Eat This, Not That" versions and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. The examples are tips are very basic and broad, and I knew most of the information that the book was talking about before picking it up. I was looking for a little bit more detailed information regarding brands and more specific options regarding food. After getting this one and comparing it to the Eat this, not That supermarket version I'm torn. I like the more brand specific examples in the ETNT book, but I enjoyed the general information presented in this book and of course I put my trust in the Cooking Light Editors. Overall I give this about 3-3.5 stars. It could be better, but it also was somewhat helpful.… (more)