Thursday, January 21, 2010

BEEsy in the Kitchen: Feeding the Whole Family By Cynthia Lair

Are you looking for healthy and nourishing recipes for your whole family? Would you like to include more whole grains in your daily diet but need ideas on how to prepare them?

Cynthia Lair's Feeding the Whole Family might just be the cookbook for you. With more than 180 recipes, this cookbook gives parents a wide variety of recipes to prepare for their entire family, including hot cereals for breakfast, sandwiches, soups, dinner entrees, side dishes, breads, and desserts.

This cookbook offers valuable information about what whole foods are, how to incorporate them into your family's diets, how to prepare them for your baby, and how to raise children who eat healthy food. Lair also provides directions on how to properly cook whole grains (e.g., quinoa, millet, bulgur) and beans. And one of the perks of this book is Lair gives special instructions on how to prepare each recipe for babies six months and older.

About a year ago, I purchased this cookbook after a nutritionist recommended it to me. I've prepared several recipes in this cookbook and most have been delicious. One of my favorites is a recipe for Five-Grain Morning Cereal, which is a hot cereal containing toasted wheat berries, millet, spelt, brown rice, and quinoa. I prefer this hot cereal over oatmeal.

Other recipes I've tried and liked include Mexican Bean and Corn Casserole (you use polenta in this recipe), Black Bean Tostados, and Orange Millet Raisin Bread (I used dried cranberries instead of raisins--delish!). In the near future, I hope to prepare Thai Coconut Chicken Soup, Mediterranean Quinoa, Spinach Feta Quiche, Pumpkin Pecan Muffins, and Gracie's Yellow Birthday Cake (I may make this for my husband's birthday next week!).

BEEsy Mama Question: What are your favorite healthy cookbooks?

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