Organic Cooking Books - Page 2

Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers

Ron L. Engeland

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Filaree Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $9.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Vegetables & Vegetarian -> Vegetables
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Organic Cooking
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Pretty redundant and fuzzy 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.

If you finish this book, unless you're already a garlic farmer, you'll have been endowed with about 10 times the amount of information that you'll ever need. This book needs a major edit as the information is jumbled and unclear. I got the impression that the author definitely knows his stuff but was unable for some reason to convey it in any coherent way.

I read the book in its entirety and all I really wanted to know was WHEN to plant and harvest my garlic -- I THINK I know now but I had to go back and re-check what Engeland said on this topic. So, if you just want to know the simple things about growing garlic, just check the internet. This book would definitely be helpful if you were planning to grow garlic as a source of income.

Maybe a revised version will come out soon, which would surely be an improvement.

Editorial Review:

Ron L. Engeland has made his living as an organic garlic grower in Washington State for nearly two decades. He has cultivated more than 450 strains from all over the world. If you want to grow incredible garlic for yourself, he's the man to listen to.

To Buy or Not to Buy Organic: What You Need to Know to Choose the Healthiest, Safest, Most Earth-Friendly Food

Cindy Burke

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Da Capo Press Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $2.49

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Diet -> Healthy
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Organic Cooking

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Food journalist and former professional chef Cindy Burke writes in the introduction to this book: "Organic food can be so expensive and difficult to find that I always wondered if I was spending my money wisely. I decided to become informed, really informed, about the options — organic, conventional, local, sustainable — so that I could choose the healthiest, safest food available." To Buy or Not to Buy Organic is the result of Burke's investigations. It tells you how to choose the healthiest, safest, most earth-friendly food, as you make your way through the supermarket, your local farmer's market, or your natural foods store. Highlights include: Making sense of the choices presented by organic, local, sustainable, minimally treated, grass-fed and cage-free foods Reducing your exposure to pesticides Save money by knowing the foods you want to eat only if they're organic and the foods that are pesticide-free even when they are nonorganic Protecting your child's health from pesticides An at-a-glance shopper's guide to more than 100 foods

Mom-a-licious: Fresh, Fast, Family Food for the Hot Mama in You!

Domenica Catelli

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Waterside Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $9.65

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Quick & Easy -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Diet -> Healthy

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Buy More Than One! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I just re-ordered several copies of this to pass along to both my "foodie" Mom friends, and those that are kitchen-phobic and hurried in their lives. It is full of quick, easy, healthy ideas (who would have thought to freeze peanut butter sandwiches, or sneak nutritional yeast into chicken tenders?!). I recommend this to anyone who is looking for healthy meal and snack ideas that families will truly enjoy.

Motivating and Fun 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In general, I love the book. Particularly the intro full of motivating and inspiring ideas. I've made quite a few recipes and would say that a handful are now regulars. I have two copies - one at work and one at home. If I can't think of anything to make for dinner, it's at my fingertips to look through before I leave for home. I love it!

Cute title, some good ideas 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

the title had me buying it. though my kids weren't thrilled with some of the dishes I liked, there's enough recipes in there for the family. If you liked this book for family-friendly food, you'll love "The Frantic Woman's Guide to Feeding Family and Friends" because it gives fun ideas for you to do with your kids and lots of shortcuts in the kitchen that saves time.

Simply Organic: A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonal, and Local Ingredients

Jesse Ziff Cool

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Chronicle Books - Model: 0811860444 Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $5.74

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Diet -> Healthy
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Seasonal

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

I think it's great 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I received the book in the mail the other day. The book was bigger than I expected but that's cool. I found myself reading most of the introduction which is rare. The only thing I regret about this book is that there were not enough pictures. I found the recipes to be simple and interesting enough to want to try them. I have'n read anything else by this author but I can say I like this one and am excited about trying the recipes.

Very beautiful book 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I received this book as a gift for my birthday and it has turned out to be a wonderful surprise. I love how the book is formatted by seasons. In general the book is beautiful. Almost too beautiful... I am afraid to have it in my kitchen while I cook! That aside, I just enjoy reading it. I agree with another review in that I wish it had more pictures.

Organic Quilted Car Seat Cover: Tan6" Knitted Fabric Dog Toy with Squeaker: Naru (monkey)Organic Earth Friendly Bumper Pet Bed (Small)Robbie Dawg Organic Dog Biscuits: Peanut Butter & CarrotRobbie Dawg Organic Dog Biscuits: Applewood Bacon & Cheddar Cheese6" Knitted Fabric Dog Toy with Squeaker: Percy (chicken)

Editorial Review:

Simply Organic: A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonal, and Local IngredientsBy Jesse Ziff Cool Photographs by France Ruffenach"The world is changing, and along with it, so must our eating habits. Author and restaurateur Jesse Ziff Cool has compiled over 3

Living Beyond Organic: Nutritional Knowledge Redefined!

Christina Avaness

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Not yet published By: Tiara Publishing

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Diet -> Healthy
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Organic Cooking

Editorial Review:

Part lifestyle, part cookbook, Living Beyond Organic teaches the reader what to eat, how best to prepare it, and why. Based on the ancient healing art of Raphaology Medicine which involves the study of phyto-nutrients (plant medicine), LBO provides the reader with true nutritional understanding and knowledge of how to eat to both regain and maintain optimum health. With its 21 day menu and recipes, along with a list of what to have in your kitchen and what to remove, the book makes the transition to the Living Beyond Organic Lifestyle exceedingly simple. The interweaving of the author's own family's story adds an effective personal element to the book.

This is the first in a series of Living Beyond Organic books.

Sprouts The Miracle Food: The Complete Guide to Sprouting

Steve Meyerowitz, Michael Parman, Beth Robbins

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sproutman Publications Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $7.52

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Diet -> Healthy
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Vegetables & Vegetarian -> Vegetables

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not a complete guide; Somewhat confusing; Mostly good info. 3 out of 5 stars.
86 of 86 people found this review helpful.

Steve Meyerowitz, a.k.a. Sproutman has been sprouting since the 1970s, and owns a company selling sprouting equipment and seeds. I've read several of his books and chatted with him in person about sprouting. Sproutman knows his stuff, and IMO, anything he writes about sprouting is worth reading. I have grown magnificent sunflower sprouts by using a Sproutman Sprouthouse (a bamboo basket in a plastic house) and following Sproutman's instructions. If you have good sprouting seeds and follow the instructions in this book, I suspect you too will grow awesome sprouts.

Unfortunately, the book is not that well organized and the instructions for sprouting, a fairly simple process, are unnecessarily confusing. There are many methods of growing sprouts, such as baskets, sprouting bags, glass jars, open-ended glass tubes with screens on both ends, trays, etc. This book gives instructions for only 3 methods: baskets, bags, and trays. Sproutman doesn't explain that upfront, however. If you want to use one of those 3 methods, the instructions are knowledgeable and detailed. BUT: I suggest that when you choose one of these methods, you read through the entire chapter first, because if you try to follow along step-by-step, it's easy to mess up.

For example, in the chapter titled, "The Technique", Sproutman launches into instructions for using a sprouting basket, without first explaining that this technique just ONE of many sprouting methods. For this technique he says to soak 5 rounded tablespoons of seeds. He doesn't explain until 7 pages later that you use 5 tablespoons of seed for an 8 inch basket, 6 to 7 tablespoons of seed for a 9 inch basket, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of seed for a 6 inch basket. A beginning basket sprouter who tries to follow his instructions without reading the entire chapter first, could easily make the mistake of using the wrong amount of seeds for the basket size.

In the next chapter, Sproutman gives instructions for how to use a sprout bag, a different technique. The first thing I would want to know about this is, what are the best seeds for growing in a sprout bag? That information is there, along with days 'til maturity-in the middle of the chapter.

Another thing that's important to a good sprout book is information about seeds. What are the varities, the days until harvest, the uses and tastes, etc? There's chart near the end of the book which gives this information, but the seed varities are not in alphabetical order. I can't figure out any logic to the way the chart is sorted, so if you want to look up a seed variety, you have to read down the entire list. Also, there are some types of fairly popular sprouting seeds missing from the chart, for example, broccoli sprouts.

Although I think most of Sproutman's information is excellent, albeit a bit disorganized, one thing I take issue with are his frequent sermons about why sprouting jars should not be used. I first used a sprouting jar in 1984, and my jar sprouts have always turned out just fine, without all those immature yellow sprouts Sproutman warns of. If you are careful not to use too many seeds and to shake your sprouts back and forth so they drain well and lay the jar on its side, your jar-sprouted sprouts will turn out just fine. Also Sproutman says a jar requires cheesecloth, screens and rubberbands. Back in 1984, a decade prior to the book's publication, I used a lid which was a plastic screen and have never had to hassle with cheesecloth, screens and rubberbands. In addition, he says automatic sprouters sell in the range of $450 to $1000. It's somewhat possible that information was accurate in the 1990s, but in the 2000s, one can find new automatic sprouters for a lot less than $450.

Some of the book's strengths include the chapter discussing which type of water to use on sprouts, the nutritional information scattered throughout the books, and the presence of an index. I personally think the book's dumb puns are a strength, but I'm sure the majority of readers will not. :-)

Despite my qualms with this book, Sproutman is outstanding in his field, and I still recommend it to anyone who wants to sprout via vertical sprouter (basket), bag, or tray, or learn about sprouting in general. If you're using either a vertical sprouter or a bag, I suggest first reading the succinct review of instructions on page 173 for the vertical sprouter and p. 175 for the sproutbag.

Editorial Review:

The Sproutman's guide to indoor organic gardening shows you step by step, how to grow these delicious baby greens and mini-vegetables in just one week from seed to salad. This guide can make anyone a self sufficient gardener of sprouts that are bursting with concentrated nutrition. Includes comprehensive nutrition charts, Questions and Answers, seed resources, illustrations, photo's & Charts.

Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook: 250 flourless, Dairyless, Low Temperature, Low Fat, Low Salt, Living Food Vegetarian Recipes

Steve Meyerowitz, Beth Robbins, Michael Parman

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sproutman Publications Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $4.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Baking -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Diet -> Low Fat

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Healthy eating, yes, if you want a total lifestyle overhaul... 3 out of 5 stars.
83 of 91 people found this review helpful.

I guess I'm not the typical reviewer here - I am interested in healthy eating, but without the context of a major life change for myself and my family of five... I'd like to find new ways to eat well, without undermining our entire familiar (mostly vegetarian, mostly well-balanced) diet.

Let's start with what this book IS: an excellent guide to using all types of sprouts, and to which types are good for which occasions - baking, stir-frying, salads, etc. It's also a rather overt advertisement for "Sproutman's" own website and sprouting tools (sprout bag, greenhouse, seeds, etc); fair enough.

The book is full of interesting, simple recipes and ideas for using sprouts either raw or with low temp cooking to get the most nutrition out of every green, crunchy bite. He's also thrown in a bunch of related nutrition stuff - non-sprout items like vegan ice creams and helpful alternatives to salt and other seasonings.

Still, I found that most of the recipes were impractical for family cooking. If two cups of sprouted wheat make a single small loaf or several crackers or cookies, it doesn't take long to realize I'm going to need wheat berries bursting out of every corner of my tiny kitchen in order to create one meal for the five of us.

And that's just bread! To create enough sprouts for us to eat a single salad, a single stir-fry, a single helping of sprouted nuts... well, we're probably going to need to renovate other areas of the house to accomodate all the grow-bags or baskets.

Also, many of the recipes are just variants on previous recipes. Like, he'll take a page to describe how to make a cracker, and then ANOTHER page - this is just an example from memory - on how to make seasoned crackers, and it's obvious the ingredients and steps are identical, just with seasonings added.

Finally, having tasted sprouts and fermented products, I have some idea of what kinds of flavours to expect. Suggesting that his fermented "rejuvalac" beverage will taste similar to lemonade sounds way overblown. He actually hints that it may taste more "like sauerkraut" - to me, that's a BIG difference. Sorry, but I don't curl up on a summer's day with a tall, cool glass of sauerkraut.

Similarly, I realize our dependence on added sugars is overblown, but if I call something a "cookie", my kids (10 & 11) are going to know I'm lying if it's only sweetened with natural sprout maltose and a few raisins. Yes, sprouts give a nice malty sweetness to bread - but only the most idealistic parents would believe kids would accept it as a special-occasion treat.

I guess I was looking for a book that would help me incorporate sprouts into every aspect of our regular household dishes - stir fries, yes, but also to add flavour/nutrition to standard yeast breads, cakes, cookies, veg patties, etc.

Being almost totally vegan (he practically apologizes in the one section where he asks you to put a bit of butter into your rice cereal), there is too little range of dishes for our family's tastes and the dishes offered seem too monotonous for long-term enjoyment.

This book may be ideal for a single person or a couple who want to try an "extreme" veg or raw-foods or minimal-cooking lifestyle. For our family lifestyle, the overhaul required is too enormous to even begin imagining - and trust me, I have plenty of imagination!

Editorial Review:

Turn nuts, vegetable seeds, grains and beans into gourmet food! Sprouted breads, cookies, crackers, living soups, dressings, dips, spreads, sautes, alternative non-dairy milks, ice-creams, even sprouted pizza and bagels! Chapters on making sprout bread, food dehydrating, juicing, natural sodas, alternatives to dairy and salt, smart vegetarianism. Glossary of healthy foods. Includes Questions and Answers and seed resources. Over 150 illustrations, photos & Charts.

The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook: Over 100 "Tail Wagging" Recipes

Jessica Disbrow Talley, Eric Talley

Amazon Price: $12.24 List Price: $18.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cider Mill Press Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $9.10

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Organic Cooking
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Animal Care & Pets -> Dogs -> Care & Health

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Title deceiving w/ more meals for dogs than biscuits, but is graphically pleasing and looks good 3 out of 5 stars.
6 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I flipped through this book while looking for biscuit books. Graphically it appealed to me and I thought it was great. The biscuits seemed like good recipes, but the whole book is not biscuits as the title implies. A lot of the book is actaully meals for your dog. I don't know about you, but I barely have time with a dog to make my own meals! If you're into making a Pup Pizza, Labrador Lasagnia or Arroz con Pollo for your dog, then this is the book for you (over 100 recipes!). If you are looking for basic biscuits and treats, as I was, then try the You Bake 'EM Dog Biscuits Cookbook. The sad part is that I really like this book and wanted to get it, but felt that it did not support my immediate needs for biscuits/treats only. I am curious to see what others feel about this book and if the treats that are offered are good ones. Maybe then I will take the plunge, but for now I'll pass on the Doggie meatloaf.

Editorial Review:

When it comes to dog biscuits, there s a lot out there, but not one as concerned with your pet s health and happiness as ours! While most of the competition goes for novelty, the Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook stands alone in featuring tail-waggingly tasty 100% organic ingredients. Written by an expert who runs the Bubba Rose Biscuit Company, it contains more than 100 all-natural recipes double what most other dog cookbooks have. That s sure to appeal to owners eager to feed their dog homemade after the recent commercial pet food scare. The wholesome doggie dishes (all tried, true and taste tested) include a Luck of the Irish Wolfhound dog treat with such ingredients as oat flour and spinach leaves, and a beef-based Grillin and Chillin hot dog!

The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook: Seasonal Foods, Simple Recipes and Stories from the Market and Farm

Amelia Saltsman

Amazon Price: $15.61 List Price: $22.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Blenheim Press Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $10.94

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Seasonal
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Organic Cooking

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

For more than a quarter century, the Santa Monica Farmers' Market has inspired both renowned chefs and home cooks, making it a regional market with national presence. One of the largest markets in the state, it stands at the forefront of a national trend toward cooking with local and seasonal ingredients. For more than twenty years, Amelia Saltsman has shopped its stands, talked with its farmers, and cooked its magnificent produce for family and friends. The result is The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, a celebration of the market s excellence and its hardworking farmers. What s the difference between white and green zucchini? What are amaranth, sapote, and ramps? With Amelia as your guide, you ll learn the answers to these questions and more. You'll also find advice on how to select and store produce, stories about farmers and their crops, chef and farmer cooking tips, and more than 100 of Amelia's simple, tempting recipes including: -- Fava Bean and Pea Shoot Salad -- Classic Tomato Soup with a Goat Cheese Swirl -- Black Cod with Green Tomatoes -- Roast Leg of Lamb with Oil-Cured Black Olives and Herbs -- Seared White Nectarines with Burnt Honey -- Meyer Lemon Sundaes with Cara Cara Oranges and Tangelos With a foreword by acclaimed cookbook author Deborah Madison, a design by Ph.D and photos by Anne Fishbein.

Chefs on the Farm: Recipes and Inspiration from the Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts

Shannon Borg, Lora Lee Misterly, Karen Jurgensen

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Skipstone Press Amazon Marketplace: 3 new & used starting at $16.47

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> U.S. Regional -> Northwest
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Vegetables & Vegetarian -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

this book could change the world for the better 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

it is true ! this small farm in eastern washington could change the world one chef at a time.
i know has it changed my life and many others in the culinary field.
buy it-read it-apply it, it will make you happy !

Michelle Clair

take me to the farm! an educational journey from field to table. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I love the connections of the seasons to earth and from field to table in this book. The recipe's by Karen Jurgensen and the photography throughout the book make this a fabulous read but more importantly a great recipe book to have in the kitchen. Whether you are yearning to be on the farm or wanting to have a deeper understanding of the labors that go into real food before it arrives in your kitchen, this is one of those recipe books that you'll want to share with friends.

The forward by Tom Douglas is a testimony to the farmer that resides in each of us.

Editorial Review:

With the rising interest in organic and locally grown food, there is also an increasing interest in connecting the farm to the table. Chefs on the Farm describes the seasonal workings of Quillisascut Goat Cheese Farm, a small, family-run business in northeastern Washington state. There, owners Lora Lea and Rick Misterly started a "Farm School for the Domestic Arts" where every summer, professional chefs, culinary students, food writers, and others live and work on the farm. Cooking only with ingredients they find on the farm, students learn to be connected to the food they work with.