This is a post about you, not me. Along those lines, I have some questions, I want to get to know you better. To find out what you like, and also what you need.
Why? I’m thinking of writing another cookbook. For the past ten years, I’ve had cookbook writing on the brain. And in the past four years I’ve created two of them. Now, I’m entertaining the idea of writing a third book. If I do, I’d like it to be of benefit to my readers. So here are my questions:
- What, if any, are your dietary restrictions?
- Are there foods you are not allergic to that you avoid?
- Which type of recipe (i.e., bread, salad, entrees, sides, desserts, etc.) do you find most useful?
- Of the cookbooks you own, which sections do you find yourself using most frequently?
- What is your definition of “healthy food”
- If you could ask for one thing in a cookbook, what would it be?
Feel free to answer all of the questions above, or just a couple. I’m really looking forward to hearing from you, and getting to know you a little bit better.
I will (as always) read each and every comment left below and while there may be competing requests and wishes, I will do my best to incorporate them into my future projects.
Kathy in Idaho says
Wheat, corn, soy, dairy, peanuts, chocolate, barley, walnuts, rye, chickpeas, are all things I am allergic to. Easy family friendly main dishes are what I need help with. I enjoy baking when it isn’t hot. Whole foods are what I try to eat more of.
Natalie says
Snacks and meals that are quick to make are at the top of my list. I have become allergic to almonds and am unable to have coconut flour (pain in the bum!) so if you have any great gluten-free, lower carb alternatives to those for breads and baked goods, I would be thrilled. I avoid gluten, dairy, and refined sugars.
Julie says
My favorite recipes are the flexible ones… I often come to your site because your recipes are simple, straightforward, and with a few ingredients on hand (almond flour, coconut flour, etc) I find I can make almost anything on your site – and almost everything I’ve tried, I’ve had great success in substitutions. Dried cherries instead of figs in the rosemary crackers. Butter instead of coconut oil in other recipes. Honey for agave. I love that! Honestly, since I’ve had to avoid wheat and choose to avoid most grains, I don’t even use my cook books all that often. I come here, I experiment. My cookbook wish would be for a book that encourages experimentation, or even a book that could educate one how to edit traditional recipes to fit special diet requirements.
Thanks for caring about your readers, and thanks for bringing us along on your journey. Blessings!
Kathy Bateman says
Hello Elana,
Thanks for asking the questions. I am ready to tackle a plant based diet but need one for someone with gluten intolerance. I’d like it to include a variety of dishes from appetizers to desserts and anything in between.
In looking at all the cookbooks that I currently own; the recipes are key, but I love the photographs and the stories too.
I tend to collect cookbooks, but since I seriously want to follow a plant based diet, I would want this type of cookbook to help in my meal planning.
I really enjoy your recipes because they always lean towards healthy – not all the “garbage” gluten free ingredients; simple.
Good luck with whatever you choose to tackle – they are all helpful.
Kathy
Michelle says
1) I follow a “low carb” or low glycemic diet.
2) I do my best to avoid: Baked beans; Refried beans; Black-eyed peas (cow peas); Bananas; Lima beans; Potatoes; Corn; Dried fruits & Fruit juices; Barley; Rice; Pasta (all types;) Flour and Corn Tortillas; Tamales; Sweets of any kind; Products which contain Dextrose, Glucose, Hexitol, Lactose, Maltose, Sucrose, Honey, Corn Syrup, Agave Syrup, Rice and Cane Sweeteners, Fructose, Corn Syrup, Food Starch, Caffeine.
3)4) I use the sections of cookbooks the most for veggie sides (meat is pretty easy to make yummy) and soups. I find I go online mostly for recipes… but I do have a few low carb cookbooks that I look in from time to time.
5) “Healthy good” to me is REAL food, unprocessed and not full of additives. Real food tastes great!
6) Easy, quick recipes with ingredients that are readily available at regular grocery stores. Pictures!
Joyce Bailis says
I define healthy eating as using local, seasonal whole food-not processed.
I would like to see a gluten free, low carb, low calorie cookbook for bread, muffins and desserts.
a says
Would love to see kid-friendly good for you foods, as well as recipes including quinoa (a seed, not a grain) and other seeds and nuts.
Jane Reinholz says
I already have your Almond Flour Cookbook. I ordered it before it was released and waited about 6-8 weeks to receive it. That cookbook really helped me expand my then GF cooking/baking. While I still cook and bake GF, I have shifted more to a grain free Paleo diet. My family is grown and they have children, they too have shifted to grain free, for the most part. We’re also DF, Soy Free and I am sensitive to coconut. Thank you for your many wonderful recipes. You have absolutely enhanced our lives by sharing your recipes. We are a family that loves to cook, bake, eat and entertain and we constantly try new things and share with each other. A morning delivery of one of your breakfast breads by one of my daughters is not unusual.
We are all GF DF and Soy free. We avoid soy by choice. We can tolerate grains but feel that we are healthier when we avoid. We are absolutely
sugar free and use honey as our primary sweetener. We are all committed to eating organic whole foods that are not inflammatory to the body. Thank you for your wonderful recipes and cookbooks!!! We enjoy all of the sections and regularly visit your gallery of recipes for ideas.
I don’t know what I would look for in a cookbook…maybe I wish this entire country and restaurants were not so dependent on gluten and dairy and I wish that our food supply was better, We just buy organic in 90% of situations and do not eat out very often. I wish GMO foods would be banned in this country, or at least labeled. Would make it easier, although we work hard to not buy GMO. Thanks again Elena! ; )
Sarah Josey says
1. I don’t eat wheat, dairy, soy or eggs
2. I try and avoid sugar and excess carbs whenever possible, peanuts are also on my ‘don’t agree with my body” list
3. I like bread/dessert/baked goods recipes a lot, these are hardest to ‘wing’ in the kitchen, but all the other ones are fun too, they give me inspiration for later…mostly I like tips for off-the-beaten-path things (ie: how do you keep your kale chips from going soggy once you bag/container them? Mine always turn soggy by the next morning!)
Of the cookbooks you own, which sections do you find yourself using most frequently?
4. I honestly use my hard-copy books very rarely, when I want inspiration I turn to the internet. The few exceptions would be my “Mama Leah’s Jewish Cook Book” and the “Dairy Free Ice Cream” book (care of Kelly on the Spunky Coconut…I needed to know how she did pistachio…it’s my favorite!!) for just about anything specialty. Otherwise I’ve used my “How to Cook Everything” book for stuff like homemade coconut milk.
5. Healthy Food to me has lots of nutrients, good fat, protein, flavor, fun, heart, and soul. Food has to speak to me. I like to say I’m an ‘Intuitarian’, I listen to what my body says and I follow.
6. I don’t even know what to ask for; if the book has enough special recipes that I can’t find anywhere else, I’ll buy it.
Thank you so much for asking!!!
Myrna Welter says
I am so excited you’re considering doing another cookbook! I love your website and use your two cookbooks all the time. All of your recipes have been life-savers for me.
I have been on a grain-free, sugar-free, soy-free diet for several years now, but I recently did a food allergy bloodtest called ALCAT and found that I am sensitive to 105 foods (including mushrooms, beef, cabbage, and rosemary)! I find that your recipes adapt pretty easily to my food plan, because I can usually make substitutions to take care of my allergy restrictions.
The main thing I miss from my old way of eating is casseroles. I guess you can make casseroles with vegetables and protein, but I haven’t figured it out. Crock pot meals would be lovely, as well.
Thanks for thinking to ask what we would like to see in your new book. Anything you come up with will be appreciated. You are a blessing to all of us.