Those solicitors and this book sparked an interest in cookbooks and in cooking that has continued to grow over the years. ;After becoming a parent in 2003 my cooking habits changed. 5 ingredients/20 minutes tops! That's all that time and budget would permit. So I started giving away pieces of my cookbook collection, selling them on book sites and in garage sales. Not only did I not have time to cook, but having just brought 2 school aged kids into the house, our space shrunk over night. I just didn't have room to store them all. Now that family life has settled a bit, I do regret getting rid of so many of my cookbooks, but I am grateful I still have my old faithful "Light Cooking." It never even crossed my mind to get rid of her.

 

This particular book that caught my attention is a big fat hardcover with silver edged pages and tons of pictures. Visually, I couldn't pass it up. And the contents did not dissapoint me. There are recipes for everything from appetizers to brunch to dinner, desserts, and beyond.  Categorized by beverages, poultry, beef, etc. There are some cooking tips and calorie and portion control information. At the end of each recipe is a small grid with nutritional information which makes it valuable if you're trying to stay within some particular guidelines for calories, fat, cholesterol, or sodium.

 

Ultimately, it is "Light Cooking's" recipes that have kept me coming back to it for 20 years. I get excited by food - I like to prepare it, present it, and eat it. I prefer lighter foods to heavy gravies and such, and I appreciate a delicious, beautiful meal whose taste and appearance are more elaborate than the actual work that went into making it.

 

Healthy, beautiful, simple, tasty, satisfying... what more could you ask for in a cookbook? Take a look at some of my favorite recipes...

 

This is the first thing I ever made out of the book, when I was trying to teach myself how to cook lighter fare as opposed to the meat and potatoes on which I grew up. Simply called pasta & vegetable toss.

 

I used to host a lot of parties and as much as people raved over my appetizers, they liked my drinks even better. I have made this White Sangria many many times. 

 

I am not a huge person for desserts. I just like chocolate chip cookies and strawberry shortcake. But I LOVE making (and eating) these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. They are very satisfying.

 

And this is the soup I am making this weekend at Soupapalooza 2011, where me and a couple girlfriends get together and make big quantities of our favorite soups that we take home and freeze so we've got lots of delicious, healthy soups & stews pre-made to get us through the long, cold, Michigan winter.