Monthly Archives: January 2023

Sheet Pans Cookbook Review (2023)

by Mirabaking, recipes, reviewsbook review, ebook, sheet pan

I aim to read approximately 50 books a year. 10 of them through the Healthy Readers Book Club, some for work, and some for pleasure. I don’t, however, count cookbooks and self-care books in the mix. Usually because…well, I don’t really know why. I do love to read cookbooks. I especially enjoy when the author shares some personal notes about the recipes.

Because of the work I do I often get the following questions:

What do you eat?
What should I eat now that I can’t have [insert ingredient here]?
Do you have a recommendation for recipes?

Because of these questions, and, let’s be honest, because I love food, I’m frequently spending time with cookbooks. It eventually occurred to me how nice it would be to have a spot on the blog where I can send people to see the books I’m talking about.

Please note that not every recipe in every book is a good fit. I tend to read recipe books with a willingness to make modifications where needed. For example, if a cookbook author calls for canola or vegetable oil I will substitute something else, usually olive or avocado. I do not even try to modify recipes where they’re calling for things like packaged Jell-O or other highly processed foods.

I do, however, often find wonderful flavor combination ideas, cooking methods or strategies that I might now have thought of, and inspiration to play in the kitchen.

Although they’ll be a not-regularly-scheduled part of the blog, I hope you enjoy these reviews. And, who knows, maybe you’ll need to add to your cookbook collection based on what you’ve read here.

1. Sheet Pan Suppers: 120 Recipes for Simple, Surprising, Hands-Off Meals Straight from the Oven

Looking for ways to simplify meal times at least a couple of nights a week I was drawn to this book. I like the author’s take on the idea that a sheet pan is similar to a good one pot meal making It easy to pull a delicious and nourishing meal together.

The first recipe chapter starts with Appetizers and Small Bites. I confess this was a bit eye-opening for me as I had not thought of using my sheet pan that way. It would certainly make it much easier to have appetizers for a crowd ready in fairly short order. The baked feta and chunky mango chutney on page 10 looks wonderful.

The book continues through chapters on Chicken, Fish, and Meats. There’s also a chapter dedicated to vegetarian options a number of which look delicious and would be a good option for a satisfying meatless meal like the Baked Sweet Potatoes with Cannellinis & Baby Spinach on page 175. There’s even a section for side dishes, chapter 7, Serve-Withs.

Chapter 8 is a brunch chapter. I especially like the idea of the Shakshuka on page 198, this would be much less messy than doing it on the stove top where the sauce tends to spatter. There is also a chapter on desserts.

Depending on how big your oven is or if you have a double oven, you could theoretically do an entire meal from appetizers to dessert. The author does recommend having more than one sheet pan in your kitchen, she confesses to having six. Reading through this cookbook it becomes clear that the multiple sheet pan approach can be an efficient way to utilize the energy in your oven by having multiple trays going at the same time.

One of the nice things about this book, aside from the beautiful photography and delicious looking recipes, is the footnote type insertions which various educational bits. These include Teach Me How, which explains how to do something, Wait What? giving a definition or explanation, and Make It Mine which offers substitution ideas. There’s also a DIY or Buy footnote to help you choose what works best for you.

The book was enjoyable to read and learn from. Definitely a good choice for anyone wanting to get more use out of their sheet pans.

2. All-Time Favorite Sheet Cakes & Slab Pies: Easy to Make, Easy to Serve

Sheet pans have been getting a lot of positive press lately as a great way to make meals, but I confess I don’t normally think of them as a tool for desserts, aside from my sister-in-law‘s recipe for Texas sheet cake. Then I came across this book. I was surprised to think there could be enough cake recipes for an entire cookbook and had never even onsidered doing pies in a sheet pan.

This book was definitely an eye opener. I will start by saying the author notes throughout the book are very informative, important for success, and I don’t recommend skipping them in order to jump straight to the recipes. Scattered throughout the book there’s also a series of tester notes which are definitely helpful.

The book is comprised of six chapters

Classic Sheet Cakes, Mostly Chocolate
Fruit and Nut Sheet Cakes
Coffee Cakes and Cheesecakes
Classic Slab Pies
Chocolate Slab Pies & Other Favorites
Sheet Strudel, Danish, Shortbread & More

This cookbook was a delight t read. I love the authors unabashed love of butter and their insistence on buying the best ingredients you can afford. I truly savored this book, the variety of recipes, and the beautiful photography.

I admit I have never thought of making a cheesecake on a sheet pan. Here, however, the authors list nine different cheesecakes plus three options for crusts.

My personal favorite cake of all time is a carrot cake. I rarely make, or even buy it simply because those slices are so huge and extraordinarily rich. The recipe on page 47 offers a surprising twist with a butter cream, that incorporates both cream cheese and goat cheese. Plus baking a carrot cake in a sheet pan would certainly make it easier to have small bites. After all, let’s face it, no matter how thinly you slice it, a full size cake slice is still a lot. That, of course, presupposes you can stop with one small slice of the sheet pan variety. But I digress.

This was a delightful book to read through and definitely an eye-opening mind shift. I can see bringing a sheet pan dessert the next time I am invited to a social gathering, or making this instead of a traditional cake as a dessert for company.

Decluttering: What Not To Keep

by Mirahabitsdeclutter

Chances are if you've been living in the same place for at least a year you could stand to cut down on the clutter. For many people when one of the biggest goals for the New Year is decluttering. Somehow when it comes to the shift after the holidays a lot of people feel the urge to lighten up. I suspect some of the decluttering drive comes from spending more time at home which causes you to see exactly how much you really have.

Where to start

If you're like me looking at a big pile of stuff is so overwhelming that it can be hard to know where to begin. Without a focal point of some kind, it's easy to get overwhelmed, Then you do something, anything else, in an effort to avoid the brain chaos of having to figure out how to wade through everything. Over the years I've come up with a plan that really works for me. These are my top 12 declutter categories and a great place to get started. Hint: you don't have to do it all at once. You can simply pick one thing per month and when you're done decluttering that category you're done for the month. Taking it one step at a time and having a clear-cut plan makes it super easy to not be overwhelmed. It also gives you a framework and helps you stay on track.

Here are my top 12:

1. Clothes you no longer love

Let's be honest, we all have them. Something in the back of the closet that doesn't fit and you're holding on to it in the hopes that one day... Let it go. If you change size, you deserve to get something new. Or you've got clothes that don't make you feel good when you wear them. I know, it's hard to let go when you've paid good money for it. But I believe you deserve to look fabulous in whatever you wear.

2. Kitchen appliances you haven't used in years (fondu pot I'm looking at you) –

The kitchen is one of the easiest areas to build up clutter. And often, because it's behind a cabinet door, you don't see it until you open the door and everything springs out at you while you're looking for a pot lid. Make your life simpler, just keep what you need, and resist the urge to buy that new tangine dish. Take your kitchen decluttering one step further and download my free Kitchen Cleanout Checklist.

3. Old cell phones

Why do we hang on to these? If you've got one working cell phone chances are you don't need two non-working ones. This is a great opportunity to help someone else. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) is an organization that can refurbish cell phones or responsibly recycle them with the funds going to help victims and survivors of domestic abuse.

4. Old Magazines

If you haven't read them in over a year chances are you're not going to. Even if you have read them, how many magazines do you need cluttering up the house? Two great recycling options for magazines are your local Friends of the Library which sells them for just a few cents or see if an art teacher at your local school can use them for supplies.

5. Chipped mugs and dishware

I know, it's hard to let go of your favorites. But if you're always drinking out of only one spot because otherwise, you're going to cut yourself it's time to find a new favorite mug (from the mugs you already have). Mugs and dishware can be repurposed into super cute plant pots, but otherwise, just let them go.

6. Extra vases

How many vases do you really need? Go through that vase collection clinking around in the basement or the back of the closet and pare it down to just a few. Donate any extras back to your local florist, they'll appreciate the recycling effort and you'll clear out a little space in your home.

7. Orphan socks

I know, how does that happen? Two socks go into the dryer, one sock comes out. Sometimes I swear they must be turning into dryer lint. If you've got a collection of orphan socks and it's been a year or longer, chances are that other sock is never coming back. Since single socks are difficult to donate have some fun and make sock puppets.

8. E-junk

We've all got it. That collection of cords, old power packs that go to who knows what, the wires that you can't identify, and plugs that don't fit anything you currently own. This category also includes old cameras (your cell phone is probably better), and other old e-tech. See Item #3, donate the tangled mess, and get it out of your house.

9. Sniffy candles and soaps you don't like

Just because it was a gift from someone else doesn't mean you need to keep it. Offer a polite thank you and don't allow these things to accumulate in a drawer. Either regift, offer up at a white elephant party or donate to charity.

10. Water bottle clutter

Unless I'm mistaken you only use one water bottle at a time. So why are there 15 of them hanging out in the cabinet under the toaster? Figure out which ones work best for you and give away the rest. Also...resist the urge to buy a new pretty water bottle when they all go on sale in January.

11. Craft clutter

I'm so guilty of this one. Not that I buy a lot of craft supplies, but I have a hard time when it comes to yarn and paper. And if someone's giving it away I'm usually first in line with my hand out. I've learned to limit the amount I have by keeping a specific container for each. If it's going to overflow the container then something needs to go. This works for any craft – sewing, painting, jewelry making, ceramics, whatever it is figure out how much room you want to allocate to your craft, and don't give it any more room than that.

12. Partial containers of shampoo, lotion, etc

I've never been able to figure out how this happens but somehow there's always a bit of clutter when it comes to these items. Be realistic about if you're going to use it or not. If you are, make a concerted effort to use all of it. Otherwise, let it go.

Two final thoughts about decluttering:

It's okay to have empty space in your home. Just because you cleared some space in a closet or drawer does not mean you need to fill it up again. Take some time to live with it just as it is and see if you feel okay living with less.
When donating things you don't need anymore if you're one of those people who cannot drop off at the back of the charity shop without then going around to the front to explore, consider calling a charitable organization in your area to see if they will pick up. Many of them will come to you if there is enough stuff. This might be a good time to reach out to your neighbors and see if they're decluttering too.

For a little more declutter support check out my interview with Heather Aardema where we discuss the psychology and physiology behind our stuff and how to implement decluttering habits with starter tips and thoughtful exercises.

What It Means To Eat Like A Human

by MiraUncategorizedorgan meat, real food, whole food

There is such an overwhelming number of diets out there these days, all claiming to be THE BEST diet that everyone should be following; telling you what foods you should be eating; telling you what to do and when to do it, making it nearly impossible for anyone to really know which diet is actually right for them.

But the bigger issue here, in my opinion, is that none of them seem to be getting to the root of the matter - how we should be eating in order to nourish our bodies.

This begs the question: What are we NOT doing as humans that we should be in order to truly nourish our bodies?

Sure, there are many great conversations these days about what we should be eating, about sourcing high quality seasonal ingredients, pasture-raised meat, and milk from grass-fed cows…

Don’t get me wrong, all of these things are very important!

But there’s another piece of the conversation that seems to be missing—what to do with those raw materials before we put them in our mouths to ensure they’re as safe and nourishing as they can be.

We should be questioning how we feed ourselves and our loved ones... And a very good place to start is to go back to the past.

Now, I’m not saying to go back to exactly how we did things millions of years ago, but we can look at how we approached food in the past (because that’s the diet that literally built the foundation of our bodies and brains) and then formulate it such a way that it applies to today.

How we approached food in the past

Let’s go back 3 or so million years ago when our ancestors were eating only what they could find in their environment. They were designed to get the raw materials they found and process them internally to the best of their ability in order to nourish the bodies and brains that they had.

We’re talking about no technology here whatsoever! They were eating a limited amount of local, seasonal fruits and vegetables—and bugs.

As time passed, they began creating tools for scavenging meat from carcasses that had been killed by another predator - and by doing that, they introduced meat into their diet.

Here’s the best part, and quite possibly one of the most profound moments in our ancestral dietary past, after they got the taste for meat, they started hunting. And let me tell you, there’s a HUGE difference between hunting and scavenging!

Now they were able to have first dibs on whatever part of the animal they wanted to consume. They were able to get the blood and the fat in the organs - and that is where the most nutrient dense bioavailable parts of the animal are. You don’t have to even cook it!

Sure, they were eating the meat too, but it was when the blood and fat in the organs were introduced to our diets that really made the difference because it supported massive body and brain growth, and eventually led to who we are today.

That’s just one example of why stepping back in time is beneficial to understanding our dietary path.

The truth about fats

Society has been telling us that fat is really bad for us for a long time, but the truth is our bodies need fat. Yes, the meaty parts are super yummy, but it’s the fat and the blood that holds the most nutritional value.

Look, I am well aware that the thought of eating organ meats may not sound very appetizing to everyone - but we obviously need to properly nourish our bodies and support ourselves by making sure we are getting the things we need that are the best for us.

Following a healthy, nourishing diet on a regular basis can be hugely transformative.

That’s not to say that if you eat a sugary treat every once in a while that you should be kicked out of the club - but it’s important not to make it a habit to take a cheat day… Instead, have a cheat meal and then get back to your focused and intentional diet.

Let’s talk about how we eat…

First we have our biological nutritional needs, which these days, can really only be met by using technologies that allow us to get nutrients from our environment and transform them into the safest and most nourishing form.

Then we have the other part of eating like a human—we are all emotional eaters.

It’s true! Food is wrapped in everything we are, how we see the world around us, and even how we see ourselves—it’s part of our identity.

Whether it’s family traditions, socioeconomic status, politics, where you live in the world, or what age you are, you convey all of those things to the world every time you take a bite of food.

These things play a very intricate role in how we get our food, how we cook our food, and how we eat our food. You can’t separate these things, you can’t just ignore this emotional side of eating and only eat for your biological nutritional needs. It simply won’t work.

The goal is to get up from the table after finishing your meal and feel better than when you sat down. That’s what real nourishment is all about. Not overstuffed like it’s thanksgiving, not still hungry, just simply satiated and nourished.

And when you really think about it, everything about the meal should have felt nourished. Were there a lot of good conversations around the table? Did everyone sit around for too long?

Everything plays a role in being truly nourished - and if that’s your goal, then health and living your best life will follow.

The Pantry Principle

It is my hope to inspire you to learn about the foods you are eating and making for your family - to learn the basic principles for going to the grocery store and understanding what you’re actually buying.

Never stop learning because it is the foundation behind eating to nourish your body.

Sure, in an ideal world everyone would learn how real, nourishing food is made and make it all from scratch. But even if you don’t learn how to do that - you can learn how to go to the grocery store and buy the foods that you know are genuinely made in a traditional nourishing way.

That's really the key to being immune to flashy advertisements and gimmicks while you walk down the grocery store aisles.

Then you can feel confident knowing that you’re getting the best and most nourishing products to feed yourself and your loved ones, and you’re using your hard earned money to support the food producers that are actually doing their best job.

Healthy Readers Book Club – 2022 Book Review

by Mirareviews, Uncategorizedbook club, Books, review

Happy 2023 - It’s a brand new year and that comes with the profound opportunity to become a brand new you!

What am I looking most forward to this year?

That’s easy! I can’t wait to dive in deep with the Healthy Readers Book Club and all of the amazing books we are going to read this year.

I mean, I just can’t help but reflect on all of the fantastic books we went through in 2022 - there were so many things that really opened my eyes and captivated my interest, so let me share some of the things I liked—and some of the things I didn’t like as much—in the books we covered last year…

There was a stack of them! It was truly an amazing year for the Healthy Reader’s Book Club - we read such an incredible variety of really impressive books.

1. Finding Yourself In The Kitchen by Dana Velden

Starting with Finding Yourself in the Kitchen by Dana Velden. I love how this book started the year out perfectly with its kitchen meditations and information that really makes you think.

Let’s not forget about all of the delicious and good-for-you recipes to choose from!

And believe me there were some really terrific recipes in this book. I have even gone back and made some of them, including the simple weeknight curry, which was explosive in flavor and so easy to make!

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book was that it was a quick and easy read which made it perfect to kick off the year. I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for ways to incorporate more mindfulness into their daily living as well as a few delicious recipes.

2. The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone

Then there was the Food Explorer: The True Adventures of a Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats by Daniel Stone.

This was a seriously transformative book - simply amazing. It reminds us of all the things we take for granted, all the foods that we have that were from other places originally, how they were discovered and shipped back to the United States where farmers were encouraged and taught to grow the, All so that we can stock our pantry with the and now we take them for granted.

Not to mention how the travels and getting the plants back were done during a time when global transport was much more inconvenient and not nearly as easy as it is today… Talk about remarkable things!

Reading about David Fairchild’s adventures, the man who traveled the world to bring us so many wonderful and tasty things was such delight - and so much fun! Isn’t it just the best when you can learn so much from a book and ENJOY it at the same time?

3. Consider The Fork by Bee Wilson

And then of course there was Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson and WOW, another really great book.

This book was AMAZING. We learned so much about technology in the kitchen (which was fascinating to learn the science behind so much of what goes on!), how we eat, and why different cultures eat the way they do. There were also so many interesting little stories, highlights and a plethora of annotations throughout, making it such an exciting and fun book to read.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in food and how our culture came to be…

And again, so many delicious recipes! If you love to read about travel adventures, history, and/or food this is definitely the book for you.

4. The Seven Culinary Wonders of The Word by Jenny Linford

Then we had The Seven Culinary Wonders of the World: A History of Honey, Salt, Chili, Pork, Rice, Cacao, and Tomato by Jenny Linford. Again, more wonderful and delicious recipes - plus truly beautiful illustrations and loads of interesting information.

However, while I really did like this book, I was not so happy with the layout, it was a bit disconcerting.

Let me explain. The recipes were kind of thrown in randomly and I didn’t understand the reasoning behind how they were being inserted. Sure, the pork recipes were in the pork section and so on, but you would literally be reading and then BAM a recipe would be placed right in the middle - so it was just a little strange in my opinion.

But, as I mentioned, there was a lot of really fascinating information about each of these foods plus the really lovely illustration pages that were such a delight to look at - and it was a good book, I just think I personally would have preferred the recipes to be at the end of each section instead of scattered throughout.

5. Waste Uncovering the Global Food Scandal by Tristam Stewart

That leads us to the next book, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal by Tristram Stuart.

Let me just start by saying, this was a REALLY hard book to read.

But I chose this book for the book club because I wanted us to learn more about this topic. For instance, did you know that 40% of the food that is grown in the world ends up being discarded?

I think the most eye opening takeaway from this book is that the vast majority of the waste is not due to consumer habits—although they are encouraged to bear the brunt of responsibility for it. Sure, as consumers we could do better, but there’s a whole lot more going on in the world of food waste than we realize.

And here’s the thing that really gets me - we’re constantly being told that we need to save more, waste less, reduce, reuse, recycle, etc. But as it turns out, there’s a whole raft of waste happening… from where it’s grown to the manufacturing process to the grocery stores - there must be a better way to reduce the waste! And this book certainly has suggestions about things we can do to help.

For anyone who wants to learn more about food waste and see the bigger picture of what’s going on, this is definitely a book you should read.

6. Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry

Up next, Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry. What a great book - but I will note that the most difficult thing about this book was that it took us 2 months to read because it is LOADED with information.

I mean there is A LOT of valuable information, which was a lot to take in. At times it felt like drinking from a firehose to wrap your brain around all of the information, stories, and resources. It’s not a bad thing by any means! Just something to take into consideration.

I will say how appreciative I am about all of the resources Beth put into this book and how mindful she was about everything she was talking about; how she highlighted some of the people who are really making it their mission to help reduce plastic. So inspiring!

By the way, did you know that book covers have plastic in them? I had no idea! But what’s very interesting about this particular book is that they’ve used a paper cover instead and a non-glue binding.

I was so inspired by this book that I actually changed some things in my house based on what I read—and we have decided to definitely incorporate a more plastic-free approach into our lifestyle. This book is now on my resources shelf so I can refer to it over and over as our family works on reducing our plastic habit.

And I must say, out of all the books we read last year, this one had the biggest impact when it came to making lifestyle changes.

7. Eat Like A Human by Dr. Bill Schindler

Now, for my favorite book of the entire year last year, Eat Like a Human: Nourishing Foods and Ancient Ways of Cooking to Revolutionize Your Health by Dr. Bill Schindler.

I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Schindler at a national nutrition conference and was blown away by his talk. Which is what led to my choosing this book for the book club.

How To Eat Like A Human is definitely not a dry, academic tome filled with reams of dusty anthropological data about human development. Instead it is a fascinating journey through our human development wrapped in the adventures and journeys he and his family have been through. It felt very relatable. Plus the book is chock full of recipes—we’re talking upwards of 70 different recipes! Which is not something I was expecting in this kind of a book.

Dr. Schindler has an engaging way of laying out how we eat, how we need to eat, and some of the critical things that are missing in our modern-day diet.

AND how we can make the healthy changes that are necessary for living our best life!

This was really an outstanding book, so well written, filled with interesting information—and that’s why this was my favorite book of all the great books we read last year.

8. Pandora’s Lunchbox, How Processed Food Took Over The American Meal by Melanie Warner

After Eat Like a Human we read Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal by Melanie Warner, which is a very compelling book sharing about all the different ways our food system gets co-opted by the various things that food producers do to them.

This book is filled with a lot of industry background. I found it intriguing to learn how our food is modified. This in turn helps drive home the point that sometimes our food is changed for the benefit of the producer and it does not necessarily represent such a great choice for the consumer. .

I know what you may be thinking, “Something like this sounds dry and boring to read,” but I assure you, this was not a dry read whatsoever—it was an engaging read and I learned a few new things.

9. Thanks a Thousand, a Gratitude Journey by A. J. Jacobs

Next we read Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey by A.J. Jacobs, which is another super sweet book.

I just love the way A.J. Jacobs writes, I think I’ve actually read all of his books!

For this book, he had a thought come to him one day about what it would be like to thank a thousand people who were somehow connected to his morning cup of coffee.

Now this is truly amazing, I mean just think about all of the people involved: the lid manufacturer, the cup sleeve manufacturer, the growers, the harvesters, the roasters, and so on. It becomes an enormous chain of people… and most of the time, that whole process tends to go unnoticed in our everyday life.

It was thought-provoking to read about his process in identifying the people connected with his project. Then to read about the journeys he went on to interact with all of those people to simply say thank you.

This story was very moving, and actually helped me to deepen my own gratitude practice, and for that, I am appreciative. It’s a sweet book and a quick read, I highly recommend it.

10. Cooked by Michael Pollan

The last book of 2022 was Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan.

FIrst of all, I really like Michael Pollan and I enjoy his books a lot. He’s such a talented writer, his use of language is just phenomenal!

This book is the story of the incredible journey that he went on to learn about the different elements, and finding a food that represented that element, and then diving into it. The entire thing was so very enjoyable. I think you’ll agree that he is a very amusing writer - in addition to the wonderful information he shares, this book is loaded with laughs!

And the way he presents the information and helps you think about it in a way that you can fully absorb it and learn from it is astounding.

I can honestly say that this was the perfect book to end the year with because it lined us up to think about the way we interact with our food and all of the different elements involved.

I personally also really enjoyed all of the adventures that Michael took us on and all of the hidden gems during the guided Healthy Readers Book Club process. Things like video interviews with various people or different aspects of the science behind what he was talking about. If you’re looking to read about foodie adventures this is definitely a good book to choose.

All-in-all we had 10 AMAZING books last year…

And we have 10 more coming in the brand new year ahead of us!

I hope you’ll join us on this exciting and informative reading adventure this year, become a member of the Healthy Readers Book Club and enjoy the guided process to get to a new level—a deeper dimension—of reading a book and not only enjoying it, but learning from it too.

And be sure to check out some (or all) of these incredible books I’ve mentioned to begin the transformative process of understanding the principles of healthy living and eating!

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