A couple of weeks ago I attended Food Blog Forum in Asheville, NC. What an amazing experience. I’m still digesting all that I learned. So many amazing people too! I need to do a post just about this foodie conference, but I got sidetracked with Lisa Leake’s new cookbook, “100 Days of Real Food: How We Did It, What We Learned, and 100 Easy, Wholesome Recipes Your Family Will Love.” It’s a long title, I know, but it’s all true. Lisa is the creator of the wildly popular (although new to me!) blog, 100 Days of Real Food where she chronicles her families’ change from eating processed foods to only eating whole food, aka real food.
I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa at Food Blog Forum and talked to her about how she does it. Specifically, I wanted to know how to make a cake with “real food.” (You know I love my cakes.) Her reply was simple, use whole wheat flour. Boom! We also talked about using natural food dyes, etc. I’ve tried them without success, but I’m going to give that another shot now that I’m more informed about real foods.
So, Lisa and her family are lovely and I started perusing her blog. There are so many great posts here, you have to check it out. But, then I received her cookbook and just got caught up in how wonderful it truly is. I’ve been reading it for over a week.
You see, the first 123 pages are what I call a book in a book. This is where you find answers to questions like:
- What is real food?
- Why should I care about eating real food?
- What is whole grain?
- What’s the problem with sugar?
- Is organic best?
- What are GMOss?
I could go on. Lisa shares what type of milk to buy, what oils to use, and there’s information about different types of flour. And, it’s written in a voice as if you and your friend are sitting down at the kitchen table and she’s sharing all that’s she’s learned about food. Like I might be doing in the future!
One of the books that is referenced a lot is, Michael Pollan’s, “In Defense of Food.”
I know this is a book I should have read by now. I know it will be life changing. I know, I know. Now, I’m going to seek this book of food knowledge out and finally read it.
But, back to Lisa’s real food cookbook. I’ve made several of the recipes now and just love them all. So do my kids! Our favorite are her pumpkin muffins. These are my kid’s new favorite item to request, and they are becoming a snack and lunchbox staple.
Another gem from the book is the whole-wheat cinnamon raisin quick bread. I was skeptical about this, but this loaf of bread is moist, flavorful, and such a great snack or breakfast. I’ve made several of these loaves and they get devoured each time. Check out the recipe below.
100 Days of Real Food has been on my kitchen counter since the day it arrived. Every time I try to put it away, I end up pulling it out again to either read more information about real foods, labeling, how to cook with oil, etc. OR I’m taking it out to use one of the recipes from section 2.
If you are a fan of Weelicious Lunches Cookbook like I am, this book has a similar tone and easy to make recipes. The authors even appear together in a video making Lisa’s pumpkin muffins. Who knew?
This is going to make some great Christmas presents this year. Did I say Christmas in September? OK, I’ll cut out now.
Whole Wheat Cinnamon-Raisin Quick Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup 1 stick butter, melted
- 1-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. Grease a loaf pan with butter and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Using a fork, mix in the eggs, applesauce, melted butter, and syrup until well combined, taking care not to overmix. Gently fold in the raisins.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes.
Here are links to the books mentioned in this post:
Disclosure: I received a review copy of 100 Days of Real Food. Affiliate links are used in this post, so if you make a purchase from one of the links, I will get a tiny tiny commission. Thank you!
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ABOUT ALICIA: Alicia is the founder of Balancing Motherhood.com. Last year, she managed to stay sane while completing an MBA, working full-time, blogging, and still baking amazing birthday cakes — all while raising a young family at home.
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