Living the Pantry Lifestyle - More cookbook suggestions

I've had requests off and on for further cookbook suggestions for from-scratch cooking.  So today is a good time to share some favorites that help one either learn to cook or to cook from the pantry.  Some of the titles I've mentioned before while others are (I think) new to the blog.

I have to include More-with-Less cookbook with any conversation about cooking from scratch.  My original copy had all kinds of markings in it I had written through the years.

I had to replace it with a new copy a few years ago and its' pristine condition looks odd.  If I had it to do over again, I would have spent a little more and have bought the newer spiral edition so it lays flat when I use it.  This is the basic cookbook for hundreds of recipes using healthy, inexpensive, from-scratch ingredients.

Once again, Karey Swan's Hearth & Home was an essential source of from-scratch cooking recipes in my kitchen and I still return to it off and on.  It has a very old fashioned look to it and it is full of her ponderings about cooking, homeschooling, etc.  Which add to the charm and the recipes are excellent.  This was especially helpful when I belonged to a food co-op.

I used to take it off the shelf and just read through it for ideas when we were still homeschooling.  The recipes are excellent, too.

Melissa Norris' The Made from Scratch Life is not really a cookbook, although it has recipes.  The subtitle is: Simple Ways to Create a Natural Home.  It is inexpensive and has lots of great ideas.  I don't live on a homestead but found it very useful.

I keep it in the red wire basket in the kitchen to read off and on.  It may be a small-ish book but it is loaded with great ideas for people wanting a more natural, healthy lifestyle.

The Essential Amish Cookbook is Lovina Eicher's first cookbook that she wrote alone and it is truly worth having in a from-scratch kitchen.   This book is full of delicious recipes from her Amish kitchen as well as gorgeous photos.

This cookbook resides in my red wire basket of "most used cookbooks" at the moment.  It is one of those cookbooks that I can pick up for a quick recipe idea with what I have in the pantry and then get lost in the beautiful (peaceful) photos.

 

All of the Pioneer Woman books are full of from-scratch recipes but what makes them useful for the new cook... or teaching your kids to cook... are the step-by-step photographs.  She is one of those nice people you would love for a friend and it comes through her books and TV shows.

I especially loved her first and her last books... The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl and The Pioneer Woman Cooks:  Come and Get It!: Simple Scrumptious Recipes for Crazy Busy Lives... but all of them are good.

 

Two colorful from-scratch books I like that have to do with the family cooking together and teaching kids to cook are Williams-Sonoma Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen and The River Cottage Family Cookbook.

I think the Williams-Sonoma book is probably better for the American family and as I was looking through it again, I decided to keep it out to try a couple of recipes I'd forgotten about.  This book is a delight to read as well as a good source of recipes.

However, if you are familiar with any of the River Cottage books, you will know how good they are and how much information they contain.  Their books contain more British recipes (obviously) but there is enough information and plenty of recipes to make it worth keeping in your kitchen library as it is in mine.

The last book I would suggest from my collection is Homestead Kitchen by Eve and Eivin Kilcher from Alaska the Last Frontier.  I'd say it is for those cooks who have more intermediate skills and the readers who will get the most from this book are those who have access to fresh seafood and venison.

However, for those of us who do not hunt or fish... there are still plenty of healthy recipes.  It is definitely a must have book for fans of the show.

A magazine that offers great from-scratch recipes is Taste of Home.  I also read an issue of the new The Pioneer Woman magazine recently and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mentioned in this Blog Post
More with Less cookbook... here.
Hearth & Home... here. (Third party)
The Made from Scratch Life... here.
The Essential Amish Cookbook... here.
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl... here.
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It!... here.
Williams-Sonoma Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen... here. (Third party)
The River Cottage Family Cookbook... here. (Third party)
Homestead Kitchen... here. (Third party)

Disclaimer:  Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

Image:  Cookbooks and Apples: allposters.com