Find the right cookbook for me!

[TheMasterSherpa]

Hello all. New to the community, and I'm just gonna spill my guts a little bit here.

So I'm a 25 year old guy. To just put everything out there initially - I was abused sexually by a teacher/coach in high school for 3 years. I lived with this not telling anyone for about a decade. The recent news stories (Penn State, etc) brought back a lot of old problems, and I have finally started to get help in dealing with stuff from the past for the past 4 or 5 months.

So what does this have to do with cooking? Well, you have to understand, I was always the jock/weightlifting/running type (ran 3 half-marathons in high school). However, after the abuse that took place, well, I just kind of stopped, and have been out of shape for years. I'm not in terrible shape, but I'm about 5'11, 220, and I want to get back down to like 175 or so eventually, in running shape.

I have NEVER really cooked much. As for food preferences, I gotta admit, I like junk food. Pizza, tacos, chili, etc etc. I typically don't meet a meal I don't like. But in my therapy, we have really talked about how a healthy diet can go a long way. In the meantime, I have started to cook (like REALLY simple stuff - easy pasta dishes, sauteeing veggies, chicken, a few things on the grill, etc) and I have been REALLY loving it. So I wanna try to really take advantage of this, and start to learn how to cook well while also helping myself get back in shape.

So with all that in mind (and sorry for the LONG post!), I was hoping for someone to recommend a cookbook for me! Ideally the cookbook will be:

- Pretty healthy, able to lose weight with the recipes
- Good for beginners, not TOO complicated, but also requires some work
- Tasty!
- Good for a guy in his 20's

Thanks y'all!

 

[Hoot]

Howdy!
Welcome to D.C.!
I would recommend the Joy of Cooking. You will likely to be able to find a used copy in thrift stores, or you can go to your local bookseller. Amazon has it too.
Good luck and keep in mind, this place (D.C.) is an excellent resource for information.

 

[Dawgluver]

Howdy!
Welcome to D.C.!
I would recommend the Joy of Cooking. You will likely to be able to find a used copy in thrift stores, or you can go to your local bookseller. Amazon has it too.
Good luck and keep in mind, this place (D.C.) is an excellent resource for information.

+1

I would also recommend the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Welcome to DC! So sorry for your awful past experience.

 

[chopper]

I like Better Homes and Gardens cookbook too. But also hang out here and you will find lots of great recipes to cut and paste. You will just have to pick and choose to get the healthy ones.

 

[Rocklobster]

I have found that the Culinary Arts Cookbooks are very good for beginners. You see them at most used bookstores and second hand shops, yard sales etc. They are loaded with hundreds of recipes with easily accesible ingredients. There are lots of big coloured pictures to get your creative juices flowing. Not to mention your mouth watering. You can usually grab one for a couple of bucks.....

 

[CWS4322]

Welcome to DC. Joy of Cooking is a great cookbook. Better Homes and Garden is another, Betty Crocker. There are lots of great recipes on-line as well. And YouTube videos to help you learn techniques. Cut back on sugar/sodas/sugar beverages, watch your bread consumption, eat things that are in season (and local, if you can), and make sure your portion sizes aren't super-sized.

 

[CraigC]

Welcome to DC! I really can't help you with that type of cookbook. However, I will say that if you really get into cooking, you will find that cookbooks are like "Lays" potato chips, nobody can eat just one!

 

[Steve Kroll]

- Pretty healthy, able to lose weight with the recipes
- Good for beginners, not TOO complicated, but also requires some work
- Tasty!
- Good for a guy in his 20's

I recommend this one:
Amazon.com: The New American Plate Cookbook: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy Life (9780520242340): American Institute for Cancer Research: Books

Forget the "cancer research" part of the title. It's just a cook book of healthy recipes. I think it meets all of your criteria, and I've personally found the recipes to be pretty tasty - and that's really the bottom line. If the food isn't good, you're not going to want to stick with it.

 

[DaveSoMD]

Welcome to DC. ...... Cut back on sugar/sodas/sugar beverages, watch your bread consumption, eat things that are in season (and local, if you can), and make sure your portion sizes aren't super-sized.

+1

I'd have to say these are the things that did me the most good....I'm down to 220 and aside from walking every day this is how I did it. Portion size having the biggest impact. Oh, and drink LOTS of water and eat breakfast!! Aside from giving up soda / sugary drinks I have not given up anything that I like or changed how I cook. Everything in moderation.

 

[justplainbill]

"Fannie Farmer' and 'Good Housekeeping'
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Housekee...ywords=good+housekeeping+illustrated+cookbook

 

[luckytrim]

quick and easy

Have a look at this one.............

 

[luckytrim]

Fannie Farmer

......and this was recommended ....................

 

[justplainbill]

Recently bought a 47 year old 11th edition Fannie Farmer for $27 (ppd) from megoibooks. I was relieved that it arrived in very good condition.
The 1915 PDF addition, however, has the advantage of being keyword searchable.

 

[nono407]

Soup is the best way, easier and a lot of fluids

 

[danbuter]

Holy TMI!

In any case, for a beginner, I recommend the new edition of How to Cook Everything: The Basics by Mark Bittman. Lots of pics and recipes for most standard home meals.

 

[Dawgluver]

Holy TMI!

In any case, for a beginner, I recommend the new edition of How to Cook Everything: The Basics by Mark Bittman. Lots of pics and recipes for most standard home meals.

+1

There's also a great app for it.

 

[Rocklobster]

Recently bought a 47 year old 11th edition Fannie Farmer for $27 (ppd) from megoibooks. I was relieved that it arrived in very good condition.
The 1915 PDF addition, however, has the advantage of being keyword searchable.

I found one at a used book sale a while back and it had a bunch of newspaper clippings from the 60's in it. I recognized a few names in it. They ended up being relatives of my mother's friend. I gave her the clippings and she passed them on to the grand kids, who are now adults themselves. It was cool.

 

[Kitchen Barbarian]

The Alton Brown cookbooks - "I'm just here for the Food" and "I'm just here for more food"

Also you can find every single episode of the show on YouTube.