101 Soups, Salads & Sandwiches: Review & Giveaway

New Gooseberry Patch Cookbook… Eeek!

Dear Reader,

As I mentioned on Facebook earlier today, I have been havin’ a heck of a time getting all my ducks in a row to be able to sit down a blog…

Does anyone else feel like the world just went from 0-60 now that the holidays are over?!?

Holy Moley!

I have TONS to tell you and so many fabulous recipes I am dying to tell you all about, but first a confession…

I have been keeping something from you…

Something yummy…

A while back my friends at Gooseberry Patch sent me their new  101 Soups, Salads & Sandwiches (to be released on Jan 6 – or you can get the Kindle Version today!).

Truth be told, I have been wanting to dig in and try some recipes in it ever since I saw all the yummy things that my pal Leah made from it a few weeks ago.

New Year, Eat Better

I finally found time to dig into it right around the time the new year hit with all it’s healthy intentions and efforts to eat better… and, I have to tell you this cookbook review has perhaps been one of my favorites. It sparked my creativity and while it is no means a “diet” cookbook, it gave me plenty of options to make some healthy choices– which I so appreciated.

Simmering Soups

This book has a whole chapter dedicated to soups… Surprise Bean Soup, Chicken Noodle Gumbo, Green Pepper Soup, Cream of Zucchini Soup, Pioneer Beef Stew, Chicken Corn Chowder, Tomato Ravioli Soup… just to name a few…

I so love soups…

And soups are an easy way to get in tons of veggies and a good amount of protein. Besides, who doesn’t love to be warmed up with a hot bowl of soup?

We decided to go for the BBQ Sloppy Joe Soup on a hunch that it might be a little like one of our favorite soups… Texas Ranch Soup.

It was chock-full of veggies and the BBQ sauce gave it a zing that the family loved. Further more, it was a cinch to throw together. We will definitely be adding this to our growing soup list… especially for the winter months.

Sensational Salads

As a recent salad convert, I really appreciated this chapter. From the Skillet Tossed Corn Salad to the Sunny Quinoa Salad to the White Bean and Tomato Salad, I am excited to broaden the horizon of my taste buds in this formerly neglected area of my life.

For our test recipe, I pulled out all the stops and went for the Tarragon Steak Dinner Salad.

This recipe gets a 20 on a 5 point scale.

LOVED it sooo much!

Total home run.

And, the funny thing is that it has so many flavors that I don’t imagine together and some I don’t particularly swoon over on their own…

Yet this salad is the embodiment of something being more than the sum of its parts… You won’t even realize you are eating salad.

Must. Try. Period. (Recipe coming soon).

Satisfying Sandwiches

Next up is the sandwich chapter… options like Grilled Chicken & Zucchini Wraps, The Ultimate Shrimp Sandwich, Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, Toasted Chicken Salad Bagels, Triple Take Grilled Cheese, Chicken Tacos… I could go on and on…

We opted for the Honey Barbecued Pork for two reasons…

1. It was a super easy Crock Pot recipe- 4 ingredients.

2. The recipe called for Pork Tenderloin which is not only one of  the family’s absolute favorite sources of protein, it also has less calories and fat than a chicken breast.

The verdict?

We loved it and Puddie wanted to marry it 😉

He is still going on about it and my left-over snob says it is even better the next day… Wife Score!

Terrific Toppings

The total hidden gem of this book is the last chapter. I adore it! It has tons of recipes for those special somethings that rarely make it into cookbooks because they don’t fit the traditional categories. Recipes like: Bacon-Onion Croutons, Zesty Pita Chips, Mom’s Hot Bacon Dressing, Spicy Chili Crackers, Lemony Sage Mayo and the recipe that is worth the price of the book… ten fold…

I give to you… Creamy Basil Salad Dressing… (Recipe coming soon)

And, dude… it is lowfat… not that you can tell…

Puddie: “Did you make that salad dressing?”

Me: “Yep, why- didn’t you like it?”

Puddie: “Like it?! I want to drink it out of the jar!”

Ahem… it is THAT good.

Cookbook Giveaway

Now that I have teased you with all these amazing recipes (which I will be sharing over the next few days), I feel a little guilty, so why don’t we just give away a copy of this fabulous cookbook (Thanks GP!)?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Gooseberry Patch provided me the cookbooks to review and giveaway. Amazon links are affiliate links as always.