I’ll be the first to admit I’m cookbook obsessed. A cookbook hoarder? Not quite. I’m not buried in them yet, but if you don’t hear from me for a while…you may know why.
So when you have this many cookbooks, it takes a really special something to make one stand out as one that’ll be front and center in your kitchen, to be used over and over again, so much that the pages start to wear and there are food marks all over your favorite recipe pages. And that, my friends, is definitely going to be the case with Cassy Joy Garcia’s Fed & Fit: a 28-day food & fitness plan to jump-start your life with over 175 squeaky-clean paleo recipes!
First off, I love Cassy’s energy. It’s dangerously contagious (in a totally good way!), and her positive vibes really come through in this book. Don’t believe me? Just check out her adorable cookbook trailer. I’m health & nutrition coach, and nutritionist-to-be, and I know how freaking boring reading about nutrition and healthy eating can be, if put the wrong way. It’s a skill to talk about digestion, sleep and hydration, and the slightly less glamorous (but best) ways to get yourself healthy in a way that’s actually intriguing, but Cassy does it, and does it extremely well!
I absolutely love how Cassy included a chapter each on Mindset, Sleep + Hydration, Food and Fitness, as part of her 28-day Fed & Fit Project. As practitioners, we start to see patterns of what works best for our clients, and Cassy has summed this up perfectly with these four pillars. Most people overlook the importance of getting adequate sleep and hydration in feeling your best, and achieving your best health, and even weight loss. Cassy not only explains why these are so important, but gives you a fun little formula to figure out how much YOU need to feel your best, which is the most important part of any program to get healthy! Oh, and if you’re a home workout lover, looking for a new workout plan or a way to switch up your workout routine, Cassy’s got that covered for you too, with some help from our friend Juli Bauer!
But let’s get to the most important part of the cookbook…the food, duh! The recipes and photos? Drooling. On freaking point. Seriously though. My favorite thing to do when I get a new cookbook is to go through the entire thing and dog-ear all the recipe pages that I want to try immediately. Um…let’s just say almost the entire book was dog eared, oops! The hardest thing was deciding what to try first! These are the ones I started with…
Sausage & Tomato Frittata
Tuscan Chicken Frittata
The Panang Curry My Husband Loves
Loaded Cauliflower Mac & Cheese
Whole Brussels Sprouts Bake
Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower (below!)
If you’re a newer cook, Cassy’s got your basics covered, from roasted vegetables to perfectly baked chicken breast, to a whole bunch of kick-butt sauces to spice up your life (and food). And if you’re a seasoned food lover/cook, get ready. Because the flavor combinations in Cassy’s creative and freaking delicious recipes will blow your socks off, and soon become staples in your kitchen that you make again and again. EAch of the recipes I made seemed so simple, but totally exploded with flavor! Which is just my kind of cooking (and eating)!
I also love that Cassy didn’t include any super treat-like recipes in her book, and only used fruit as a sweetener in the entire thing. Don’t get me wrong – treats are great, and they have a time and place to enjoy them as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. But in my everyday life? I don’t eat desserts that often (well, other than dark chocolate), because I feel better when I’m not eating them all the time. Birthdays? Bring on the (gluten-free) cake. Holidays? For sure. Every dang day? No way. When you get to know your body and really listen to what makes you feel your best, you’ll realize that a eating bunch of sugary sweets all the time (or even just some every day) is not the best recipe for feeling your best. But don’t worry. All you sweets lovers, Cassy still has some great fruit-sweetened treats for ya in there too!
Want some more previews of the recipes you’ll find in the book? Well, okay…but you might want a bib or something. You know, for the drool factor. Just sayin’.
Plantain Protein Pancakes with Salted Raspberry Jam
BBQ Cobb Chicken Salad with Creamy Jalapeno Ranch
Barbacoa with Jimaca Tortilas
Sonoma Chicken Salad
The Panang Curry My Husband Loves
Loaded Sweet Potatoes: Carnitas Street Taco
Roasted Strawberry Pops
Fudgesicles!
Amazing, am I right?? So, for starters? Make this frittata. And then go make the Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower. You KNOW my feelings on anything and everything with ranch dressing and buffalo sauce. But baked together? Why had I not thought of this before? And then the Panang Curry. WOAH, so freaking good! And then (of course) go pre-order the book because it comes out Tuesday, August 16th and you’ll want to get your hands on it the second it comes out! Just sayin’.
- 1 lb bulk breakfast sausage or ground pork*
- 1 dozen large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 or 4 medium tomatoes, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
- 1 ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a large ovenproof sauté pan over medium heat, brown the sausage until crispy, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain off the excess grease, then pour the eggs over the sausage and stir together over medium heat until the eggs start to set, about 4 minutes.
- Lay the tomato slices evenly over the top of the eggs. Sprinkle the tomatoes with the fennel seeds, salt, and pepper.
- Transfer the frittata to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until the middle doesn’t jiggle when the pan is shaken. Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve warm.
**Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to 4 days. To reheat, either place the frittata in a preheated 350 F oven for 20 minutes, microwave for about 2 minutes, or heat it up on the stovetop in a frying pan over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
What are you waiting for, silly?
Go check out Cassy Joy Garcia’s Fed & Fit: a 28-day food & fitness plan to jump-start your life with over 175 squeaky-clean paleo recipes! And check out more from Cassy on her blog at Fed & Fit!
