Category: List

8 Essential Cookbooks for Busy People

You’re busy.

We’re all busy.

And it’s tough to find the time to cook. Personally, the last thing I feel like doing after coming home from work is making a big dinner–but I do want to eat! And this often leads to takeout or convenience meals that probably aren’t that healthy….

(They’re probably not even that tasty to be perfectly honest.)

Wouldn’t it be great if you could cook a delicious dinner AND still have time left to enjoy the rest of your evening?

I’ve tested out recipes from multiple cookbooks in search of quick and healthy recipes that can fit into any lifestyle. Want to stop letting your busy schedule get in the way of cooking? Here are 8 must-have cookbooks for multiple healthy diets.

The Easy 5-Ingredient Ketogenic Diet Cookbook: Low-Carb, High-Fat Recipes for Busy People on the Keto Diet by Jen Fisch

You’ve probably heard the keto diet is all the rage right now. Whether you’re already eating a low-fat, high-carb diet or you’re interested in trying it out, this cookbook is an excellent place to start.

I’ve tried the keto diet before, but I didn’t last long. It seemed too difficult and expensive to me. When I wanted to give it another shot this year I spent hours researching the internet. Nothing on the keto diet was consistent!

That’s why I recommend this essential cookbook for easy healthy eating. The recipes I tried were all easy to execute and full of simple ingredients–meaning going keto doesn’t have to break the bank after all.

One Pan & Done: Hassle-Free Meals from the Oven to Your Table by Molly Gilbert

Let’s face it. Cooking means cleaning up dishes…and that’s a chore most of us can’t stand doing. The less dishes, the better!

I’m constantly on the outlook for recipes that only need one dish. One-pan recipes are my personal favorite because they’re awesome for lazy, healthy home-cooking. Why? All you have to do is prep the food and wait while it transforms into a delicious meal inside your oven.

The Healthy Meal Prep Cookbook: Easy and Wholesome Meals to Cook, Prep, Grab, and Go by Toby Amidor

In a perfect world, we’d be able to prepare dinner every night. But we all have different schedules. Work, family, and other commitments seem to come first. If you know you don’t have the time or energy to fix food everyday, this is for you.

Meal prep recipes are the perfect meals on the go. This cookbook is jam-packed with useful meal prep advice. It includes: over 100 recipes for any meal, weekly grocery shopping lists, and instructions for freezing and reheating your prepared meals.

Those instructions turned out to be even more valuable than I thought. My first meal prep ended up with freezer burn and I spent forever microwaving a frozen dish…

Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck (Thug Kitchen Cookbooks) by Thug Kitchen

The vegan Thug Kitchen cookbook hit the #1 spot in the New York Times Bestsellers back in 2014–and it continues to be wildly successful today.

This cookbook is accessible to everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner cook or a pro in the kitchen. Based on the popular Thug Kitchen blog, you’ll find mouth-watering recipes for the plant-based diet inside the cookbook. Even if you’re not vegan.

The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor by Gina Homolka

If you follow food blogs at all, you’ve probably come across Skinnytaste. If you haven’t? Prepare to fall in love with this cookbook.

I’ve tried tons of recipes from her cookbook and not a single dish has been disappointing. Gina takes her favorite meals and “lightens” them up to make them healthier–but you’d never know it from the flavor.

She even has a recipe for chocolate brownies made from black beans. I was skeptical, but they were rich and yummy…with no hint of beans! My coworkers gobbled them up and were in disbelief when I confessed the primary ingredient was beans.

Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day by Leanne Brown

Leanne Brown crafted this cookbook for people on a strict food budget. Namely, those who have to survive on food stamps for $4 per day. However, the book is a must-have for healthy food in ANY kitchen.

Whether you’re a college student, young adult, or feeding a family on a tight budget–this book will change your view on how to prepare healthy, flavorful meals. Even better? For every book purchased, one gets donated to a family in need.

The Simply Vegan Cookbook: Easy, Healthy, Fun, and Filling Plant-Based Recipes Anyone Can Cook by Dustin Harder

Check out this excellent starter cookbook. It’s for both the new vegan and the longtime vegan who is looking to make a simple recipe. In fact, you don’t even need to be a vegan to enjoy the benefits of adding in a plant-based meal into your rotation.

Me? I’m not a vegan. But I do like to get extra veggies into my diet (and buying veggies can save a little money!) This simple vegan cookbook can be enjoyed by everyone.

The Whole30 Fast & Easy Cookbook: 150 Simply Delicious Everyday Recipes for Your Whole30 by Melissa Hartwig

Look no further for healthy food recipes that you can get on the dinner table fast. Nearly all 150 recipes in this cookbook can be made in less than 30 minutes. The Whole30 diet can be time-consuming, which is why Melissa Hartwig set out to create this recipe guide. She made recipes where the ingredients are easy to find and quick to make.

May 14, 2018
7 Books to Read After College Graduation

Photo by Juan Ramos

Get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions.

You see, once you wrap up that last round of finals this jumble of conflicting emotions starts to sneak up on you.

It begins with a feeling of joy.

There’s a sense of pride from everything you accomplished.

Relief that the frenzy of the last month is winding down.

Then it hits you. Suddenly, college graduation starts to feel bittersweet. After all, you’ve just spent the last four years surrounded by a close group of friends and professors to guide you along the way.

Now what?

Maybe there’s still a summer internship to wrap up or an extensive job search to begin. Either way, the transition from college into the real world can feel pretty overwhelming at times. Whether you’re a recent graduate yourself or know somebody trying to figure it all out, here are 7 must-read books for college grads in 2018.

Photo by Jessica Ruscello

7 Best Books for Recent College Graduates in 2018

In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It by Lauren Graham

This brand new release from New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Graham, offers life lessons for new graduates on transitioning to adulthood, chasing your dreams, and the significance of what it means to live in the present.

The beloved actress from Gilmore Girls gave a commencement speech at a high school graduation in her hometown; she expanded her well-received speech into this book. It makes a terrific graduation gift, as the short and sweet read makes it easy to digest the advice inside.

“Perform every job as if you’re being well paid, as someone who probably wasn’t paying me well once told me. Which is to say: why not treat yourself now as the success you dream of becoming?”–Lauren Graham

Adulthood for Beginners: All the Life Secrets Nobody Bothered to Tell You by Andy Boyle

This entertaining life-survival guide is jam-packed with quick, humorous tips to help you get through the awkward period of first becoming an adult.

Comedian Andy Boyle writes in a conversational tone that’s fun and easy for readers to understand. After picking up this book on a whim, I discovered it was surprisingly relatable. It felt like the perfect self-help style for people who normally avoid a traditional book on self-improvement.

Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown

Kelly Williams Brown narrates this light-hearted blueprint on navigating the adult word as a 20-something.

At first glance, a lot of the advice in here might seem like common sense. However, it turned out to be full of useful reminders like how to be taken seriously at work and what to check for when you’re renting an apartment.

Overall, it’s an amusing read for graduates who are still in the process of figuring out how to do things alone.

“A big part of being a well-adjusted person is accepting that you can’t be good at everything.”–Kelly Williams Brown

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

This wildly popular book has been on the list of best sellers since it was released nearly 5 years ago.

The author’s bold, irreverent writing style has made the book fall into two categories: you either love it or hate it. (Note: if you can’t stand swearing, I’d recommend skipping this one)

It’s less of an adulthood guide and more about how to create the life you want–whether that’s making a certain level of income or just pursuing your dreams.

The Useful Book: 201 Life Skills They Used to Teach in Home Ec and Shop by David Bowers

David Bowers wrote the crash course in over 200 life skills (to help college grads get through adulting).

This modern guide features DIY repairs on everything from your kitchen to your car–including tips on how to boil an egg, how to fix your plumbing problems, and how to make your bed. It’s a little bit of everything for the person moving into their first apartment or home.

Do we really need a book on how long to boil an egg? Judging from the number of times I’ve searched for that on Google over the last few years, most of today’s graduating class probably doesn’t know the answer to that question either.

The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters by Adam Smiley Poswolsky

Written with loads of actionable advice, this career guide is a must-read for today’s 20-something who is in pursuit of a truly meaningful career. The author’s writing style is both motivating and inspirational—without crossing the line into cliches.

Lean In for Graduates: With New Chapters by Experts, Including Find Your First Job, Negotiate Your Salary, and Own Who You Are by Sheryl Sandberg

College teaches you a ton. But one thing it misses out on? Teaching graduates how to find their first job in the real world. It can be a terrifying experience.

Sheryl Sandberg authored this groundbreaking guidebook for women on navigating the journey into a career; it’s loaded with advice that breaks down every step of the job hunt. You’ll find out how to negotiate a salary, write a resume, and what to say during a job interview.

May 7, 2018
5 Powerful Books to Read for Overcoming Stress and Anxiety

Have you ever noticed your heart racing?

Or experienced a sleepless night?

Maybe you’re distracted by worries about a major project that’s coming up at school or work.

People with anxiety feel like this 24/7. It’s a tough topic to discuss, but statistics show that anxiety is the most common form of mental illness in the US. Nearly 20% of the popular suffers from anxiety–and it’s a growing issue facing college students.

Even if you don’t experience some form of anxiety yourself, chances are you know a loved one who does.

Fortunately, there are many approaches to treatment. You don’t have to enter therapy if you want to learn how to overcome stress and anxiety.

Here are 5 great books to check out first:

Badass Ways to End Anxiety & Stop Panic Attacks by Geert Verschaeve

Have you ever been offered advice on how to treat anxiety?

Often you’ll hear people suggest breathing techniques, prescription medicines, and learning mindfulness. These might help the average person calm down, but for someone with anxiety, treatment becomes more complex.

Readers have described this book as life-changing. The author spent nearly 15 years dealing with the crippling effects of intense anxiety and panic attacks. In this time, he learned the best approach for ending anxiety was a mix of science and retraining your brain with techniques.

If you want practical advice full of compelling examples, you’ll enjoy this read. Verschaeve draws you into his story in a way that feels like he’s speaking directly to you.

Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind by Jennifer Shannon, LFMT

Looking for a quick read? You’ll probably love this book. It takes the psychology-based ideas of CBT and breaks down technical terms into a guide that’s easy to understand. You’ll be able to empathize with others who do experience constant worrying, even if you don’t deal with it yourself.

Written by a psychotherapist, this book offers a humorous outlook on easing anxiety with cognitive behavior therapy (or CBT). Jennifer Shannon provides exercises and fun illustrations to help you challenge the thoughts that make you anxious. In fact, you might discover how “the monkey mind” affects you more often than you realized.

The Art of Fear: Why Conquering Fear Won’t Work and What To Do Instead by Kristen Ulmer

This book is less focused on anxiety as a mental illness and more on the emotions of fear–something we ALL deal with at some point in our lives. Kristen Ulmer was once known as one of the best extreme skiers in the world for over a decade. She writes from the perspective of performing incredibly dangerous feats…daily! Extreme athletes seem superhuman when you watch them execute crazy tricks, so it’s really interesting to read about fear from Kristen’s point of view.

She explores a mindfulness tool called “Shift” to teach you how to embrace fear and transform your relationship with the feeling. It’s a fresh way to look at how accepting fear can take you places in life you never imagined.

My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind by Scott Stossel

If you’re looking for straight-up advice, this isn’t the book for you. However, I wanted to include it for those of you who have friends or family who are trying to figure out how to overcome anxiety.

This bestselling memoir is well-researched and written from a personal perspective. It’s one of those reads that you won’t be able to put down. The author shares his emotional and gripping story on how phobias crippled him throughout life. You’ll leave with a deep understanding of how anxiety affects you (or your loved ones).

Tiny Buddha’s Worry Journal: A Creative Way to Let Go of Anxiety and Find Peace by Lori Deschene

This interactive journal is perfect for creatives who want a hands-on way to deal with their stress. You won’t find a novel here, but it’s a fun workbook that’s made to help you relax and live in the present.

Written by the author of the popular website Tiny Buddha, this journal is jam-packed with inspiration that includes quotes, prompts, questions, and pages you can even color and doodle on..

According to the American Art Therapy Association, creating artwork offers a ton of benefits–it doesn’t have to be good either. If you’ve ever struggled to practice meditation, coloring is also considered an excellent way to achieve stress relief from mindfulness.

April 30, 2018