Fantastic Cookbooks for Families

Vanessa M.:  Popular food blogger Stephanie O'Dea made a New Year's resolution to create slow cooker meals every single night for a year! Her cookbook Make it Fast, Cook it Slow is the result of her tireless effort, and makes a great resource for busy families. Her recipes are easy to follow, use fresh ingredients, and provide endless inspiration for chicken, beef, pork, fish, vegetarian meals and more.

Kelly R:  Lisa Leake brings the "Real Food" focus of her popular blog to this cookbook for families, filled with family-friendly wholesome recipes that are short on ingredients but big on nutrition and kid-appeal. Favorites include Whole-Wheat Banana Pancakes, Homemade Granola, Veggie Pancakes, Zucchini with Almonds and Parmesan, Vegetable Chili, Quinoa Veggie Burgers, and more.

Hannah Scott:  Popular food blogger Katie Higgins has been publishing healthy dessert recipes for years on her blog, Chocolate Covered Katie. Her long-anticipated cookbook includes some of the online favorites that went viral, along with new never-before-seen recipes. Katie's trademark is taking unhealthy recipes and revamping them with healthy ingredients....but never sacrificing taste or texture.

Pro Tip: Try the cinnamon rolls first!

Kristy Pepping:  

Let's face it, parents are always busy whether you work out of the home, in the home or a combination of both. Cooking Light is filled with heathy meals for the whole family. All their meals are great and don't lack flavor, but when you are in a hurry, sometimes less steps in a recipe makes a difference. This book offers simple steps to quick and fast meals!

Hannah Scott:  Jessica Seinfeld is my hero. She's created and tested dozens of recipes on her picky kiddos, determining exactly how much fruit or vegetable puree she can add to secretly healthy recipes before they detect it. Her secret? Choose fruits and veggies that are similar in color to the dish you're making! These recipes are simple and will give you peace of mind, knowing your kids (and/or your husband, in my case) have some decent nutrition in their system -- even if you have to sneak it in.

This cookbook gets it – when you try to make a meal with a clingy child, you need recipes that are quick, easy, delicious, and require minimal clean-up. The recipes in this book are all of those things, and you'll be making them long after your kids no longer occupy one of your arms at all times.

Alexandra F.:  I received this cookbook as a gift shortly before I got married, and it has been the center of our family's home cooking ever since. Though I have no talent for cooking, any recipe I make by the Barefoot Contessa is guaranteed to be a hit - she's just that good! It's also worth noting that I have never made one of her meals in under two hours (not hard, just lots of chopping!) so I don't usually make these recipes on busy weeknights. But, they cannot be beat for meals that are sure to become family favorites, like the world's absolute best Chicken and Biscuits...yummmmm!

Katie G.:  If you're like me and have picky eaters in the house, then this is the perfect cookbook for you. Author Missy Chase Lapine's concept is to "sneak" fruits and vegetables into your child's favorite foods like mac and cheese, spaghetti, tacos, cookies and more. You will be making simple fruit and veggie purees that will be added into the recipes in the book, resulting in healthy recipes for picky eaters and the entire family.

Kelly R:  

This cookbook from Stacie Billis aims to help take the stress out of feeding a family, with recipes that are adaptable based on the time and effort that you want to put into them. There are modifications and store-bought ingredient options for when you need to get dinner on the table in a hurry.

Kristy Pepping:  I bought this cookbook when my now oldest was three-months-old and I still use it today. These recipes are not only easy to make but use common ingredients that are easy to find and pleasing to even picky eaters. Some of our favorites are the kung pao chicken, ranch chicken tenders and gnocchi. Another reason I like this book so much is that the kids can help with many of the recipes like mixing together sauces, dipping chicken before cooking and preparing the ingredients.