Selfie Does Cravings Cookbook Recipe Review
I doubt this will come as a shock but I love Chrissy Tiegen so this is like...the only cookbook I've literally sat down and read and it's hilarious! That being said, because of how I cook*, I rarely reach for this book. As she has expressly stated on Twitter, multiple times, this is not a healthy cooking cookbook, it's legit a splurge/decadent cookbook. Splurge/decadent cooking is the purview of Mr. Selfie as he: 1) makes Sunday Dinner; and 2) Is the chef of the family whereas I'm the more utilitarian cook. That being said, one of the items on my list of things is to actually use my cookbooks** before purchasing anymore. I don't know why cookbooks are so inviting to purchase. It's like candles**, I just... intuitively think I need more. Anyways, while I wanted to cook a tasty Tuesday meal, I still wanted it to be a Monday-through- Thursday meal which means I flipped through the whole book to find something kind of healthy and found this delicious, Thai-inspired Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
In general, I'm finding that the estimated prep/cook times on my cookbooks are like...for if you've not constantly having to stare at the book the first time you make it so it took me like 40 minutes instead of 30 minutes but beyond that, this recipe is being added to the rotation.*** I, of course, made some modifications here. First, I had lean ground turkey so, I just used that instead of buying ground chicken.^ Second, the recipe calls for Hoisin sauce so I learned that Hoisin sauce normally has wheat in it and there wasn't a gluten-free version at that location. When I googled alternatives, the interwebs told me I could use BBQ sauce, so that's what I did. That probably sounds weird, but it was tasty. Another note, lettuce wraps can sometimes be difficult because if you don't buy sturdy lettuce, what you get is a bunch of hot food falling onto your hands. *shrugs * But my choices were Boston lettuce or iceberg lettuce and I hate iceberg lettuce so I can live with it but Mr. Selfie would prefer if we tried something else. At any rate, this recipe is going into the rotation because it's easy to make, really tasty, good for leftovers, includes a bunch of veggies (bell pepper, mushrooms, watercress) and is pretty easy to modify to be even a little healthier (lower sodium errthang) or spicier, if you want.^^
I noted this in my last cookbook review but I try to get cookbooks from the library first to make sure I'll actually use them but if you like Chrissy, I actually just recommend this cookbook because it's fun. I will say if you're looking for a "heathy" living cookbook - this ain't it. Even the salad recipes are fairly decadent and the full title of the book is "Cravings: Recipes for all the foods you WANT to eat" and I don't know about you but ol' Selfs pretty much only WANTS to eat loaded cheese fries.^^^
How about you? Do you have any cookbooks you own solely because of the author but it doesn't necessarily make sense for your lifestyle? Tell me below!