Cookbook Review ~ The Loving Kitchen by LeAnn Rice

Out of all of my hundreds and hundreds of cookbooks that I own, I am ashamed to say that I don’t have any Southern American cookbooks on my shelves! I know, I am embarrassed but I was delighted therefore when I was offered the chance to review The Loving Kitchen by LeAnn Rice so I could finally try out some good old Southern comfort food!

The Loving Kitchen is described as “a collection of comforting recipes straight from the kitchen of popular food blogger LeAnn Rice”, and I have to say it didn’t take me long to agree that this book is full of comfort food recipes perfect for sharing with your loved ones. The chapters are divided into courses including Morning Fare, Bountiful Breads, Soup and Sandwiches, Entrees and Desserts (plus a few others) and with more than 130 recipes I had plenty to choose from. In the end I managed to try out 4 recipes.

Tested Recipes:

Pasta in Creamy Savory Pumpkin Sauce

Lasagna Pinwheels

Cottage Herb Bread

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

The first recipe to be put to the test was the Pasta in Creamy Savory Pumpkin Sauce. I was a little dubious as it did sound pretty heavy/ insanely rich(!) with the amount of butter, cream and parmesan but both hubby & Wee One love creamy sauces and it was Autumn so I thought it worth definitely worth a go, especially as it was completely different from anything I would generally make. The recipe was straightforward to follow and didn’t take long to make. The only downside was the ingredients were listed on one page with the instructions on the following so I had to keep switching back but that is me being super fussy! The final result was that the meal was enjoyable. Hubby liked it more than me but that’s just because I found it very rich. Since there was so much sauce left over I made some fresh pasta the following night then added some sauce along with some cooking water from the pasta and I have to admit I enjoyed it even more than the first night. There was SO much sauce though that I had to freeze what was left as it was just too much but it makes for an easy mid-week meal in the near future! If you are a fan of rich, creamy pasta you will enjoy this.

Meal Planning Mondays Nov. 10th ~ 16th

A short post this week but I am delighted that I have finally finished reviewing another cookbook (so look out for my review of The Loving Kitchen later in the week!). This week therefore I have moved on to another book - The Third Thursday Community Potluck Cookbook - another Southern cookbook packed with recipes that I can't wait to try, so once again 'Meal Planning Mondays' meets 'Cooking the Books'! Great for us (with so many new recipes to try out) but not so great for you as there aren't too many links available for this week's menu. That combined with the fact that we are out this weekend for meals (yay!) means this week is a little on the short side for Meal Planning Monday so I'm going to share some of the things I will be making throughout the week instead.

I hope you all have a great week with family, friends and of course good food!!

Bacon & Broccoli Pasta

Italian Wedding Soup

Silky Butternut Squash Bisque

Fresh Dill-Feta Quick Bread

Cara Cara Cashew Chicken

Italian Meatballs in Hearty Italian Sauce

Chocolate Ice Cream

Meal Planning Mondays & Cooking the Books!

I have been so quiet lately as not only have I been super busy but I was also lucky enough to have my Mum, Sister and amazing nephew/ God Son stay with us for the last 3 weeks! It was so much fun and meant there was no time for blogging even though I was still planning my meals like normal and cooking up a storm (nothing like cooking for family - it is by far my favourite thing)! Now I have a bit more time so Meal Planning Mondays are back, however for the next few weeks I am going to be focusing on some book reviews that are long overdue! I love reviewing cookbooks and putting recipes to the test, however it doesn't make for very exciting Meal Plans for you since there are no or minimal links for recipes, so for the next few weeks forgive me and instead I hope you look forward to reading the reviews! Once I am caught up with the three books I am currently reviewing I'll be back with more recipe links, hopefully some new recipes as well as even more new and exciting book reviews!

So since we are already on Wednesday of this week rather than posting my usual Meal Planning Mondays Menu, here is a list of some of the things I will be making and eating this week (links included where possible):

Pasta in Creamy Savory Pumpkin Sauce

Curried Squash, Lentil & Coconut Soup

Lasagna Pinwheels

Halloween Cake Pops (hopefully will have a pic to share!)

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Cottage Herb Bread

French Onion Soup

Key Lime Pie

So there you have it! Next week will be much the same with recipes coming from the books I am reviewing. If you are interested to see what books I am cooking from here they are...

Have a great week folks x