As I sit here eating a s’mores snack mix, I’m thinking I really should walk back into the kitchen and grab an almond butter chocolate chip cookie made earlier using a recipe from The Best of Clean Eating: Improving Your Life One Meal at a Time. The book, which is Clean Eating Magazine’s first full-length cookbook, features over 200 of Clean Eating’s best recipes and some of the most mouthwatering food photos I’ve seen.

The Best of Clean Eating breaks down their recipes into some pretty awesome categories:

• Quick & Easy Meals


• Budget-Priced Meals


• Five-Ingredient Meals


• Seasonal Foods


• Healthy Snacks


• Recipes for One or Two People


• Holiday Meals


• Delicious Low-Fat Desserts


• Summer BBQ

You’ll also find chapters on meal plans, cooking terms and tools and a conversion table. Among the pages are excerpts with tips on slashing your grocery bill, choosing the most flavorful ingredients, herb pairings and even a guide to various flours. I couldn’t believe how many goodies I found inside The Best of Clean Eating—and I’m not just talking about the recipes. I kid you not when I say the photos are amazing; this cookbook could double as a coffee table book for sure!

I really wanted to give multiple recipes a try but of course spent more time perusing the pages than planning a meal, so instead I chose one signature recipe: Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I had most of the six ingredients on hand and hit Walmart for the almond butter and Good Earth Natural Foods for the sucanat. This recipe only requires six ingredients:

Not pictured: salt (but I did add it, promise)

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I mixed that long list of ingredients…

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Then used my favorite cookie dough scoop to place them on the parchment paper (good thing I had that on hand!)

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After about 12 minutes, they were ready! I let them cool only a moment before tasting one. I was surprised at how good they tasted for not having any “decadent” ingredients. And of course, because they’re good for you, I can eat as many as I want without feeling bad about it. (Nathan has already put that theory to good use!)

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I noticed they do look a bit different than the photo. Those cookies almost look like they have an oatmeal of sorts in them, but then again, they’re professionally made and photographed. What do I know?

Other recipes I’m anxious to try? Spinach, Chicken & Mushroom Dinner Crepes; Smothered Cheeseburgers; Cobb SaladSteak & Farfalle Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce; and Molten Lava Cakes.

Listed at $23 ($14 on Amazon.com), The Best of Clean Eating is a must-have cookbook for your ever-growing collection. And if you’re cookbook shelf is overflowing like mine, you can easily put this on display so guests can ooh and aah over its contents. The Best of Clean Eating will have you sold on the idea healthy eating can be seriously delicious!—Emily

My first two girls were never much for the princess thing. They preferred play clothes, sandboxes, dirt and worms. And they had a mom who wasn’t much into supporting a princess habit, so it worked out rather well. But this last of my three girls is a bit different. She loves pink, wears dresses and dances around the house singing as she goes. I might have a princess on my hands!

When I heard Simon & Schuster wanted a review of the Princess Party Cookbook: Over 100 Delicious Recipes and Fun Ideas by Annabel Karmel, I couldn’t wait to check it out. I thought it might come in handy for those future birthday parties. Written by a children’s food expert and bestselling author, the book claims “deliciously simple recipes” perfect for a “Fairytale Feast, a Movie Star Sleepover, an Easter egg hunt, or a Christmas Wonderland.”

The book arrived and I immediately browsed through it. And then I quickly realized these were serious recipes for serious princess parties. Most of them looked almost too fancy for most kids, but what do I know? Mine love Kraft mac and cheese and corn dogs. I will say all used fresh, tasty ingredients, but a lot of ingredients I don’t keep on hand. The Princess Party Cookbook might be a little too fancy for me, but we’ll do just about anything, even make Thyme, Garlic, and Lemon Lamb Chops. Of course, I’d much rather make Passion Potion or hose an Ice Cream Sundae Bar!

Along with recipes, each section in the cookbook (organized by party theme) includes ideas for decorations, crafts and invitations. It really is a princess party cookbook for princesses of all ages. In fact, I may have to plan my own grownup princess party and serve Annabel Karmel’s Tropical Smoothie and Island Beach Babe Trifle for a Princess Beach Babe party!—Emily

*** Giveaway! Simon & Schuster is giving away one (1) copy of the Princess Party Cookbook! ***

We’re giving you two options to enter! You can do one or both; each one is worth one entry into our giveaway. Please leave a comment for each one you do:

•Leave a comment telling us why you’d love to win Annabel Karmel’s new book.
•Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: November 17, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Crystal G., the winner of the Princess Party cookbook giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

I once bought a wonderful Thai food cookbook hoping to make yummy Thai dishes for my husband but as soon as I learned all the work and preparation that went into creating an authentic Thai dish, I closed the book (and have yet to make a single recipe). Tonight that all changed when I tested one of CurrySimple’s line of gourmet, restaurant-quality Thai sauces.

CurrySimple’s sauces have received rave reviews from a variety of customers and publications alike, and that’s probably because they’re actually prepared in Thailand from scratch using fresh, natural ingredients. The company’s products are so authentic, so yummy they sell to restaurants, caterers and private chefs and package their sauces in smaller sizes so people like me can cook gourmet Thai food at home. And that’s just what I did tonight!

Using CurrySimple’s Yellow Curry Sauce and their Yellow Chicken Curry recipe I created a dish that got its own rave reviews here at home. The recipe was super easy to follow and preparation was a minimum—just some slicing and dicing, sauteing and simmering and about 15 minutes later dinner was ready. I served that yellow chicken curry over brown rice (another favorite) and my husband was in Thai heaven!

Don’t be turned off by CurrySimple’s basic-looking packaging; it is probably the most advanced packaging in your pantry (this stuff is even space-shuttle ready!). Unopened, CurrySimple sauces need no refrigeration or preservatives and have a 1-year shelf life. This is a great lesson in how you definitely can’t judge a Thai sauce by its cover! CurrySimple’s product line includes curry sauces (red, green, yellow and masaman, Thai tea concentrate, Pad Thai sauce, Thai stir fry sauce and Coconut Soup (Tom Kha). I have a few more CurrySimple sauces to “review” and my husband’s mouth is watering in anticipation of more yummy Thai recipes!—Emily

• Promotion! CurrySimple is offering Daily Dish readers $10 off their best-seller, The Best Coconut Curry Combo. Use coupon code “boutique” at checkout. Offer expires July 31, 2008.