Book Review 014

The Conscious Kitchen by Alexandra Zissu

I picked this book up after getting a recommendation from a friend. The Conscious Kitchen by Alexandra Zissu is another beginner primer for anyone rethinking their eating habits. The thought behind the book is to not just say you are part of a food movement whatever that might be, but to change the way you approach the kitchen as a part of your life. The topics in this book range from how you grocery shop, to preserving your food, cooking your food and serving your food. She has also speaks about the appliances in a conscious kitchen, the products you use to clean your kitchen to create a conscious way of living.

Zissu shows you how to navigate the farmer market, the small neighborhood grocery store and the giant mega supermarket, all with the purpose of bringing home fresh and healthy foods without spend loads of unnecessary cash. She makes her argument for a home garden and buying locally for both environmental and health reasons.

What I like most about this book was that there was a lot of knowledge to gleam from it and it was presented in a way that I didn’t feel overwhelmed with new vocabulary and ideas.

Book Review 012

“Frugavores make the most of what they have, supports best practices in farming, wastes nothing, and grows their own food when they can.”

Frugavore by Arabelle Forge

I picked this book up soon after it came to my department with a batch of new books. The coworker who shares the office with me is in charge of creating a Spring Garden Series every March through May. Every year she tries likes to update the collection with new books, which is great for me especially with regards to my 2012 goal of becoming a locavore and my life goal of living healthier. My family has always labeled me the most frugal of the bunch. In truth I believe I waste quite a bit, especially when I read a self-proclaimed frugal person’s blog and see some of the “resourcefulness” people are capable of. But it’s true I am more willing to use something till it’s broken beyond repair and squeeze the last bit of whatever till it has no more to give. So picking up this book I thought it would be a great weekend read. And I was not disappointed.

Arabella Forge’s Frugavore is an excellent primer for anyone looking to think differently about their consumption. It’s not a thick book so don’t expect her to cover every single thought or resource out there but she doesn’t point you on many great paths of discovery. She also breaks down a lot of the labels and subgroups that are making up the forever growing food movement. Before this book I had never heard of groups like ‘Slow Food’ (anti fast food), Localism (buy food produced locally), organic, biodynamic, and so on. I didn’t know the difference between some people who consider themselves locavores based on the environment impact and those who call themselves the same thing but do it for health reasons. She breaks the book down into different arenas like The Frugavore Kitchen, Stocking your Pantry, Veggie Patch, etc, and shares great recipes to help you take full advantage of personal gardens, community gardens, local farms and farmer markets.

The point of the book is to take a note from the past and see how efficient and frugal generations were before us and realize that they had a life full of wonderfully tasty food and wasted nothing. This book has inspired me in many ways to reconsider I approach my time in the kitchen and I’m so glad it was my first book on this new journey.