Everyday Cooking Review
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I grew up in the kitchen. I helped my mom when I was really little, and by the time I was 8, I was able to bake brownies from scratch. That is why I was excited to review the Everyday Cooking cookbook, written by Everyday Homemaking author Vicki Bentley.
Vicki is a mom to 8, and has been a foster mom to over 50 children. If anyone knows about getting meals for a family on the table after a busy day, it’s Vicki.
Everyday Cooking
Everyday Cooking is available as a PDF or as a spiral-bound book. I received the PDF. Typically, I prefer a print copy, but I realized how convenient it is to download a cookbook. I downloaded it to my Google Drive, which allowed me to view it from my computer and my phone. Meal planning and shopping were made easier because I could look up ingredients at the grocery store. That was really convenient.
This cookbook begins with tips for getting meals on the table. Every homeschool parent knows that getting dinner on the table can be difficult after a full day of teaching, parenting, and playing chauffeur. Vicki gives practical food prep tips to make this easier. Some of the tips were things I already knew, but there were new ideas that will definitely help me. I’m going to be batch cooking brown rice and freezing it in meal-size portions from now on.
There is a nice variety of recipes in the cookbook. Everything from breakfast to dessert is covered. Some of the recipes are very healthy, using only natural ingredients. Others take a few shortcuts, using processed ingredients. Many of the recipes suggest substitutions so you can customize them to your food preferences.
I would describe the recipes as classic simple home cooking. The dishes are things that my mom and grandmother made frequently when I was growing up. When I first glanced at the recipes, I thought that I already knew how to make most of the recipes. I was wrong.
Every single thing we cooked from Everyday Cooking was absolutely delicious.
Everyday Cooking Family Favorites
Chicken Cordon Bleu
The basic ingredients of chicken cordon bleu always remain the same – chicken breast, ham, and Swiss cheese. I have made a similar dish before, but always baked the chicken. This recipe calls for pan frying, and it is a delicious difference. I was honestly shocked at how much that simple change improved the recipe. It made the dish tastier and much quicker to get on the table.
The Everyday Cooking version calls for a breadcrumb coating, but I am allergic to gluten, so I just left that off. It was an easy omission, but it would be just as easy to substitute gluten-free breadcrumbs.
I served the chicken cordon bleu with a simple green salad, and my children ate every single bite and asked for more.
Alfredo Sauce #2
Everyday Cooking contains a few recipes for Alfredo sauce. I chose to make Alfredo sauce #2 because I was intrigued by the addition of cream cheese to a fairly classic recipe. I had only ever made Alfredo sauce with heavy cream.
The cream cheese is a genius substitution. It provides a rich, creamy texture. This alfredo sauce is creamy and cheesy with just the right amount of garlic. I served the alfredo sauce with gluten-free pasta one day when the kids had a friend over. Everyone devoured their meal.
This recipe was such a hit that I made another double batch and popped it in the freezer. On a busy school day, I just need to boil some pasta, defrost the sauce, open a bag of salad, and dinner is ready. It would also be great topped with chicken.
White Chicken Chili
My children are not fans of traditional chili, so I wasn’t sure what they would think about this recipe. They loved it! The ingredients all seem so simple – beans, corn, tomatoes, chicken, and cream cheese – but it comes together so perfectly.
I made this recipe in my Instant Pot and loved how little time it required from me. Just dump most of the ingredients in and come back when it is cooked. Swirl in the cream cheese and serve, topped with tortilla chips and cheese. Recipes that require very little hands-on time are perfect for busy school days. I think we will make this frequently once we start back to our homeschool co-op. Throwing everything in the Instant Pot and coming home to a nice hot lunch sounds perfect for a rainy Seattle day.
Homemade Ice Cream
This is honestly the best ice cream we have ever made. The egg, whole milk, heavy cream, and sugar all come together to make a very basic, but rich, vanilla ice cream. The directions were clear and leave plenty of room to customize your favorite ice cream flavor. Vicki even suggests a way to make ice cream without an ice cream maker.
We made two flavors, both equally delicious.
Wild blackberry chocolate swirl ice cream – The wild blackberries in our backyard are growing better than our actual garden, so we harvested some for the ice cream. We sprinkled the blackberries into the ice cream maker and swirled in some melted chocolate just before the ice cream was set.
Mint chocolate chip ice cream – We have a pot of fresh mint that inspired this ice cream. I added the washed mint leaves to the milk during the heating process and let them steep until the ice cream base was cool. Then I strained the mint leaves out before adding the mixture to the ice cream maker. I added chocolate chips to the ice cream maker a few minutes before it was finished mixing.
My family now prefers this recipe to store-bought ice cream. I suspect we will be getting a lot of use out of our ice cream maker.
Everyday Cooking Extras
Everyday Cooking contains a few pages that are unique to cookbooks. There is clearly a lot of thought put into making this cookbook perfect for homeschool families.
Sample Menus
Meal planning is key for busy families to get meals on the table night after night. Everyday Cooking provides not only tips and recipes, but a sample menu and blank meal plan as well. This encourages you to plan for breakfast and lunches, not just dinner.
Basic Cooking Skills Checklist
This was a really neat discovery while perusing the cookbook. The basic cooking skills checklist includes all of the skills necessary to pass the cooking portion of a home economics course. I plan to create a home economics curriculum for Hannah in 8th grade, and this checklist will make it so easy.
Overall, I recommend Everyday Cooking. I think this cookbook is perfect for anyone looking to improve classic recipes. It also makes a great beginner cookbook for teens learning to cook.
I do wish that there were more pictures in this cookbook, though. I’m a visual learner and get inspired to make different recipes when I like the photos.
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