Bountiful Cooking: Wholesome Everyday Meals to Nourish You and Your Family

by Agatha Achindu

Nourish the whole family and promote long-term wellness with 100 nutrient-dense and beautifully photographed recipes from nutritionist and beloved home chef, Agatha Achindu.

I want you to close your eyes as you hold this book in your hands and understand that it is yours to create magic, to reinvent yourself in the kitchen in ways you never thought possible. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t raised in a home with skilled cooks or entrenched in healthy food traditions as I was. It doesn’t matter if you have no culinary experience at all. I am sharing my kitchen, my mami’s kitchen, my grandma’s bare-bones, gadget-free kitchen that produced the healthiest, most mouthwatering meals. This book you are holding—full of recipes, knowledge, life stories, and tips I share with my own family and clients—is an extension of who I am. I hope it helps and brings you joy, too.
--from the Introduction

When Agatha Achindu came to the US from Cameroon, West Africa, for university, she didn’t know what to make of the aisles and aisles of canned foods in the grocery store. She started making meals with fresh ingredients for her roommate; after her first community dinner for fifty fellow students, word spread. Fast-forward thirty  What started as small dinners and workshops teaching moms how to make nutritious meals blossomed into a career dedicated to helping families live life unprocessed, and eat flavorful, nutrient‑dense foods that can help prevent chronic disease and other food-related health concerns. No matter what Agatha does, her dishes are always based on one fundamental principle she learned from her You are what you eat. Throughout her career, she has shared this for each and every person--no matter their age, background, or locale--to grow and thrive without the daily aggravation and hardship (and expense!) of preventable chronic diseases. Agatha has been on an unrelenting mission to make families and communities healthier, to live a life that is bursting with vibrant energy, age gracefully and in good health. It is never too late to start eating food that will nourish our body, mind and soul. 
 
Bountiful Cooking celebrates these matrilineal culinary philosophies with 100 recipes packed with life-giving nutrients. Not only are these recipes healthy, but with global flavors, they also serve as cultural nutrition for the whole family.  Agatha’s recipes will make you fall in love with food--and recognize that food, a sacred source of life and feeding, is the highest expression of love.

Genres: Cookbooks

295 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 12, 2023

Reviews

[Shai]

One of the best things about a cook book is when its recipes are simple and the ingredients are easy to find.


Within the text are traditional recipes that utilize healthier ingredients such as gluten-free, dairy free quinoa-blueberry muffins that are pretty good.

My children enjoyed savory sheet pan “pancakes” which are made with potatoes rather than traditional ingredients such as flour…these were tasty and included vegetables! The most difficult thing I’ve found as a parent of older kids is that they don’t eat enough veggies.

In this book you will find recipes for everything from by less tofu burgers to roasted-veggie burrito bowls. It is all healthy and delicious. I have not made ALL of the recipes but have made enough to know that Achindu knows good food and good (healthy) substitutions for traditional recipes.

I enjoyed the fact that almost every recipe is accompanied by a picture and that time is spent thoughtfully explaining the food choices, for example, there is a section titled “vegan or non-vegan” which delves into Achindu’s thoughts on the matter.

Hope you pick up this book as it is well worth it!

[Meg]

Good cookbook. Great pictures of the foods. I saved a couple recipes to make.

[Momma Leighellen’s Book Nook]

Bountiful Cooking: Wholesome Everyday Meals to Nourish You and Your Family
Agatha Achindu
Hachette Go
Sept 12, 2023

This is so much more than a recipe book!

"Food was simple; it was community; it was family; it was happiness. Food was the thread that brought everyone in the community together; it was where you found laughter regardless of what was going on."

I loved the intergenerational and multicultural aspects of this cookbook. Many of the recipes are family recipes, passed down and shared. She includes stories and histories behind each one and any changes and adjustments she has made.

Beyond recipes, this book also includes:
- a brief history on why we should care about what we're putting into our bodies
- a detailed ist of nutrients, benefits, and natural food sources
- healthy + natural ways to eat a rainbow of colors in your meals
- how to follow the season in your cooking
- cookware tips and what to avoid
- how to utilize your freezer
- meal prep and catoring to picky eaters

As you can see, this a real BOOK, not just a cookbook. I read it cover to cover before even making a recipe. I loved knowing Agatha Achindu heart behind the recipes and which ones were her favorites and why.

This isn't a book about weight loss, it's about learning to love cooking and the many ways you can nourish your bodies. It's about feeling good about what we're putting in and seeing results in energy levels and healthy skin and digestive systems.

And then the recipes. YUM!! I loved that these aren't the same old healthy foods redone one more time. There's a lot of creativity and flavors here but without odd equipment or ingredients that are hard to find. And they are DELICIOUS - her use of spices and fruits + vegetables take these dishes over the top! Here are a few of my favorites:
- Savory sheet pan pancakes
- Breakfast quesadillas
- chopped salad with peanut sauce
- tropical shrimp salad
- sheet pan fajitas
- date night chicken
- noodle stir fry

The book comes with full color photographs and each recipe is single page, so nothing is overwhelming to make. I loved this cookbook and hope you give it a try!

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[Michelle Kenneth - PerfectionistWannabe.com]

I learned so much from this book. I love that she included breakdowns of what foods to eat for which vitamin (and why you need that vitamin). The purpose is to get us to eat our vitamins from food sources, rather than from supplements. Another breakdown I needed was a chart where I could see when foods are in season. The chart was simple and easy to read. It will help me when I shop for groceries.

I now know how to make the different plant based milks (only reason why I never did this was because it looked so time consuming). She simplified it down. I will now be making my own nut and oat milks from here on out.

I already have a lot of the ingredients she uses, and I've switched to pasture raised, wild caught, and organic in season vegetables. The information I was lacking was which items to eat for certain nutrients, and when they were in season. I was literally just guessing in HMart based on the prices.

I tabbed a lot of the recipes. I needed a variety of ways to eat my 7 different veggies a day. Even though she featured a lot of red meat in the meat section, you can substitute it out. I can't eat red meat, so it's good she mentions you don't have to use the specific meat she suggests. You can swap it out for a different meat, bean, vegetable, or mushroom.

I already have the cashews soaking to make cashew milk tomorrow. I plan on making hummus from scratch (once again, she made it so simple, I know I'm going to be asking why I ever got store-bought). I'm also trying the Herb- and Parmesan- Crusted Chicken tonight.

[Debra]

Wow! I'm really loving this one! I'm a vegetarian and there is a lot for me in here, and even more that can be modified to be for me. There is so much flavor! And several dishes became family favorites at first taste. I'm no culinary master and this one was perfect for me. I'm looking forward to making many more of the dishes here.

Thanks, Hachette and Hachette Go for my advance copy. All opinions are my own.

[Rosie Meadows]

For the for a cook book to be good when it:

1. When the ingredients are in my pastry.
2. There are ingredients are wholesome.
3 The instructions are short and easy.
4. The nutritional benefits are included in the introduction to recipes.
5. There is a story behind some of recipes.

This book has all of the above.

I had the pleasure of hearing this author speak at a book festival. From her talk one can see that she is truly committed to providing wholesome everyday meals.

[enchantingprose]

Omg the mouthwatering recipes !! I’m obsessed with this cookbook

[AWLinton]

A must have cookbook which explains which nutrients are most beneficial and their food sources.