Book Review: The Oz Family Kitchen by Lisa Oz

The Oz Family Kitchen is a gorgeous, full colored cookbook full of delicious recipes for all types of eaters. One of the things I especially appreciate about this book is that Lisa shares how their family is made up of vegetarians, gluten free eaters, and meat eaters. In my own family, I sometimes struggle to make recipes that fit the bill to make us all happy as a meat-eater, a gluten/dairy free eater and another that is mostly vegetarian. It can be a challenge to make meals we all enjoy. Lisa shares how they make recipes and meals that can work for all of them. Lisa shares that she wrote this cookbook for families like theirs who are "trying to juggle healthy options with hectic lifestyles and varied eating styles."

In the beginning of the book, Lisa shares how to create healthy meals and what types of things they cook.From shopping ideas to menu planning to actual cooking secrets, Lisa shares how she makes their meals work for them and how the reader can apply those principles to their own family meals.

The rest of the book is mainly recipes in chapters: breakfast, soups and sandwiches, salads, vegetables, pastas and grains, main courses, special occasion desserts, snacks and beverages and basics(mainly for beginning cooks like how to make brown rice, sauteed chicken breast, their favorite homemade dressings and more). Several recipes look yummy to me:  Banana, Date and Nut Muffins; Chunky Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa; Brussels Sprouts Chiffonade with Maple Syrup and Thyme; Roast turkey with apricot and rosemary dressing; Ginger Snap Cookies, and Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing.Those are just a few recipes out of the many that I hope to try. I also like that she shares a little story with each recipe.

I found this book to be a pleasure to look at, to read, and I am excited to cook with it. The recipes all look easy to follow and understand. The ingredients all look like ones I can find readily where I shop. I have enjoyed the Dr. Oz show for several years and I appreciate Mehmet's love of health and good eating. He speaks so highly of his wife that I knew this book would be great--and he writes the forward and shares healthy eating tips in this book. If you enjoy Dr. Oz and want to feed your family whole, healthy foods. . .and read a good book, I recommend this one. I also think it would be a great gift cookbook, especially for a family that has various types of "eaters" among its members.

I received this book at no charge from Blogging for Books when I won a copy on Twitter. I was not required to write a positive review.