I received this book as a member giveaway on LibraryThing.com but choose this book due to the first two statements that grabbed my attention, gluten-free and dairy free recipes with few ingredients. As someone would is living a Paleo diet, I enjoy trying new recipes to spice up the foods I eat because when you pull out wheat and dairy from your diet, you don’t want to get weighed down just doing the same thing with these fantastic ingredients. If you aren’t familiar, then don’t worry the author Rachel Stewart does an excellent job introducing Paleo and why to go Paleo. There also is a balanced list of the recipes for a seven-day menu plan. I didn’t use the program, though; I decided to let my family look at the recipes and pick out the weekly menu. We had such a blast preparing the ingredients, our most popular recipes were Mango Orange Smoothie, Simple Tuna Salad, Breakfast Banana Loaf, Ratatouille-Style Stew, Asian-Style Lunch Platter, Real Shepherd’s Pie, Apple Breakfast Pancake, Chinese-Style Beef Braise and Sticky Roasted Ginger and Lime Chicken. I also loved that the recipes were in millimeters, this might not be easy for many Americans, but if you aren’t as use to millimeters in cooking just plug it into google. For some, there might be new ingredients that you might not be so easily recognizable to you, but don’t let that stop you anyone at our local grocery store will always be happy to help you find these new items and before long you will be using them regularly in your dishes. ( )

I really liked the introduction to this book as it gave a brief overview about what Paleo is, how our ancestors ate, and what to expect from this book. I do not know a whole lot about Paleo other than my super fit husband mentioned it one time as a good healthy option but that I couldn’t have carbs anymore. I immediately shut him down, but after looking at some health issues family members are having I have decided it is time to change my diet. One thing I liked, especially since the main reason I’ve stayed away from Paleo is no more carbs (which I love), is that the author says I get to keep some carbs (yay for potatoes!). The author provides a 7 day menu with two choices for each day. I like that there is an option for each meal because I like variety in my food. I don’t want to eat the same thing every day. After the menus she talk about the importance of breakfast and then provides all of the breakfast recipes listed in the menus. I am always in a rush in the morning and barely have time for breakfast so I like the different smoothie options. After breakfast she has the lunch and dinner recipes.
I wish there were some more pictures. I have a hard time cooking, and so I like it when recipes show you what some of the different steps should look like. Helps me know I am on the right track. Some of the ingredients I had not heard of before (what is a brinjal??), and some of the cooking terms I did not understand. Pretty much everything in the breakfast category sounds like something I would eat as long as I had the time to make it (as I mentioned earlier mornings are crazy for me). I was not as interested in the lunch section; I am not big on salads and can be picky about soups. If you are picky like me then the dinner section will definitely push you outside of your comfort zone. Not that I asked, but I am pretty sure my grocery store does not even have ostrich! You definitely need an open mind for a lot of those recipes.
Overall I liked the cookbook and would give it a 3. For the most part the recipes seem relatively easy and most have ingredients I could easily find at my local grocery store. Since I am so picky there are a lot of recipes I am not willing to even consider which is why I did not rate it higher. ( )