Cooking Through Stacy’s Stash

So yeah, I totally took this idea from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures. But isn’t imitation the sincerest form of flattery? But for real yo – I love Lynn’s blog.

I’ve made SO many of her recipes and they’re all kickin’. (Sometimes I like to pretend I’m from the big city and use all sorts of yo-language…but then I usually fall back into my country twang pretty quick – for real yo).

Lynn does this series called Cooking Through My Collection. She picks one recipe from a book in her collection and makes it for her blog and then posts the recipe. Genius idea, huh? Since I have a HUGE stash of cookbooks, I thought I’d try it out for y’all, too.

Berea

I’m going to put a spin on mine though. So many people think that cooking real food means that you have to eat only cabbage and liver and live in a van down by the river. Not so, my friend, not so.

You can still have casseroles, desserts, and all sorts of other yummy foods. You just have to use the right ingredients.

So, I’m going to choose a recipe from each of my cookbooks and make it whole-foods-friendly. If it totally flops, I’ll tell you – and then I’ll fix us a fried egg sandwich.

Alpha Bakery

I’ve given you a glimpse into some of my favorite cookbooks and now I get to share some recipes for you! I might even try tackling my digital cookbooks.

And just so you know, there is some blog etiquette that I’m going to get out of the way – some of you probably already know this, but some don’t. It’s okay to take someone else’s recipe and use it on your own blog, but there are some criteria that you have to meet – or else the mafia will show up in a big black Cadillac and take away your puppy dog.

  1. You MUST give credit back to the original creator. Don’t play dirty.
  2. You MUST write the recipe in your own words. Don’t copy and paste. Remember plagiarism in school? Yeah – that applies here.
  3. If it’s another blogger – it’s a good idea to check with them first. This isn’t REQUIRED, but it’s nice. And we like playing nice around here.

So, I guess that’s it! I hope you’ll enjoy getting a new recipe from my collection once a week. I know I’m up for the challenge! For real, yo. We’ll start next week! :-)

Disclosure: Some posts include links to sponsors or affiliates, which give me a small percentage of the sale. You are not obligated to use these links when you make a purchase, but when you do so it helps to support this site, so thank you!

About Stacy

Stacy is the author of Crock On: A Semi-Whole Foods Slow Cooker Cookbook and a stay-at-home mom to her two children, Annie (3) and Andy (newborn). After an “awakening” in March 2011, her family switched to a more natural, whole foods diet. She likes to blog about how to live on less than you make and how to eat good food while doing it. Her passion is teaching others how to save money and she tag teams with her husband in this endeavor. At Stacy Makes Cents you’ll find information on how to save money in the kitchen, how to have fun with your kids, and how to be thrifty in all areas of life. Her passion is teaching others how to live debt free. Make sure to follow her on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with her daily antics.

  • http://impossibleway.livejournal.com Brandy

    I look forward to this series! I’ve seen your cookbooks–this could keep you busy for a long time. ;-)

    • Stacy

      I know! I was trying to count and see how many weeks it would last….but I kept losing count and getting distracted. LOL

  • Dawn

    Well, if you ever run out, I have a ridiculous cookbook collection that could keep you busy for years, I’ll be happy to share. What a great idea! Thanks for all you do, Stacy.

    • Stacy

      LOL Girl, you should have seen my stash before we moved. I sold more than half of what I originally had. Shew. I still can’t believe it. I am a cookbook hoarder!

  • http://birdcagefreelance.blogspot.com Heather

    Very excited!!

    • Stacy

      Wooooooooooooooooooooooo! :-)

  • Homeschoolpower

    Well fashizzle my nizzle! I’m all for eating real food! part of my son’s home school curriculum is taking a recipe and rewrite it using only real food ingredients, then we cook it, my son has become quite proficient in the culinary arts! that’s wazzup!! :)

    • Stacy

      That’s a GREAT exercise! I love it!!

    • http://www.thesimplehomemaker.com Christy, The Simple Homemaker

      This is a great idea Homeschoolpower and Stacy! I have 7 kids, so if I assign each one a recipe a week, I may never have to cook again! Ever! I’d throw some big city talk back your way, but I’m a country hick and it would probably be from the 80s and make you cry. Word.

      • Stacy

        Yo, yo, yo homie!

  • Julia

    I’m glad to know I’m not the only one with an extensive cookbook collection. It is a very bad habit of mine. No sordid love story fiction books for me. Reading cookbooks is my guilty pleasure! Every so often I try to weed out some, but it is so hard. My trouble is finding places to store them. I don’t have a digital reader yet. Maybe soon!

    • Stacy

      I don’t think I’d like a digital reader. I just LOVE flipping through mine while I sit in the rocking chair. Man, how old am I? LOL

  • Janette

    I like trying new recipes and finding keepers so I’ll look forward to this series.

    • Stacy

      Me too! I’m pumped!

  • Shawna

    Can’t wait to see what yummy things are coming… Loved the “live in a van down by the river” comment…LOL. I thought of my dad and stepmom. I’ve always called them (and most of their friends) the last of the hippies…. They were in to all the hollistic, organic, and homeschooling thing back in the 80′s. I was a teenager in high school and I thought it was sometimes very weird. One time, while visiting them during the summer, they had me go with them to their yoga class (this was WAY before yoga was a cool thing); I was thinking to myself “Sigh, why do they have me do this stuff?” But you know what? I’m sooo glad that they exposed me to all that! I read things on different blogs and I remember my dad and stepmom saying or doing the same things… I now love and so appreciate them for being “different” from the norm back then.

    • Stacy

      :-) Isn’t it funny how we thought our families were weird until we became moms ourselves? :-)

      • Shawna

        Yes! LOL! And now my kids are looking at me with the “you are so weird” expression when I implement these type of things into our life…hehehe!

        • Stacy

          At least we know how this will turn out. :-)

  • http://www.satisfiedbyhislove.blogspot.com emily

    I am so looking forward to this! My family was on a pretty strict whole foods diet for a few years and in an effort to save money we started making compromises here, there, then everywhere and i ended up with gestational diabetes! So we are making our way back, enjoying how much better everything tastes, and managing this diabetes thing with diet simply by getting back to whole foods. Can’t wait to see the recipes you share that will liven up our menu a bit!

    • Stacy

      I’m pumped too! I’ll spill the beans and tell you that next week is a recipe for whole wheat pie crust. :-) :-)

  • Amy

    My favorite whole wheat pie crust is the Moosewood crust from their first cookbook. It was the first cookbook I bought for myself as a single gal and I’ve worn out three copies. Here’s a link to the recipe:
    http://www.mwcooks.desirepathdesign.com/Recipe/pie-crust

    If you can get your hands on whole wheat pastry flour, you can use one cup of that and not worry about any white flour. If you try all whole wheat at regular grind – well, mine was nasty. We have a great Amish store near our home where I buy all of my baking goods. They carry whole wheat pastry flour but I’ve never found it commercially.

    • Stacy

      I use whole wheat pastry flour in this one too. :-) It’s super delish.

  • http://Heathfamily7.wordpress.com Tara H

    Well, this is a great time to tell you that YOUR cookbook has been getting rave reviews around here! I bought several copies to give as gifts. So far, two of those who I gave one to have text me to say that they’ve tried certain recipes of yours and they were great! We just had your spicy creamed beef last night and we loved it! I mean, I was soooo excited….you see, having 5 boys, there aren’t a lot of things that everyone likes, but last night they ALL loved it!

    • Stacy

      Well that just tickles me pink!

  • Jenny K.

    Looking forward to all your new post!
    I to have a huge cookbook collection! I just can’t resist a good church cookbook! Never been to a church dinner yet where the food wasn’t excellent!
    I usually have to purge thru my collection each year at garage sale time. I have my favorites & they will allways be on my shelf!

    • Stacy

      I LOVE church cookbooks! Be still my heart!

  • Kaitlyn

    I am so excited about this series. I am getting married in a little over a month and I can’t wait to show my Future Husband how awesome eating a whole food diet is! Yes I am cook book hoarder last count was like 30. :/

    • Stacy

      The people on FB made me count. I have 81 printed books and 19 eCookbooks. :-)

  • http://www.thesimplehomemaker.com Christy, The Simple Homemaker

    I kinda almost sorta live in a van down by the river. I didn’t know that wasn’t a requirement for eating whole foods. Now we can mosey on up the road. Thanks for that. :)

    • Stacy

      Oh come on….you know I’m referring to the SNL skit, right? :-)

      • http://www.TheSimpleHomemaker.com Christy, The Simple Homemaker

        What?! I thought you were referring to my life, and freeing me from thinking I had to live in a van to be “real!” Well, thanks anyway for freeing us.

        I stayed awake for the first 15 minutes of SNL something like twice in my LIFE. I do a pretty mean “Makin’ Copies” rendition, and the head bop, and even the armpit sniff, but that’s the extent of my SNL culture.

  • Shannon

    Looking forward to each one that comes!!! I made your recipe for crockpot lasagne the other day and before my gang had finished cleaning their plates, they had me promising I’d make it again real soon! And this included my hubby who has never, ever, ever had any use for anything with cottage cheese:):) He loved it and bragged to my mom that it was fantastic; even with cottage cheese!!!! Now that’s a success! Keep em’ coming:)

    • Stacy

      What is it with men and cottage cheese? Barry won’t eat it either – unless I put it in something. Wonder when cottage cheese got labeled as “girly?” lol

  • http://livinglifeinruraliowa.blogspot.com Erica

    I love this idea! I love the recipes you post so this should be fun! I think I also might have to borrow it for my blog too! I have so many recipes and cookbooks that I would love to share with the world. Thanks! I look forward to seeing what you post and trying them!

  • http://karenscookbooks.wordpress.com/ Karen

    I like your idea of making the recipes whole foods friendly. I started a blog years ago with a similar idea to cook through my cookbooks but haven’t been able to keep up with it. I was a little turned off by some of them that promote the use of processed foods. I still think they have nostalgic value though.

    • Stacy

      I LOVE my nostalgic cookbooks! :-) I was just looking through some yesterday.