By now you know I have a weakness for buying personal development books. But you probably also could guess that I also have an obsession with cookbooks. I could spend hours in the cookbook section at the library and prefer that over the cookbook section at the book store mostly because I cannot buy the books at the library (Gotta save that $ for Spain and France in September!!). Another dangerous territory in my quest for all the cookbooks is Amazon and I find myself browsing and adding to my cart and before I know it there’s like 10 books in there and my order total is ridiculous!

As it stands now I think we have a pretty good collection and of course I would like to grow it but I can restrain myself in the name of international travel! There are a few books though that I tend to reach for more than others and some that I just want to make every single thing in there even the ones without pictures! If you’re in the market for some new cookbook inspiration you’ve come to the right post!

Flat Belly Diet by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass

As you can see I have several pages bookmarked in this one. This book is based on the Flat Belly Diet plan from the editors of Prevention Magazine. The recipes are easy and delicious and all feature some type of monounsaturated fat. The great thing about this book is that it not only gives you a ton of great recipes but it gives you all the information you need to follow their diet plan. I don’t follow the plan but I reach for this book a lot. My favorite recipe from it so far is the Chicken Pad Thai recipe that I featured in my week of dinners post here and we also really like the Chickpea Curry!

Eat Smart by Niomi Smart

I talked about this book in my March favorites post. It is filled with a ton of delicious plant based recipes. I really love the Squashetti and “Meat”balls recipe and also the Overnight Oat Pots as well. I can’t wait to dig into more of her recipes!

Seriously Delish by Jessica Merchant

The first time I thumbed through this book my mouth watered. Jessica is the writer and cook behind one of my favorite food blogs How Sweet It Is. I haven’t tried any of the recipes in her book yet but I may have thumbed through this book a time or ten with my mouth hanging open. Warning: DO NOT FLIP THROUGH WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY!!! Her sense of humor is great and you can tell she really has a passion for the food she makes. So excited to try out some of these!

Eat Well, Move Better, and Fell Awesome by The Lean Machines John Chapman and Leon Bustin

I follow these guys on YouTube and they are so great! This book not only has recipes but also workouts to get you moving. They are really about setting yourself up for success. They give great tips even for people who are just beginning to get into fitness. I highly recommend watching their videos and checking out this book!

The Body Bible by Clean Eating Alice

I also talked about this book in my March favorites. Like The Lean Machines book above, this book includes basic workouts to get you started on the right track with your fitness. Her recipes are simple and light and look freakin’ delicious.

The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker

If you’re looking for a basic all purpose cookbook, look no further than The Joy of Cooking. You want to make pancakes from scratch? There’s a recipe for that. You want to make sugar cookies from scratch? There’s a recipe for that. This is such a great option for beginning home cooks because the recipes are easy to read and follow and there are a ton of tips and variations for different recipes.

The Forest Gathering by Erin Gleeson

The Forest Gathering is relatively new to my collection. This is the second cookbook by this author and the cool thing about this one is that she creates menus for several different types of parties and all of the recipes are simple ingredients and are completely vegetarian. The photography is beautiful and every time I flip through this book it makes me want to have a party just so I can make some of her delicious menus!!

What is your favorite cookbook?