Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook Review

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Let's review the Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook: Real Food for Real Life book.

The Paleolithic diet – or simply paleo – is widely popular for its very simple principle. It pays homage to our ancestors from the Stone Age by mimicking their food-hunting decisions: you eat what you find as they are. Meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are cooked as is, with minimal alterations on flavor and process to avoid extra calories and fat, which are among the causes of obesity nowadays. This means no grains, dairy and sugar, among others, as the focus of the paleo diet (and of our ancestors) is on proteins to get them through the day. No need to be frenzied with counting calories, either – what you eat is surely full of easy-to-burn bits and pieces for your body.

Though it may sound very easy, making the shift towards paleo dieting isn’t that convenient. You can't just cook meat in the microwave and need to use stainless steel, ceramic, or nonstick cookware or use a good pressure cooker.

The drastic change in a family member’s food preferences can greatly affect family mealtime dynamics, leaving a gnawing gap every day on the dinner table. Any caring household cooks their suppers in one go, with enough hearty servings to fill each of their plates. Imagine if one of them decides to follow the paleo diet. Not only will he be a sore thumb in the midst of the table, but it will also be an added burden for the one preparing their meals every day. Instead of one batch of cooking, extra effort has to be exerted to prepare a separate dish for one person. To add, it isn’t exactly encouraging to the dieting person to see himself eating a different meal as the rest of his family. The difference is so striking that it cannot be missed – a problem that Sarah Fragoso’s book addresses quite well.

The Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook: Real Food for Real Life features recipes adhering to the diet that can be enjoyed by the entire family. Fragoso goes the extra mile to make following the paleo lifestyle more inclusive and appetizing. Sharing sumptuous family meals daily is definitely important, as well as keeping everyone healthy. Through this book, she shows that the two can go together without compromising quality bonding time in the kitchen and dining room of every household.

Fragoso takes time to explain the concepts of the paleo diet, going straight to the point with an opening chapter for an introduction and food guide. This family cookbook is filled with more than 80 recipes patterned after the paleo diet guidelines, and comes with home cooking instructions for preparing these meals. The book ensures time and cost efficiency in meal planning and cooking, as it also offers tips on how to save time and money with every meal. It also gives the reader ideas as to where to buy ingredients, especially those that are not so common in grocery stores.

A special chapter designed to help kids understand the concepts of paleo dieting is something to rave about this book. It acknowledges the importance of children within the family, as they are often the picky ones in every meal. This cookbook assists home managers on how to explain the suddenly “plain” food choices from the more common pasta-and-pie dinners they used to have.

The Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook: Real Food for Real Life does a great job of making paleo diet appetizing and easy, as making the choice to shift dieting patterns appears simple and convenient. Its specific take on being a family cookbook makes it more special, as it acknowledges the importance of family bonding over shared meals. Healthy diet doesn’t always have to be a personal burden; instead, it can be a shared family quality.

The cookbook is as complete as it can be: it has recipes for sauces, soups and stews, meat, egg, and salads, to name a few. It even offers a one-week meal plan to serve as a guide for home managers applying the paleo diet for the whole family. The recipes aren’t limited to dinners too, as there are recipes for snacks and side meals for the entire day.  Some lunchbox ideas are also included here. This cookbook is a family’s best bet towards making the shift to paleo diet and maintaining it, keeping every member lean, agile and fit as our Stone Age ancestors.