New WF2 Reviews

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I’m not exaggerating when I say that Dave, Smudge, and I are giddy — Giddy! — about the official release of Well Fed 2: More Paleo Recipes For People Who Love To Eat. I find myself in the totally blessed position of having lots of my favorite writers and bloggers ready to review our new book.

As the reviews roll in, I’m going to share them with you, along with a little somethin’-somethin’ about the blogs and bloggers themselves so you can add more kickass resources to your smarty-pants arsenal.

Please support the people who are supporting me by visiting their sites and reading what they have to say — and thank you for being part of our Well Fed 2 celebration!

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hilahcooking

Hilah Cooking

What It Is: Hilah Cooking is an internet cooking show that makes kitchen time super fun. Covering everything from Texas favorites to international cuisine, healthy fare to indulgent “once in a while” grub, the recipes are easy to make and the show is a delight, whether you’re into cooking or not.

Who’s Behind It: Hilah Johnson, the hostess with the mostess, is as funny as she is beautiful, and she’s not slouch in the kitchen. Her show is inspiring, entertaining, and delicious.

My Fave Quote From The Review: What I love about her recipes is that this girl likes to EAT. I mean, she truly appreciates bold flavors and new combinations and is constantly experimenting in the kitchen to find ways of making old favorites (like pizza, Chinese take-out, and nachos) into edibles that won’t kill you if you you eat them every day. She also draws heavily from her wordly travels and restauranteur parents to come up with home versions of exotic fare.”

Another Post You Might Like: I love this Picadillo recipe — just replace the white potato with sweet potato and skip the peas, and… BAM! Hilah just went paleo!

Read the complete review.

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Prana Physical Therapy

What It Is: Located in Alexandria, Virginia,  Prana Physical Therapy specializes in physical therapy that includes a paleo approach, trigger point dry needline, and other wellness programs. Their site includes a blog that highlights wellness news you should know.

Who’s Behind It: My sister-in-arms against thyroid nonsense Ann Wendel is the brains and beauty behind Prana PT. Ann and I have never met in person, but we’ve bonded over our #FUThyroid tag.

My Fave Quote From The Review: [M]y favorite part of the book is the first 35 pages, where Mel’s personality shines. She gives a brief description of Paleo, listing compliant and non-compliant foods (all but two recipes in Well Fed 2 are Whole 30 approved). She goes on to share her story of a lifetime of yo-yo dieting followed by the diagnosis of a nodule on her thyroid…. Anyone with an autoimmune illness or chronic health condition will resonate with Mel’s words, and hopefully see that they can make changes that will lead to feeling better.”

Another Post You Might Like: Check out “Thank you, Kate” for Ann’s awesome take on post-pregnancy bodies.

Read the complete review.

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domesticman

The Domestic Man

What It Is: The Domestic Man is a food blog that shares my taste in international food. The ingredients lists aren’t as strict as mine — rice, potatoes, and dairy make occasional appearances — but the photography is tasty and the recipes are top notch.

Who’s Behind It: The paleo chef known as the Domestic Man is Russ Crandall. His personal story is pretty amazing (Snippet: He had a stroke at the age of 24.), and the paleo diet has played a huge role in his current health and happiness.

My Fave Quote From The Review: This book has exactly what I look for in a cookbook: a diverse mix of unpretentious, incredibly flavorful, and internationally-minded dishes. At first glance, it’s hard to believe that Melissa’s latest book is Whole30-compliant, with not a single smidgen of grains, sugar, alcohol, legumes, or dairy to be found; instead, she makes up for these ingredients by using a hefty amount of exotic spices and kitchen know-how to create complex and rewarding tastes.”

Another Post You Might Like: Russ and I have very similar tastes in recipes, so his archives are filled with things I want to make. This Russian shish kebab looks like a good place to start.

Read the complete review.

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eatyourbeets

Eat Your Beets

What It Is: Eat Your Beets is a food and lifestyle blog dedicated to “getting families back to their roots.” Posts cover everything from recipes to how to raise healthy kids.

Who’s Behind It: Trish is a stay-at-home-mom with four kids and a completely upbeat, energetic vibe. You’ll like her!

My Fave Quote From The Review: You can’t go wrong with this book, and it’s equally impressive original Well Fed. If you want a collection of recipes and tips for feeding your busy family and kiddos real, nutrient dense, delicious food, then this is it. I can say easily, my kids have loved and devoured everything I’ve made from both books and several are on our weekly rotation. Give your kids a taste of the world and make sure they are ‘well fed.'”

Another Post You Might Like: Check out these cute stuffed peppers — perfect for Halloween (or anytime).

Read the complete review.

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cavegirleats

Cave Girls Eats

What It Is: Cave Girl Eats does a kickass job of sharing recipes, debunking paleo myths, sharing stories of the homesteading life, and making me laugh.

Who’s Behind It: Liz Wolf is a writer, podcast-er, and paleo aficianado. Fairly recently, she also became a homesteader, and her blog is a wonderland of approachable recipes and engaging stories, all shared with her singular sense of humor.

My Fave Quote From The Review: “That’s not to say you shouldn’t have both Well Fed and Well Fed 2 in your cookbook arsenal. I highly recommend you do. Even as a horrible, disgruntled, cranky cooking malcontent, I truly enjoy cooking from these books. Melissa provides tweaks and tasty twists on her recipes to embrace all kinds of international flavors – meaning, every recipe is actually multiple recipes – and she does so against the backdrop of a dead-sexy cookbook design that also includes space for notes. NOTES!”

Another Post You Might Like: Liz is funny and smart and all-together charming. This post about the Weird Things She Loves About Fall is perfect.

Read the complete review.

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The Paleo Parents

What It Is: The Paleo Parents covers everything from paleo recipes to raising paleo kids, and strength training to dealing with autoimmune challenges. It’s a great place to find info on a family approach to paleo.

Who’s Behind It: Stacy and Matthew are the authors of two paleo cookbooks: Eat Like A Dinosaur (my review) and Beyond Bacon (my review).

My Fave Quote From The Review: Can Melissa Joulwan sew together a book that will delight us as much as her first did so long ago? I’m pleased to report that the answer is yes! Just as beautifully photographed, just as well conceived and constructed and informative, Well Fed 2 is quite the worthy sequel to a classic in paleo cookery. … [and] there’s an AUTOIMMUNE section where recommendations are given on how to make quite a few recipes work if you’re following AIP!”

Another Post You Might Like: I like this post about Stacy’s Soups a lot because I, too, love to eat a bowl of soup at breakfast time.

Read the complete review.

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A Taste of Well Fed 2

Help yourself to a free 35-page sampler PDF of Well Fed 2! Or if you’re ready to commit,  just head to Amazon to buy a copy of Well Fed 2 right now!

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Comments

    • Amy Wagner says:

      So excited about my amazon delivery today – BOTH the Well Fed cookbook and the Well Fed 2 cookbook. I love everything in the first book and have been cooking out of a copy I borrowed from the library two weeks ago. I can’t wait to go through the second one. I’m in love with ALL the recipes! Have to go, I have LOTS of cooking to do! Thank You!

  • JJBBone says:

    Just got WF2 in the mail. I LOVED WF more than any other cookbook that I have ever used. (And I have been collecting them for 43 years.) I gave away many when I moved (1 week ago), and am looking forward to getting back to this kind of eating. I had a 2 week interlude when I wasn’t swamped by moving 2 homes in to 1, and, thanks to Mel’s shopping and instructions, had NO problem sticking to it. My absolutely favorite part is the “Know what you could do with that?” I tend to consider recipes just guidelines and mess with them a bit. It’s so fun! Wish you were my neighbor! I am 65 and expect to feel much better soon!!!

    • Mel says:

      Thank you very much for this sweet post… I’m really glad you’re enjoying both cookbooks. YAY!

      Congratulations on your move! We’re moving next summer, and I’m already dreading the packing and disruption, but I’m excited about new adventures.

      I wish we were neighbors, too, ’cause we could cook together! 🙂

  • misty says:

    Hi! I love the new Well Fed! I made BBQ beef this weekend. Quick question – how did you discover cream of tartar? I noticed that it wasn’t in your first book at all and used quite a bit in the second one. Thanks so much for what you do! xoxo, Misty

    • Mel says:

      The cream of tartar is necessary to activate the leavening properties of the baking soda — and both of those ingredients are used instead of baking powder, because it contains corn starch, which makes it non-paleo.

      Whew!

      Basically the cream of tartar + baking soda acts to make the meatballs lighter and less dense. You can also use fizzy seltzer water instead of the powders.

  • Justin Meier says:

    I’ve been reading through the awesome recipes in Well Fed 2. What a beautiful mouth watering book! I cant wait to try the Plantain Nachos, I love plantains!

    Thanks Mel, you are simply awesome!

  • Tara C says:

    I got my book on Friday and I am in love. Your dedication and hard work shine through! I can’t wait to try the Elvis. And I may have to borrow a waffle maker to make those sweet potato waffles.

  • Trisha says:

    Thanks for the shout out! It’s been a week & all I can think about is tabbouleh! 😉

  • Julia says:

    I just wanted to let you know that I love WF and WF2. WF2 arrived on Friday, and I have already made the West African Chicken Stew and the Spring Salad (which I am making again tonight). Both are delicious. I’ve always loved cooking, so my big fear when I did a Whole30 this summer was being limited. Instead I have found a whole new way of looking at ingredients. Your books have done more than any other resource to facilitate my love of W30 food. I sailed through my 30 days (okay, not the first 6, but after that), and am still 95% compliant. I went from 26.5% body fat to 20% and lost 10 lbs in about 12 weeks. (I work out, too, just for full disclosure.) It was nothing short of miraculous, and really exciting. Life is better, food is better. So thank you, thank you, thank you. (My husband thanks you, too!)

    • Mel says:

      Congratulations on your amazingly awesome results! You must be so excited. I’m really, really glad for you.

      Thank you so much for the sweet words about Well Fed and Well Fed 2. I’m really glad we could be a small part of you giant success.

      Big hugs to you! Thanks for letting me know — such great news.

  • Sel says:

    Hi, I downloaded the tod nun chicken cakes recipe thanks to Nom Non. Wanted to ask if the red curry paste you use is the one by Aroy-D??? I live in Spain and it’s the only red curry paste I know. I am looking forward to try this recipe, looks delish. But I want to try the fish version. Drill

  • Sel says:

    I mean Drool

  • Clare says:

    Hi Melissa! Just want to say THANK YOU for changing my life with these two cookbooks. (well…you and a Whole30, but honestly, I would not have made it through a Whole30 without Well Fed 1. I wouldn’t have even THOUGHT to do a Whole30 without your book).

    I’ve nearly made every recipe in Well Fed 1, which is completely unprecedented in my house. In fact, every time I want to try one that my husband is a little sketch on (he’s not sold on the grapefruit/shrimp combo in one recipe from Well Fed 2…yet. ha!), I just say “But it’s from Well Fed, there hasn’t been a miss yet!” and he completely agrees.

    So…thank you for teaching me how to use spices and to trust my own abilities to whip something together and for making me realize how great and simple real food is.

    • Mel says:

      Thank YOU for taking the time to leave this awesome note. Congratulations on reshaping your eating habits!

      I’m so glad you and your husband are enjoying the recipes! That grapefruit salad is super good, but my man was skeptical, too 😉

      ENJOY!

  • Renee says:

    Yesterday was my birthday. Here’s a list of my presents: earbuds that are guaranteed not to fall out of your ears, exotic cooking salts, 5 72%+ chocolate bars, a gift certificate to a butcher who only sells local grass-fed/pastured meat, a Tonx coffee subscription and….YES! a fresh off the press copy of Well Fed 2. Best. Birthday. Ever.

  • Martha says:

    Our copy arrived today!!! Thank you so much, Mel. Steve said, “She’s a class act.” I cannot wait to dig in; it looks amazing. So happy for your success.

  • Jess Begnal says:

    Wahoooo for Eat Your Beets!!! Awesome blog collection! Cant wait to my hands on my copy…. come on boat-move it!!!

  • Rebecca says:

    Melissa Joulwan, you are a real food genius! I love, love, love, WF and just got my copy of WF2! I’ve already made the Pan-fried Plantains, and Pina Colada Chicken and both were sooooo scrumptious!!! I can’t wait to try everything else!

    I just finished a wholele30 October 1st, and like another reviewer said, I wouldn’t have made it without my WF book! I wouldn’t have even tried a whole30. I didn’t lose any body fat (maybe I ate too many sweet potatoes), but I’m on day 1 of my 2nd whole30 armed with WF2!

    Thank you!!!

  • Kate says:

    Hey Mel, I read on the whole 9 review that we can get a PDF of WF2 if we purchase the book – does this still count if we didn’t buy it on Amazon? (I bought from fishpond.co.nz, cause I’m in New Zealand) and if so, how do we get it, please?

  • Suzannakins says:

    I didn’t think I could like a paleo cookbook more than Well Fed but Hrn came Well Fed 2! I just made the Cuban bangers/meatballs. I’ve used the same flavors for chili before but never thought of adding them to meatballs. So delicious. All the burger suggestions are so helpful because I’m not a fan of ground beef and it’s the only grass fed meat I can afford on a regular basis. I can’t wait to try all your variations. I can figure out vegetable sides on my own but really struggle to make my main dishes taste less plain.

    • Mel says:

      I’m so glad you like the Burgers, Balls & Bangers! I was really excited when we came up with that idea, and I make those recipes ALL THE TIME.

      Happy cooking and eating to you!

      • suzannakins says:

        You should rename the chicken meatballs with apricots and almonds Amazeballs, because they are so good. I made them at noon and just got more chicken out to defrost so I can invite friends over to eat some tonight.

  • Miriam says:

    Mel-
    I just wanted to let you know that I have both of your books now and I love them both. Well Fed was the first paleo cookbook I bought and I quickly made close to all the recipes inside. When I learned of Well Fed 2 I knew I needed to add it to my collection. I received my book last week and happy I purchased it. I have already made the chicken cakes and am planning on making the African Stew. I will also tell you that your recipe for the sweet potato waffle buns is forcing me to buy a waffle iron..yay me. Keep up the good job!

    • Mel says:

      Thank you so much — I’m glad you’re enjoying WF and WF2. YAY!

      The West African Chicken Stew is really yummy; hope you like it!

      And yeah, it’s worth getting a waffle iron to make that sweet potato “waffle.” It’s great with the BBQ beef and with the meat from the Plantain Nachos. YUM!

  • Delee says:

    Hi Mel – I’ve been a fan of WF since I started CrossFit in 2012. Just got WF2 and love everything about it! I’ve already tried the Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup, Green Goddess dressing and today – in all of our rain – whipped up the Golden Cauliflower Soup! Ah-Maze-Ing! I did ‘tweak’ today’s soup – added bacon in the beginning and, can I say OMGeee! Smokey goodness.

    I do have a question about the Turkey and Cranberry Burgers, et al – where do you find paleo cranberries. The ones I see all have sugar (sadface)…
    Thanks again, Mel, for your awesomeness in the kitchen!

    • Mel says:

      I’m so glad you’re enjoying the New recipes! the Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup is on permanent rotation at our house. I ALWAYS have some in the fridge. It’s like vegetable duct tape 😉 Bacon sounds like a kickass addition to the Cauliflower Soup; point to you.

      I found some at Trader Joe’s that are cranberries and cranberry oil. MANY of the ones you find in bulk have crappy seed oils in them. If you can’t find clean cranberries, use dried cherries, raisins, or minced apricot instead.

  • Cristina says:

    I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOOVE WF2. Not even had it a week and I…… omg I have now words. WF only scratched the surface!!! I wis I had a whole week off from work just to cook and cook and try things and shop and cook some more!!! OMG!!!! The Beef stew is in the crockpot and the African Stew, might be my fave so far, is dinner right now! AMAZING!!! Lizard Sauce went over huge! Sunrise Seasoning is sooooooo versatile and there but not over the top. It’s like the perfect for everything seasoning so far! I LOVE how you are just you in your books Melissa! THANK you! I look forward to a WF3!!!! Or you can just come cook with me every weekend! THAT would be wild too!

    • Mel says:

      I love that you’ve tried so many recipes from the new book… such fun! Thank you for stopping by to let me know. And you’ve made some of my favorites! We’ve been making the West African Chicken Stew a lot — and Lizard Sauce is another “must have every week.”

      Happy cooking!

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