Last week, I had the pleasure of chatting with Diane Sanfilippo of Balanced Bites and Liz Wolfe of Cave Girl Eats for their Balanced Bites...
Read MorePeople Say Such Nice Things
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Dave, Smudge, and I are 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!
Paleo Magazine
What It Is: Paleo Magazine is the premiere print mag about all things paleo. From food to science to healthy lifestyle factors, Paleo Magazine has it all covered in full-color, glossy style.
Who’s Behind It: Cain Credicott is the Editor/Publisher and the articles are contributed by writers that represent a Who’s Who of the paleo world. (Read Paleo Savvy’s interview with Cain! Part 1 | Part 2). The Well Fed 2 review was written by Erin Van Genderen, the beauty and brains behind Little Dutch Wife.
My Fave Quote From The Review: “In Well Fed 2, Joulwan delves deeper into the spiritual side of Paleo that so desperately needs addressing. She encourages the reader to seek their best self, not for any other reason than to fulfill personal potential…. There is no guilt, no comparison, no braggadocio to be found here. There is, rather, plenty of joy, encouragement, and pleasure found in the journey. Joulwan speaks powerfully on the page, but gives just as encouraging an example through the way she approaches food: it should nourish, it should inspire, and it should keep you, in body and spirit, very well fed.”
Another Post You Might Like: How about some handy tips to “Avoid the Top 5 Paleo Traps”?
Read the complete review.
Carnivore Diary
What It Is: Carnivore Diary is a blog with a straight-forward mission: “Eat, Sleep, Lift, Meat, Carnivore, Paleo, Whole30, Life.” These are all ideas I endorse wholeheartedly. Also, it has a very spiffy home page.
Who’s Behind It: Jim is behind it. He eats, he works out, he writes about meat.
My Fave Quote From The Review: “I wanted to hold off on anything related to Whole30 until I finish, and can give a true opinion on it, but it would be a TRAVESTY to keep this information from the world. The book Well Fed 2 by Melissa Joulwan just released. We received it yesterday… it’s really goddamn good. ”
Another Post You Might Like: Learn something! Jim takes on the difference between a meat rub and dry brine in Brine vs. Rub.
Read the complete review.
Balancing Paleo
What It Is: Balancing Paleo tells the story of one Colorado woman’s commitment to paleo. It’s a mix of recipes and thoughtful posts on life. .
Who’s Behind It: Michelle Francis is a personal trainer, yoga enthusiast, mom and lover of trees. She says, “Sometimes my balance feels a little shaky and sometimes it feels quite solid, but I believe that subtle shifting is part of life’s beauty.”
My Fave Quote From The Review: “As soon as I got [Well Fed 2], I stayed up late, totally engrossed and wondering, ‘When am I going to have time to make my own recipes to share? All I want to do is cook from this book!'”
Another Post You Might Like: I really, really, really want to make this Celery Salad with Grapes and Walnuts.
Read the complete review.
Nourish Paleo Foods
What It Is: Nourish Paleo Foods is personal blog packed with paleo recipes and sprinkled with sweet thoughts about the author’s life, including yoga, training, and her sweet puppy.
Who’s Behind It: It’s written by Mary, a Denverite with a paleo hubby named Matt and Tour, an “All-American junkyard dog.”
My Fave Quote From The Review: “There’s one other reason I so love the book Melissa has put together – she exhibits a wonderful, adventurous spirit in the kitchen… She assures kitchen newbies, ‘Here’s a secret that should give you confidence: You really can’t mess it up.’ She encourages experimentation by offering numerous variations on each recipe, as well as a space where you can add your own notes. It’s like she is not only giving you permission to alter the recipes – but would be delighted to hear what you came up with.”
Another Post You Might Like: On Wednesdays, Mary writes posts about what she’s doing outside the kitchen. I like this installment of Wide Open Wednesday in which she interviews her husband Matt about paleo eating.
Read the complete review.
Bam Pow Paleo
What It Is: Bam Pow Paleo started as a blog for a nutrition consulting biz, but in awesome-sauce news, the blogger is now the owner of a Paleo Cafe franchise in Australia!
Who’s Behind It: I’ve been internet friends with Meghann for three years. Our first connection was through roller derby and we rolled right on into paleo. Meghann (a.k.a. Ann Surly) is a dynamo and kickass ambassador for paleo eating.
My Fave Quote From The Review: “There is an entire section devoted to maximising what you can do with ground meat. And the best part? It’s called ‘Burgers, Balls and Bangers.’ (Balls! Balls! Balls! Snicker. Ok, I’m done.) As a busy mum on a budget, ground meat gives me the biggest bang for my food and time dollars and I always have it on hand… choose your spices, add your sides and — BLAMMO — you’re good to go.“
Another Post You Might Like: There is so much good stuff in this post about softness in movement. What if we all tried to soften into everything we do?
Read the complete review.
Primal Journey
Last but not least, you can spend a lot of time reveling in the paleo transformation of Michelle from Primal Journey. She’s pretty fantastic and she made a video about Well Fed and Well Fed 2. Adorbs!
(For more video fun, you can really indulge your Well Fed affection with this 16-minute video from Cindy Duke).
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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Congrats again on creating such a beloved cookbook! 🙂
Thank YOU for giving Well Fed love 🙂
Very awesome!! Congrats!
My only complaint about your 2 cookbooks is that you have made it virtually impossible for me to limit my portion sizes because the recipes are SO FREAKIN’ GOOD! I have a moderately sized serving and then seconds or thirds! My husband raves about the recipes and also has seconds or thirds! I can’t wait for the next meal so I can have more. There’s not been a bad one yet. Thanks so much! I was so tired of plain meat and boring veggies.
That is an awesome complaint! I’ll take it!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes; thanks for letting me know!
I bought Well Fed 2 last week (never owned the first book), read it from cover to cover, spent some time writing a list, planning and shopping, then had a blast in the kitchen whipping up the most amazing EVERYTHING. So naturally, I picked up the fist book right away, and did the same thing this weekend. WOW and THANK YOU!!!. Your recipes are AMAZING, user friendly and fun to follow (I assure you, I have never called a cookbook or recipe fun before yours). I am so excited to have found this treasure of deliciousness infused with tricks and tidbits to make eating healthy every day something I look forward to! Keep up the fantastic work!
Wheeee! I love this! Thank you, first, for buying our cookbooks and second, for taking the time to stop by and say hi. I’m really glad to know you’re enjoying the recipes. Cooking *should* be fun, and it’s great Well Fed is making the kitchen a good time for you. YAY!
Mel,
I got my new cookbook this weekend and couldn’t stop looking at it! I was so excited about all the new things in it and how I was going to make them! I literally took the book everywhere I went and kept looking at it from cover to cover. Food porn at its best!!! Holy moly am I excited about this cookbook!
Thanks for the wonderful recipes that are so exciting and fun!
YAY! Thank you! Hope you’re inspired to have some serious cooking adventures. Enjoy the new recipes!
Oh, it starts tonight! I am on my way to Whole Foods tonight to get some dried figs for the ketchup!
Dear Mel,
I bought Well Fed 1 as an ebook and have been enjoying it ever since. When Well Fed 2 was published I decided I absolutely needed to have the “real thing” this time. It was finally available here in Germany, too, and I´m just loving your recipes! Apart from me really enjoying the food I can even “sneak” in onto the table and feed it to my 70-something, absolutely-anti-paleo parents without them noticing. They literally feasted on the West African Chicken Stew last weekend. Thanks for the great work! 🙂
I love “sneaky,” healthy, delicious food!
Thanks for stopping by to say you like the books — and thank you for buying both of them! I’m just about to dig into some West African Chicken Stew myself. YUM!
What a another smashing hit! I made the crockpot BBQ beef yesterday and it was amazing. I also did the BBQ sauce and mayo. I am looking forward to more fabulous kitchen creating with the WellFed2 as my sidekick. Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed it! Wishing you many more happy cooking adventures with the new recipes!
I got my copy here in Australia (finally! :p) and stayed up late bookmarking all the recipes I wanted to make with post-its. And I’ve just sheepishly realised that I’ve stuck post-its on half the pages in my copy of Well Fed 2. Geez, I (maybe, kind of) didn’t really believe you could top Well Fed, but I’m so glad you did. I’m getting the pdf version too because this cookbook needs to be with me even when I’m staying at my other half’s! I’ve fallen off the good eating wagon in a hard way, and this was the reminder I needed to go back 🙂 thank you, Melissa! 🙂
YAY! Well Fed 2 made it down under. WOOT!
I love that you found so many recipes inspiring. That’s awesome! Hope you have lots of fun in the kitchen — would love to know what your new favorites turn out to be.
Enjoy!
No surprises, the first two recipes I made (Tod Mun Chicken Cakes & Coleslaw) tasted great – instant favourites! I mean, I eat chicken and I’ve used the red curry paste for curry all this time, I just never thought to use it as seasoning. You are truly genius 🙂 Two randomly chosen recipes (chosen because I was too excited to go home and cook tonight and didn’t have time to go buy many new ingredients, so I just chose what I already had ingredients for) and both of them heavenly. If this is any indication of how much I’ll love the food in Well Fed 2, I could weep with happiness 🙂
Hi Mel!
Just thought I’d let you know that Cincinatti Chilli was my first recipe to try out of WF2!!! LOVED it, you are a genius with spices.
It was quickly followed up by Buffalo Chicken Salad, fabulous. Recipes extremely easy to follow and mine even looked like the pictures. *Phewf*
Right on! Glad you’re having success with the new recipes. Happy cooking!
I am not a blog commenter at all BUT I wanted to say…well…thanks!
I’ve been dipping my toes into Paleo for awhile, I’m in love with the philosophy behind it and just the idea of eating food simply because it’s good for you and tastes good too.
Most recipes I’ve found have been more “paleo hack” type meals rather than simple paleo food. I did my own version of hot plates, in a much smaller and not nearly as imaginative way.
I stumbled across Well Fed and your blog last week and well, a batch of your “best chicken ever” is brining in the fridge right now, and I’m about to go peel the carrots to make some of the cumin roasted ones!
I love to cook but it’s been awhile since I genuinely felt excitement about trying something out. Being born and raised in a cornfield, I have literally never eaten moroccan food or indian food and the like, and although I shied away from them at first, I started making simple meal with the sauces to start with, and now I’m diving into each recipe.
Thank you for providing me with the gusto and cooking love to get my butt back in gear in the kitchen!
Thank you for taking the time to comment! I’m so glad you found me and that you like what I’m doing. Hope you enjoyed the Best Chicken!
The more exotic cuisines are fun, no? I love playing with the spices — glad you’re experimenting and finding new stuff you enjoy. That’s totally awesome.
Have fun in the kitchen!
Hooray for you, Mel! You deserve all of the accolades. Thanks for posting some linkage to me — you’re the sweetest!
Thank YOU, Erin!
Mel- Well Fed is absolutely amazing, It has been a game changer for me in the kitchen. I’ve made the salmon cakes 3 times in ones week and so much more. THANK YOU!!!!!
Right on! Really glad you like the recipes. Thanks for letting me know! Happy cooking to you.
Was traveling for work the last week and came home yesterday to my copy of Well Fed 2 having arrived and waiting for me. What an amazing welcome home gift. I made the Tod Mun Chicken (Oh My Gosh!!) – you are the Queen of Seasoning and this will be a new favorite. Also made the Coconut Cauliflower (appreciated the tip to cook for longer than you think you should) – really yummy. I love the 1st Well Fed (am addicted to what I call Egg Foo Yummy and Sunshine Sauce and Scotch Eggs and homemade Mayo). Can’t wait to see what new addictions will form with cooking out of WF2.
Thank you for the Well Fed love! We’re having Tod Mun Chicken Cakes for lunch today, and I’m pretty excited about eating them 🙂
Hope you have tons of fun in the kitchen with both books.
The book is amazing! Every week I try to make a recipe that I’ve never made before and since I got Well Fed 2, that new recipe has been out of the book. Last week I made the pulled beef sandwiches, along with the bbq sauce (it made me feel pretty B.A. that I made my own bbq sauce) and cole slaw…all delicious! My husband and I both loved it and I can’t wait to make it again. Last night I made the Pina Colada chicken and it’s my new favorite chicken recipe. I can’t wait for next week’s Well Fed 2 meal!
Hooray! I love your “new recipe every week” idea — such fun! I’m trying to cook more new stuff, too, now that the cookbook is out in the world. Glad you like the Pina Colada Chicken…YAY!
I’ve been loving Well Fed 2 since it came in the mail, and cooked up the Vampire Fighting Paleo pork stew tonight. I had some pork butt left from a crockpot meal a few days before, so I mixed that in with some ground pork and cooked my apples in with the ground meat while it browned. (Since my meat was already cooked, I didn’t need that long simmer). It was amazing! I paired it with a cool salad with similar flavors that’s paleo, too. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/kohlrabi-and-apple-salad-with-caraway
Anyhoo, just wanted to pop in and tell you how much I’m enjoying the book. Tomorrow I’m visiting an old favorite from the original Well Fed…chocolate chili!
Thanks for sharing the link to the caraway salad — that looks delish! Hope you have lots of fun with Well Fed 2. Happy cooking to you!
I have been cooking from, theclothingmakesthegirl.com for a few weeks now and love everything I’ve made! I can’t wait to try more! I’ve already told my husband your two cookbooks are on my wish list for Christmas!
So glad you like my recipes — thanks for letting me know! I hope Santa/Husband makes your Christmas wishes come true 🙂
I couldn’t wait. My amazon delivery came today with both Well Fed cookbooks! I can’t wait to get cooking with Well Fed 2!
The only problem with your cook books is that you’ve made all my other ones pretty much obsolete. Luckily they’re both big enough (and with enough variations) that I’m pretty sure I can feed my family with nothing but your recipes for the rest of our lives.
This is one of the best compliments EVER. Thank you so much! I’m really glad you’re enjoying the recipes. You made my day!
Oh Mel! I just got Well Fed 2 today. It’s wonderful. You’re wonderful. That is all.
Um. YOU are wonderful for taking the time to stop by and compliment me. AWESOME!
Glad you like Well Fed 2.
Oh my gosh, Mel. I’ve been making recipes from Well Fed 2 since I got it in early November, but I just HAD to rave about how good the plantain nachos are! I just got around to making them yesterday but have had my eye on them since I first flipped through and they seriously exceeded every expectation I had. Even the plantain chips by themselves are AWESOME and you totally opened my eyes to a new veggie (fruit?)!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all you do. You make Paleo eating so much fun (and tasty, too)!
-Mer
MER! I’m so glad you like the plantain nachos. We just had them for dinner last night, and every other bite, I said, “Jeez, there are really good.” I think it was getting on Dave’s nerves 🙂
And yeah, the chips on their own are pretty badass. They’re really good with Chocolate Chili or guacamole or Lizard Sauce.
I have a rule that I only buy one plantain at a time and I always share them with Dave. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I could eat 4-5 plantains’ worth of chips on my own.
Thank YOU for being awesome.
I just wanted to let you know that I was putting together the turkey and cranberry variation of the burger, balls and bangers recipe from WF2 this weekend. I made it once before, and it was a huge hit. Anyway, I just didn’t have the patience on Sunday to take the time to form burgers, balls OR bangers, so I made a loaf instead. Baked it off, and then kept it in the fridge until dinner time last night. Sliced it up and seared the slices on my cast iron skillet. There was an actual fight over who was going to get to have the last piece for lunch today!
Brilliant! I love that all of the meatballs are essentially “meat putty” that can be made into any shape. I think the leavening action of the cream of tartar/baking soda really helps with that. Glad your experiment worked — that’s awesome!
Hi Mel,
I went Paleo about 4 months ago and I absolutely love the Well Fed 2 Cookbook. However, I have to point out that the estimated timing for the Tod Mun chicken cakes (which are delicious) is way, way off. I have made the cakes 3 times times now and they take significantly longer than the book indicates. The prep time takes longer than the 15 minutes indicated and doesn’t even begin to factor in the 30 minute refrigeration period. And the recipe yields significantly more than 12 cakes and therefore the cooking time far exceeds the 25 minutes indicated. Other than that, I am loving the cookbook.