I went into Nordstrom last week in search of a simple summer dress for an upcoming trip. It was a Wednesday morning around 11am and the rest of the mall was nice and quiet (the way I like it!). But the minute I stepped into Nordstrom it was chaos. Entire sections of the store were roped off with yellow ribbons and sales associates policing the area checking Nordstrom cards to make sure you had the ‘clearance’ to shop in their section. If you wanted to browse, you had to go sign up for a Nordstrom credit card before even being allowed in the section. I quickly exited upon hearing that, because no way was I signing up for a store card to join the hundreds of crazy people already in those sections gushing over all the deals- the same deals that were there less than two months ago for their famous half yearly sale. I’m not a fashionista, and as much as I love buying clothes, I’m not a crazy person when it comes to crowded store sales. Even at one of my favorite stores (REI), the yearly sale crowds sent me into a anxiety attack. So, yes, I love online shopping.
ENTER: AMAZON PRIME
There is a love-hate relationship with Amazon in Seattle. We all hate the fact that the ‘Amazonians’ (people who work for Amazon) have taken over the downtown neighborhoods causing prices and traffic to skyrocket. But ask any of us to give up our precious Amazon Prime & free shipping, we may start a fight. I already have a very irrational annoyance if my package doesn’t arrive in two days! The great thing about Amazon (and Amazon Prime) is that you can get basically anything delivered to you for the same price or cheaper than at the store. And with the way traffic works here, you may even get it faster than you would if you tried to make time to go to the store.
AMAZON PRIME DAY
Amazon Prime Day is advertised as the ‘Black Friday of Summer’ with deals all over the board. I’ve been meaning to write a post on my favorite cookbooks for quite awhile, but I figured “What the heck, I’ll go ahead and release this with Amazon Prime Day!” to make sure you get the best deals possible on these books.
USE THE PROMO CODE: PRIMEBOOKS18 TO SAVE $5.00 WHEN YOU SPEND $20.00 OR MORE ON BOOKS OFFERED BY AMAZON.COM
So without further ado:
AMANDA’S FAVORITE COOKBOOKS ON AMAZON
THE BEST AND LIGHTEST: 150 HEALTHY RECIPES FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER
This is a great beginner cookbook and perfect for light summer meals! Nothing with crazy ingredients (you know that is a requirement when it comes to my ideal recipe!). There is a picture and nutritional information for each recipe, which helps inspire me and takes out all the guess work for nutritional values.
INSPIRALIZED: TURN VEGETABLES INTO HEALTHY, CREATIVE, SATISFYING MEALS
The original Inspiralizer cookbook, back when zoodles were unheard of! If you are looking for new ways to incorporate veggies into your meals, this is a fantastic place to start.
INSPIRALIZE EVERYTHING: AN APPLES-TO-ZUCCHINI ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPIRALIZING
The sequel to Inspiralized, with more ways to use your spiralizer (yes, you can spiralize apples & cabbage too!).
INSPIRALIZED AND BEYOND: SPIRALIZE, CHOP, RICE, AND MASH YOUR VEGETABLES INTO CREATIVE, CRAVEABLE MEALS
The latest and greatest addition to the family, with more recipes that Ali (the author) uses in her daily life. Some are spiralized, some are not. My favorite part is that she gives lots of options within each recipe to customize! The keys are easy to use as well, letting you know which ones are easy to store, which ones take a little extra time, and which ones fit certain diets.
THE INSPIRALIZER: OFFICIAL VEGETABLE SPIRALIZER OF INSPIRALIZED
Well, since I already recommended all three books, I might as well recommend the actual Inspiralizer! Not a book, but makes a great addition to one or even a gift.
HEALTHY MEAL PREP: TIME-SAVING PLANS TO PREP AND PORTION YOUR WEEKLY MEALS
Are you new to meal prepping? Want to get into meal prepping? Like the idea of meal prepping? Check out Healthy Meal Prep, complete with grocery lists. I had the privilege of meeting the authors last month and they are fantastic people who truly love to help people get on track with their health through meal prepping.
DINNER MADE SIMPLE: 35 EVERYDAY INGREDIENTS, 350 EASY RECIPES
I’d been eyeing this book for over a year at the Amazon Book Store (oh yeah, Seattle now has an Amazon bookstore which is a brick and mortar store full of their bestselling books). Think of it as a dictionary of ingredients with no frills recipes to match. Have a few cans of beans in the cupboard that need to be used? Flip to the Bean section. Apples about to go bad? There is a section for that. Each ingredient has 10 ideas to go with it! A must buy for anyone who buys in bulk at Costco or elsewhere.
SWEET POTATO SOUL: 100 EASY VEGAN RECIPES FOR THE SOUTHERN FLAVORS OF SMOKE, SUGAR, SPICE, AND SOUL
Another find at the Amazon Book Store, I couldn’t resist because I love sweet potatoes! In the winter, I eat sweet potatoes by the pound- and this book helped inspire me through the late winter blues this year. Even if you aren’t vegan (I’m not!), this book has plenty of recipes for meat lovers who just want a few more options.
THE DUDE DIET: CLEAN(ISH) FOOD FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO EAT DIRTY
If you don’t follow Serena on Instagram, you are missing out. She is down to earth, loves to eat, honest about her anxiety, has killer skin, and is hilarious. And if her description of the book doesn’t convince you to buy this book, I don’t know what will.
THE CANON COCKTAIL BOOK: RECIPES FROM THE AWARD-WINNING BAR
I can’t leave off alcohol from this list! Canon is a famous whiskey bar here in Seattle and has some of the craziest drink concoctions that you can imagine. There are drinks served in a full tea set, drinks served in IV drip bags, drinks served in pipes…you can check out their Yelp page here for more pictures. This cocktail book is the only book I have in the house with ingredients that I can’t pronounce or even have a clue what they are. But it’s classy, it’s a good read, and it’s sure to impress any whiskey fanatics you have over. And you may be able to find a new favorite drink!
Clean Skin from Within: The Spa Doctor’s Two-Week Program to Glowing, Naturally Youthful Skin
Not quite a cookbook, but it does have two weeks worth of recipes for healthy skin. The first half of the book it full of information behind why acne happens and how our diet relates to common acne problems. It also talks about different people react to different foods and how to add or eliminate them from your diet for desired affects. As someone who has struggled with acne for years, I was very intrigued by the information and was happy to find that many of the recipes in here were recipes that I use for healthy skin already!
REMEMBER TO USE THE PROMO CODE: PRIMEBOOKS18 TO SAVE $5.00 WHEN YOU SPEND $20.00 OR MORE ON BOOKS OFFERED BY AMAZON.COM