GOOD + SIMPLE

by Jasmine Hemsley, Melissa Hemsley

GOOD FOOD, GOOD MOOD, GOOD DIGESTION, GOOD HEALTH!

Good + Simple celebrates the pleasure of delicious food that is simple to make, a joy to share and just so happens to be good for you. Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley’s principles of healthy home cooking built around gut health, whole foods and affordable ingredients show how tasty and achievable eating well can be.

The sisters have created 140 nutritious and exciting recipes – reworked classics, prepare ahead dishes, fast suppers with leftovers for packed lunches, energising breakfasts and snacks, satisfying breads, desserts and bakes. Infused with Jasmine and Melissa’s love of cooking and eating, Good + Simple includes plenty of practical tips and down-to-earth advice to help you gain confidence in the kitchen, plan for the coming week and cook for
you and your family with ease. Enjoy real food. Look and feel amazing every day.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, Food and Drink, Diets

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2016

Reviews

[Coleen (The Book Ramblings) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good + Simple is for anyone who wants accessible, affordable eating. There are over 140 recipes that provide nutritious, sustainable, and delicious everyday meals. Part One includes getting started, simple recipes, and essential ingredients; Part Two is breakfast, lunch, dinner, salad, soups, snacks, and sweets; Part Three has on-the-go, meal plans, shopping lists, and lifestyle changes.

The visuals in this cookbook are absolutely stunning, and the photos of the dishes just made my mouth water–I couldn’t wait to cook! The grey and yellow is such an uplifting and cheerful color combination that is just beautifully put together. It’s so well-written with an easy-to-follow layout with directions, tips, and variations.

Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley are home cooks and food lovers that have a passion for wellness that includes delicious nutrition-rich foods. Their cooking is all about cooking with natural ingredients that provide easy and satisfying meals that are easy to digestive and healthy. All of their recipes are full of flavor and goodness, but free of gluten, grains, and refined sugar. Their simple and honest approach to cooking is designed to bring nutritious and delicious meals to the table to nourish body, mind, and soul.

I am a firm believer in their philosophy when it comes to what we eat making an impact on our bodies as well as our overall health. When you eat good food, good results happen, and you thrive. Food should be good for you, it should be delicious and nutritious, and it should be simple and sustainable

15 H+H Principles for Eating Well:
1. Gut Instinct
2. Boil Your bones
3. Forget Calories, Think Nutrients
4. Meat and Two Veg
5. Going Against the Grain
6. Fat is Your Friend
7. Sweet Enough
8. Drink to Think
9. The Real Deal
10. Know Your Onions
11. Prepare, Chew and Combine
12. Be Mindful
13. Stress Less
14. Tune In
15. The “Better Than” Rule

There are also tips, which include Drink First, Prioritize Breakfast, Make Time, Balance it Out, Anything Goes, and Split it. Each tip has a short section with information.

As someone who eats gluten-free and has eliminated processed food, I sometimes get stumped on what to prepare, and this now offers me a wide variety of simple dishes that are easy, and prepared with readily available ingredients that are natural and fresh. There are savory, sweet, light and refreshing, and even comfort foods that are still healthy and nutritious. Two recipes that I really enjoyed were One Pan Full Monty Breakfast, and The Breakfast Bowl–both were a welcome change to my usual breakfast go-to’s. Another two recipes that I am looking forward to preparing for my family are Chicken Kiev with a Simple Spinach Salad, and Slow-Cooked Smoky Apple Pulled Pork. This is a cookbook that allows me to bring healthy meals that are good for the household to the table, and I know it will be one that I reach for often because it doesn’t intimidate me when it comes to cooking in the kitchen.

I received this cookbook in exchange for an honest review through Blogging for Books.

[Readsandeats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and have made a number of the recipes and they are so good.
I would recommned this book to those who love food and want to expand their cooking in a fun and inovative way.

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I predict some healthy home cooking happening this weekend.


My View:
A great cook book with a simple philosophy – food should be good for you, it should be delicious and nutritious, and it should be simple and sustainable. (p.7) I couldn’t agree more!

H +H (Hemsley and Hemsley) have 15 principles for eating well – let me share them with you:
1. Gut Instinct
2. Boil Your bones
3. Forget Calories, Think Nutrients
4. Meat and two veg
5. Going Against the grain
6. Fat is Your Friend
7. Sweet Enough
8. Drink to think
9. The Real Deal
10. Know your onions
11. Prepare, Chew and Combine
12. Be mindful
13. Stress Less
14. Tune In
15. The “better than” rule.

This book got me at point 1 Gut Instinct. Gut health has something I have been very mindful of lately, you will have noticed I have reviewed a few Gut Health type books, and the more I read the more I am convinced that a healthy gut equals a healthy body. I am pleased that this cook book shares this philosophy too.

Bone broth – frugal, nourishing and tasty, bone broth is the age-old superfood at the heart of the H + H philosophy. (p.10) I am in agreement.

I could go on…but I won’t. Pick up the book, watch the upcoming TV series on Foxtel; Hemsley & Hemsley: Healthy & Delicious, on Mondays at 8.30pm on LifeStyle FOOD and discover for yourself the H & H philosophies for eating well .

[Jack Syron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I jumped the ship and read this one over their first one and I believe to be crucial to read their first book then this one. The recipes are effective but I feel like I have to grow a garden and be a block away from the London fresh markets to get the most out of it. Even Whole Foods can do so much so I advise to be creative with their recipes and give it a college try. The other passages about healthy living are short and sweet and I can see them writing a spiritual book, similar to the Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo, in the near future.

[Rosalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't necessarily follow their diet restrictions but I do like some of the recipes. Biggest plus? They work. Their meatballs are particularly good. I've made their courgette toast (always looking for ways to use zucchinis). Serving poached eggs and avocado on a slice of this is particularly decadent. At this stage I'm still borrowing this book from the library but one more borrow and I'll seriously consider buy it.

[Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Readsandeats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and I am planning on making a lot from this book and trying to adjust my eating habits.
Would recommend this book.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ksz

[Jody Brouwers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how these recipes taste and how they make me feel. So satisfied and energized!

[Zwart Raafje · Rating 3 out of 5]

Net als de meeste kookboeken begint ook Lekker en snel voor elke dag met een inleiding waarin de zusjes Hemsley zichzelf voorstellen. Vervolgens geven ze een woordje uitleg over hun filosofie en de regels die ze naleven. Daarnaast kan je ook nog enkele voorbeelden van weekmenu’s terugvinden in dit boek én de bijhorende boodschappelijst.

Uiteraard staan er ook heel wat recepten in dit boek. Jasmine en Melissa kozen ervoor om deze in te delen in de volgende rubrieken: Ontbijt, Soepen en stoofschotels, Bijgerechten en snacks, Sandwiches en salades, Vis en vlees, Groentehoofdgerechten, Dips – dressings – sauzen en spreads, Gebak – desserts en zoete gerechten, Dranken. Ten slotte krijg je ook nog extra informatie over de voordelen van het vooruit plannen, essentieel keukengerei, keukenvoorraad, de H + H leefregels en gezond eten voor onderweg.

...

Mijn volledige recensie kan je hier terugvinden.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I initially chose this book, the premise of the book intrigued me. The idea to have fun, easy meals to create during the week, while living a healthy lifestyle. These two sisters, Hemsley and Hemsley are focused on wholesome cooking.

The book is beautiful. Well laid out and the type face was well-chosen. It's easy to read, while teaching you the reader, the reason and benefits of a healthy lifestyle. If you have already touched base on this type of lifestyle, it merely reinforces what you already know.

The cookbook has beautiful photo's of the majority of recipes, which taunt and urge you to make each and everyone of them. Intrigued, I had my husband select a few that he would like for me to try out.

We tried first the Kasha Buckwheat Burgers/Balls. I followed the directions and found that my buckwheat burgers/balls never really firmed up and when attempting the batch frying, consistently fell apart. The next recipe we tried was the Lubee Beans (Lebanese Green Beans in Tomato Sauce). The flavors in all was just okay. Definitely not something that we look forward to making again in the future.

At this point, I'm willing to try another recipe, just to be encouraged that the recipes contained within the book are worth trying. But it promotes a defeatist feeling when you buy ingredients that end up going down the garbage disposal.

The plus side, is that the recipes are fairly easy to understand and you do not have to buy a wide variety of unknown items to make the recipes.

All in all, I am glad to own this book and will most definitely try another recipe. If my opinions change, I'll post and update the stars. Btw, the cover on the front half is paper, and is not embossed on the book. So it is in actuality a grey book with the yellow lettering. Just a head's up on that realm.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Esmerelda Ipswich · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best cookbooks I own. Easy, so healthy, amazingly delicious, and beautiful pictures. I have a lot of cookbooks and this one is a keeper.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start with what a beautiful cookbook this is - it's really a high quality book! The photos, the photography, the design. It's all fantastic. I love that there were so many tips and tricks throughout the cookbook. Although this is an amazingly designed cookbook, I didn't resonate with the content itself as much as I'd hoped from the description. It's good but much of it isn't quite as family-friendly as I'd hoped. I loved some of the recipes but a number of them just don't sound appealing to me or likely to be appealing to my kids. This is a cookbook that will definitely resonate with certain people but I recommend you take a look before purchasing to be sure you find much of it appealing!

A few recipes that spoke to me are The Breakfast Bowl, Cucumber, Avocado & Chickpea Salad, Power Salad in a Jar, Easy Cheesy Broccoli Risotto, Frozen Banana Man Bites and Blueberry Muffins!

* Received from the publisher for an honest review *

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like it. The philosophy appeals to me, just as in their first book but I feel like this one is actually more clear, less chaotic and more approachable. There are many dishes and ideas which are inspiring and I bookmarked a lot of recipes (clementine chocolate bars, flaxseed buns, chestnut pancakes...)

The pictures are gorgeous, girls are still as pretty and smiley :) I definitey agree recipes are simpler than in the first book.

For now Ive tried minestrone, carrot chips/fries, pink kraut, courgetti with chickpea sauce and avocado boats. All delicious! Flaxseed buns were a surprise- they actually raised and had nice bounce.

I would say I prefer the layout of this book much more, if I had to choose I would get this book first, thats not to say Art of eating well is worse but I feel this one explains things more simply and recipes are more approcheable too.

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2nd Hemsley and Hemsley cookbook is a nice follow-up on the 1rst book with some newbooks international recipes. I like the structure of the book with Pictures to almost all recipes. They give a lot of different Options in their recipes e.g. three type of hummus, three type of pesto, etc.
The Fotos could have been a Little big bigger, so the book almost looks a bit old-fashioned, but in a good way.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and Simple focuses on healthy eating but this isn't your traditional "healthy cookbook." The recipes aren't just for salads or green smoothies, they are healthy recipes using real food. These recipes are simple and full of ingredients I'm used to using and food I'm used to eating. Healthy eating doesn't have to mean cutting out foods or spending a ton of time in the kitchen. This is a cute book with recipes that all look really tasty!

[Aja Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed this more than i expected and even though some meat and dairy are included, there are a lot of recipes in here i could work with and/or adapt since it is very plant-forward. i haven't really dug into the meal plans or more texty part of the book yet however.

[Maxime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book it looks great on my kitchen bookcase lol
I Love the Asian short rib stew recipe the coconut dhal is lovely but ill be honest I have not cooked many others yet

[Ietrio · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a regular cookbook. Nothing special. And the authors are far from revolutionary. On the contrary: plain and regular. The photos are like that too. A cook blog put on paper.

[Ambur Taft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely cookbook for eating fresh & local, meal planning ahead, & feeling good about what you are eating while still eating delicious easy to make food.