How do we get inspiration for our recipes? We go to the source–our favorite cookbooks.

When I started cooking, I watched Food Network everyday and printed off the recipes that looked good. Like most beginning cooks, I followed the recipes down to measuring all of the ingredients, and I freaked out if I were missing an ingredient or my grocery store didn’t have the exact brand of chicken stock that Rachel Ray used in her 30 Minute Meals show.

But I gained confidence in my kitchen skills and learned to find my inspiration in cookbooks. Plus, I didn’t have to follow the recipe exactly.

If you need a place to start looking for inspiration, here are my 5 favorite cookbooks for camping:

1. The Lazy Kitchen by Kendra Adachi: This book isn’t so much a cookbook, but a guide to help your make the best decisions for your kitchen. Kendra guides you through how to make choices that will work for you. I have listened to her podcast “The Lazy Genius” every Monday on my way to work, and she is one of the best people to help you work through kitchen. Her magic question makes my life easier daily.
2. Small Space, Big Taste by Tricia Leach: From one full-time RV cook to this weekend camping warrior, Tricia’s cookbook helps campers because it is specifically for the RV life. On their YouTube channel, Keeping Your Daydream, Tricia and her family share adventures camping all across the United States. What I like about this book is how she essentializes her recipes to work in a small RV kitchen. Also, her spice blends are AMAZING.
3. Look and Cook by Rachel Ray: Rachel Ray is my favorite Food Network cook. What I love about this cook are all the pictures and step by step instructions. While I may not cook one of these recipes exactly as Rachel has, I looked for flavor inspiration and flavor combinations that would work for a new marinade or casserole/heat and eat meal. Plus, her specialty is good food quickly. I can get behind that idea when I camping.
4. The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond: Ree’s blog “The Pioneer Woman” was one of the first food related websites that I would read daily. I love her pictures and storytelling when it comes to food. In this cookbook, I look for comforting flavor combinations that I can deconstruct into an easier, more RV kitchen friendly. Also, some of her recipes take some time, and I love thinking about new ways to make recipes quicker and still be flavorful.
5. Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook: This cookbook has been with me for my entire life. My Mom uses this cookbook for its biscuit recipe, and I love the variety of categories that it has for casseroles, meats, vegetables, desserts–all the things that taste good. Even though I don’t cook from this book as often, I use it to inspire some of the casserole flavors for our heat and meals for Disney.

Let’s us know in the comments, what are YOUR favorite cookbooks?

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