Danielle Walker's Against All Grain: Meals Made Simple: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Paleo Recipes to Make Anytime

I have many cookbooks, and this new purchase is one of my favorites now!! I live in a small, semi-rural town and Danielle Walker has done a brilliant job including recipes that have ingredients that are fairly easy to find. Many of the recipes that I have tried so far taste really great and I'm doing things like making my own almond milk, that before I thought would be too time consuming or expensive to do....not so! She has made it great to alter for specific and very restrictive diets (very flexible with interchangeable ingredients), easy to search for by ingredient (e.g. I have some chicken, so what can I cook for dinner tonight from her book?), and has lots of pictures so you aren't whipping up any mystery food your family will end up ordering a pizza over instead). Being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, I was exhausted and overwhelmed at the prospect of having to change my diet so drastically and having to still feed my family to boot! At the back of Danielle's book, there are shopping lists broken down by the weeks, so not only could I see that there weren't tons of food to buy all at once (I was too tired for that) but it helped me see that it really wasn't very expensive for me to eat this way. This is still a book I take with me on road trips for reading through, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is eating "clean" and may need special dietary alterations. The book is formatted very clearly, and makes eating clean seems completely do-able and simple! I will be happily buying all future books she puts out :)

The intended audience for the book is those who need help in planning and executing meals for the long run. I would fit into that category and am so grateful to have it thought out for me. I am not an organizer or a good cook. Cooking and planning meals overwhelms me because of all the brain work necessary. We have 3 different special diets in our house. I can juggle them all with her recipes and only have to fix one version of a meal not 3. (She provides lists for substitutions and lists for which recipes include eggs etc.) I am weary of looking up recipes on the internet and trying to make up a menu with 3 different diets! Not that I haven't tried. So with the help of this book I have made delicious simple meals that are full of flavor and with built in ideas for the left overs. Danielle understands those of us that have low energy and need it all just made simple. My family likes the recipes. For instance: The roast chicken is gourmet. We had it for a family gathering tonight. I use the bread recipe from her other book for sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. I have been following the week 2 menu for about 10 days now and I am able to get a meal on the table on time and everyone can eat the same food. Our son with the worst allergies frequently comments how much he likes just eating everything with everyone else. He volunteers to help me get the meals ready now! So I have simply put our whole family on the Paleo diet allergies or not to simplify my life and it is working. This book is a game changer for our family. Plug it in and run! I love that we can all sit down together for dinner and all eat the same thing. It is simple enough I am going to give the kids each their own night to cook and have them learn how to cook for themselves too! Update February 2015: So this was a wonderful springboard for me to figure out menus and getting the rest of the family cooking WITH me. I still use the Roast turkey for parties and family gatherings..even after a busy day I can now whip up a party quickly and my kids can also eat the food (I used to just order in Pizza to feed company now we all eat the same delicious thing.) I use her two books daily. I got them spiral bound at the printers with clear plastic covers and put stickers on the front with page numbers of my favorite recipes....the page numbers are REALLY small and the font is REALLY small for 1/2 etc measurments. I have gone in and written them bigger....on future editions perhaps those fonts could be enlarged. After 5 months it is still my basic go to....I am grateful. March 2017. I roasted a couple of chickens today and thought of how I still use the recipes in this book..but now I have them memorized and I have used some as freezer meals etc. I was glad to see that Danielle has written another cookbook. I will order it....I need new ideas....and would love to try something new.

One of my favorite cookbooks right now! I fell into Paleo this summer when trying to find a better diet for my thyroid & asthma issues and through the Paleo way I've learned that those darn stomach aches that I've had for years were from a gluten intolerance and not that I simply overate as I once thought. So now I've lost those stomach aches (except for those few times I thought a bite wouldn't be so bad...oops, wrong), I'm losing unneeded weight and I feel so much better! In Meals Made Simple every recipe I've tried so far is a winner! Freeze Waffles are in my freezer...they are great for so many things...strawberry shortcakes, a bready snack, a sweet treat with coconut/honey butter and yes even simple maple syrup! Also in my freezer are the Wraps...as"sandwich" breads, taco shells, breakfast wrap...you name it! The Beef Taco recipe I've had as it's shown...in a lettuce leaf...I've also used the wraps as well as make a taco salad....all a success! Pumpkin bread..oh yeah! Autumn Breakfast Skillet...a winner! Basic recipes for...mayo, ketchup, bbq sauce, spice mixes, salad dressings, almond milk, chicken stock, etc...! You get the picture! And speaking of pictures....the pictures of the meals look so good...makes me want to try them all the more! I love the "make ahead tips", "tidbits" and "stretch it" boxes......Ideas for storage, leftover usage, etc... I normal don't like when a cookbook has recipes that are too large for myself and maybe one other but with her suggestions for leftovers I'm not in so much of a loss for what to do other than reheat which is what usually happens... Gotta love variety & options! There is so much more in this book...meal plans, shopping lists, shopping resources, recipe nutritional info..... A must have book that I'm so glad I have!

Maybe my favorite aspect of this book is that you can look at 1 page for your whole dinner. Who has time took cook 3 different courses and recipes for 1 meal? Here, the veggies are usually built into the main courses. One of my favorite recipes has you boil down the pork marinade instead of discarding it and using it as a delicious salad dressing. Many recipes tell you to save a bit of meat for the next day's dinner so you don't have to deal with cooking meat every day. Some weeks are better about that than others. But I absolutely love the planned meal plans for 8 weeks! There are only a couple redos, so it's really 7 weeks worth of new recipes. Meal planning is so intimidating to me. I used to spend as much time planning as I did grocery shopping. So the week by week plan has saved me a lot of time. The food is delicious. Her previous book is delicious too, but many of those recipes were a little more involved or exotic than I could handle on a random weeknight. (But definitely also worth having.) The food is so good that my husband has finally agreed to let our house fully go paleo. He was skeptical about her paleo crepes and pizza crust, but has ended up loving it all. It's not like these are 20 minute meals or anything, but I think this cookbook has the best balance of time-efficiency and taste, without the mental energy other books require. Whether you're figuring out how to keep your family with paleo, how to manage meal plans, or just looking for some new inspiration, I recommend this. It is my #1 most used and favorite paleo book.

This book contains quite a few easy to complete recipes, even for novice (read: bad) cooks such as myself. My favorite section is "Basics", with recipes for grain free wraps, sauces, etc. I've made several of the more intense recipes in the book and still found them relatively easy, even for me. They came out tasty, so win-win1 I will definitely be buying more of her cookbooks. My one gripe is that the book claims to be "dairy-free" but some recipes have butter or ghee. I'd like there to at least be a substitution option in there. For the people saying this book as other allergens...it's listed as dairy and grain free, not anything else free. Calm down.

I recently bought this book and have prepared enough meals to make an informed comment on it. Now if your new to paleo it is going to be a LOT of extra effort to create these meals if you have a full time job. (I also have 2 children, work out 4-5 days a week and have lost 12 pounds). I was exposed to paleo about a year ago but recently got serious when I started developing seasonal allergies at age 45. Who would have thought?......I have made myself create at least 3-4 of her recipes a week, preparing a few ingredients the night before. It is a lot of prep but hey, you are not throwing a bagged or boxed meal in the oven. You are creating your own means, from scratch, and you know exactly what you are putting in your mouth. I hear a few people comment that the foods are expensive, can't find them, etc etc. You can find the ingredients. My diet is 80/20 paleo and have eliminated soy and dairy but still throw in the occasional gluten free bread as too much almond bread causes my digestive system some irritability. Since paleo, soy and dairy free I have had no allergy symptoms except a few sneezes. Blame it on paleo?, I don't know but something is working. As for the book, love the recipes. Every recipe has s picture and is not too complicated which works for my busy lifestyle. I'm not big on the few sweets I've made from her book but paleo sweets in general are blah. That's where the 20% comes in - in paleo there is no sugar so just try and eat sweets with known and natural ingredients like cane sugar and not high fructose corn syrup, etc, etc.

Quite simply the easiest way to start eating healthier. Danielle Walker has put together a collection of information and recipes that will help you down the path of eliminating grains from your diet. Her recipes are easy to follow and so far everything we've tried has tasted delicious. There's also the side benefit of knowing exactly what you're eating and the gratification of having made it yourself. My wife and I started removing grains from our diet on March 22, 2015. It does take time getting your kitchen in order, removing all the bad ingredients and replacing them with their healthier alternatives. Don't worry Danielle has plenty of tips on where to start, what to buy and what to stay away from. Depending on where you live finding the local health food outlets and organic farmers can be a bit tricky but well worth the time and effort involved and it gets you out of the house and connected to like minded individuals. Expect strange looks from your family and friends when you tell them you no longer eat wheat or grains of any kind. Their first response is "Well then what do you eat?". Pull out Danielle's book and show them her full page color photos of her recipes from soups to desserts and everything in between, breakfast goodies like pancakes (my favorite by the way), muffins, kids snacks and just about anything you can think of. Their next response is "I don't have time to do all that work". I'm not going to lie and tell you it's a snap because it isn't. Yes it takes time but I look at it this way. If I'm sleeping better (no more waking up EVERY NIGHT at 3:00 AM with acid reflux), losing weight (down 13 lbs - from 175 to 162) solely from eating better - no extra exercise routines and just feeling better, sharper and more focused, then any time I spend making my own meals with better ingredients is time well spent. What about the high cost for all this better food? Well there again these ingredients are more expensive but we are no longer buying all the extras we consumed like, cookies, chips & condiments, ice cream, soda, candies, pretzels, pizza, other fast foods, pastas, soups, cereals and many other items and ingredients we no longer use. Oh and all those bottles of antacids I no longer need. In short this book is a great place to start your new healthier and nutritional way of eating. Thanks Danielle for all the time and effort you've put into compiling this information.

I really like this book. Stylistically, it is very pleasing and easy to use. The recipes are great and I appreciate the research and testing the author did so that I didn't end up with a disappointing results, wasted food, money, and especially my time. For example, the Wraps using coconut flour. Got these right with the first try, though I was skeptical at first as I bake with almond and coconut flour and some recipes out there are major flops. These flours are difficult to work with. Ms Walker uses both in her recipes and makes both flours very approachable with good results. I'm a busy, working mother and don't want my kitchen to be a test kitchen! The ingredients, shopping smart, tools, tidbits and making it simple content proceeding the recipes section was done in a clear, succinct, mindful way. It doesn't matter how good recipes are if you don't have the right tools, or, don't make recipes with intention as that creates waste and busts the budget. Double Up and Stretch It is really helpful. The surprise and delight factor for me came when I completed a recipe and the author included a make-ahead tip with instructions, including how long the product would keep in the freezer which somehow Ms. Walker anticipated I'd want to know. No more wasted time on cooking forums. While I'm not completely in the dark when it comes to cooking, having useful this kind of useful information is greatly appreciated. While the recipes might not be mind blowing, the amount of care and mindful intention put into this cook book by Ms. Walker blows my mind. Worth every penny, and then some.