Soul Food Love cookbook

I'm learning to cook. I know how weird that sounds when I'm in my 30's but...yeah. I'm learning! Ha ha. So I've been eating up cookbooks to review when I can. First was SkinnyTaste, which was great and we found a few regulars in the book.

My boyfriend and I both grew up in the South; he in Kentucky, me primarily Texas and a few years in Georgia, so our food tastes are very random. He does love Soul Food though so when this book came up, I had to snatch it up!

The recipes are beautiful, easy to do, and don't require weird ingredients that I've never heard of and can't find in a regular grocery store. Though living in the hometown of Whole Foods, it's pretty easy to find special ingredients.

But what is most amazing about this book, is the long family history in the beginning of this family of women, their cooking, their impacts on their culture, their lives. The beautiful family pictures and stories of four generations of Black women were amazing.

The recipes, their whole purpose is to be a healthier version of Soul Food that are organized into the following categories:

Sips and Bites
Soups
Main Dishes
Sides and Salads
Desserts
Crowns
For a Crowd

For dinner, we decided to make the spicy hot chicken. I had never, ever, ever made a whole chicken before this. My version of a whole chicken was an already seasoned, and cooked, whole chicken from the grocery store deli. (We did add red pepper flakes because we are insane, and we cooked two chickens for this instance).

Super yummy with tons of flavor and perfectly crispy skin. All of us loved it, even the 12 year old. 

Granted, there were some that seemed repetitive, especially in the sips but the entrees and veggies were great! I have a few I plan on making, especially the broccoli with peanuts and raisins, and fiery green beans. Those are on the menu for this week.