cookbook favorites

Two large shelves in my pantry are devoted to cookbooks. I have books on cooking Italian, breakfast, cupcakes, healthy recipes, cooking basics, crock pot dishes and am constantly on the lookout for new cookbooks.
But a few of them are my go-to favorites that I use constantly.

When I’m looking for something guaranteed to be delicious and am not too concerned with the calorie count or healthiness of a dish, I head straight for my library of Giada de Laurentiis cookbooks. She specializes in Italian cooking and everything I’ve tried from her books turns out so good, from her pasta with meatballs to her chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. Most of the time I see her making a recipe on her “Giada at Home” show on the Food Network and test it out in my own kitchen, but I also like to flip through her books to find something I’ve never tasted before.
My favorite cookbook for the majority of my weeknight meals is All-new Complete Cooking Light Cookbook. I’m a subscriber to the magazine and constantly clip out new recipes I want to try, but the cookbook is filled with some of my favorite and healthy dinners. The best part about cooking from this cookbook is that the recipes include the amount of calories, fat, protein, carbs and sodium. Many times the recipes are knock-offs on well-known dishes but with a fraction of the calories and fat.
For cooking basics, I turn to Betty Crocker, where I find a lot of cooking techniques and classic dishes. When I can't remember how to hard boil an egg, I turn to my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook. If I need to find an immediate substitute for an ingredient I don't have, I can count on Betty Crocker. Not only that, but the cookbook is filled with some simple and tasty recipes.
When my sweet tooth kicks in, I love flipping through Better Homes and Gardens new baking book. With more than 600 recipes, it includes chapters devoted specifically to cheesecakes or cookies and others on quick breads or yeast breads. This one is also full of photos, which I love.
My last and most frequently used cookbook is a homemade binder full of all sorts of recipes. Most are recipes I've pulled from online or magazines, but others have become some of my favorite recipes or family recipes that I loved as a kid. When I'm making my market list and menu planning, I always make sure to take a look inside my recipe binder because I know I'm sure to find an old-time favorite or a fun new dish to try.