There’s no getting around it – I LOVE cookbooks. Since before I was really cooking, I used to read them cover-to-cover when commuting on mass transportation. I check them out at the library, I ask for them as gifts, I purchase them (my husband might say “with abandon”). I devour them before bed at night, in front of the TV I’m not really watching, whenever I have a spare 5 minutes. I truly love them.

So you can imagine, picking just one out of the many that I have come across would be extremely difficult. And right now, there are a number of paleo cookbooks that have either been released in the past couple years (I have several) or are about to be released (I have one currently on pre-order). It’s a very exciting time in the paleo culinary world! I can honestly say, though, that I waited for Well Fed 2 to be shipped to my house with nearly as much excitement and anticipation as its fabulous creator, Melissa Joulwan from TheClothesMaketheGirl.com. All but one of the recipes are Whole 30 compliant, too. As soon as I got it, I stayed up late, totally engrossed and wondering, “When am I going to have time to make my own recipes to share? All I want to do is cook from this book!”

The Burgers, Balls & Bangers section alone will keep you busy. Taking different ground meats, adding spices from around the world, and serving them up in various shapes is something I do all the time. When following a paleo lifestyle, you learn to love ground meat for its versatility, quick prep time, and relative affordability. When I saw this section with 15 different combinations (15!), I realized that even if I made just one recipe per week, that’s nearly four months of different ways to eat ground meat! And it doesn’t include changing up the shape, which truly can transform the exact same ingredients into a different eating experience. Genius!

Then there’s the Sauces & Seasonings section. I immediately went out and bought two little sauce dispensers so that I could squeeze my ketchup or lizard sauce or mayo variation onto the plate in any design I want. Or just squeeze it because it’s fun! I stopped buying salad dressing a long time ago because it just has too many ingredients that don’t make sense to me and often there is a lot of unnecessary sugar. I am eager to try Melissa’s Go-To Vinaigrette – it looks like it has the perfect amount of zing!

Finally, there are a few recipes that have an incredible way of concerning me and intriguing me all at the same time. I sort of look at them as the You Want to Make What?! category, and I couldn’t be more excited. I don’t really like liver, generally, but the recipe for Crispy Chicken Livers looks amazing and as soon as I can get my hands on some chicken livers from a source I like, I will be making them. Sardines are another of those foods – but there you go. I actually have some sardines on hand because I have been wanting to love them and I think Pan-Fried Sardines might be the ticket! A little credit must go to Melissa’s partner-in-crime David Humphreys who photographed all the food. It’s pretty incredible how he makes food jump off the page and leave an indelible mark on your brain.

Seriously, how could you not want to try this?

Clearly, I’m a fan of Well Fed 2. But don’t just take my word for it – get a free PDF sample HERE and check it out for yourself! In case you’re wondering, I also have the original Well Fed and when I look at all the cookbooks I’ve accumulated and loved over the years, if I had to pick just one, I’d pick Well Fed AND Well Fed 2. You have to get both.