WIN THIS: A cookbook from Terry Walters!

I recently contemplated whether we as a people were moving away from fad diets. With the onslaught of healthy living bloggers (love them!) and organics and clean eating, and our growing love of farm markets and gardens and cooking at home—I can't help but think we just might be. And at the very least, I truly believe we need to be. It is my opinion that the only diet we need to be following is not really a diet at all. It's a healthy lifestyle full of clean, fresh food right from the source. It's this type of lifestyle that truly complements our fitness.

Terry Walters knows exactly what I'm talking about.



I've been drooling over Terry's cookbooks for quite some time now, so you can imagine my excitement (literally, I jumped for joy) when she so graciously agreed to send me copies to review on Daily Dose.

This truly is a giveaway so sweet I probably should have given it up for Lent! (My chocolate cravings are raging, in case you were wondering.) (And for those of you that knew I had a "best-ever" giveaway in the works, this is it.)

I can't even begin to explain how beautiful these cookbooks are. The pages are hefty, the colors are wonderful. Clean Start is filled with gorgeous images that make you drool—no images in Clean Food, which is a bummer, but the recipes certainly make up for it. You can just imagine what the finished product looks like. And the information within—this might have been the first cookbook I actually sat down to read. I couldn't help myself. Memorable quotes include:

Not only does she dish this type of information, she goes into great depth in each book about basic cooking methods, must-have pantry staples and nutritional information as well. But my favorite parts of the books (well, aside from the recipes) are the descriptions she provides of the recipes themselves. Part family story, part food theory—every part enticing. Of course, it didn't take long for me to dig right in. Hello, maple spiced almonds!

You knew I'd start with something related to almonds, didn't you? These tasty little guys made for quite the snack. Quite the portable snack, actually. I stuck them in my box at the gym for some protein on the go! It really does make a decent-sized batch.

I don't even think that's all of them. And in case you were wondering, they are as tasty as they look. I imagine they'd be great as an almond butter, but we all know I won't be making almond butter anytime soon. Boo. But you should try it. Here's the recipe:

Terry Walters' Maple Spiced Almonds
Ingredients:
3 cups whole almonds
1 tbsp canola or walnut oil
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl, whisk together oil, syrup and pumpkin pie spice. Add almonds and stir to coat. Spread almonds evenly on parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake until nuts start to turn brown. 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Break nuts apart and store in airtight container.

Word of advice: Watch these guys closely. I think mind burned ever so slightly, but not to the point of ruining the batch (thankfully). And really, you do need the parchment paper. It's a must whenever you roast nuts of any kind in the oven. You'll get a hot, sticky mess without it!

And so, that brings me to this: I have a copy of each book right here, which means I need two winners! Winner #1, picked randomly, will receive Clean Food and Winner #2 (also picked at random) will receive Clean Start. To enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post telling me why you need some clean food in your diet.

Additional entries can be obtained by doing any of the following:
2) Follow Terry on Facebook.
3) Follow Terry on Twitter.
4) Follow Daily Dose on Facebook.
5) Subscribe to Daily Dose.

Be sure to let me know if you've done any of the above. In addition, please provide your email address. Winning entries without an email address will not be counted—I will need to get in touch with you if you win! Contest runs through midnight EST on Friday, April 8, 2011. The winners will be announced on Sunday, April 10, 2011. Best of luck!

Recipe reprinted with permission from Clean Start ©2010 by Terry Walters, Sterling Epicure, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.