The Self-Care Cookbook ─ A Holistic Approach to Cooking, Eating, and Living Well

The Self-Care Cookbook, written by health and wellness expert Dr. Francis Ardito, explores the intersection of cooking, eating, health, and wellness by offering 130 recipes designed to help readers improve every aspect of their lives.Unlike most diet and health cookbooks, The Self-Care Cookbook acknowledges that eating well means sometimes eating “bad.” Dr. Ardito doesn’t believe in bad food, restrictions, or denial. As it relates to food, true wellness—complete wellness—entails covering both ends of the spectrum: fresh, light dishes that fuel and strengthen our bodies and wonderful indulgences that feed our souls. The first of its kind, The Self-Care Cookbook is divided into 10 chapters, each of which focuses on one dimension of a reader’s personal wellness: physical, spiritual, emotional, environmental, intellectual, nutritional, protectoral, social, occupational, and financial. Each chapter includes beautiful, full-color photography and 13 recipes—from starters to mains to desserts—that support well-being through carefully selected ingredients and cooking methods. For example, the chapter on intellectual wellness includes foods shown to improve cognition and kitchen techniques that challenge the brain.The Self-Care Cookbook encourages readers to prepare these recipes by themselves, for themselves, as a way to create a sense of wholeness and satisfaction they may otherwise lack. A balanced life includes both celebratory and health-supportive foods, and this book helps readers decide which they most want or need at any given moment. The Self-Care Cookbook is a must-read for everyone interested in taking charge of their own wellness.

Dr. Frank Ardito has been a professor of health and wellness sciences for more than 20 years. He is the author of seven academic titles as well as numerous scholarly articles and publications. He currently serves as professor and department chair of health and wellness promotion at College of Lake County in suburban Chicago. As a wellness trainer, Ardito has worked with hundreds of organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society, and has coached or consulted with several Olympic athletes and the Chicago Blackhawks. Ardito established the Center for Health and Healing, one of the first truly holistic health and wellness centers in the United States, and founded the Wellness Registry. He was recently inducted into the National Wellness Institute’s Circle of Leadership for his contributions to the field of health and wellness. He lives in Grayslake, Illinois.