Unlike most diet and health cookbooks, The Self-Care Cookbook acknowledges that eating well means sometimes eating "bad." Ardito doesn't believe in bad food, restrictions, or denial. True wellness--complete wellness--addresses both ends of the spectrum: fresh, light dishes that 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 personal wellness: physical, spiritual, emotional, environmental, intellectual, nutritional, protectoral, social, occupational, and financial. Each chapter includes 13 recipes--from starters to mains to desserts--that support well-being through carefully selected ingredients and cooking methods. For example, the intellectual wellness chapter includes foods that improve cognition and kitchen techniques that challenge the brain.

This book encourages you to prepare these recipes by yourself, for yourself, as a way to create a true sense of wholeness and satisfaction. A balanced life includes both celebratory and health-supportive foods, and this book helps you decide which you most want or need at any given moment.