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Review: Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns

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Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns
Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns
One of my favorite parts of being a food blogger is the opportunity to review new cookbooks. As a cookbook collector, they’re a great passion of mine, so getting my eager hands on the newest and best cookbooks makes me kind of giddy.

Okay… very giddy.

One of the newest cookbooks I’ve had the opportunity to review is Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns. This beautiful cookbook is packed with great recipes for healthy, clean eating. You won’t miss the extra fat and calories because author Audrey Johns has replaced them with tons of flavor and creative combinations.

Book Description:

Lose weight by eating guilt-free, low-calorie, unprocessed versions of all your favorite foods, with this helpful, accessible diet and cookbook—featuring more than 130 clean eating recipes and gorgeous full-color photos—from the popular weight loss blogger who lost 150 pounds in eleven months.

At 275 pounds, Audrey Johns was unhealthy and unhappy—until the day she vowed to give up the “fake food” and taught herself to cook her favorites from scratch. Within eleven months, Audrey mastered the kitchen, began to take better care of herself, and lost more than 150 pounds—over half her body weight.

Now, Audrey shares her story, insights, and clean eating recipes to help you slim down. Lose Weight by Eating includes more than 130 mouthwatering recipes for family favorites, including pasta, scones, fried chicken, nachos, meatloaf, and cookies—all bursting with flavor and fewer than 500 calories per serving. Most recipes use simple and inexpensive smart swaps and are full of hidden vegetables that keep you feeling fuller longer, and all are picky-kid-friendly and husband-approved.

Imagine losing eight to sixteen pounds the first week and fifteen to twenty-five pounds a month eating skinny pizzas with only 125 calories per slice or 150-calorie cheesecake bars! Lose Weight by Eatinglets you enjoy these delights and more, such as “Jelly Doughnut” French Toast, California Club Pizza, Whole Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Onions, Veggie Packed Lasagna, Cheddar Stuffed Turkey Burgers, Chocolate Peanut Butter Dip with Fruit, and Skinny Cheesecake with Raspberry Drizzle. Audrey also provides a handy six-week meal plan and weight loss tips to keep you motivated.

Lose Weight by Eating is all about making the naughty nice. Giving your favorite foods a delicious, healthy makeover, you can eat what you love every day—and still shed those unwanted pounds.

{Review Continued Below…..}

Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns
Spaghetti Bolognese from Lose Weight by Eating 
After losing more than 150 pounds (150!), Audrey Johns started LoseWeightByEating.com and has, over time, helped thousands of people lose weight and get healthier.

Her story has been featured on CBS’s The Doctors. She was also on the cover of Woman’s World magazine and was even a chef contestant on the second season of ABC’s The Taste.

Audrey hosts a clean-eating video series on eHow.com and writes food, wine, and travel columns for local magazines.

It was just a matter of time before a wonderful cookbook came into play and this beauty was well worth the wait.

Recipes Include:

  • Twice-Baked Cheesy Potato Boats
  • Four Metabolism-Boosting Greek Yogurt Dips with Veggie Sticks
  • Cheddar-Stuffed Turkey Burgers
  • Grilled Chicken Strips
  • Peach Sunrise Cobbler
  • Homemade Blueberry Orange Soda
  • Salsa Rice and Chicken Bake
  • Skinny Chicken Alfredo
  • Spaghetti Bolognese
  • Overloaded Baked Potatoes
  • Blended Mocha Coffee
  • Skin-Firming Citrus Boost Water
  • Margherita Pizza
  • Easy Tortilla Chips
  • Sausage and Pepper Hogie
  • And MANY more – 130 in all!

{Review Continued Below…..}

Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns
Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns
In addition to beautiful pictures accompanying each recipe (love that), I’m also crazy about the information and inspiration that comes at the front and end of the book. Meal planners and even sample menus will help anyone get on track. The author has also included plenty of information on making her wonderful recipes very “kid friendly” – this really excites me because childhood obesity and diabetes can be prevented if adults will simply put the child’s health first.

Whether you’re looking to lose weight, maintain your weight, get healthier, or simply enjoy good, clean, healthy food, you’re going to really, really love Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns. It’s a wonderful addition to any cookbook collection. I know it’s one I’ll use again and again.

Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns
Lose Weight by Eating by Audrey Johns

Calories in Your Favorite Super Bowl Snacks

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The Super Bowl is, of course, just days away. As a Denver Broncos fan, I’m not looking forward to it all that much. I SO thought this was our year! I’ll still watch, of course, and I’ll still have plenty of snacks… but I’ll still feel a little sore deep down inside.

I was recently sent the following eye-opening (and unsettling!) information about popular Super Bowl snacks.

The “Super Bowl” has become much more than a football game: It’s the second biggest day for food consumption in the United States after Thanksgiving!

Below, Charles Platkin, PhD, MPH, a professor at the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College in New York City and editor of DietDetective.com demonstrates how much you would need to do to burn off typical “Big Game” snacks. For instance, you would have to run 49 football fields to burn off just two handfuls of potato chips or do “the wave” 6480 times to burn off 6 Buffalo Wild Wings Dipped In Ranch!

That’s a lot of waves.

To help you choose the most splurgeworthy foods, here are the exercise equivalents for some of your favorite football snacks. The idea is to use exercise equivalents to provide a reference for calories.

I’ve included a few of Charles Platkin’s books in the post, click through each for more information.

HANDFUL OF PITA CHIPS, EACH WITH ARTICHOKE DIP = RUNNING 141 FOOTBALL FIELDS
Each chip is 13 calories, plus just 1 tablespoon, probably just about a chips worth, of dip is 80 calories.

Diet Pro: Make your own 100 percent whole-wheat pita chips, and use salsa instead of the artichoke dip. There are many different kinds of salsa. They’re good, and they’re only 15 calories per tablespoon.

FOUR (4) DOMINOS STUFFED CHEESY BACON & JALAPENO BREADSTICKS = 193 TOUCHDOWN DANCES IN THE END ZONE
While the stuffed cheese bread is probably very tasty, with all that fat it’s also a calorie killer at 160 calories per piece, or 640 calories for four.

Diet Pro: You can toast 100 percent whole-wheat pita bread with butter spray and Parmesan cheese.

TWO (2) SLICES OF DOMINOS BACON CHEESEBURGER FEAST HAND-TOSSED SPECIALTY PIZZA (16 inches) = 209 MINUTES PERFORMING IN A MARCHING BAND
Pizza AND a cheeseburger what will they think of next? Each slice is 490 calories, but it is hand tossed.

Diet Pro: Try thin-crust pizza, and if you really want to be super healthy, how about getting pizza without the cheese just add your own Parmesan.

HALF (1/2) OF A WHITE CASTLE CRAVE CASE WITH CHEESE = FACE PAINTING 111 WILD FANS
These are sliders with cheese. Each slider is 170 calories. That’s 2,550 calories for 15, but they’re not very large, and there are 30 in a case.

Diet Pro: How about having just one or two? Make your own burgers white meat turkey burgers if you really want to be super healthy, or at the very least very lean ground meat.

THREE (3) SIERRA NEVADA BIGFOOT BEERS = 211 MINUTES OF COACHING FOOTBALL
There are some high-calorie beers out there, and this is one of the highest.

Diet Pro: Unless you love Sierra Nevada and realize the calories, your best bet is a regular beer OR, even better, one of those micro-light beers. The best would be Beck’s Premier Light at only 64 calories per 12-ounce bottle or MGD Light, also 64 calories. Michelob Ultra and Natural Light have 95, or you can go very low with Budweiser Select for 55. Sample a few light beers before the game to see which ones you prefer.

ONE (1) SLOPPY JOE = 59 MINUTES OF CLIMBING THE STADIUM STAIRS
This is a Tex-Mex creation that includes fatty ground beef, sugar, ketchup and even flour. Sloppy Joes have more than 500 calories with the bun (about 150 calories).

Diet Pro: Use lean ground beef and try a low-calorie sauce (without sugar). It will still taste great. Also, add veggies (onions, peppers, broccoli all chopped up) to the meat to lower overall calories and increase health benefits.

SIX (6) TRADITIONAL HAND-SPUN BUFFALO WILD WINGS DIPPED IN RANCH DRESSING = DOING “THE WAVE” 6,480 TIMES
Stand up, wave your hand and be counted 6,480 times. Six wings from Buffalo Wild Wings have 990 calories. Then add about two servings of ranch dressing at 170 calories each for a total of 340 calories. That’s 1,330 calories if you have only a small dip of dressing per wing.

Diet Pro: You can certainly make your own chicken wings. Go skinless and bake instead of deep frying them.

TWO (2) HANDFULS OF CHEETOS JUMBO PUFFS = 30 MINUTES OF PLAYING PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
The only problem is that, according to The Wall Street Journal, there are only about 11 minutes of actual ball playing in a football game. That means you need to play almost three games of professional football to burn off two handfuls of Cheetos. Keep in mind, that’s 320 calories for about 2 ounces yes, only 2 ounces.

Diet Pro: How about making your own popcorn? Sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese and spray it with butter spray.

ONE (1) HANDFUL OF TRAIL MIX = 49 TOUCHDOWN DANCES IN THE END ZONE
Keep in mind, nuts and chocolate have about 160 calories per ounce, which is not bad if you don’t take five handfuls before you’ve even noticed.

Diet Pro: Try having ONLY nuts. Nuts are healthy, but they’re very high in calories, so don’t keep a huge bowl in front of you. And try to eat them one at a time meaning don’t shove an entire handful into your mouth all at once.

BUBBA GUMP JAMBALAYA = 375 MINUTES OF PREPARING, COOKING, SERVING AND CLEANING UP AFTER THE SUPER BOWL PARTY
That’s more than six hours of cooking, preparing and cleaning. Yes, Bubba Gump is a chain, and the Jambalaya has 1,100 calories. Jambalaya is typically made with chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage sauté with peppers, onions, rice and spicy sauce.

Diet Pro: Make a healthy jambalaya with boneless chicken breast and brown rice. Thats the way to go.

OUTBACK BABY BACK RIBS, FULL ORDER = 123 MINUTES OF TEAM PRACTICE AND CONDITIONING
Ribs are fatty, and the sauce is sugary. For the record, Outback Baby Back ribs are 1,156 calories.

Diet Pro: Try making them yourself, and trim all visible fat before and after cooking. Also, instead of coating your ribs with an excessive amount of sauce beforehand, partially cook them loaded with seasonings, brush them lightly with the sauce, and then finish cooking.

FOUR (4) BACON-WRAPPED SMOKIES = 156 MINUTES BEING THE TEAM MASCOT
Little sausages wrapped in bacon popping just four of those in your mouth will cost you 156 minutes of jumping around and acting a bit foolish (the good news is you’ll be wearing a costume). The bacon alone, (without the sausage and brown sugar) is more than 80 calories, for a total of more than 160 calories per appetizer. Four of them go down easy for 640 calories.

Diet Pro: If you need to eat some type of bacon-wrapped hors doeuvres, go with Applegate Farms Organic Hickory Smoked Uncured Turkey Bacon. Its only 35 calories per slice. Hebrew National Beef Franks in a Blanket are 60 calories each.

THREE (3) PEPSIS = 57 MINUTES OF DANCING TO BEYONCE DURING THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME PERFORMANCE
Each 12-ounce can is 100 calories. So to burn off just three Pepsis you need to dance for more than an hour to a Beyoncé song. Have you heard her music? Have you danced for an hour straight?

Diet Pro: Water, flavored seltzer, unsweetened ice tea there are so many low- or no-calorie drinks.

***** Be sure to visit DietDetective.com for valuable diet and health information. You can even find free, downloadable pocket guides I know you’ll love.

 

Lovely Ellie Krieger Adds USA Today Columnist to Her Resume

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Ellie Krieger Comfort Food Fix

I’ve got nothing but love for Ellie Krieger and nothing but love for USA Today. I’ve been a loyal reader for YEARS – remember when it was bigger? It took a while to get accustomed to the smaller version but now I can’t imagine it being larger. Now it’d probably feel like a giant’s newspaper!

The fact that USA Today and Ellie Krieger are teaming up to help readers cook and eat healthier meals has hands sweaty and my mouth watering.  What a dynamic duo! Learn more about Ellie Krieger’s new column in USA Today here.  I’ll be clipping and saving each recipe for my collection – I have the first one, of course: Garlic-Basic Shrimp and it sounds delicious. Click the link to see the recipe online.

Below is information that was sent to me about Ellie Krieger’s new cookbook, Comfort Food Fix. Can’t wait to get my hands on this one, it sounds as wonderful as the rest of her cookbooks.

Ellie Krieger, New York Times Bestselling Author and Host of “Healthy Appetite” Offers Healthy Versions of Classic American Comfort Food Dishes

Comfort Food Fix Now In Stores Everywhere (You can also buy Comfort Food Fix: Feel-Good Favorites Made Healthy on Amazon.)

You don’t often hear a Registered Dietitian say nothing is ever “off limits,” but Ellie Krieger believes just that. With a philosophy of “usually-sometimes-rarely”, Krieger is all about incorporating your favorite foods into a healthy lifestyle. To this end, Ellie has created Comfort Food Fix: Feel Good Favorites Made Healthy (Wiley Hardcover; $29.99), a collection of healthy versions of comfort food classics. Here Ellie provides 150 soul-satisfying recipes including hearty favorites like meatloaf, lasagna, chicken pot pie, crab cakes, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and more — all without the calories and saturated fat.

Ellie has every meal covered: There are recipes for breakfast, brunch and baked goods; snacks and starters; soups and sandwiches; meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetarian main dishes; sides and salads; and of course desserts. Each recipe contains complete nutrition information and calorie counts along with a side-by-side comparison of Ellie’s healthy version of the recipe versus a typical version of the recipe. You’ll be amazed at how simple substitutions can dramatically reduce both the caloric content of these recipes as well their saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol counts, while increasing healthy nutrients and antioxidants – all without sacrificing flavor and the comfort food experience that we’ve all come to expect from these classic dishes.

Everyone loves fried chicken – Ellie’s version, “Honey-Crisp Oven-Fried Chicken”, is lower in calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium than a traditional version of fried chicken – but with the same crisp golden perfection that is sure to satisfy any fried chicken craving. Using skinless chicken thighs, low-fat buttermilk, corn flakes for crunch, honey, tons of spicy flavor, and baking the chicken rather than frying, Ellie reduces the calorie intake of this classic from 560 to 330 calories.

How does she do it? Ellie breaks down her “make healthy” strategy into “15 Fix Factors,” many of which she applies in her “Honey-Crisp Oven-Fried Chicken” recipe, including:

  • Get Creamy (Nearly) Creamlessly – Use low-fat milk thickened with flour or cornstarch, along with evaporated milk for cream sauces, soups, and puddings; reduced-fat sour cream also ups the cream factor with less fat and no artificial ingredients
  • Un-Fry – Lightly bread, toss or spray with oil, and then bake to achieve that craveable crispness
  • Oil Well – Use antioxidant-rich extra-virgin olive oil or a neutral tasting canola oil for stir fries and baking
  • Sweeten Smartly – Use unrefined sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, and molasses; these give your blood sugar a gentler rise, but use them sparingly

Repro-Portion – Measure out servings and keep an eye on portions; most of us have grown accustomed to much bigger servings of food than we need

With full nutrition information for every recipe and gorgeous full-color photos that are sure to whet any appetite, Comfort Food Fix: Feel-Good Favorites Made Healthy will have you eating healthier versions of your favorite comfort food dishes without any of the guilt.

More Ellie Krieger Cookbooks:

ABOUT ELLIE KRIEGER:
Host of the Food Network’s hit show “Healthy Appetite,” now on the Cooking Channel, Ellie’s warmth and charisma have made her the leading go-to nutritionist, with a lifestyle emphasis, in the media today. Krieger’s success can be attributed to her unique way of offering real life advice without any of the gimmicks and crash diets that permeate the media today. She reaches people with her message that it is possible for anyone, given the tools and knowledge, to live life to the maximum by keeping a healthy balance and nurturing a richly satisfying and sumptuous, attainable lifestyle. Ellie’s 2005 book Small Changes Big Results was a how-to on easy-to-live-with habit changes that yield optimal results. Ellie’s second book, The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life, was an immediate New York Times bestseller, peaking at #2 on that list. In addition to being named to Amazon’s Customer Bestseller List for 2008, The Food You Crave won the 2009 IACP Cookbook award and the esteemed 2009 James Beard Foundation Award for “Best Cookbook with a Healthy Focus.” Her last book, So Easy: Luscious Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week, also became an instant New York Times bestseller.

Bob Blumer’s Cauliflower Popcorn

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The following recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Glutton For Pleasure: Signature Recipes, Epic Stories, and Surreal Etiquette. This cookbook puts the f in fun cooking and eating.

The recipe is one that I make often. My entire family loves this healthy snack, so it’s perfect for snacks for ballgames, The Biggest Loser (after all, I’m convinced Bob Harper sees through the tv), Survivor, etc. Make it, you’ll love it.

Bob Blumer’s Cauliflower Popcorn

1 head cauliflower
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon salt

Preheat oven to 425F. Cut out and discard cauliflower core and thick stems. Trim remaining cauliflower into florets the size of golf balls. In a large bowl, add cauliflower, olive oil, and salt. Toss thoroughly. Spread cauliflower on a baking sheet (Lined with parchment paper, if available, for easy cleanup). Roast for 1 hour, or until much of each floret has become golden brown. (That’s the caramelization process converting the dormant natural sugars into sweetness. The browner the florets, the sweeter they will taste.) Turn 3 or 4 times during roasting.

Use crumpled up aluminum foil or paper towels to create a false bottom in your popcorn container, fill it with cauliflower, and serve immediately.

I serve it in plastic Pop Corn Containers to up the whole fun vibe. These are delicious.

Click the link to read my review of Bob Blumer’s Glutton for Pleasure.

Healthy Roasted Potato Wedges Recipe

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Chips
Available at Allposters.com
Today, July 13th, is actually National French Fries Day — a fun way of celebrating how much Americans love fries. Amazingly enough, the average American eats about 29 pounds of fries a year. That’s a heckuva lot of fries!

The problem is, fries aren’t exactly the healthiest thing in the world for us to be eating… and eating so much of at that. In honor of National Fry Day and as a way of encouraging healthier eating, Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa is sharing this delectable, 45-calories per serving, recipe for Roasted Potato Wedges with our food blog readers.

Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa’s Roasted Potato Wedges Recipe

1 pound russet potatoes, washed and thinly sliced into wedges
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Soak potato wedges in vinegar and water for about 30 minutes.

3. On a nonstick baking sheet, spread out wedges. Sprinkle with onion and garlic.

4. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, turning once. Remove from oven when wedges are crispy on both sides.

Yield: 8 Servings

Nutrition Information (per serving): 45 calories, 0g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 1g protein, 1g fiber, 0mg sodium.

About the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa:

Pritikin Longevity Center + Spa is a brand new, 650-acre fully renovated private wellness spa and weight loss health program. Complete with exceptional fitness trainers, award winning chefs, nutritionists and renowned spa treatments. The center boosts tons of experts from health to nutrition and fitness to spa and wellness. People from all over the world travel to Pritikin to get their health back on track and get their bodies back in shape. For more information, please visit www.pritikin.com.

EDIT: I have fallen in love with the Rachael Ray Fancy Boy Grinders pictured below. You can find a few of them in your grocery store (if you’re lucky) but all can be found on Amazon. Let me just pause a second and reiterate how very much I love Amazon.  Click the link to see the different varieties on Amazon. Seriously, I’m so hooked on these I can’t even tell you.

Rachael Ray Fancy Boy Grinders

These spice grinders are the bombdiggity!


Bottom of the Bag Chicken Recipe

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I’m adding a new category to the food blog called Eating on a Shoestring.  The economy pretty much insists that we cut back a little in different areas of our life, but culinary compromises usually aren’t very appetizing.  Or healthy.  I was inspired to create this category and try to focus a lot on economical meals and dining by a great cookbook I was sent to review, Eating Well on a Budget (click the link for my review).

Since this great cookbook inspired the category, I thought it only appropriate to get things rolling with a recipe from its pages.   This one’s from page 195 – just one of the many, many delicious, nutritious, and budget-friendly recipes in the book.

Here it is exactly as it appears in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget by Lucy Beale and Jessica Partridge.

Bottom of the Bag Chicken

Stop throwing away the crumbs at the bottom of a bag of whole-grain chips or crackers.  Turn them into a crunchy coating for oven-baked chicken strips.  Store crumbs in an airtight container until ready to use so they do not become stale.

1 lb. chicken breasts
1/2 cup crushed whole-grain chips or crackers
1 egg, beaten

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Rinse chicken breasts and cut into long 1-inch-wide strips. Set aside
  2. In a large bowl, crush chips or crackers. In a small bowl, beat egg.  Dip each chicken strip into egg and then into chip mixture.  Coat each piece well and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
  3. Bake 15 minutes until crispy.  Cool slightly before serving.

Variation: Use white fish or salmon in place of the chicken.  Different chips and crackers produce amazingly different tastes.  Try flavors such as real Cheddar, sea salt, and vinegar coarse stone-ground wheat, or crunchy corn.

Tasty Tidbits: Serve chicken fingers with several different sauces to add variety to your meals.  Try honey mustard, salsa, or for a buffalo wing flavor, serve with sour cream and hot sauce.

Yield: 16 chicken strips (serves 8)

Each serving has only 135 calories and 89 mg sodium

Order The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget by Lucy Beale and Jessica Partridge on Amazon.

EatingWell: 500 Calorie Dinners

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Okay. What do I have to do to make you buy EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook? Name your price. What makes me so desperate? Sure, I want you to have an outstanding cookbook FILLED with healthy, delicious recipes. Make no mistake about it, I want the best for you!

But I have an ulterior motive as well. See, the way I figure it, if this cookbook sells like hotcakes, they’ll make another. Then another. Then another…

Yes. As a matter of fact I love EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook so much I already want sequels. I’ve made many of the recipes already – in fact, I’m cooking my way through the entire cookbook and loving every single second. Last night, while making the Black Bean Soup (page 42), I thought, “This is such a fun recipe, I don’t even care if it tastes good!” Fortunately, the soup was extraordinarily delicious – better than any Black Bean Soup I’ve gotten in any restaurant.

I was sent EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook to review on this very food blog and I’ll never be able to repay their kindness.  I do promise to think warm and fuzzy thoughts about them each time I reach for the cookbook – which will pretty much be everyday.

That’s a lot of warm fuzzies.

If Eating Well 500 Calorie Dinners were JUST another great cookbook, filled with beautiful illustrations, priceless cooking tips, and page after page of wonderful recipes, this review would still be a glowing review.  The recipes, themselves, can stand on their own.  We’re talking extraordinary and creative recipes, here.

Recipes that Include:

  • Middle Eastern Tuna Salad (made it today)
  • Thai Beef Salad
  • Black Bean Soup
  • Banana Pudding  Pops
  • Chicken Tetrazzini
  • Southwestern Rice & Pinto Bean Salad
  • Southwestern Tofu Scramble
  • An entire chapter is devoted to vegetarian meals
  • Cucumber Herb Vinaigrette (I’ll serve it with supper tonight)
  • Skillet Gnocchi with Chard & White Beans
  • Risotto with Broccoli Rabe & Red Pepper
  • Grilled Pork Tenderloin Marinated in Spicy Soy Sauce
  • Roasted Onion Soup
  • Artichoke Scrambled Eggs Benedict
  • Smoky Corn & Black Bean Vegetarian Pizza
  • Baby Tiramisu’ (you should see the picture!)
  • Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

I could go on, but frankly I’m getting hungry. It was the Grilled Pork Tenderloin that snapped my concentration.

As you see, if it were JUST a regular cookbook, I’d still be jazzed about it.  But it’s more… so much more.  We’re all trying to eat healthy and count our calories.  In the day of The Biggest Loser, we’re all very mindful of “Calories in… Calories out.”  We know the ugly truth:  When the balance isn’t right, the jeans get tight.

But who wants to count calories and even attempt to keep a running tab when filling your plate?  Math and I don’t get along nearly well enough for that.

Here comes the beautiful thing that separates this cookbook from the rest:  The saintlike authors have taken the “ciphering” (as Jethro would say) out of it.  They actually put together outstanding menus for the reader – complete with the main dish, sides, and dessert.  They tell you how much of each you can eat and still stay inside your caloric goal.

See? Saintlike.

What’s even better is this: The wonderful recipes in EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook are wholesome and nutritious, meaning you can actually have more food for less calories. This is where we foodies stand and cheer.

Book Description

Do you love food but hate “diets”? Do you want to be healthy and fit but find yourself too busy or simply at a loss about what to make for dinner? Then this book is for you. EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners takes the guesswork out of healthy cooking by providing delicious, easy recipes and menus for dinners that come in at about 500 calories, an amount experts say will help most people lose weight without feeling deprived. Once you try the meals in this book you’ll be amazed at how well you can eat for 500 calories. One night you’ll have a steak sandwich with grilled peppers and a garlicky aïoli served along with roasted red potatoes and a green salad with a tangy vinaigrette, the next night braised chicken in a paprika-spiked sauce over egg noodles with snap peas tossed with a creamy tarragon dressing. Want a glass of wine with dinner or a dessert to end the evening? We’ve included those in our menus too. Try pork chops with an orange and fennel salad along with a side of quinoa and a dish of strawberry frozen yogurt.

And this book will help you to do more than just trim your waistline—it will help you to improve your heart health and reduce your risk for diabetes too. It provides solid advice from EatingWell Magazine’s nutrition experts on what foods should be included in any healthful diet, how to figure out how many calories you need, how to determine appropriate serving sizes and estimate calories (without carting around a kitchen scale everywhere you go) and how to lose weight while still feeling satisfied.

In this book, you’ll also find:

  • 140 delicious recipes that use simple techniques and easy-to-find ingredients
  • Quick dinners: over 100 of the recipes are ready in less than 45 minutes and many take less than 30 minutes
  • Secrets of successful weight loss from renowned weight-loss researcher Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino, chair of the University of Vermont’s Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, author of the James Beard Award-winning cookbook The EatingWell Diet
  • How to eat all day and still lose weight, including what a 1,500-calorie day looks like and easy ideas for breakfast, lunch and snacks
  • Diet tips to maximize flavor and satisfaction while minimizing calories
  • 256 gorgeous color illustrations

Back Cover Reviews:

I always say, ‘Life is hard…food should be easy.’ EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners makes deciding what to have for dinner easy and delicious! With nearly 100 dinner menus that are satisfying and nutritionally balanced, this book is a great tool for anyone who’s trying to get—or stay—slim. (Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN, bestselling author of Your Inner Skinny )

I’ve been cooking East-West food my entire life, and one of the things I love about it is that the ingredients and techniques used most often are all inherently healthy. You can feel good about eating it and it tastes good too. The recipes in 500-Calorie Dinners deliver that same great promise—healthy food that’s actually tasty. And simple too—one of my favorite things! (Ming Tsai, chef/owner of Blue Ginger )

EatingWell has done it again! This book is packed with mouthwatering, inspiring and accessible recipes that make you want to get cooking right away. They do the calorie counting for you so you can relax and enjoy every bite. (Ellie Krieger, RD, author of So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week )

The deputy editors at the EatingWell Media Group, publishers of the 2008 James Beard Award-winning The EatingWell Diet, are back to help dieters prepare healthy dinners with yummy recipes designed to fill up the tummy while keeping the calories low. (Library Journal )

For some of the most delicious recipes you’ve ever seen – plus priceless tips about eating healthy – please do yourself a huge favor and grab a copy of EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook right away.

You really, really, really don’t want this one to get by you.

KIND Healthy Snacks, I Love You

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KIND Healthy Snack Nutritional BarsKIND Healthy Snacks has completely raised the bar.

My husband and I were killing a little time before seeing a movie Friday night and, well, you know me, killing time meant hanging out in Starbucks for a little C & C (caffeine and chatting).  I saw some outrageously delicious looking nutritional bars near the register, so I grabbed  one for me and one for my husband.  I’m sweet like that.  I wanted to have them to nosh on when we came out of the movie.

They were KIND Healthy Snack Nutritional Bars, the Apple Cinnamon Nut + Fiber variety.  I ate mine on the way home, as we were talking about how dang good the movie (I Am Number 4) was.  My husband didn’t reach for his right away… he was still too pumped up from the movie I guess… and after I took one bite of mine, I kind of slid his back into my purse – out of sight, out of mind meant mine for later.  I’m sweet like that.

Seriously, these are outrageously delicious.  Since that night, I’ve hunted down a few other flavors as well. Each blew me straight away.

KIND Healthy Snacks

  • All Natural
  • Gluten/Wheat Free
  • Dairy Free
  • Cholesterol Free
  • Very Low Sodium
  • Only 180 Calories

You can taste the natural goodness in these nutritional bars.  Literally taste the difference between them and their counterparts.  I think we’ve (unfortunately) become accustomed to additives, trans fats, tons of sodium, and sweeteners that are put into the things we eat – even the “healthy” foods.

It SHOULD taste unusual to eat food with any of these unnatural additions but it DOES taste refreshingly unusual  to eat something completely natural, wholesome, and un-violated by any unwelcome additives.

These bars are simply exceptional – so delicious I can’t even find the appropriate words.

Personally, I’ve only seen these little beauties at my 3 local Starbucks (yes 3, God loves me).  However, a Store Locator on KIND’s website actually showed me a few more locations.  Don’t think for a minute I’m not headed that way.  According to the website, there are many, many, many more varieties I MUST find.  Of course, I plan to also keep buying the Apple Cinnamon Nut + Fiber bar each time too.  SO wonderful!

Please check out KIND’s website to read about the health benefits, the wonderful story behind the company, and (get this!) how KIND bars can help you control your weight, even if “control” means dropping some pounds.  I couldn’t think of a more delicious way to do it.

Delicious and Yet, Somehow, Low-Calorie Spinach Recipe

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The Biggest Loser Cookbook

The recipe below is from a favorite cookbook of mine: The Biggest Loser Cookbook: More Than 125 Healthy, Delicious Recipes Adapted from NBC’s Hit Show.  As you may know, I’m totally hooked on any and all things associated with The Biggest Loser.  I LOVE the show’s premise of changing lives – they literally give these wonderful people a second chance at life and I don’t guess I’ve ever watched an episode without tearing up at least once.

I also have their exercise dvds (although a recent one has just about been the end of me!) and every cookbook I can get my hands on.

I haven’t bought the newest Biggest Loser Desserts Cookbook yet or the Food and Activity Journal but I will.  I’ve looked through them several times at the bookstore. I even committed to memory an Orange Smoothie recipe, went directly to the store for the ingredients (you know, before the memory train rode off into the sunset) and made some that night.  Delicious!!!

This healthy, low-calorie, and outrageously delicious Spinach recipe was titled “Melinda’s Holiday Spinach” in the cookbook but I’m just going with “Melinda’s Spinach” below.  I wouldn’t want anyone thinking you had to wait for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday to make this dish.  I actually first made it during the summer – I remember because I was listening to baseball (another obsession) while cooking.

Give this one a try, you’re going to love it.

Melinda’s Spinach Recipe

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped white onions
2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/3 sliced fresh mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bag (9 oz or 12 cups) baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon light cream cheese from a block, at room temperature

Set a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Heat for 30 seconds. Add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add the spinach. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the leaves are wilted. Remove from the heat. Add the cream cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Makes 3 (2/3 cup) servings.

Per Serving: 91 calories

More about the Cookbook

The Biggest Loser Cookbook: More Than 125 Healthy, Delicious Recipes Adapted from NBC’s Hit Show is packed with recipes you’ll use again and again. There are healthy breakfast recipes, healthy snack recipes, healthy sides, soups, stews, and even healthy desserts.  As a grand #1 snacker, I’m saved by the snacks in this cookbook!  My family and I love to snack while watching our favorite tv shows and ballgames.  If it weren’t for healthy recipes like these… well, I don’t even want to think about it.  I probably wouldn’t be able to fit through my back door.

A few of my personal favorite recipes are:

  • Seth’s Fiesta Poached Eggs
  • Pete’s Man-Size Low-Calorie Breakfast Omelet
  • Kelly’s Cottage Cheese and Fruit Parfait
  • Lox-Of-Muscle Crisps (my oldest daughter and I down these like they’re doughnut holes)
  • Roasted Red Pepper Dip
  • Spinach Skinny Dip
  • Bob’s Popcorn with a Jessica twist
  • BBQ Pork Sandwich
  • Mom’s New Beef Stew
  • Parmesan-Pepper Sweet Potato Fries
  • Garlic and Chive Mashed Sweet Potatoes
  • Mo’s Spinach Ricotta Bake
  • Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower
  • Greek God(Dess) Salad (LOVE it!)
  • Pecan Crusted Chicken
  • Pan “Fried” Catfish with Southwest Tartar Sauce
  • Iced Buffed Mocha
  • Lisa’s Frozen Gramwiches
  • Melinda’s Holiday Spinach
  • …. and, well… all the rest!

I could list a lot more recipes, but quite frankly I’ve worked up an appetite. I’m 2 minutes away from fixing Seth’s Fiesta Poached Eggs for brunch and my mouth’s watering.

This really and truly is a wonderful cookbook – and one that you’ll again and again.  A lot of cookbooks have less than a handful of recipes you’ll actually use.  When it comes to this book, you’d need a team of hands.  Plus, we’re talking about ingredients that are easy to find. In fact, a lot of them are probably in your kitchen right now.  I love that!  The Biggest Loser Cookbook is also packed with inspirational contestant stories and advice from the trainers.

If you’ve made a commitment to fitness and to living healthier, you’ll want to arm yourself with all the tools and motivation you can get your hands on.  The Biggest Loser cookbooks, books, and dvds are an excellent way to fill your arsenal with tools that’ll help you meet (and surpass) your goals.  Also, watching the show each Tuesday night will also give you tons of advice, tips, motivation, and inspiration.

Here’s an extra little tip:  Follow the trainers and host on Twitter!  They’re always sharing tips, advice, motivation, and even recipes. You never know what they’re going to say or do next and they’re excellent at fan interaction.

The information is below and your goals are within reach.

Alison Sweeney: @AliSweeney

Bob Harper: @MyTrainerBob

Jillian Michaels: @JillianMichaels