Customer Reviews

Betty Crocker The 300 Calorie Cookbook: 300 tasty meals for eating healthy every day (Betty Crocker Books)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Everytime I swear I won't cram another cookbook onto my bookshelf I leaf through something that seems to stand out among the other cookbooks I have, or is complete enough that it allows me to give away several cookbooks so that one can take its place.

This is one such cookbook.

Very extensive cookbook with around 300 recipes, it's divided into the following categories:

Center of the Plate
Savory Skillet Meals
Casseroles and Pot Pies
Meatless Main Dishes
Sandwiches, Salads, and Pizzas
Soups, Stews, and Chilies
Slow Cooker Suppers
Grilling Good and Easy
30 Min or Less
Cooking for Two

Which is why I say it's like having several cookbooks...if I'm in the mood to grill, I can pull this out and do it with fewer calories, if I have limited time, it still has recipes for me, if I don't want leftovers I use the cooking for two section, and I love the slow cooker suppers for those days when I want to throw some things into a pot in the morning and come home to a hot cooked meal, making me feel like my private chef slaved all day to have dinner ready and waiting! :-)

Here are a few examples of some of the recipes. I've found them to include easy-to-locate ingredients and be family pleasers so that the rest of the house doesn't even have to know it's "diet" food since they tend to be good comfort foods. While I personally love the meatless section, you can adapt the other recipes easily for your meatless days as well. Here are some examples of some recipes:

Honey Glazed chicken breasts
Baked Oregano Chicken (this is a great one at only 180 calories)
Smothered Cajun Pork Chops
Beef and Peppers with Biscuits
Cheese Enchiladas
Philly Steak Casserole
Cheese Filled Tortellini Soup
Black Bean Taco Salad
Baked Chicken and Rice with Autumn Veggies
Country French Beef Stew
Chicken and Dumplings
Creamy Crabmeat Au Gratin
Tex Mex Scrambled Eggs
Grilled Pizza
Tex Mex Meat Loaf

There are also lots of ethnic dishes thrown in if you, for example, are in the mood for Chinese food, Indian food, etc. And the meatless maindishes will make even a hearty carnivore forget what's missing.

This book, unlike most of my diet cookbooks, contains FULL nutritionals, even the protein, sodium etc. If you are following Weight Watchers you'll know the fat and fiber of every dish going in.

The instructions are super simple. I cook all the time but even if you have only made Kraft mac and cheese up til now, you'll not skip a beat.

NEGATIVES: I try to leave negatives on any review even if I love something since nothing is perfect but this book is jam packed with recipes, many with calories even in the one hundreds and they are easy to prepare, healthy, and tasty and have full nutritionals. That's an A+ cookbook for me. I'f I had to say something others might not like, I might say it doesn't contain photos for all recipes (it does have several photos, just not for all) but bear in mind the book is already at almost 400 pages with its tips and recipes so you might not fit it into your cookbook holder if got any bigger. :-)

I love this one. It's both rare and well-done.

p.s. My calorie goal when I am dieting is 1250 calories per day. (This was scientifically figured out for me with a bodybugg. I'm a weight loss coach.) I burn 1950 calories per day usually in just normal activities so this deficit enables me to lose well if I also increase my activity( a little over 2 lbs per week) since a deficit of 3,500 calories equals a loss of one pound. (Your body uses fat stores for energy when it has a deficit.) Your calorie needs will vary of course based upon your height and weight and activity but there are several places online that you can get an estimate of what your body uses in order to figure out the deficit needed for weight loss even without a bodybugg. (All weight loss is, afterall, is taking in less calories than you burn.) This is great if you want to eat fresh food yet measure exactly what you are taking in as well.

But I'm not always on a diet. And to be honest, I use this book even when I am not on a diet. I like the recipes. I just get to eat more!

This keeps me satisfied and it's more of a food change than a diet.

I ordered this cookbook after seeing some of the positive reviews. I figured I'd get a few good recipes out of it like most books...I ended up with much more than "a few"! I have nothing but great things to say about the recipes. So far we've cooked about two dozen meals from the book and haven't been disappointed yet! I'm all about cooking quick and healthy, so if that's your style too you should enjoy this cookbook. It has moved to the top of my shelf for quick access! The best part, I don't have to worry about calorie counting...every meal in the book is 300 calories or less and clearly lists all of the nutritional information. I have occasionally exchanged a few of the frozen ingredients for fresh and added some additional spices but that's just personal preference. The best thing I've discovered about this book, besides the ease of the recipes, are the ingredients...most are already in your pantry unlike a lot of other cookbooks that require the purchase of a lot of pre-made products or off the wall items that you will never use again.

If I had to list one warning, it would be that I don't recommend this book for the "gourmet" chef who enjoys making everything from scratch and being in the kitchen all day. The recipes are made for busy families who want to eat healthy and still have time for the rest of life's activities. It's been a great purchase!

When I first started looking through this book I marked all the recipes I wanted to make, I had tons of recipes marked. There are sooooo many recipes in this book that sound delicious, and they are actually 300 calories or less.

Once I started trying the recipes the results were very mixed. Some recipes such as the blue cheese burgers are delicious, and my whole family loved them. I think adding the oats to the burgers is genius, it makes it better for you and you can't even taste it. Then there are other recipes that just don't turn out tasting good. I made quite a few recipes that my family clearly told me not to make again. Some recipes were just throwing already done ingredients together, which can be nice on a busy weeknight but I don't need a recipe book to know how to add canned chili to cornbread.

Another small complaint is I wish there were more pictures, but I always love cookbooks with lots of pictures.

Overall this is a good cookbook, but not great. If you are looking for a low calorie recipe book with simple recipes this is a good cookbook to add to your collection.

I've had this book for about 4 months and I've only tried 10 or so recipes. The reason for this is the constant use of "Bisquick Heart Smart mix". I have nothing against Bisquick and maybe their product is good but I cook at home because I want to know what I'm putting in my body. I prefer to buy organic foods and tend to shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's stores and they don't carry this name brand product. Having to shop at a different grocery store for one product is very inconvenient therefore I end up missing half the recipes in this book.

Additionally, I have input the recipes into multiple recipe analyzers and find the "300 or less" to not be accurate all the time. Just keep in mind that if you are truly counting calories that you need to calculate it on your own and don't blindly follow their nutritional information.

Alternately, of the recipes I've made, they were quite tasty and have made a few of them more times than once.

I would recommend this book to a friend but with a disclaimer.

There is a lot of variety of recipes to fit anyone's tastes. All very easy to prepare and make. Would recommend to anyone, even if not on a diet food still tastes good and fills you up.

My husband and I have been trying to loose weight and this book has helped us both. I have lost 12lbs and he lost 50.

Great recipes, easy, and you don't feel like you are missing out. I recommend this 100%.

Though I am dieting and the recipes are wonderful, this is a good cookbook for anyone! I love cookbooks, and Betty Crocker does not disappoint! Recipes use things you can easily get at your grocer, as opposed to dieter's cookbooks that send you everywhere for unusual, hard to find ingredients.

My husband and I decided to lose weight, but we didn't want to give up cooking at home. This book has been wonderful. We've tried several recipes, and they have all been good, filling, and easy. It doesn't use a lot of weird ingredients, but mainly focuses on lean meats and smaller serving sizes. Eating one of the entrees from this book with a lot of vegetables most nights for dinner has been great for us. (I'm trying to eat only 1500 calories a day, and it's been really easy so far.) We've made the pork fajitas, couscous stuffed red peppers, a chili with cornbread topping, and the oregano baked chicken. Make sure you pay attention to serving sizes; I really want to try some of their pizza recipes, but I'm not sure 1/8 of a pizza should be considered an entire serving. The only reason I gave it four stars was that I wish it had more pictures.

I bought this cookbook to help myself watch my diet, and found that the recipes work wonderfully with my two children, ages 4 & 7. The ingredients aren't crazy or unavailable (as we live in rural Minnesota), and they can be modified for pickier eaters. My husband and I think we could literally go through recipe by recipe and make nearly every dish in this book. What a great tool for healthier eating. LOVE this cookbook! (And tasty!)

I have tried several of the recipes in this book and have not found one I didn't like. I love Mexican food so when I came across the chicken enchiladas recipe, I was quick to test it out. Absolutely delicious.