Customer Reviews

Carb Wars: Sugar is the New Fat

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've been a long-time Amazon shopper and read my share of many, many reviews. This is the first review that I am submitting because I really feel that this book should not be overlooked!

My husband is a diabetic and therefore HAS to stick to the low carb life if we hope to keep his blood sugar under control. Many low carb books written for diabetics don't truly offer recipes that are fit for a diabetic - carb count is just too high. Although this book is not targeted at diabetics, it offers truly low carb recipes that a diabetic can have (there are a few exceptions of higher carb recipes).

The author provides a wealth of information along with some fantastic, different recipes. We've tried many new foods using this book (chayote squash, celery root, jicama to name a few). There are "Tips and Notes" on most of the pages which add to each recipe/food item. One of my favorite chapters is called: "Starchy Side Dish Replacements" which presents dishes to liven up a ho-hum meal. The "Sources" section in the back of the book offers invaluable information.

In case you can't tell, this is my favorite low carb recipe book!

This book is amazing. My daughter sent me a copy and I was so impressed that I ordered two more for friends. It is more than a cook book, the research on diets through the last hundred years or so, and explanations on various sugars, alone was worth the price.The cooking notes on almost every page were very helpful. For anyone contemplating a carb restricted eating plan,or one who is trying to avoid sugar, this could literaly be a life saver.
Irene orme

There isn't another book like this anywhere. Recipes for people who love food and love cooking but don't want to LOOK like they love food! We've tried at least half the recipes and the food is just amazing. We are impressing the heck out of our friends, and not even bothering to tell them its low carb. Can't wait for the second edition!

I recommend this book with reservations. As other reviewers have noted, the author uses a lot of artificial sweeteners in her recipes. But what should we expect, since this is, after all, a low carb cook book? And one of the things us "low carb-ers" long for is the taste of something sweet.

Since I really don't like the taste of Splenda - I can spot it at 20 paces - I have stayed away from most of her recipes for desserts. So that eliminates a lot of the book for me. I haven't bothered to buy some of the esoteric sweeteners listed, since I assume my taste buds will spot them as well!

All that being said, however, what is left for me are many inventive and tasty dishes that are satisfying and unusual enough to add good variety to my diet when I fall into the scrambled eggs, cheese cubes and steak rut for too many days.

Definitely a good addition to the cookbook library if you can tolerate artificial sweeteners, and a pretty fair addition for those of us who can't.

I have been a long time low carb eater. This book is simply wonderful. I have tried several recipes and they are all great tasting and easy to use. I love the fact that there are recipes here that do not include soy flour. I personally cannot stand the taste of it. I was very pleasantly surprised to find a great brownie recipe that did not include it. They look and taste great.
I am also a foodie type person who experiments with recipes constantly and this book has offered some new to me products and tips that are an easy way to give me the food that I want to eat. I don't have to compromise taste for carb count with this book.

Huzzah!!!! To Ms Baker for a wonderful new book!

Ladyred
http://ladyred-omaha.blogspot..com/

Carb Wars is a 2-in-1 deal for low-carb eating. It has so much useful information about a low-carb diet. For example, there's a whole section about how to get the best low-carb tortillas in the grocery store. Plus, the book has tons of great recipes so you can actually put the information to use.

The recipe for Spaghetti Squash 'Pasta' is brilliant - using this veggie-pasta in the Squash Pasta w/Roasted Peppers and Sun-Dried Tomatoes recipe is delicious and easy.

You can make a lot of low-carb variations with this author's guidance and recipes. Oh, and the Fried Artichokes are addictive.

If I had to recommend one book to someone considering the low carb lifestyle, it would be this one. It is written in a very readable style, well-planned and easy to navigate. Not only are the recipes good, the resources for low carb products, the explanation of the different low carb diets available, and the plethora of valuable information all in one book makes this the new Bible of Low Carb. An absolute necessity for the lifetime low carber.

I think it's great!
I was so glad to discover recipes for hominy that didnt bust my carb count.
I also enjoy the recipes for candied fruit. I thought I would have to give up fruitcake forever.
Over all Ive enjoyed the recipes Ive tried and am going to try many more.

I am a cookbook "reader" and I really liked the information at the beginning of the book, with sections on sweeteners; starches, flours and thickeners; and fats and oils that were very helpful. I also liked the extended section giving sources for sometimes hard-to-find ingredients. The author has many creative low carb recipes - including use of pumpkin and rutabagas as substitutes for white potatoes, and use of spaghetti squash for its more familiar counterpart.

I liked reading the recipes and marking off the ones I could eat -the only reason the book did not get a 5 rating was a kind of selfish one - I am intolerant of wheat, corn and dairy, and many recipes do rely heavily on those ingredients. The flour substitutes she uses often contain wheat gluten as an ingredient, for example. It is true many desserts use Splenda - this is the sugar substitute that is most recommended by sources that rate alternative sweeteners, it is considered "safe" and should not be a problem for most people unless they dislike the taste of it.
The other thing I might mention is that this is not a "simple" or "quick" cookbook in terms of most of the recipes - you would have to like to cook and be willing to try new ingredients to make the most of it. I am looking forward to trying many of the recipes - especially the Moussaka when I can figure out what to substitute for the heavy cream. It looks like an authentic Greek style recipe. Don't miss the tips and notes she includes in the margins - they are very informative and interesting.

This is a wonderful cookbook! It is the best my wife and I have found for people who are trying to reduce carbs. We have tried a lot of the recipes, and found that they work and that the food tastes great (especially the desserts). Nearly every page has sidebars with interesting tips or other information that are fun to read. We have used other low-carb cookbooks (Atkins, Protein Power, and South Beach oriented) but we like this one best by a lot. There is also an interesting introduction describing the scientific basis for low-carb diets and comparing the popular ones.