Comfort Food Makeovers: Healthy Alternatives to Your Favorite Homestyle Dishes [Plastic Comb]

Elaine Magee M.P.H. R.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2006

Mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, soup...these are the comfort foods we crave—but many of us are afraid to eat them because of their high fat and calorie content. Now, thanks to Elaine Magee, we can eat our favorite comfort foods in a healthful way! Comfort Food Makeovers provides 116 easy, mouthwatering recipes for your favorite comfort foods that are full of flavor and texture yet healthy enough to eat anytime.

Magee, the author of Fry Light, Fry Right! truly knows how to cook the healthy way, and she is on a mission to teach the world how to use ingredients and techniques to lighten a recipe without losing the flavor: incorporate reduced-fat ingredients, boost the fiber, and always cut down on serving sizes. She keeps us tempted with main dishes such as American Meatloaf and Butter-Baked Chicken, savory side dishes such as Potatoes with Leeks and Gruyere, and decadent desserts such as One-Bowl Brownies and Triple Chocolate Decadence Cookies. The delicious recipes in Comfort Food Makeovers will make you think twice before eating the full-fat, full-calorie versions of your favorite comfort foods ever again!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, has written more than 24 books, has a popular newspaper column called “The Recipe Doctor,” is the nutrition expert and content provider for WebMD, and is a regular contributor to Cooking Light, Woman’s Day, Parenting, and more. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Product Details

• Plastic Comb: 208 pages
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers; First edition (January 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157912464X
• ISBN-13: 978-1579124649
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm THE RECIPE DOCTOR and my motto is...changing the way America eats, one recipe at a time! My other motto is...healthy food isn't going to do anyone any good if no ones eating it--it HAS to taste good and be easy to make.

So, are you with me? I spent a year researching all the research examples of FOOD SYNERGY (how components within food and between food work together in your body for maximum health benefit) and the result was one of my favorite books: FOOD SYNERGY (Rodale, 2008). If you don't have a lot of time, read the introduction and go straight to chapter 7. This chapter will blow your mind...it's the "aha" chapter and it puts everything together and shows you how the 10 synergy superfoods can transform your diet. The rest of the book is filled with fun and easy to make recipes and each recipe includes "food synergy notes" which list for you the various food synergy partnerships represented in that recipe (and there are usually at least 3 in each).

My next book is coming out in Spring 2010, TELL ME WHAT TO EAT IF I SUFFER FROM HEART DISEASE, and it's going to help anyone who is at risk of heart disease or has heart disease. I'm really excited about this book because it includes and makes sense of the latest research advancements. I had several well known cardiologists review the book and I'm thrilled that they loved it and thought it would help their patients greatly.

On a lighter note... I often get asked what my favorite type of cooking is and hands down it's good old homestyle cooking...you know...fruit crisps, lasagna, oven-fried chicken, chocolate chip cookies, etc. Nothing too fancy, just delicious! So, imagine how much fun I had working on my cookbooks "Comfort Food Makeovers" and "Fry Light, Fry Right!."

I love to "makeover" all your favorite recipes into healthful versions that taste just as great but have less calories, fat, and saturated fat and more smart fats (like omega-3s), and fiber and nutrients.

Please join my FREE Recipe Doctor club where I email you one of my all-time favorite recipe makeovers each month (just go to my website, www.recipedoctor.com and look in the upper right-hand corner).

If you've made it this far down the page, I'll let you in on a little secret--My big professional hope is to have a cooking show (a healthy one of course). In my books I try to write so that you feel like I'm right there with you holding your hand as we talk about whatever the subject of the book is (diabetes, menopause, IBS, etc...) Maybe with a cooking show, I really can be there with you!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new family favorite!, August 11, 2006

By 

L. Kinser "ljkinser" (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comfort Food Makeovers: Healthy Alternatives to Your Favorite Homestyle Dishes (Plastic Comb)

I am new Elaine Magee fan with regards to her general cook books (have and loved her What to Eat for Headaches book) so I can only speak to this cook book, but I love her cooking style! I personally DON'T want cookbooks by chefs. I end up spending twenty dollars on the book only to make one or two recipes only. Chef's only have two things in mind...looks and taste. They don't care about making the recipe easy and convenient and healthful. Elaine does this oh so well. The other reviewer totally missed the point. This isn't a book about fancy food, it's a book about making over America's favorite comfort foods to be as healthful as possible. I have personally made 10 dishes so far from the book and not only did I love them, so did my kids who can be so hard to please! Somehow Elaine has managed to make the recipes over so they still taste great but with fewer calories and less saturated fat. You can see the "before" and "after" nutritional analysis for yourself on every page. Thanks Elaine for another wonderful and practical book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooks will want this for their home collections, May 25, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comfort Food Makeovers: Healthy Alternatives to Your Favorite Homestyle Dishes (Plastic Comb)

Usually there are two answers to old favorite recipes which have long been packed in calories and fat as well as comfort: abstain or modify until it's entirely. So it's refreshing to find COMFORT FOOD MAKEOVERS: HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES TO YOUR FAVORITE HOMESTYLE DISHES does neither: it modifies dishes to omit the calories - but not the original comforting tastes. From a leaner Beef Shepherd's Pie which uses a lean sirloin roast and fat-free half-and-half to a light version of the classic cream-laden Fettuccine Alfredo - truly an achievement, done with light cream cheese, divided whole milk or fat-free half and half, and butter or substitute - all dishes retain their original appeal while boasting makeovers that work. While plastic comb binding may not make for durable library lending long-term, it will delight cooks who will want this for their home collections.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor

California Bookwatch

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Cook Book!, August 16, 2006

By 

Chris (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comfort Food Makeovers: Healthy Alternatives to Your Favorite Homestyle Dishes (Plastic Comb)

I purchased this book because I've been looking for heathly alternatives for my family. The use of detailed comparisions for nutrients is incredibly helpful and there are so many useful tips for cutting back on fat and calories! I never imagined I could make a healthy and delicious chicken pot pie. Elaine shows that you can still enjoy old fashioned comfort foods and not feel guilty about it. The format is simple to follow and there is a great variety of recipes.