Customer Reviews

Comfort Food Makeovers: Healthy Alternatives to Your Favorite Homestyle Dishes

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

 

 

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.

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

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.

I bought this hoping to learn some great tricks for lowering the calories in my favorite dishes. Unfortunately, there was nothing really revolutionary in this book. Recipe calls for sour cream? Use fat free sour cream. Recipe calls for cheese? Use reduced-fat cheese. Honestly, anyone could dream up these basic replacements by walking down the aisles of a grocery store.

While this might be helpful for inexperienced cooks, I won't use this cookbook at all.

This book is great. I have tried several recipes and they taste yummy. There are a lot of classics that you want to make for your friends and family that you probably would not have made before because of how fattening the old versions were. Try this book it will make you happy that you can still enjoy good food that is lower in fat.

I really expected this book to be pretty good. The recipe titles are enticing and some of Elaine Magee's other books are better (not the best out there, but definitely better). She must have had a tight deadline or she was bored or something on this one because the food is mediocre at best. You can find so many better (and even healthier) versions of the same dishes online for free.

I find it fascinating that publishers aren't catching on that nutritionists don't make food that's in the ballpark of chefs. If you want a healthy cookbook, buy one from a trained chef who specialized in healthy food. This is a perfect example. Good idea, terrible execution (meaning the finished dishes leave much to be desired).