Customer Reviews

Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make in Minutes

5 star:		(107)
4 star:		(61)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

there are better options out there!

"Cook Yourself Thin" is a cute attractive book based on the cute and attractive television series on Lifetime television. While the recipes are tasty and fairly easy, I have a few complaints.

Firstly, the book contains NO nutritional information beyond a simple calorie count. If you are tracking your sodium, fiber, or fat intake, this book will not help you.

Also, some of the recipes are significantly higher in calories than similar diet books. You'll intake 596 calories for two stacks of eggplant and 539 calories for a portobello mushroom tuna melt. While these numbers are lower in comparison to NON-healthful recipes, there are definitely better options.

Despite these complaints, I do like this book. The presentation is nice and the recipes are delicious. As a healthful chef, I can definitely recommend "Cook Yourself Thin." As an earnest dieter, I think the book is acceptable - but not the best. I highly recommend "The Most Decadent Diet Ever" by Devin Alexander. It has more thorough nutritional information and a better serving size/calorie ratio.

Like most of you I got this book after watching the show on lifetime. In my mind I thought the show was a sneak peak of what was in the book...WRONG I would say 90% of what is in the book was featured on the show and and the recipes can be printed out for FREE on the website. I would say less than half maybe a third of the book has recipies the other 2/3 has dieting and eating tips. Maybe im wrong but most of it is common sense to anyone who has tried to lose weight in the past ( which im guessing most of the poeple buying this book has). My suggestion print the recipies for free from the website and get Eat This Not That for some good advice...

Where can I start? I bought this book thinking that all the recipes will probably be like all the other diets books, tasting OK and passable enough for me to stick to lose a few pounds - HOW WRONG WAS I??

This book is lovely, the recipes are easy to follow, the ingredients are easy to find and each recipe doesn't include a list of ingredients that are longer than your arm, unlike most recipe books. Therefore the recipes are also affordable.

This is a must for anyone trying to lose weight without starving themselves or even who's just trying to eat healthily. The recipes are easily adapted to put your own spin on them and there's something for everyone. It's got me loving cooking again. So far I have not even felt like I have been dieting at all, I have enjoyed everything and have even had the odd guilt free bar of chocolate! It's all about weight loss through making healthy changes this summer. [...]

Let me address 2 things here. Time and Calories, which seem to be issues in other reviews...
First, calories: Calories for fruits and vegetables are all average. They are all nature made, so one may be sweeter than the other- we have all had one bitter strawberry and one really sweet one, right? The sweetness of these items fluctuate making the calories fluctuate. There is no "definite" caloric value for a fruit or vegetable! I have books that contradict caloric intake as well. It depends on the item being tested and the ripeness and sweetness of that specific item on that particular day! I do agree they should have more nutritional value than just calories though...
And as far as calories being high, you are eating a meal- they can't be much lower!! And it makes a difference if the calories come from fiber or from fat too...
Second is time. Some of these are time consuming recipes. I made the carrot cake (my new favorite recipe) and it took a while to grate the carrots by hand, so I used a food processor which was phenomenal. You need to use your head sometimes to cut corners if you don't have a lot of time. Other than the desserts, the meals also can be time consuming, but some are fast. Just like any other cookbook! This book isn't titled "quick meals for lazy people" It is a book filled with healthy alternatives for people who like to eat!
We are also not selling a movie, so who cares where the show airs! I personally love the show and the people on it. The book is also not a rip off of any other book- its the same concept and many books out there (not just hungry girl), but it's got different recipes. (which are better tasting in my opinion)
Someone also made a comment about the whole wheat noodles tasting like glue- they are whole wheat and much healthier for you. If you are not used to it, they may not taste good to you. You have trained yourself to eat crap- eating healthy does not taste like chocolate cake! You will eventually enjoy the taste of healthy foods, becoming acustomed to those flavors, just like you trained yourself to like fattening foods. I used to hate diet soda, and I made the switch about 6 years ago, and now if I taste a regular soda, I can't drink it, it's too sweet! The bottom line is you need to give your body (and tastebuds) time to adjust to a new way of eating. You will like the way how you feel after eating healthy foods, you mind will actually FEEL healthy, which affects your body. The power of the mind is very powerful and will make a differene in your weight too.
Nonetheless the book is fantastic and the recipes are much healthier than their alternatives, common sense would tell you that when you read the ingredients! (hardly any butter!) But it's not a diet book, they let you use full fat items, but just to add taste. You don't need to omit butter and cream cheese from you diet forever! It is a great companion to someone on weightwatchers as well. Fantastic book!!!

As soon as I got this book in the mail I started flipping through the recipes to find what to make for dinner. All of the recipes looked great but I stopped on the Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas. Not only was it fast and easy to make, it was delicious...I mean really good. To top that of the portion sizes are more than generous, no starving yourself to stay thin. I have both this book and the Hungry Girl book, and while the books are indeed similar, this book offers several different recipes.

The subtitle of this book is "A delicious way to drop a dress size." Well, I confess that I have never worn a dress. So maybe I don't qualify to review this book? However, I think that this is a useful cookbook--whatever your gender!

There are some nice upfront items (some cookbooks have these, while others do not). On pages 41-43, we have a calories guide, so that the reader can get a sense as to which kinds of food are lower calories than others. For instance, among the category "Rice, pasta, and beans," I tend to use Jasmine rice (174 calories). Much better than baked beans (346 calories) but not as low as egg noodles (109 calories). Other handy features: a listing of basics for your kitchen (herbs, spices, etc.), must have kitchen equipment, comparative cooking methods, calorie swaps, and so on.

But it's the recipes that I especially look forward to. Just a few quick examples:

"The better for you breakfast sandwich." Forget an Egg McMuffin. Try one of these. English muffins surround the innards of this breakfast sandwich. Poach eggs (with some vinegar); slice some cheese and thinly slice ham; bake until the muffins are toasted. Sautee slices of tomato. Assemble by putting tomato and egg on top of the ham and cheese.

Another nice dish is "Omelets with roasted tomatoes"--complete with several variations, depending on one's tastes.

A main meal? "Steak with cauliflower 'mash' potatoes." One creates rosemary salt, cauliflower mashed potatoes (I've tried a recipe much like this, and it worked well), and flank steak. Serve the steak over romaine lettuce, cover with the mashed potatoes and tomato and drizzle with pan juices (reinforced with balsamic vinegar).

So, this should not just lead to a dropped dress size--but also pant size for men. Lots of fun recipes (although I wish there were more).

Check the calories on page 41 of the newest book. They are listed at about half of what they really are. Check out a few online and with other sources.

For instance:
Raspberries - (CYT Book = 7 Cal vs 14 cal)
Corn on the cob - (CYT Book = 44 vs 60)
Mango - (CYT = 114 vs 143)
Strawberries - (CYT = 8 vs 9) Now that is only one cal but still...

When I check several other sources, other books such as Cooking Light and internet they are all exactly same cal counts and they are all MORE than the CYT book. I made sure I was comparing oz for oz.

It really concerns me that the recipes are probably incorrect also. How can I trust the counts in the recipe when the "Calorie Counter Quick Guide" in the book is so egregiously incorrect? I can't believe they let it go to print with such misinformation.

Sucks too because I really was excited about this book and ran out and bought it after I saw the first episode but still felt like it was too good to be true.

Get a scale, read the package labels and do your own cal counting. The recipes are great, but don't trust the books cal counts.

As a fan of the Lifetime Series but a skeptical dieter, I wasn't sure whether the happy results on the show would be my own. Also, the economy sent me packing back to my parents' home for the year, and they are traditional, meat-and-potatoes and BUTTER eaters. My mother and I now take turns cooking, and also sometimes cook together. Would these recipes go over well in this household??

YES!!!

In fact, when my brother came home for a visit, I took my first crack at a recipe from the book: vegetable lasagna. I also made a "traditional" version, just in case. (My brother, in particular, can be a bit fussy.) To my enormous surprise, we all preferred the Cook Yourself Thin version!

I've now tried perhaps 6 or 8 recipes from this book (and also about as many from "Cook Yourself Thin Faster). I often like to prepare things that produce leftovers, like the lasagna, chicken pot pie (also spectacular), onion soup (I made a double recipe & then added the bread & cheese when reheating individual portions). For Mother's Day, I made the stuffed French Toast Sundaes, which went over as a "fancy delicacy" (I didn't mention that they were "healthy.")

I understand some of the other comments that maybe these aren't the "lowest calorie" recipes out there, but I tried lots of those (Weight Watchers, Hungry Girl, etc.). For me, some just weren't as tasty as I'd like, or maybe the selections just weren't to my taste. Worse, I couldn't get into some of the recommended substitutes at Hungry Girl, or at some other sites. Some rely heavily on weird chemical food substitutes or fat-free dressings, etc. (Have you ever read the back of those packages? Processed corn this and chemical that! Yuck!)

What I really love about Cook Yourself Thin recipes is that they include a modest amount of luxurious, high-fat ingredients and then lots of vegetables, etc. to cut down on calories. I want to be healthy and satisfied as well as thin! Also, it's very easy to adapt these dishes. For instance, I made the sauce for the Fettuccini con Funghi - from the 2nd book - to make a lighter alternative to the family's traditional, cream-based mushroom sauce for one of those meat and potatoes dinners. Also, I substituted beef stock for chicken stock for the onion soup, because, well, that's just the way I like it.

I'm obviously not following the book(s) every day, but each week, I prepare at least 2-3 recipes (and so eat 5-6 meals) because of these books. This is my first successful experience with cook books designed to help lose/maintain weight. For me, It's because these dishes are truly delicious and have inspired me to find ways to translate ideas into the rest of my cooking.

And best of all? Yup! I'm finally losing weight! YAY!!

I got this book thinking that all the recipes would probably be just another diet book but with a positive twist. In some aspects I was right. This book is nicely done. I found the recipes easy to follow, and the ingredients easy to find. However, I'm not sure you can really cook yourself thin by following these recipes. I would have thought there'd be a lot less salt, carbs and sweets, so it's not necessarily skinny meals unless you give yourself skinny portions.

Let me address 2 things here. Time and Calories, which seem to be issues in other reviews...
First, calories: Calories for fruits and vegetables are all average. They are all nature made, so one may be sweeter than the other- we have all had one bitter strawberry and one really sweet one, right? The sweetness of these items fluctuate making the calories fluctuate. There is no "definite" caloric value for a fruit or vegetable! I have books that contradict caloric intake as well. It depends on the item being tested and the ripeness and sweetness of that specific item on that particular day!
Second is time. Some of these are time consuming recipes. I made the carrot cake (my new favorite recipe) and it took a while to grate the carrots by hand, so I used a food processor which was phenomenal. You need to use your head sometimes to cut corners if you don't have a lot of time. Other than the desserts, the meals also can be time consuming, but some are fast. Just like any other cookbook! This book isn't titled "quick meals for lazy people" It is a book filled with healthy alternatives for people who like to eat!
We are also not selling a movie, so who cares where the show airs! I personally love the show and the people on it. The book is also not a rip off of any other book- its the same concept and many books out there (not just hungry girl), but it's got different recipes. (which are better tasting in my opinion)
Nonetheless the book is fantastic and the recipes are much healthier than their alternatives, common sense would tell you that when you read the ingredients! (hardly any butter!) But it's not a diet book, they let you use full fat items, but just to add taste. You don't need to omit butter and cream cheese from you diet forever! It is a great companion to someone on weightwatchers as well. Fantastic book!!!