Customer Reviews

Cooking Healthy with a Man in Mind (Healthy Exchanges Cookbook)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a man who has many health conditions--heart problem and diabetic--that require me to reduce the fat in my diet. I have tried all sorts of diets and fads that have come along to assist me. None have worked in the long term. Most are two difficult and time consumming to prepare with portion control that is not suitable to satisfy a man. The recipes in this book are easy to prepare and use the things right off the grocery store shelf. They are satisfying and I don't crave fat things. Ms. Lund states in her book that the preparation of the meal should not take longer than it does to eat it. I could not agree more.

I am a walking testament that the simple to prepare and tasty recipes in this book--especially the desserts--greatly reduce the fat in your diet. A side affect of Ms. Lund's recipes is that reducing the fat is causing me to lose weight without having to eat portions that will only satisfy a mouse. I recommend her book highly.

With the calories, fat and fiber listed, Joanna's books are great to use on the weight watchers program, especially when you are too busy to cook the gourmet, time consuming recipies from the weight watchers folks. I don't mind using canned foods to prepare great tasting meals! I can eat my fresh fruits and veggies elsewhere- I want something hearty when I sit down at the table for dinner!

I believe this is a great cookbook for several reasons:
(1) The ingredients are easy to find & I'm likely to have them on hand; (2) The recipes are usually easy to prepare; (3) It teaches how to eat healthy and make simple, healthy substitutes; (4) Most recipes produce excellent tasting, hearty meals my husband enjoys.

Joanna Lund has made my life so much easier with her delicious and healthy recipes. The recipes in this cookbook are easy to make and the ingredients won't break the bank. Another winner by this author!

There are very few recipes in this book that have NOT been a hit with my family! They don't even know it's 'diet food', they just know they love what they are getting. The Mexicalli Pie and Green Bean Mushroom Casserole are some of our favorites. It takes me less than half an hour to prepare a complete dinner (with sides and dessert!) and salad. What's even better is how economical the recipes are; we are spending less on groceries and I'm able to make about 75% of the recipes on the spot just with ingredients I always keep in the pantry. This has cut my grocery list down to just restocking the pantry staples and whatever fresh ingredients I'll need for meals that week. (Onions, pepper, cabbage or coleslaw mix, you name it) I love how the portions are easy to manage; for someone like me who is on a mission to lose weight, the ability to know exactly what a portion is can't be overstated. I can get a meal for us, and leftovers for my lunch at work the next day, out of one easy to prepare meal. (More leftovers for recipes that make larger batches!) I also take leftovers to work and share tidbits, and no one can believe they are 'healthy' versions of fatty foods. This book, along with "Cooking Healthy With The Kids In Mind", are two I would recommend to anyone with a family wanting to dip their toe into Joanna's books who might not have a lot of money to spend right now on cookbooks. With these two books you'll have enough meal recipes for months.

Great cookbook! I had deja vu when I read some of the recipes. My mother passed in 1980 and I got none of her recipes. This book gave me chills as this is the way she use to cook. TU Connie ;o)

It would seem that the "man" Ms. Lund has in mind is a down-home man with a hearty appetite that doesn't mind a culinary repetoire that's heavy on pudding and casserole/skillet dishes made from canned soup. Convenient? Yes. Tasty? Yes, but in a plasticy, fake sort of way.

I imagined that Ms. Lund's book would be filled with healthy comfort food. If your notion of "healthy" is highly-refined low-fat pre-fab foods (canned soups, mixes, notoriously high in sugar abd salt) this book is for you. Although this is certainly better than a full-fat diet, I don't think it's a nutritionist's dream.

The food is good for picky eaters, like unadventurous grown-ups and picky kids. It's all very familiar and doesn't have any funny-sounding stuff or weird vegetables in it. Recipes such as Turkey Tetrazini are serviceable and edible. Desserts are perfectly inoffensive as well, although there seems to be a lot of pudding mixes involved.

Ms. Lund includes a diet system which assigns points to different sorts of foods. You are allotted a certain number of point of each type per day. The system is relatively simple, if a bit of a pain to keep up with.

This book would be a good fit for a cook with very little time and a very picky group to feed. However, as a person who does not enjoy too much pre-fab food and prizes fresh, whole foods, this book was not for me.

OK - has basic meals...nothing too fancy or adventurous. I bought this new months ago and have yet to cook something from it...just too boring to bother with.

I'm not a fan of soupy, goopy, skillet food...and there appears to be lots of that in here.